TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2009

Now that it's March, I've waited an absurd amount of time to give my top 10 list, as this really should have been done 2 months ago. So while it's kind of irrelevant at this point, I figure as long as I slip them in before the Oscars it still counts, right? Plus, as some of these won't be rewarded tonight, I can still give them something.

1. Up in the Air

At one point this was poised to be the one to beat for best picture, and I'm not really sure why that changed. Up in the Air is a movie that feels simultaneously timeless and timely. It's the kind of impeccably written and acted adult comedy/drama that they just don't make like they used to, and the movie to best use our current economic troubles in a meaningful way. It was a very tough choice between this and my #2 pick, but ultimately this is the one I'll keep re-watching in years to come.

2. The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker's had so much acclaim elsewhere it can settle for #2 on my list. Still, in so many ways this is the movie people have been waiting for. For those craving a classic war like the Vietnam films of the 1970s, here you go. For those wondering if anyone could find a way to turn the Iraq War into art instead of a sermon, here's your answer. And if you want to see the most suspenseful movie of the year with the kind of knockout breakthrough performance that comes along very rarely, well, this is the one.

3. Avatar

There's a reason this is now the highest grossing movie of all time: it offers a cinematic experience unlike anything I've had before. It's easy to laugh off 3-D as a gimmick meant only for kids at an amusement park until you see how James Cameron used it to such stunning effect in creating an entirely original and believable world. Avatar certainly doesn't feature the most original story of the year, but it is the kind of big, epic narrative that demands to be taken seriously. In a year where so many big blockbusters failed to deliver, Cameron proved that the popcorn flick can dazzle instead of just amuse.

4. Up

Pixar has had such an insanely consistent record of excellence that Up isn't even my favorite of theirs and it still makes my top 5. It earned its spot with that early five-minute sequence alone, which created such a strong foundation for the rest of the movie you felt you knew everything about the character. Easily the best sequence of any movie this year. But they went the extra step in making sure the quality lasted for the rest of the film, giving a fun update on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World along with one of animation's best characters ever in Dug the dog. I may be too old for the Happy Meal toy, but I still love shouting "Squirrel!"

5. A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers love to spice things up, playing with different genres and styles in every one of their movies. Yet despite returning to the world of their youth, every frame still feels like a Coen Brothers movie, with the same wry and absurd sense of humor and same attention to visuals. There's a lot of ways this movie divides people, but its intelligent and hilarious script combined with the extraordinary way the Coens captured this time period proves they should keep trying new things, as I'll certainly be watching.

6. Inglourious Basterds

When I first heard this movie announced, I thought "Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, and World War II. None of these things go together." I was wrong. Tarantino took the set-up of all those old classics and gave it his own unmistakable spin. He created so many amazing characters they could probably front their own movies, and his signature dialogue is far better served than in the unfortunate lark that was Death Proof. Here he definitively silenced anyone calling him a director of the '90s, as he once again created a defining movie for this past decade.

7. (500) Days of Summer

Following Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, some felt Summer was just another overly precious indie that wasn't as good as its fans made it out to be. Obviously I'm not of that camp. Summer took the most traditional of movie plots and made it feel fresh. Sure, gimmicks like the time jumping and split screen scene helped, but what really caused all the love was its sincerity. In a time when so many similar movies are filled with quirkiness and snark, real characters and feelings make this one stand out.

8. District 9

The other big alien movie of 2009 was pretty much unlike Avatar in every other way, with its relatively tiny budget, no name cast, and grittier style. It was also the far more successful allegory, teaching me more about apartheid in South Africa than Invictus ever did. Everything about District 9 was untraditional, from its unlikable protagonist to its documentary style opening. Which is why District 9 kept me guessing more than anything else from the year.

9. An Education

Like (500) Days of Summer, An Education is a movie that seems simple at first but actually has more going on. The traditional coming-of-age movie has been done to death, but rarely with all the elements in such fine form. Between Nick Hornby's humorous and touching first screenplay and Carey Mulligan's breakthrough role, there was plenty to freshen up this tale. And by really going into the time period, it played almost like a British, female Mad Men. With such a strong supporting cast, this gem still feels overlooked despite the Oscar nods.

10. Star Trek

To this day I've still never seen a single episode of any Star Trek TV show nor any of the other movies. So the fact that I was able to enjoy this just as well as hardcore Trekkies (or, sorry, Trekkers) shows J.J. Abrams can do a reboot like no other. With its very appealing cast and great action, it was both a perfect summer movie and the kind of strong franchise-starter that leaves me eager to see what comes next.

