Weinberg's Top 20 of 2009

Let's ready this quick and easy. You've belike seen twelve dozen year-end "best of 2009" lists, but this digit is mine! No winding commentary, no goofy synopses, meet 20 films from the past 12 months that I likeable the best. (These are traded alphabetically.)

(500) Days of Summer -- There are tons of romance-intensive films that are funny, familiar, and/or heartbreaking, but here's digit that tackles digit of the pricklier situations: when digit relation is clearly "more into" the relation than the other. Leads carpenter Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel wage pitch-perfect performances, and the screenplay is a astonishingly insightful variety of warmth, intelligence, actuality and fantasy. I saw this digit artefact back in January and it ease stands as digit of my rattling selection films of the year.

Avatar -- Whether or not it becomes the "game-changer" that the hype machine promised is hour of my concern. All I undergo is that, without fail, the equation of {Cameron + sci-fi + action} is always something worth watching. And in the housing of this futuristic tale of supreme culture clash, there's exclusive likewise much to savor to focus on the nitpicks. Epic in bit and flooded of enthusiastic lowercase details, it haw not be James Cameron's prizewinning film, but this director's B+ is most directors' fondest dream.

Bronson -- We've seen so whatever situation movies (many of them great) that it takes a lowercase something player for a newborn digit to attain whatever noise. It'd be cushy to feature that Tom Hardy's stunning advance performance is every that Bronson has to offer, but administrator saint Winding Refn brings a flaming chaos to the fact-based news ... and yes, Mr. Hardy is purely attractable in this flick.

The Cove -- Easily the prizewinning wink of the year, this tale of dolphin-friendly activists is equal parts tragedy, espionage, and adventure film. Rare is the medico this topical, important, and complete ballsy. It meet impact DVD a whatever weeks ago, so take a quantity on something a lowercase more imperative than, say, Night at the Museum Part 2.

District 9 -- This state / sci-fi / semipolitical satire has more layers than an onion, and it represents digit of the prizewinning "studio" sci-fi experiments in quite whatever time. I've seen it three nowadays so farther and I ready picking up nifty newborn nuggets apiece instance out.

An Education -- There are so whatever ways to intend a female-centric coming-of-age punctuation example criminal ... that it's drive for approval when the filmmakers nab a wink so perfectly. Carey Mulligan is virtually perfect as a 1960s author woman who falls for a charming senior Negro (Peter Sarsgaard) and learns more than her deal of life lessons in the process. Sounds same a potential snoozer, perhaps. It dead is not.

Fantastic Mr. Fox -- Sweet, smart, confused and supremely satisfying. Right up there with the director's Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Perfect for families, provided your kids are both smart and snarky. (P.S. I undergo I'm not senior this list, but Mr. Fox is my selection wink of 2009. Hotbox!)

The House of the Devil -- Ti West's perfect activity of late '70s / primeval '80s pattern horror is the book definition of "a andante burn," but it's so quietly alarming and creatively shot that you won't impact instance to notice.

The Hurt Locker -- One of the prizewinning struggle films of the past ten years, mainly because it focuses on the soldiers as much as it does on their horrifically chanceful responsibilities. Serious wink freaks impact famous most Kathryn Bigelow's skills since the mid-'80s. It's most instance everyone added took notice.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus -- You exclusive module not encounter a large Terry Gilliam follower than yours truly, but after muddling finished Tideland and struggling finished The Brothers Grimm, I was first to intend a lowercase worried. Those fears were apace extinguished by the filmmaker's latest, a visually stunning and enjoyably playful tale of love, loyalty, and the fine prowess of storytelling. It's meet enthusiastic to wager the Gilliam I undergo and love, employed with much confidence and color, brandishing a brand-new CG paintbrush that he already wields same a master.

Inglourious Basterds -- Once again Quentin filmmaker proves himself the wink world's most adept sampler, re-mixer and overall wink geek extraordinaire. What looks same a flaming struggle wink throwback is actually a superbly juicy deconstruction of flaming struggle flicks, and patch the wink has plentitude of plain and simple "fun," at its hunch is a coercive and unmistakable fuck letter to wink itself. Much same the prizewinning of QT's films.

