Top 10s of Cinema, 2009

Top 10 Films:
#1: The Hurt Locker
#2: Up in the Air
#3: The White Ribbon
#4: (500) Days of Summer
#5: Inglourious Basterds
#6: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
#7: Up
#8: Avatar
#9: A Single Man
#10: Star Trek

Runners-Up: The Hangover, Where the Wild Things Are, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Knowing, and Crazy Heart

Top 10 Scenes:
#1: The First Ten Minutes, Up
#2: Opening Scene, Inglourious Basterds
#3: "You Make My Dreams Come True," by Hall & Oates, (500) Days of Summer
#4: Slideshow/End Credits, The Hangover
#5: Natalie Fires an Older Man in Detroit, Up in the Air
#6: The Last Battle, Avatar
#7: Rules to Live By, Zombieland
#8: Expectations vs. Reality, (500) Days of Summer
#9: Opening Scene/"Sabotage," Star Trek
#10: Sniper Staredown, The Hurt Locker

Top 10 Favorite Films:
#1: (500) Days of Summer
#2: Inglourious Basterds
#3: Zombieland
#4: The Hangover
#5: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
#6: Star Trek
#7: The Hurt Locker
#8: I Love You, Man
#9: Up in the Air
#10: Avatar (3D IMAX only)

Top Ten Performances:
#1: Christof Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
#2: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
#3: George Clooney, Up in the Air
#4: Colin Firth, A Single Man
#5: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
#6: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
#7: Sam Rockwell, Moon
#8: Adam Sandler, Funny People
#9: Anna Kendrick & Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
#10: Brad Pitt, Inglourious Basterds

(Note: at the time of this article, I have not seen Precious, An Education, or The Last Station)

Ten Biggest Surprises:
#1: Star Trek (cheesy trailer with no A-List star usually spells disaster, but instead proves to be my #10 Film of the Year)
#2: The Hangover (surprisingly very well-made, perfectly complemented with classic humor and the emergance of Zach Galifinakas, or however you spell it)
#3: District 9 (loses its zest on repeat viewings, but I'll never forget trying to guess what's going to happen next)
#4: A Single Man (thought it would aim for Milk's over-the-top homosexuality, but succeeded in telling a basic story on lost loved ones, and the process of grief) #5: Knowing (expecting corn-ball sci-fi, but Knowing's third act takes it to an entirely different level)
#6: World's Greatest Dad (a Robin Williams movie you never heard of ... but should have heard of. Now you've heard about it. Go watch it. Quite possibly the darkest comedy of the last decade)
#7: Zombieland (good cheesy, not bad cheesy. See G.I. Joe for bad cheesy)
#8: Law Abiding Citizen (expected big-time cheesy, and almost got it; however the surprising evolution of Gerard Butler's character keeps the suspense alive)
#9: Terminator Salvation (totally thought it was going to suck without the Governator, but turned out to be pretty decent)
#10: The Fantastic Mr. Fox (wasn't a fan of the trailer, but Wes Anderson has done it again)

Ten Biggest Disappointments:
#1: Watchmen (If you didn't read the book, you wouldn't know where to begin. Don't watch it, unless you like blue penis.)
#2: G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (I expected bad, and it just got worse.)
#3: Invictus (Eastwood doesn't know who his main character is. If it starred Matt Damon and centered around the rugby team ... and Morgan Freeman came in with pin-point motivational speeches as Nelson Mandela, this would be a classic sports film; and Morgan Freeman would be giving Christof Waltz a run for his money as Best Supporting Actor. Instead, Freeman somehow got an Oscar nomination for Lead Actor in a role that was so underdeveloped that it was painful to watch. The film mirrors that performance, and shows that Eastwood would rather finish a film that's under budget than ... well ... finish a film.)
#4: Angels & Demons (Knew Ewan was bad from the beginning. Could you fix NOTHING from the Da Vinci Code?)
#5: The Informant (Total miss in marketing. Never advertise a semi-dramatic character study as a screwball comedy. Everyone will leave the theatre pissed.)
#6: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (AKA, X-Men: Mike's Last Stand)
#7: Funny People (Jared Apatow's Citizen Kane falls short due to his overambition and inability to edit out useless subplots. While the 40 minute segment with Leslie Mann and Eric Bana had its moments, it could have been completely removed from the plot and the film would have served the same purpose. See my review for other details.)
#8: Julie & Julia (Why wasn't it just called Julia?)
#9: A Serious Man (Study the book of Job and learn Yiddish before watching this)
#10: Public Enemies (with Michael Mann, Johnny Depp, and Marion Cotillard, I expected golden statues. It looks good, and it features good performances, and has all the ingredients of a classic. It's just missing the chemistry needed for a crime-centered love story to succeed. Beatty and Dunaway had it; and director Arthur Penn knew it. Depp and Cotillard could have had it, but Michael Mann focuses on making a technically brilliant film instead of a truly brilliant film.)