2009 was a great year for movies. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Yeah, it wasn’t 1999 – nobody had their minds blown and cinema wasn’t changed forever. But 2009 delivered, pound for pound, more excellent movies than I’ve seen in a while. Usually I’m scraping the bottom of the old barrel to get the CHUD standard 15 for my list, but this year I had to leave off a number of great films that would have made the cut any other year. Why are Adventureland, Watchmen, The Hurt Locker or A Serious Man not on the list? Because, quite simply, there were so many great films in 09 that I couldn’t fit them. I could probably do a top 10 runners up list if I wanted to – the year was that strong.
I’m very proud of the list that I have finally assembled; some of these placements may change in the future (I spent forever debating where Precious goes), but the content of the list probably won’t. The year end was weak for me, but that helps me come up with a list of films that mostly stood the test of time – I saw three of these films at Sundance, and many of the others screened before the end of the summer. 2009 was front loaded, but what a front load.
To catch you up, here are my last few top 15s:
My top fifteen of 2008
My top fifteen of 2007
My top fifteen of 2006
My top fifteen of 2005
My top fifteen of 2004
15. Away We Go (my review)(Buy the DVD/Buy the Blu-Ray)
Nobody’s more surprised to see this on my top fifteen than me. Sam Mendes and I don’t see eye to eye, usually – I like films that are good, and subtle, and actually about stuff more than Oscar whoring. Add to that the “I shop exclusively at American Apparel” tone of the ad campaign and this film looked like a big old avoider. Thank God I didn’t, though, as the film is a beautiful, sweet and understated gem. A pregnant couple take to the road trying to find the best place to raise their child-to-be, but the search isn’t really about geography but about philosophy: what kind of parents will they become? The ending is delightfully hopeful and touching, while never getting melodramatic or sentimental. Sometimes, we learn, you can go home again.
Contributing Factors: The screenplay, by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, perfectly navigates comedy and emotion. Irony has no place in the film, leading to a really nice sense of earnestness. The actors bring their A-game, even John Krasinski, who manages to somehow not be irritating or smug, but the real stars are the support staff: Catherine O’Hara and Jeff Daniels as Krasinski’s selfish parents, Alison Janney as a truly horrific mom, and Melanie Lynskey as a tragically broken woman who just wants one baby of her own. The soundtrack is a wonder, featuring one of the best George Harrison songs ever, What Is Life. And Sam Mendes steps up, keeping his touch light and his heart true and coming out with his best film.
Performance to Savor: Maya Rudolph gives a wonderfully textured performance as Verona, the pregnant wife. Loving and bitchy and scared and strong, she hits so many notes with perfect clarity that her final emotional moments in the film get right to your heart (and tear ducts) without ever making you feel like you’ve been manipulated.
CHUD.com Pull Quote: “Away we go on a road trip that’s funny and touching and full of pregnant possibilities!”
14. Drag Me To Hell (my review)(Buy the DVD/Buy the Blu-Ray)
In which Sam Raimi puts all the pretenders on notice. This return to his splatstick style may have a PG-13 rating, but that doesn’t mean it’s all that toned down from his Evil Dead II heyday. After all, you always got the feeling that it was slime and bile and ichor that floated Sam’s boat much more than just blood and guts. He likes it wet and yucky, and he delivers that in spades with Drag Me To Hell. He also delivers the spook-a-blast goods; leading up to the release Raimi’s insistence on using this phrase seemed silly, but after watching Drag Me To Hell it’s obvious that it’s the only way to really capture the haunted house on goofballs vibe that the director brings so effortlessly. It’s likely that you saw the ending coming a mile away, but the fun of going on that ride makes it all worth it. I’ve seen the film three times and it never fails to deliver the goods.
Contributing Factors: Raimi’s energy is high. He’s just having fun, and when he’s having fun his lead is being tortured. Allison Lohman is a good sport, getting beat, thrown about, covered in slime and bugs and suffering all sorts of other indignities. One of my favorite things about the film is the way that Raimi has set the story inside of a semi-fully realized occult world, one where the lamia is just a facet of the supernatural.
Performance to Savor: I love two performances in this film. Justin Long does almost superhuman work with his clueless yet caring boyfriend role; never getting to really be part of the Sam Raimi spook-a-blast fun, he nevertheless is completely a part of the atmosphere. You can’t just play a stiff in a movie like this, you have to play a weird funhouse version of a stiff, and Long does it. The other performance is Lorna Raver as Sylvia Ganush, the cursing gypsy. What a grotesquely delightful performance she gives. Oscars for best fake teeth work all around!
CHUD.com Pull Quote: “Drag me back to the theater again and again!”
