Monday, February 1, 2010

The List: My Top 10 Films Of 2009

Disrtrict 9
Star Trek
Whip It
Dead Snow
Black Dynamite
The Boat That Rocked
The Hangover
Coraline (3D)
Away We Go
A Serious Man

These are my top ten films for 2009. These are the films that I either just flat out enjoyed the most or connected with on a deeper level. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that 4 of my top 5 are what we lovingly refer to as “genre” pictures. “Coraline” made into the top 10 I think based solely on the 3D aspect of it, a fine film which was elevated to a great film experience because of the 3D, the only 3D film I’ve enjoyed the experience in. And yes that includes “Up” and “Avatar”. “Dead Snow” and “Black Dynamite” are films I saw at BIFF, and both were really fun experiences that it is a pity a wider audience isn’t able to share. “Dead Snow” was meant to have a November DVD release, but for some unknown reason it’s been delayed. Rest assured, once it is released, I’ll be letting everybody know.
Did anybody else see “A Serious Man”? It was good, really good Coen Bros. movie. Had one of those non-endings which can mostly grate, but this time the film was so well done, I didn’t care that it just seemed to stop for no reason. Or maybe there is a reason and I’m too lazy or dense to think it through and realise what it is.
“Away We Go” seems to be another film that nobody else saw, and it makes it here because of the emotional resonances. Well worth the watch.



Paranormal Activity
500 Days Of Summer
Moon
Fast & Furious
Where The Wild Things Are
Inglorious Basterds
HP & The Half Blood Prince
These were the closest contenders that didn’t make it to the top 10. “Inglorious Basterds” lost out because I needed a 2nd viewing to truly appreciate it. Maybe if I look back in another 10 years and do another list, it might make it then. Same with “Where The Wild Things Are” somewhat. I really enjoyed the film, but there were aspects of it that I just didn’t like, most notably but not exclusively, the soundtrack; which just kept it out from the top 10. I really liked “Paranormal Activity”, I thought it was really effective in what it was trying to do, namely scare the audience, but it just narrowly missed out, as I enjoyed 10 other films more. Same with “500 Days…” and “Moon”. If you like smart sci-fi, I really recommend you check out “Moon”. And how can you not like “500 Days…”, it’s got Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel (swoon) in it. Good film.

Well, that’ll do from me I guess. Didn’t really spark the blog conversation I was hoping for, but

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