The 15 Best of 2009 (And Some Other Loose Ends)

The year in film can only be seen in relation to the global economic crisis that seems to define it. Much like the films of the early 30's this year was about escapism, yet it was escapism tempered by allegorical overtones. As if suggesting that instead of closing our eyes to whats going on around us we are merely squinting. A good friend of mine after enthusiastically gushing about Avatar suggested that he wished he could be an Avatar on some distant world. That might be a pitch perfect summation of the escapist feeling of the movie-going public in a year dominated by Transformers and Avatar. As A.O. Scott said "our movie avatars can travel freely through time and space, skipping over metaphysical borders with digitally enabled ease." Movie technology has never been better equipped to provide the mass therapy the world so desperately needs. Yet the question arises: did the movies succeed? The most successful films of the year were aimed at teenagers, those least in need of escapist fun in a world where joblessness is reaching ever greater heights. There has been a significant number of words devoted to the lack of adult films being given wide release and those accusations seem even more spot on when one looks at what some of the most popular "auteurist" releases this year (Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, and James Cameron's Avatar). Yet it has been a good year for the movies, a sort of defiant hoorah in the face of an ever more depressing reality.

My criteria for this list is that a film must be released in the US in 2009 (film festivals don't count) so films like Fish Tank and A Prophet, although fairly widely seen (relatively) will have to wait till next year. I saw about 70 films that fit these criterion and there are some good looking films I haven't had a chance to see, but no-one can so... without further ado, my list:

15. Two Lover's (James Gray)
14. Bright Star (Jane Campion)
13. The Box (Rickard Kelly)
12. Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki)
11. Antichrist (Lars Von Trier)

10. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
Aside from Avatar, this was the most buzzed about film of the year. It doesn't quite live up to the hype but is still a worth while and perfectly timed film. Built in a classic film structure, it none-the-less has a lot of surprises and twists. Everyone gives a great performance, but the film is limited by a conventional script form which in some places seems straight out of a screenwriting class.

9. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
A superbly executed action film. Many of the sequences rank as the most suspenseful all year. Its a tired subject, the toll of war, but its certainly well executed here.

8. Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze)
The best thing about this film is how it captures the wild exuberance of the source book. It has a terrific sense of what it is to deal with the pangs of growing up; what it is to go from anger to happiness, melancholy to unbridled joy. Not only is it emotionally powerful, but visually as well. The Wild Things are a beautiful mix of CGI and live action performance.

7. Food Inc. (Robert Kenner)
The most important "issue" film of the year (maybe the decade) and no-one should miss it. While it certainly isn't the best piece of film making this year, it balances the extremely complex issue it takes on really well. It's a call to action on the whole food industry from top to bottom, and it shouldn't be ignored.

6. Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani)
A great piece of independent film-making, this is the most human of the films on this list. The characters are complex and vulnerable. Initially they are all presented as stereotypes but those stereotypes are slowly broken down through the connections they make with the other characters. Bahrani has been called the new face of American independent film and it might not be an understatement. This film feels like the future, even in its simplicity.

5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
The perfect output for the perfectionist Anderson, this movie is the best Animated film of the year in a watershed year for animated film. From the voice recording, which was done on location, to the real animal fur used on the puppets; the film is a marvel of detail and a testament to the skill of one of the only modern auteurs.

4. Adventureland (Greg Mottola)
One of the most romantic (in the best sense) films in years, this is an extremely satisfying movie. Coming of age movies are a dime a dozen but good ones are hard to come by. Kristen Stewart gives her best performance and actually has some chemistry with Jesse Eisenberg (for an example of a lack of chemistry, see Twilight and New Moon, seriously).

3. Public Enemies (Michael Mann)
What Michael Mann is doing with digital film making is perhaps far more important than the more flashy Avatar. There are decent performances here but the real star is Mann who keeps taking chances and moving forward. Much of the criticism lobbed at the film involves digital filmmaking's shortcomings: how it creates a very "harsh" image compared with film's softness, how it shows imperfections in everything more clearly (particularly faces), and its general antiseptic feel. Yet, all of those things can be an asset if the viewer lets go of some of their ideas about what a film is. There are moments of real beauty here and the pleasures of the story are secondary to the pleasures of the moment.

2. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
The reason this is the best of Quentin Tarantino's films (a significant achievement) is that this might be his first screenplay which is entirely in service of the image on the screen instead of self-consciously clever. Its a monumental work that will be remembered beyond any other film released this year. I was more moved by Summer Hours but more impressed by this film.

1. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)
The only foreign film in my top 10, this French film is extremely compex. It deals primarily with the idea of legacy and aging but branches out into a myriad of areas including family, obligation, and money. I can't express just how moved I was by this movie, except by saying to go see it. So... go see it.
 

Now some silly meaningless awards:

Best Director: Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Best Performance: Souleymane Sy Savane (Goodbye Solo)
Best Script: Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Best Score: Marvin Hamlisch (The Informant!)
Best Soundtrack: Adventureland
Best Shot: The opening shot of Silent Light
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle (Antichrist)
Bravest Performance: Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist)
Best Special Effects: Avatar