My Top 10: Films Of 2009

2009 for me was quite a varied year in terms of the films that feature in my top 10. But for most people, it was the year of the highest box-office of all-time was released. I will not mention the film just yet as it is in my top 10, but this film seemingly introduced the re-birth of 3D.
There was a big push for this film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but it was ousted by a film that officially is a 2008 film, The Hurt Locker.

Other films featuring in the awards that are not in my top 10 are as follows. I remember this being quite a surprise to be nominated for Best Picture, it is the Coen brothers 'A Serious Man'. For me, I could see that it have a Coen's feel to it, but I felt a lot of the ideas just did not work for me and overall I thought it was o.k. There was British representation in the form of 'An Education' which I did enjoy especially the performance by Carey Mulligan who I love everything she does on screen in anything. But sadly it just missed out my top 10.
The Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges for his brilliant performance in Crazy Heart which I thoroughly enjoyed, but like An Education, it never quite made it. One film that I have only recently seen and had been intrigued by it for years was 'Up In The Air' featuring George Clooney. The story is fascinating and I felt the director made the most of it and made it a good watch.
A common them with some Award winning films is that you like it but will probably never watch it again. This year, I felt that title went to 'Precious'. It had a pretty hard subject, and was a tough watch. But it is story that pulls at the heart strings well, but the tough scenes will put people off to give it a second viewing.
Some of the more disappointing ones I felt were, 'Invictus' and 'A Single Man'. Even though I heavily praised the performances lead by Colin Firth, the story of A Single Man did not interest me that much. As for Invictus, it was good enough to just see Morgan Freeman play the late Nelson Mandela. Apart from that, I felt everything a bit ordinary, which was a shame.

However, on the opposite end of success. Some of the films I thought were disappointing or just plain bad were:
Lesbian Vampire Killers - Does what it's supposed to be, nothing more. At least it had o.k British humor.
G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Decent action with a nice cliffhanger. Overall ok, and a very moment involving Sienna Miller and some nice shoes.
2012 - Thought it would one of the better action movies. It had potential but did too many wrong things such as having John Cusack as the hero.
Bruno - Some good laughs, but overall weak compared to Sacha Baren Cohen's previous work, Borat.
Night At The Museum 2 - Not as good as the original, but enjoyable enough to be dis-liked.
Dorian Gray - Some bits surpassed my expectations, but the big picture was still as ordinary as I thought it would be.
Fast & Furious - Surprisingly boring, that's it.

Here are some quick reviews of some films that I thought were not as bad as the majority thought:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen - I agree Michael Bay is a bad story-teller, but I just love the action and the new ideas for the design of the new Transformers characters.
Knowing - A pretty interesting genre movie that actually does what it is supposed to do.
The Lovely Bones - Clearly not Peter Jackson's best work, but still very enjoyable with some great performances especially by Stanley Tucci.
Terminator Salvation - Felt it was on a par with Rise Of The Machines. I can see why people felt it was boring, but I enjoyed the action and was not too bothered about the un-originality of it all.
Angels & Demons - Agree that the script is shockingly dumb, but I enjoyed the pace of it and tense scenes.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Really enjoyed the action and the characters involved. Was obviously predictable as we know the main bits of Wolverine's origins story, but everything else is worth watching. Only disappointment was the portrayal of one character people we were begging to be involved the previous X-Men movies.
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus - Like with all Terry Gilliam movies, there is a lot of ideas I just always manage to admire. It is the last film of Heath Ledger and his performance is the perfect send-off to a career that should never have been this short.
The Time Traveller's Wife - Very mixed reviews with this one. I enjoyed its ideas and the performances I felt were good enough to make the overall viewing experience a pleasant one.

