Your Top Ten of 2009

[Melville]

I uh, haven't actually seen the film. I was just commenting that this sounds like nothing new for Egoyan, post-9/11 or not.

Yeah, I know. I was furthering your point. The post-9/11 stuff is about terrorism and anti-Muslim prejudice, rather than the effects of technology, but even so, it fits snugly into Egoyan's recurrent set of subjects, rather than being cheaply of-the-moment, and the film deals with it with some nuance (with the exception of the webcam scenes, which were definitely far too obvious in their orchestration), so the comparison to after-school specials seems undeserved.

[origami_mustache]

Yeah, I know. I was furthering your point. The post-9/11 stuff is about terrorism and anti-Muslim prejudice, rather than the effects of technology, but even so, it fits snugly into Egoyan's recurrent set of subjects, rather than being cheaply of-the-moment, and the film deals with it with some nuance (with the exception of the webcam scenes, which were definitely far too obvious in their orchestration), so the comparison to after-school specials seems undeserved.

You make a compelling argument for why you liked it and I respect that, however I still strongly disliked it. Maybe I'm just being a curmudgeon lately, but I don't enjoy films that lecture me about things I'm already completely aware of and immersed in. It all felt really forced and obvious to me, I suppose that's where the after school special comparison comes in, but it's at least a tier above that I suppose. Aside from that I thought it was really dull aesthetically as well, but whatever.

[Melville]

YMaybe I'm just being a curmudgeon lately, but I don't enjoy films that lecture me about things I'm already completely aware of and immersed in. It all felt really forced and obvious to me, I suppose that's where the after school special comparison comes in.

Fair enough. I agree that it would have benefited from a lighter touch.

[B-side]

1. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
2. Antichrist (Trier)
3. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Herzog)
4. Can Go Through Skin (Rots)
5. Moon (Jones)
6. Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson (Doane)
7. The White Ribbon (Haneke)
8. Broken Embraces (Almodóvar)
9. Phantoms of Nabua (Weerasethakul)
10. The Little White Cloud That Cried (Maddin)

Impossible to rank: OneDreamRush Segment: Crutchnap (Korine)

[

Show Spoiler

11. Glorious (Maddin)
12. The Fish Child (Puenzo)
13. Coraline (Selick)
14. Vengeance (To)
15. Capitalism: A Love Story (Moore)
16. District 9 (Blomkamp)
17. The Limits of Control (Jarmusch, 2009)
18. Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
19. Up (Docter)
20. Star Trek (Abrams)
21. Funny People (Apatow)
22. Mammoth (Moodysson)
23. Watchmen (Snyder)
24. Inventorium Sladów (Quay)
25. Adventureland (Mottola)
26. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Yates)
27. Louis Theroux: A Place for Pedophiles (Theroux)
28. Sweet Rush (Wajda)
29. Whatever Works (Allen)
30. À l'aventure (Brisseau)
31. Black Dynamite (Sanders)
32. Grace (Solet)
33. Brüno (Charles)

]

[eternity]

1. Adventureland dir. Greg Motolla
2. Moon dir. Duncan Jones
3. The Box dir. Richard Kelly
4. The Brothers Bloom dir. Rian Johnson
5. Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder
6. Inglourious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino
7. World's Greatest Dad dir. Bobcat Goldwaith
8. Paranormal Activity dir. Oren Peli
9. Mary and Max dir. Adam Elliot
10. Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[