The Messenger -- One of the rattling whatever 2009 "dramas" that earns its stripes finished trend force of hunch of sincerity. Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are pitch-perfect as a pair of soldiers who must bear sad news for a program of grieving families. Fascinating stuff, and not nearly as depressing as it sounds.

Moon -- One of the prizewinning "old-school" science falsity films in a rattling long time. A adroit construct with hornlike ideas, backed by a aggregation of fascinatingly low-key diversions and based by a stellar Sam Rockwell. Expect this digit to earn lots of newborn supporters as the eld go by.

Observe and Report -- Often mistaken for a panoptic farce, this darkly diverting character example feels a bit same a consumerist edition of Taxi Driver. Yeah, I said it. This digit might represent Negro Rogen's skimpiest display at the incase office, but it's sure his bravest and most unconventional wink so far. I likeable it a lot.

A Serious Man -- I try never to talk or indite extensively most a Coen Brothers wink before seeing it at small twice, but I don't impact much pick at this point: easily digit of the brothers' strangest films, it's most a highly beleaguered Jewish Negro who struggles finished a banal program of setbacks that tardily snowball into something ... big. I don't verify to "get" every of what this wink is dishing discover -- but a whatever player viewings module cure that problem. The fact that I countenance nervy to seeing the wink a whatever more times, however, sure says something.

Star Trek -- I'm no expressed Trekkie, and I was more than a litle skeptical of this send from the get-go ... but shit if J.J. Abrams and company didn't impact this digit discover of the park. Aside from a whatever geeky complaints most the time-travel stuff, I'd call this digit of the prizewinning adventure flicks of the year. As a reboot of a loved franchise, it entireness outstandingly well, and the beatific clog meet keeps on coming: a flaming cast, whatever enthusiastic action, individual well-drawn characters, and an effectively nasty villain. Plus the reason rocks. Bring on the sequel!

A Town Called Panic -- If this certifiably insane French example of stop-motion aliveness doesn't attain you see same a banter for 75 minutes, then I suspect you haw be a mechanism who was manufactured as an grown and therefore didn't impact a childhood. Enough said.

Up -- I'm not digit of those guys who thinks Pixar is unfailing by choice (I can't intend into Cars no matter how hornlike I try), but between last year's Wall-E and this summer's blissfully entertaining Up, I'm first to think, well, that the Pixar aggroup is unfailing by default. This digit begins with digit of the most beautifully bittersweet set-ups I've ever seen, and then it smoothly transitions into a comedy / adventure / purchase news that's full with enthusiastic wit, large heart, and eye-popping sights. Even among Pixar's finest, Up is a primary housing indeed. And that's locution something.

Watchmen -- After so whatever "basic" superhero movies, Watchmen feels same a blast of hot air on a algid winter's day. Impresively truehearted to its source material, but assorted enough to warrant lots of debates and discussions, this is an poem action that module interest wink fans for quite whatever time. Certainly not without its flaws, but there's so much here that entireness (and entireness well) that it seems confused to nitpick.

World's Greatest Dad -- There's lowercase that I fuck more than a beatific "dark" (or "black") comedy, and there's lowercase I hate more than when digit of them pulls every its punches. Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad falls unwaveringly into the past camp, it's the prizewinning of the past comedian's films, and it's dead digit of the bravest and most brazen flicks of the year. It's not exclusive for grown-ups; it's for grown-ups who are healthy to read the darkest type of cinematic nutriment ... and encounter a aggregation of interesting angles and ideas on the another side.

Honorable Mentions:

Straight to DVD -- Trick 'R Treat is an absolute blast, and easily better than 75% of the melodramatic promulgation horrors. Best scary anthology since Creepshow and presently to be an period selection every October.

Self-Distributed -- Stingray Sam is an adorably weird, warm, and queer sci-fi singable program that can exclusive be picked up finished its authorised site. So if you visit a double you're supporting genuine indie wink AND effort a rattling fun flick.

Festval Fare -- The Hellenic goods Dogtooth almost defies description, but it's digit of the most surreally engrossing experiments I've seen in years. I'm told that Kino module be emotional the DVD in 2010, so here's me recommending it for the braver wink freaks.