Films that I felt were a surprising success:
Drag Me To Hell - One of the better modern horrors with some really gross scenes.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs - Never expected to be really funny and the story is quite good for everyone to get into.
Julie & Julia - Not the type I would usually like, but found it touching enough to like
Away We Go - A very funny and touching indie rom-com.
Thirst - Another film to show that Japanese knows horror and it is one of the better vampire films.
The Princess And The Frog - Had a proper classic Disney feel to it. Great fairy-tale style story with some great songs and enough modern humor that appeals to everyone.
Looking For Eric - An odd but workable British film even if it does feature Eric Cantona.
This Is It - An enjoyable documentary on the Michael Jackson concert that never took place. It looks like it would have been an amazing show and I never knew how much of a perfectionist Jacko was.
My Sister's Keeper - A big hit with the girls. It is a decent story that really pulls at your emotions.
500 Days Of Summer - A rom-com with a good idea is rare these days. Good performances and decent heart-warming moments.

Here are some of the films that came close to featuring in my top 10:
Micmacs - Mainstream would find this odd, but if you just go with it then it is amazingly enjoyable with a lot of interesting characters.
Harry Brown - The British of Gran Torino in my opinion which is never a bad thing. Great performance by Michael Cain that tells an important story.
A Town Called Panic - One of the maddest films ever. This french stop-motion animated film manages to make sense out of something that on paper sounds completely bonkers. It's weirdly brilliant.
About Elly - Quite a tense and thrilling Iranian film that had me gripping whatever seat I was in at the time.
Mary And Max - A pretty cool stop-motion animation that has its heart in the place. There is also a nice amount of comedy.
The Damned United - A great portrayal of a famous football story with a surprising amount of depth and top performances all-time, round.
In The Loop - Beginning as TV series 'The Thick Of It' which I have never seen, this is a brilliant political satire. It has a modern Dr. Strangelove feel to it, lots of great performances and the writing is genius. It is a work of fictional farce and it is brilliantly entertaining.


With all those missing out, here is my top 10:

10) Up - Probably Pixar's most emotional film.

The story of an old man trying to achieve his childhood dream is now one of the greatest adventures in film history.

Be prepared to laugh, cry, be gripped and generally fall in love with this tremendous story.

9) Summer Wars - A wonderful Japanese animation with thrilling action, heartfelt drama and well executed political satire.

It has similarities to WarGames, The Matrix and has many of the typical anime tropes. However, it's strong content makes you forget it's unoriginal moments and has becomes a wonderful ride of both excitement and heart-breaking emotion.

8) Moon - A terrific low budget British sci-fi with an all star cast.

Sam Rockwell plays an astronaut whose duty is to send brand new natural resources from the Moon to Earth.

One incident changes this astronauts whole life. Films like this reminds us as to how science fiction should be about.

7) 3 Idiots - I don't often checkout Indian films. But this may be the best one I've seen from Bollywood.

While on a search for a long lost friend, memories of their college days start to come back.

It's highly profound, very funny and emotionally rewarding. It's a wonderful introduction for anyone that has ever set their eyes on a Bollywood feature.

6) District 9 - A ground-breaking sci-fi by director Neil Blomkamp that so deservedly got nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Remember being completely blown away and felt that this is the future of sci-fi films.

5) Coraline - From director Henry Selick who did The Nightmare Before Christmas, the level of scariness is cranked up much higher than 11.

When a young girl wants new parents, the phrase 'be careful what you wish for' could not be more perfect for this terrific fantasy tale.

Also, the stop-motion animation is top-notch.

4) Inglourious Basterds - Another absolute belter by director Quentin Tarantino.

A group of Jewish and U.S soldiers land in Nazi-occupied France to assassinate Hitler.

It features my favorite opening scene in film-history and everything else is vintage Tarantino action.

3) Avatar - Director James Cameron managed to make a film that overtook Titanic's record as the highest grossing film of all time.

This visual masterpiece amazed me and the whole world.

Cameron has created an amazing world that I am sure we all want to visit one day.

2) Watchmen - From the most successful graphic novel of all-time, director Zack Snyder for me has created the best possible movie depiction.
I do not understand why some hardcore fans say it is bad. It is near perfect to the comic and the ending makes much more sense then it did in the graphic novel.
For non-fans of the comic book it is a brilliant exploration of the super-hero genre.

1) Star Trek - People had fears this could ruin the Trek franchise. director J.J Abrams made sure he would remain faithful but also bring in a new audience.
He pulled it off spectacularly with a perfect story line and amazing cast choices that has made this the latest swashbuckling sci-fi bonanza.