Show Spoiler

11. (500) Days of Summer dir. Marc Webb
12. The Soloist dir. Joe Wright
13. Funny People dir. Judd Apatow
14. Up dir. Pete Docter
15. The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh
16. The Limits of Control dir. Jim Jarmusch
17. Drag Me to Hell dir. Sam Raimi
18. District 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp
19. Fanboys dir. Ryan Newman
20. Observe and Report dir. Jody Hill
21. The Hurt Locker dir. Kathyrn Bigelow
22. Julie & Julia dir. Nora Ephron
23. Broken Embraces dir. Pedro Almodovar
24. Whatever Works dir. Woody Allen
25. Jennifer's Body dir. Karyn Kasuma
26. The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips
27. Extract dir. Mike Judge
28. I Love You, Man dir. John Hamburg
29. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog
30. In the Loop dir. Armondo Iannucci
31. Phoebe in Wonderland dir. Daniel Barnz
32. The Informant! dir. Steven Soderbergh
33. The Boat That Rocked dir. Richard Curtis
34. Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer
35. Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier
36. Star Trek dir. J.J. Abrams
37. Public Enemies dir. Michael Mann
38. Bruno dir. Larry Charles
39. 9 dir. Shane Acker
40. The Twilight Saga: New Moon dir. Chris Weitz
______________________________ ______
Rotten:
41. Capitalism: A Love Story dir. Michael Moore
42. Orphan dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
43. The International dir. Tom Twyker
44. The Young Victoria dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
45. The Informers dir. Gregor Jordan
46. Whip It! dir. Drew Barrymore
47. Terminator Salvation dir. Joseph McGinty
48. Away We Go dir. Sam Mendes
49. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince dir. That Goddamn Sucker Fucker David Yates
50. Confessions of a Shopaholic dir. P.J. Hogan
51. Taken dir. Pierre Morel
52. The Burning Plain dir. Guillermo Arriaga
53. Good Dick dir. Marianna Palka
54. Powder Blue dir. Timothy Linh Bui
55. The Obama Deception dir. Alex Jones
56. Obsessed dir. Steve Shill
57. The Pink Panther 2 dir. Harald Zwart
58. Van Wilder: Freshmen Year dir. Harvey Glazer
59. X-Men Origins: Wolverine dir. Gavin Hood
60. Bride Wars dir. Gary Winick
61. Sorority Row dir. Stewart Hendler
62. The Ugly Truth dir. Robert Luketic
63. My Sister's Keeper dir. Nick Cassavetes
64. Precious dir. Lee Daniels
65. Paul Blart: Mall Cop dir. Steve Carr
66. The Unborn dir. David S. Goyer
67. The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience dir. Bruce Hendricks
68. Dragonball Evolution dir. James Wong
69. The Proposal dir. Anne Fletcher
70. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dir. Michael Bay
71. He's Just Not That Into You dir. Ken Kwapis

]

NEW: The Young Victoria, The Boat That Rocked, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Box

[Ivan Drago]

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Watchmen
3. Crank 2: High Voltage
4. The Informant!
5. Paranormal Activity
6. Two Lovers
7. Star Trek
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. The Hangover
10. I Love You, Man
[

Show Spoiler

11. Whatever Works
12. Up
13. Where The Wild Things Are
14. Gamer
15. Terminator: Salvation
16. Moon
17. A Christmas Carol
18. The Last House on the Left
19. Bruno
20. (500) Days of Summer
21. Taken
22. Zombieland
23. Public Enemies
24. Adventureland
25. Land of the Lost
26. The Blind Side
27. Monsters vs. Aliens
28. He's Just Not That Into You
29. Observe and Report
30. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
31. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
32. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Unrankable: 2012, New Moon

]

Updated for The Blind Side, A Christmas Carol and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

[B-side]

Really didn't care for Fantastic Mr. Fox, eh? I can't remember if you're typically a Wes Anderson fan? I don't care to see it right away.

[Ivan Drago]

Really didn't care for Fantastic Mr. Fox, eh? I can't remember if you're typically a Wes Anderson fan? I don't care to see it right away.

Nope, I do not like Wes Anderson or his hipster antics at all. Fox did have good moments though.

[B-side]

Nope, I do not like Wes Anderson or his hipster antics at all. Fox did have good moments though.

I should sig this.:lol:

[eternity]

Hipster antics?

Christ fucking Jesus.

[Fezzik]

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. District 9
3. Where the Wild Things Are
4. Adventureland
5. Coraline
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. The Princess and the Frog
8. Up
9. Watchmen
10. The Hangover

[

Show Spoiler

Honorable Mention:

11. (500) Days of Summer
12. Star Trek
13. I Love You, Man
14. Zombieland


Meh. Ok, I Guess:

15. Funny People
16. Public Enemies
17. 9
18. The Informant!

Ugh. Just stop. Please

19. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
20. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
21. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
22. Terminator Salvation

]

Updated. I'll be the first to admit there was probably no way I could be 100% objective concerning Princess and the Frog. I'm an old school Disney fan-boy, and just seeing this film made me giddy.

Of course, the fact that it was actually pretty damn good made me even giddier, so your mileage may vary.

