Better Late Than Never: Post Your Best of 2009 List

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lazarus

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Well, I finally feel comfortable putting this down in stone. A few titles I still need to see, but nothing that I feel has a legit chance of cracking this roster:

1. A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA)
2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, Germany/Austria)
3. Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, USA/Argentina)
4. Bright Star (Jane Campion, Australia/UK)
5. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, USA)
6. Thirst (Chan-wook Park, South Korea)
7. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan)
8. Funny People (Judd Apatow, USA)
9. Avatar (James Cameron, USA)
10. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, USA)

Honorable mention:
Two Lovers (James Gray, USA), The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, Sweden), Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar, Spain), The Princess and The Frog (Ron Clements & John Musker, USA), Adventureland (Greg Mottola, USA), The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Terry Gilliam, UK), The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, USA), Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosowa, Japan), Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (Hiyao Miyazaki, Japan), Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani, USA)

Acting Citations:
Vera Farmiga (Orphan), Abbie Cornish and Paul Schneider (Bright Star), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Vinessa Shaw (Two Lovers), Michael Stuhlbarg and Fred Melamed (A Serious Man), Ok-bin Kim (Thirst), Kirin Kiki (Still Walking), Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces), Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Christopher Plummer (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Christoph Waltz, and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist), Souleymane Sy Savane (Goodbye Solo)
 
Damn Laz, I'm literally 4 movies away from making a list that I'm totally satisfied with. It'll definitely be posted before the Oscar telecast, too.
 
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. The Princess and the Frog
4. Adventureland
 
1. A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA)
2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, Germany/Austria)
3. Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, USA/Argentina)
4. Bright Star (Jane Campion, Australia/UK)
5. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, USA)
6. Thirst (Chan-wook Park, South Korea)
7. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan)
8. Funny People (Judd Apatow, USA)
9. Avatar (James Cameron, USA)
10. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, USA)

Honorable mention:
Two Lovers (James Gray, USA), The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, Sweden), Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar, Spain), The Princess and The Frog (Ron Clements & John Musker, USA), Adventureland (Greg Mottola, USA), The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Terry Gilliam, UK), The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, USA), Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosowa, Japan), Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (Hiyao Miyazaki, Japan), Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani, USA)

Damn, I didn't watch ANY of the movies in your list.

*goes back inside turtle shell*

The only time I watch movies is when I'm on a 24-hour plane ride bound for Singapore.
 
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Harry Potter 6
3. Star Trek
4. UP
5. District 9
6. Bright Star
7. An Education
8. Avatar
9. Pandorum :D
10. Drag me to hell
 
I haven't seen a few films that might make it to the list, including Mr. Fox and Tokyo Sonata, but I don't expect to see them in the next few weeks, so here it is.

1. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, France)
2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, Germany/Austria)
3. Wild Grass (Alain Resnais, France)
4. Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar, Spain)
5. Inglorious Bastards (Quentin Tarantino, USA)
6. Bright Star (Jane Campion, Australia)
7. A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA)
8. An Education (Lone Scherfig, UK)
9. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, USA)
10. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, France)

I'm counting Summer Hours and A Headless Woman as 2008 releases. The former would top my list otherwise.
 
these lists look pretty good to me

just saw A Prophet - very good film - did not disappoint


one film from 2009 that I would include, at least for honorable mention:

Sin-Nombre-001.jpg


Sin Nombre
 
Might as well share.

1. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Miyazaki)
2. Bright Star (Campion)
3. The White Ribbon (Haneke)
4. Public Enemies (Mann)
5. Broken Embraces (Almodovar)
6. The Limits of Control (Jarmusch)
7. Avatar (Cameron)
8. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
9. A Serious Man (Coen)
10. The Girlfriend Experience (Soderbergh)

Honorables in no order: Bad Lieutenant (Herzog), The Brothers Bloom (Johnson), Tetro (Coppola), Antichrist (Von Trier), Two Lovers (Gray), Police Adjective (Porumboiu), Watchmen (Snyder), Love Exposure (Sono)
 
No particular order:

Fish Tank
Star Trek
The White Ribbion
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Up In The Air
Up
An Education
Precious
The Infromant!
Sin Nombre
Avatar (Just because)
 
Might as well share.

1. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Miyazaki)
2. Bright Star (Campion)
3. The White Ribbon (Haneke)
4. Public Enemies (Mann)
5. Broken Embraces (Almodovar)
6. The Limits of Control (Jarmusch)
7. Avatar (Cameron)
8. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
9. A Serious Man (Coen)
10. The Girlfriend Experience (Soderbergh)

Honorables in no order: Bad Lieutenant (Herzog), The Brothers Bloom (Johnson), Tetro (Coppola), Antichrist (Von Trier), Two Lovers (Gray), Police Adjective (Porumboiu), Watchmen (Snyder), Love Exposure (Sono)


I'm surprised Basterds didn't finish higher with you. And I don't remember Ponyo topping Bright Star when you reviewed it.

Where you you rank it among the other Miyazaki?
 
I'm surprised Basterds didn't finish higher with you. And I don't remember Ponyo topping Bright Star when you reviewed it.

Where you you rank it among the other Miyazaki?

A lot of things moved around after rewatches of most of my top 15 or so. Basterds went down just a tad, Limits of Control went back up, and Ponyo moved up from second to an unshakable first. And really, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with The White Ribbon ahead of Public Enemies even now. That should really be #4.

As for Ponyo, I'm probably setting myself up for a crucifixion here, but it's likely second or third behind Nausicaa and maybe Porco Rosso. :shrug:
 
Also, while I'm here, The International was 2009 right? Just watched it tonight finally. Wouldn't place on my list, but I was considerably impressed. Can't think of too many other examples that make such strong use of physical space and architecture in relation to its characters and macro narrative arcs. And of course the gunfight was outstanding.
 
Yeah, that film got way too much shit. I really enjoyed it considering it was a paycheck job, but I wasn't sure if I was just too biased, because I absolutely love everything Tykwer has done. If you haven't seen the rest of his filmography, make it a priority. My favorites are The Princess & The Warrior and Heaven.
 
Heaven is the Kieslowski one right? I'll get on that. Also heard good things about Perfume.
 
As for Ponyo, I'm probably setting myself up for a crucifixion here, but it's likely second or third behind Nausicaa and maybe Porco Rosso. :shrug:

I liked Ponyo, but it would be pretty near the bottom of my Ghibli list. I've only seen it once, though. But I know I preferred Howl's and Tales of Earthsea, not to mention the real masterpieces.
 
I liked Ponyo, but it would be pretty near the bottom of my Ghibli list. I've only seen it once, though. But I know I preferred Howl's and Tales of Earthsea, not to mention the real masterpieces.

My second viewing revealed countless new layers of subtlety and maturity in the storytelling that I didn't really pick up on the first time (though I still seem to have been a far bigger fan of this than most even on first viewing), and the power of the film's imagery and Hisaishi's score hit me as perfectly sublime from the first frame to last.
 
Heaven is the Kieslowski one right? I'll get on that. Also heard good things about Perfume.

Yes. The other two films in Kieslowski's planned trilogy were actually completed (his co-writer is still alive), but the middle entry, L'Enfer (by No Man's Land director Danis Tanovic) is tough to find and the last is a small Polish production that is even more rare. I did manage to finally track down both, though.

I can't believe Perfume didn't do better business. But it's also one fucked up movie.
 
Gotta go with A Serious Man as my favorite of 09, followed by Mr. Fox and Basterds.
 
1. Up In The Air
2. A Serious Man
3. Bad Lieutenant
4. Ponyo
5. Funny People
6. Moon
7. Crazy Heart
8. In The Loop
9. Up
10. Adventureland

A lot of independent and foreign stuff that I have access to and haven't watched. I know Goodbye Solo is probably a lock for my Top Ten giving that director's past reputation. Most overrated film that received critical acclaim was the impenetrable Gomorrah which I turned off after about forty minutes.

Also, there's so much good stuff nowadays that I could easily add another ten (or possibly 20 by the time I'm done devouring some of the lesser known stuff) that are in the same ballpark with the ten I posted.
 
one film from 2009 that I would include, at least for honorable mention:

Sin-Nombre-001.jpg


Sin Nombre

My friend who saw it before me had the same problem I did. Never really surprises you throughout the duration, just kind of hums along. Good movie though.
 
I really didn't see a lot of new movies this year :\, but my absolute favorite was Adventureland.
 
The Cove was brilliant and will definitely make my Top 25, and I won't have a chance to see The White Ribbon until after the Oscar telecast, sadly. Once I see Ponyo, Crazy Heart, and Broken Embraces, I'll put up my final list. And here are the categories I'll be using!

Top 25 Films
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Design
Best Art Direction
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Ensemble
10 Favorite Scenes/Sequences/Montages
Worst Performance in an Otherwise Good Film
Best Performance in an Otherwise Lame Film
Biggest Surprise
Biggest Disappointment
Biggest WTF Moment
Best Use of Max Records
 
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