Top 10 List of 2009 (so far)

Tis the season of award movie bombardment. It seems as though every year the studios decide to withhold the film that have the best chances at winning awards for the end of the year or released in limited marked for a short period throughout the year. So before that mad rush of film viewing this month, of both future releases as well as the ones I’m playing catch up with, I wanted to make my own top ten list of best movies of 2009 (so far). And remember folks, this year the category for best picture at the Oscars will be chosen out of a list of 10. So, before this list gets all shaken around, I give you my Top Ten So Far:

#10 - The Informant!: I think I would have enjoyed this movie more if I watched it with a packed theater and we all remembered that it was a comedy. Yes, it doesn’t sound like a solid recommendation, I know, but I watched it alone and didn’t realize it was a comedy until I started to listen more closely to Matt Damon’s narration. His narration are just the random thoughts of his character, and man are they odd, but in a very funny way. He made this movie, and deserves an acting nomination for the role even. The overall film and other acting performances though are just so-so.
#9 - Public Enemies: I saw this movie at the very beginning of the year, so it’s not too fresh in my mind. I remember it getting just so-so reviews, but I actually liked the slow pace of the story telling. I thinking people expected an old-timey action packed bank robbery story, but it was much slower paced then that. Not quite an Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford slowness (though I loved that movie, much more than Public Enemies). The acting was solid and I remember loving the closing shot.
#8 - The Fantastic Mr. Fox: First and foremost, I was impressed with the artistic side of this movie. The attention to detail and style of stop motion was amazing (wow, two stop motion films made the list!) The cloths and sets stayed true to what I come to expect of a Wes Anderson film. Don’t be fooled by the marketing of this film. In my opinion this is no kids film (in fact I think they’d be bored with it) and very much a Wes Anderson film. He keeps that melancholic humor throughout, especially with the young kid fox Ash voiced by Jason Schwartzman. This film had probably one of the best death scenes of the year as well. I do have to say though that this film probably falls to the bottom of the list of Wes Anderson movies, but in no way does it make it a bad film.
#7 - Whatever Works: This was no Vicky Christina Barcelona, but it was still a decent Woody Allen flick. It was definitely reminiscent of his older work with the neurotic character that Woody Allen himself usually played replaced by the wonderful Larry David. Without him, the movie would have been garbage, so basically I’m putting Larry David himself on this list rather than the average Whatever Works.
#6 - Zombieland: I thought this was an original take on what is actually blossoming into it’s own genera: Zombie-Comedy. I appreciated the fact that they followed through with many of their jokes and onscreen typefaces throughout the film. Who would have guessed that onscreen typeface could be a character, and a funny one at that. Also, best cameo appearance, bar none.
#5 - The Hangover: Clearly the best comedy of the year so far. Without Zack Galifinakis though, this movie never would have worked.
#4 - Coraline: For a detailed review, see my first post. This made the cut for the imaginative feeling I was left with as I walked out the theater. The only thing missing was a song by The Decemberists.
#3 - Up: I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, especially from emotional/sentimental aspects of it. For being marketed as a kids film it really struck a chord in me and yes, even teared up (okay okay, so it doesn’t take much to make me cry at a movie. There, I said it.)
#2 - 500 days of Summer: I finally got around to seeing this a few months ago when it was still in the theater and man am I glad I did. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a great take on the classic romantic comedy genre. It contains perhaps my favorite scene of the year, illustrating the perfect evening one has replayed over and over in their head vs. how the evening really plays out. This is all done in split screen side by side comparison and is great!
#1 - Inglourious Basterds: (see my previous post for full review)

Movies that I’m looking forward to that have yet to come out or that I just haven’t gotten around to are listed below. I’m realizing now that there are a lot of movies I need to watch. These are only the ones that I haven’t seen that I feel like could potentially shake the list up and are listed in no particular order.

Crazy Heart
The Road
Up in the Air
Moon
Where the Wild Things Are
Taken
Gomorrah
Sunshine Cleaning
Sin Nombre
Drag Me To Hell
Away We Go
A Serious Man
An Education
Precious
District 9
Invictus
The Lovely Bones