[Sycophant]

1. A Serious Man
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Moon
4. Still Walking
5. Where the Wild Things Are
6. Adventureland
7. The Hurt Locker
8. I Love You, Man
9. Observe and Report
10. Star Trek

Something needs to bump off the bottom one, as I don't think it quite belongs on my year-end top 10. A Serious Man enjoys a pretty much insurmountable position.

[baby doll]

US Dates:

1. Adoration (Atom Egoyan)
2. Tony Manero (Pablo Larrain)
3. A Serious Man (Ethan and Joel Coen)
4. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)
5. You, the Living (Roy Andersson)
6. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki)
7. La Frontière de l'aube (Philippe Garrel)
8. Moon (Duncan Jones)
9. The Bad Lieutenant—Port of Call: New Orleans (Werner Herzog)
10. Bright Star (Jane Campion)

I also liked Antichrist, Brüno, Food, Inc., The Girlfriend Experience, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Liverpool, Lymelife, Revanche, Le Silence de Lorna, Sugar, Three Monkeys, Two Lovers, Tulpan, Up, and Whatever Works.

So it turns out Silent Light may or may not count as a 2009 release, depending on whether or not you consider the Museum of Modern Art a commercial theatre.

[ledfloyd]

1. Two Lovers
2. Love Exposure
3. The Limits of Control
4. Summer Hours
5. Adventureland
6. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
7. Up
8. In the Loop
9. Inglorious Basterds
10. Goodbye Solo

new number one. it's possible i'm overreacting and it will settle with time. but this was an unexpected wow.

[Boner M]

1. Tokyo Sonata (Kurosawa)
2. Import/Export (Seidl)
3. The Limits of Control (Jarmusch)
4. 35 Shots of Rum (Denis)
5. The White Ribbon (Haneke)
6. A Serious Man (Coen)[/u]
7. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
8. Julia (Zonca)
9. Forbidden Lies (Broinowski)
10. Somer's Town (Meadows)

Wow, Swinton really is as good as advertised in Julia. The film itself was shaping up to be my #1 with a bang for about the first hour, but I lost a bit of interest as soon as the kid's kidnapped and the film becomes a little more subservient to its genre mechanics (albeit with many moments of poetry and absurd humour).

[Ezee E]

Yep. I had the same reaction to Julia, but really disliked that second hour more.

[Raiders]

Updated:

1. Two Lovers
2. Coraline
3. District 9
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Adventureland
7. Ponyo
8. Star Trek
9. Gomorrah
10. Zombieland

[

Show Spoiler

Where the Wild Things Are [7.0]
A Perfect Getaway [7.0]
The Road [7.0]
I Love You, Man [6.5]
The Box [6.5]
Drag Me to Hell [6.5]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [6.5]
The Hangover [6.0]
Up [6.0]
State of Play [6.0]
Invictus [5.5]
Paranormal Activity [5.0]
Crank: High Voltage [4.5]
The Informant! [4.0]
Watchmen [4.0]
Taken [3.5]
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen [2.5]
Observe and Report [2.5]
Terminator Salvation [2.0]

]

[Ezee E]

Ah damn. I'll have to look up when Gomorrah came out. That would make a few of my nominations and my top ten probably.

[eternity]

Avatar placement is temporary. As you may know, The Dark Knight sat pretty highly until I saw it again and realized that I hadn't slept for 44 hours and was high out of my mind. The same circumstances are in effect. I hope not, but kind of.

1. Adventureland dir. Greg Motolla
2. Moon dir. Duncan Jones
3. Avatar dir. James Cameron
4. The Box dir. Richard Kelly
5. The Brothers Bloom dir. Rian Johnson
6. Inglourious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino
7. World's Greatest Dad dir. Bobcat Goldwaith
8. Paranormal Activity dir. Oren Peli
9. Mary and Max dir. Adam Elliot
10. Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[