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox (my review)(pre-order the DVD/pre-order the Blu-Ray)
The first of four ‘kid’ movies clogging up this list, Wes Anderson’s take on Roald Dahl’s better known in England book is a blast. And it sees the director finally finding the right venue for his twee, dollhouse style – stop motion animation. Anderson has been on a downward slope with his last two films – The Life Aquatic had its charms, but Darjeeling Limited, while pleasant on first viewing, has deflated into nothingness. But Mr. Fox is Anderson back where we want him, and maybe with more energy than ever before, bringing us actual hijinks. Who would have thought we would have non-ironic hijinks in a Wes Anderson film anymore? I don’t know how faithful the movie is to the book, but as a standalone work it’s a graceful, modern-feeling story about making do and getting over the bad times. As well as being about father issues. Hey, it’s a Wes Anderson movie, after all.
Contributing Factors: The whole film is made by the stop motion animation. Tactile and immediate to the point that you can see the animator’s fingers mussing the fur on the puppets. The entire world is boldly textured; who needs 3D when you can make a world as full of surfaces and depths as Anderson and his team does here. The script is wryly funny, treading a line between archly knowing and innocently silly. If you watch Fantastic Mr. Fox and don’t replace all your swear words with ‘cussing’ for at least an hour, you’ve missed the boat.
Performance to Savor: Jason Schwartzman as Mr. Fox’s son is the highlight of the movie for me. Angry, dickish and more than a little wounded, he’s a sweet and lovable little guy, running around with a sock on his head. His journey to self-esteem follows a well-worn path, but Schwartzman’s enthusiasm makes it feel fresh and new.
CHUD.com Pull Quote: “Fan-foxing-tastic!”
12. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (my review)(Buy the DVD/Buy the Blu-Ray)
This isn’t right. This isn’t how it should be. Film series – especially film series aimed squarely at younger audiences – simply do not keep getting better. And yet here’s the Harry Potter franchise, hitting the sixth film and making it the best yet. There will always be those who stick with Alfonso Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban as the best in the series, but they’re looking through jaundiced eyes – David Yates and Steve Kloves have taken what was the least focused of JK Rowling’s books and turned it into a movie that is painfully honest about the sexual and romantic passages every young person experiences. All while keeping the mystery and fun of a group of kids at a wizard school. I’m known as a big softie for the Harry Potter films, but I do think that Half-Blood Prince finds the perfect balance between fantasy story and teenage angst.
Contributing Factors: Kloves really trims away a lot of the fat in Rowling’s book, which was largely about getting pieces into place for the finale. Those complaining that the Half-Blood Prince doesn’t really factor into the movie… well, he barely factors into the book, either. David Yates merges lovely cinematography with subtle CG to bring Hogwarts to life in new ways that stun and please. And the other contributing factor is Chris Columbus – he found these kids years ago and set them as the leads in the Harry Potter films. Watching them grow up – and grow into actors ranging from decent to quite good – has been a really unique and exciting cinematic experience.
Performance to Savor: Remember when we wondered who could possibly fill Richard Harris’ shoes as Dumbledore? Michael Gambon has completely and totally made the character his own, bringing the wizard to wonderful life. Continuing the Potter tradition of guest stars stealing the show, Jim Broadbent is a delight as ‘new’ professor Slughorn.
CHUD.com Pull Quote: “Hey Harry, is that a wand in your pants or are you happy to see me?”
11. Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire (my review)(pre-order the DVD/pre-order the Blu-Ray)
Fair warning: the next few places could possibly switch around depending on my mood. I had Precious in and out of the number ten spot, and I’m still not completely sure I’ve ranked it correctly. There’s been a serious backlash to this movie, and I get why: if the film doesn’t work for you it feels like pity porn, like a great big wallow in someone else’s misery. But if the film touches you, like it touched me, it becomes a bracing look at something that’s all too real. I’m shocked to see people doubting that the story of Precious – an illiterate, obese, abused single teen mom in Harlem in the 80s – rings true, since it’s a story I’ve seen first hand. Before I did this bourgeois film critic shit I was a community activist in New York, and I spent time working with inner city youth. Precious’ story doesn’t even ring unusual to me, and the film’s unflinching dedication to reality can leave your spirit crushed in the end. But it can also elevate you, as the film is all about finding hope in the face of hopelessness. This isn’t The Blind Side, where white people swoop in to save Precious. The only person who can save Precious is herself, and the definition of being saved for a girl in her situation doesn’t fit into the tidy Hollywood happy ending. But it’s not pain for pain’s sake – it’s pain for clarity, and living this girl’s bravery can give you some of your own.
Contributing Factors: Based on a beloved novel by Sapphire, Precious works because it feels true. I’ve compared it to The Wire, and I still think it’s apt. Lee Daniels creates the not-missed Harlem of the 80s without turning Precious into a cheap ad for a soundtrack.
Performance to Savor: It’s true: Mo’Nique gives a performance for the ages here. She’s a monster, but a real, human one. She’s disgusting and horrible and sad and tragic all at once. You’ll hate her and realize that her own backstory probably isn’t that different from her daughter’s.
CHUD.com Pull Quote: “It’s the feel good about feeling bad film of the year!”