Another year has come and gone and I haven’t posted a single sodblog… Luckily, the people who run this site didn’t destroy my username and password, so I’m back to write about the best (and worst) of 2009.
However, I don’t keep a top ten list as I watch everything throughout the year… so I’m stuck looking back on all the films I have seen to try to come up with a top ten. I figured I’d post the list I’m working off of so you can see how hard it is to come up with a top ten:
Here are the 202 films from 2009 that are vying for a coveted position in my Top Ten:
(500) Days of Summer
12 Rounds
17 Again
2012
9
$9.99
Adam
Adventureland
Aliens in the Attic
All About Steve
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Amelia
Angels & Demons
Armored
Art & Copy
Astro Boy
Avatar 3D
Away We Go
Bandslam
Beaches of Agnes, The
Big Fan
Blind Side, The
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
Box, The
Bracelet of Bordeaux, The
Bride Wars
Bright Star
Broken Embraces
Brothers
Brothers Bloom, The
Brüno
Capitalism: A Love Story
Che: Part One
Che: Part Two
Cheri
Christmas Carol, A
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D
Coco Before Chanel
Cold Souls
Collector, The
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Coraline 3D
Couples Retreat
Crank: High Voltage
Dance Flick
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
District 9
Drag Me To Hell
Dragonball Evolution
Duplicity
Earth
Easy Virtue
Education, An
End of the Line, The
Everlasting Moments
Every Little Step
Everybody’s Fine
Extract
Fame
Fanboys
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fast & Furious
Faubourg 36
Fighting
Final Destination, The
Fired Up!
Food, Inc.
Fourth Kind, The
Friday the 13th
Funny People
G-Force
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Gamer
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Girlfriend Experience, The
Gomorra
Gooby
Goodbye Solo
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
Halloween II
Hangover, The
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Haunting in Connecticut, The
He’s Just Not That Into You
Hotel for Dogs
Hunger
Hurt Locker, The
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Imagine That
In the Loop
Informant!, The
Inglourious Basterds
Inkheart
International, The
Invention of Lying, The
Invictus
Is Anybody There
It Might Get Loud
It’s Complicated
Jennifer’s Body
Julie & Julia
Knowing
Land of the Lost
Last House on the Left, The
Law Abiding Citizen
Little Ashes
Lorna’s Silence
Love Happens
Lovely Bones, The
Lynch Mob
Madea Goes to Jail
Me and Orson Welles
Men Who Stare at Goats, The
Miss March
Monsters vs Aliens 3D
Moon
Moscow, Belgium
My Bloody Valentine 3D
My Life in Ruins
My One and Only
My Sister’s Keeper
New in Town
New Moon, The Twilight Saga
Next Day Air
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Nine
Ninja Assassin
Not Easily Broken
Notorious
O’ Horten
Observe and Report
Obsessed
Old Dogs
Orphan
Pandorum
Paper Heart
Paranormal Activity
Paris
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Perfect Getaway, A
Pink Panther 2, The
Pirate Radio
Planet 51
Ponyo
Post Grad
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Princess and the Frog, The
Proposal, The
Public Enemies
Push
Race to Witch Mountain
Road, The
Rudo y Cursi
Saw VI
Serious Man, A
Sherlock Holmes
Shorts
Sin Nombre
Single Man, A
Soloist, The
Sorority Row
Spread
Star Trek
State of Play
Stepfather, The
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Sugar
Sunshine Cleaning
Surrogates
Taken
Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
Taking Woodstock
Terminator Salvation
Terra 3D
Thirst
This Is It
Time Traveler’s Wife, The
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transylmania
Ugly Truth, The
Unborn, The
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Uninvited, The
Up 3D
Up in the Air
Watchmen
Whatever Works
When I Find the Ocean
Where the Wild Things Are
Whip It
Whiteout
World’s Greatest Dad
X Games 3D: The Movie
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Year One
Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg
Zombieland
There are two films on this list that I haven’t actually seen yet–It’s Complicated (released last week) and The Lovely Bones (releasing wide two weeks from yesterday). As I stall waiting for The Lovely Bones to come out near me, I figured I’d give my thoughts about the acting I’ve seen this year. With the official Oscar nominations less than a month away, I figured I’d let you know who I think was best in each category (with apologies to Ms. Streep, Ms. Ronan, Mr. Tucci et al for being skipped over), along with their odds of being nominated.
Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique as Mary
As I watched Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, I had trouble remembering this horrible excuse for a mother was once upon a time Jamique from Soul Plane. Mo’Nique really disappeared into her role (and anyone who has seen it knows how difficult that would be). During the final scene where she tries to explain the hows and whys of it all, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her despite the horrors she was admitting to. I think she’s a lock for her nomination and a strong contender for the actual Oscar.
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa
This was a tough one for me, but I’m guessing my second choice (Christian McKay’s excellent portrayal of Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles) may be tainted since I just saw the film last week. I remember loving Waltz’s work this summer in Inglourious Basterds so I’m sure my love for Waltz has simply waned over time so McKay gets silver. Waltz is both menacing and mesmerizing as the Nazi colonel, from his opening scene where he describes why he deserves the nickname “Jew Hunter”, to one of his final scenes where he learns the phrase isn’t “That’s a bingo!” This is another lock for nomination and a probable win as well (sorry McKay).
Best Actress
Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther
This was another tough category, but unlike the Supporting Actor it wasn’t because I had another close call, but I struggled to think of ANYone. I’d wager Streep’s performance in Julie & Julia will get a nod, but I personally wasn’t a fan. I almost went with Bullock’s accent in The Blind Side, but in the end remembered the best part of a mediocre movie, Orphan. I won’t spoil the ending, but anyone who’s seen this film knows that this 11-year-old has some great talent—she plays scary and sweet to perfection. However, this is one pick I doubt the Academy will notice.
Best Actor
Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell
Rockwell gives not one, but two fantastic performances in Moon, a little film released back in June. Sadly, there is a lot of talk about how the studios aren’t sending Moon screeners to Academy voters due to the high costs of watermarking them (the DVD isn’t released in the US yet). Most likely Rockwell’s performance will be overlooked when the nominations are announced (even if this petition reaches 1,000,000), and that’s a true shame because, other than a HAL-like computer voiced by Kevin Spacey, this film is all Rockwell. He plays an astronaut working alone for three years on a moon base. Two weeks before he goes home he finds… himself. Is he going crazy or is something else happening? You’ll have to rent it to find out, but trust me when I say Rockwell gives the best performance(s) of the year.
So, what were some of the best performances you’ve seen this year?