Show Spoiler

11. Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder
12. (500) Days of Summer dir. Marc Webb
13. The Soloist dir. Joe Wright
14. Funny People dir. Judd Apatow
15. Up dir. Pete Docter
16. The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh
17. The Limits of Control dir. Jim Jarmusch
18. Bart Got A Room dir. Brian Hecker
19. Drag Me to Hell dir. Sam Raimi
20. District 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp
21. Observe and Report dir. Jody Hill
22. The Hurt Locker dir. Kathyrn Bigelow
23. Julie & Julia dir. Nora Ephron
24. Broken Embraces dir. Pedro Almodovar
25. Julia dir. Erick Zonka
26. Whatever Works dir. Woody Allen
27. Fanboys dir. Ryan Newman
28. Jennifer's Body dir. Karyn Kasuma
29. The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips
30. Extract dir. Mike Judge
31. I Love You, Man dir. John Hamburg
32. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog
33. In the Loop dir. Armondo Iannucci
34. Phoebe in Wonderland dir. Daniel Barnz
35. Food Inc. dir. Robert Kenner
36. The Informant! dir. Steven Soderbergh
37. The Boat That Rocked dir. Richard Curtis
38. Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer
39. Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier
40. Where the Wild Things Are dir. Spike Jonze
41. Star Trek dir. J.J. Abrams
42. Public Enemies dir. Michael Mann
43. Bruno dir. Larry Charles
44. 9 dir. Shane Acker
45. The Twilight Saga: New Moon dir. Chris Weitz
______________________________ ______
Rotten:
46. Capitalism: A Love Story dir. Michael Moore
47. Orphan dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
48. Invictus dir. Clint Eastwood
49. The International dir. Tom Twyker
50. The Young Victoria dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
51. The Informers dir. Gregor Jordan
52. Whip It! dir. Drew Barrymore
53. Obsessed dir. Steve Shill
54. Terminator Salvation dir. Joseph McGinty
55. Away We Go dir. Sam Mendes
56. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince dir. That Goddamn Sucker Fucker David Yates
57. Confessions of a Shopaholic dir. P.J. Hogan
58. Taken dir. Pierre Morel
59. The Burning Plain dir. Guillermo Arriaga
60. Good Dick dir. Marianna Palka
61. The Blind Side dir. John New York Literati Hancock
62. Powder Blue dir. Timothy Linh Bui
63. The Obama Deception dir. Alex Jones
64. The Pink Panther 2 dir. Harald Zwart
65. Van Wilder: Freshmen Year dir. Harvey Glazer
66. X-Men Origins: Wolverine dir. Gavin Hood
67. Bride Wars dir. Gary Winick
68. Sorority Row dir. Stewart Hendler
69. The Ugly Truth dir. Robert Luketic
70. My Sister's Keeper dir. Nick Cassavetes
71. Precious dir. Lee Daniels
72. Paul Blart: Mall Cop dir. Steve Carr
73. The Unborn dir. David S. Goyer
74. The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience dir. Bruce Hendricks
75. Dragonball Evolution dir. James Wong
76. The Proposal dir. Anne Fletcher
77. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dir. Michael Bay
78. He's Just Not That Into You dir. Ken Kwapis

]

NEW: Avatar, Where the Wild Things Are, The Blind Side, Food Inc., Julia, Bart Got A Room, Invictus

EDIT: After rewatch, it is comfortably sitting at the #3 position. It's just a smidge worse than Moon on a substantive level, but you can't just totally ignore the technical achievement of the film.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Update:

1. Goodbye Solo
2. Moon
3. Drag Me to Hell
4. Sugar
5. Adventureland
6. Sin Nombre
7. Summer Hours
8. Coraline
9. The House of the Devil
10. (500) Days of Summer

Update:

1. Goodbye Solo
2. Moon
3. Drag Me to Hell
4. Sugar
5. Adventureland
6. Sin Nombre
7. Summer Hours
8. Coraline
9. The House of the Devil
10. Fantastic Mr. Fox

[Dukefrukem]

Avatar placement is temporary. As you may know, The Dark Knight sat pretty highly until I saw it again and realized that I hadn't slept for 44 hours and was high out of my mind. The same circumstances are in effect. I hope not, but kind of.

T1. Adventureland dir. Greg Motolla
T1. Avatar dir. James Cameron
2. Moon dir. Duncan Jones
3. The Box dir. Richard Kelly
4. The Brothers Bloom dir. Rian Johnson
5. Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder
6. Inglourious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino
7. World's Greatest Dad dir. Bobcat Goldwaith
8. Paranormal Activity dir. Oren Peli
9. Mary and Max dir. Adam Elliot
10. Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[

Show Spoiler

11. (500) Days of Summer dir. Marc Webb
12. The Soloist dir. Joe Wright
13. Funny People dir. Judd Apatow
14. Up dir. Pete Docter
15. The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh
16. The Limits of Control dir. Jim Jarmusch
17. Drag Me to Hell dir. Sam Raimi
18. District 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp
19. Fanboys dir. Ryan Newman
20. Observe and Report dir. Jody Hill
21. The Hurt Locker dir. Kathyrn Bigelow
22. Julie & Julia dir. Nora Ephron
23. Broken Embraces dir. Pedro Almodovar
24. Julia dir. Erick Zonka
25. Whatever Works dir. Woody Allen
26. Jennifer's Body dir. Karyn Kasuma
27. The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips
28. Extract dir. Mike Judge
29. I Love You, Man dir. John Hamburg
30. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog
31. In the Loop dir. Armondo Iannucci
32. Phoebe in Wonderland dir. Daniel Barnz
33. Food Inc. dir. Robert Kenner
34. The Informant! dir. Steven Soderbergh
35. The Boat That Rocked dir. Richard Curtis
36. Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer
37. Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier
38. Where the Wild Things Are dir. Spike Jonze
39. Star Trek dir. J.J. Abrams
40. Public Enemies dir. Michael Mann
41. Bruno dir. Larry Charles
42. 9 dir. Shane Acker
43. The Twilight Saga: New Moon dir. Chris Weitz
______________________________ ______
Rotten:
44. Capitalism: A Love Story dir. Michael Moore
45. Orphan dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
46. The International dir. Tom Twyker
47. The Young Victoria dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
48. The Informers dir. Gregor Jordan
49. Whip It! dir. Drew Barrymore
50. Terminator Salvation dir. Joseph McGinty
51. Away We Go dir. Sam Mendes
52. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince dir. That Goddamn Sucker Fucker David Yates
53. Confessions of a Shopaholic dir. P.J. Hogan
54. Taken dir. Pierre Morel
55. The Burning Plain dir. Guillermo Arriaga
56. Good Dick dir. Marianna Palka
57. The Blind Side dir. John New York Literati Hancock
58. Powder Blue dir. Timothy Linh Bui
59. The Obama Deception dir. Alex Jones
60. Obsessed dir. Steve Shill
61. The Pink Panther 2 dir. Harald Zwart
62. Van Wilder: Freshmen Year dir. Harvey Glazer
63. X-Men Origins: Wolverine dir. Gavin Hood
64. Bride Wars dir. Gary Winick
65. Sorority Row dir. Stewart Hendler
66. The Ugly Truth dir. Robert Luketic
67. My Sister's Keeper dir. Nick Cassavetes
68. Precious dir. Lee Daniels
69. Paul Blart: Mall Cop dir. Steve Carr
70. The Unborn dir. David S. Goyer
71. The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience dir. Bruce Hendricks
72. Dragonball Evolution dir. James Wong
73. The Proposal dir. Anne Fletcher
74. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dir. Michael Bay
75. He's Just Not That Into You dir. Ken Kwapis

]

NEW: Avatar, Where the Wild Things Are, The Blind Side, Food Inc., Julia

nice

[balmakboor]

1. Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea
2. Munyurangabo
3. Tulpan
4. Goodbye Solo
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. The Informant!
7. Treeless Mountain
8. Bright Star
9. Waltz with Bashir
10. Adventureland

Added Tulpan and rethought some things

[Fezzik]

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Avatar
3. District 9
4. Where the Wild Things Are
5. Adventureland
6. Coraline
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
8. The Princess and the Frog
9. Up
10. Watchmen


[

Show Spoiler

Honorable Mention:

11. The Hangover
12. (500) Days of Summer
13. Star Trek
14. I Love You, Man
15. Zombieland
16. 17 Again

Meh. Ok, I Guess:

17. Funny People
18. Public Enemies
19. 9
20. The Informant!

Ugh. Just stop. Please

21. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
22. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
23. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
24. Terminator Salvation

]


Updated with 17 Again and Avatar. I'm with Eternity on this one.

[Pop Trash]

9. Waltz with Bashir

This was 2008 US release.

[balmakboor]

This was 2008 US release.

Do I have to go over this again?