Honorable Mentions: The Hangover, Food Inc, The Princess and the Frog, The Informant, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best Picture: Up in the Air

Runner-Up: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Runner-Up: James Cameron, Avatar

Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Runner-Up: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education

Runner-Up: Maya Rudolph, Away We Go

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Runner-Up: Peter Sarsgaard, An Education

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'nique, Precious

Runners-Up: Anna Kendrick & Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds

Runner-Up: Up

Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air

Runner-Up: An Education

Best Animated Film: Up

Runner-Up: The Princess and the Frog

Best Documentary: Food, Inc.

Best Song: "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart

Runner-Up: "All Is Love," Where the Wild Things Are

Wild and Crazy Nazis

Grade: A-

Coming to DVD today, Quentin Tarantino's epic World War II comedy action hit Inglourious Basterds, which I saw back in September but am writing about now. Depending on who you ask, it's either Tarantino's greatest work since Pulp Fiction, or a bit of a disappointment. To which I'd say, can't it be both? Thing is, IB is 90% brilliant, and what works is easily the most entertaining and creative stuff I've seen in movies this year. But it continually frustrates for refusing to go that extra 10%.

IB follows a number of different characters who all collide on one (very fictional) operation: a plot to assassinate Hitler and all of his top guys that SPOILER ALERT succeeds. Some of the wacky crew include: the titular basterds, a group of American Jews led by Southern accented Aldo the Apache (Brad Pitt, winning this year's least convincing Jew award) and "the Bear Jew" (horror meister Eli Roth). Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent), a French Jew who survived her family's death by Nazi to open a movie house and plot her revenge. Col. Landa (multi-lingual Christoph Waltz), a top Nazi hunter responsible for the previously mentioned family massacre. Plus a British spy (Michael Fassbender), a famous German actress (Diane Kruger), and....Mike Myers.

From Reservoir Dogs to Kill Bill, Tarantino has shown has ability to create iconic characters that great actors would love to play, and he succeeds again here across the board. Pitt leaves the blandness of Benjamin Button far behind as he hams up to hilarious effect as the uber-American Aldo. The women completely steal the movie, especially Laurent, who's so good you don't mind she has more screentime than any of the Americans. And some of the even more minor characters are so instantly fully realized you wish you could spend more time with them.

As for Christoph Waltz, he completely deserves all the praise he gets. He honestly deserves the Oscar just for the fact that he speaks FOUR languages FLUENTLY in the movie. As the Basterds make clear in one of the funniest scenes, most Americans can barely speak one. But on top of the languages, he also gives a completely brilliant performance as a jovial and charismatic Nazi who almost seems too nice to be a killer until he shows the menace hiding inside him. The lengthy opening scene, which seems at first a friendly call until his reason is gradually revealed, feels like a completed short film in itself. With the past two supporting actor Oscars going to villains the Joker and Anton Chigurgh, I think Waltz will cement the pattern.

Moving past the characters, there's a ton of stuff going on in the movie, and amazingly most of it works. Given this is Tarantino, there's a strong theme of movie appreciation, including the most celebrated line, "We respect directors in our country," as said by Shoshanna to her Zac Efron lookalike Nazi hero stalker. There's Tarantino's trademark dialogue, making even the lengthiest scenes zip on by in a very enjoyable fashion. There's a pleasant tone of comic camp, in some ways making this the movie I hoped Valkyrie would have been (but wasn't). And while I'm not usually one to advocate violence, there is something deeply satisfying in watching Nazis be killed. The final sequence where they pull off the operation is some of the finest vengeance porn I've seen.

So with so many great ideas, great scenes, great moments, and great characters, where's that 10% that doesn't quite get there? That it's all sometimes too much. As great as Tarantino's writing is, and I fully admit that it is, his celebrity has gotten big enough that he's become completely self-indulgent about it. The movie is comprised of five very lengthy sequences, despite the epic nature of the story, and single scenes drag on for 45 minutes at a time. Why? because Tarantino wants you to bask in the genius of his writing. In the opening scene, the sheer length builds the suspense and makes the scene better. But when the same technique is used later, it no longer feels fresh. You know from the start the scene will end in violence, so why drag it out for over a half hour to get there?

The over-writing feels like even more of a waste because of everything that was sacrificed to make time. Despite the trailers (and title), the actual Basterds could probably have been cut from the movie and the plot would be the same. We see their recruitment scene (shown in its entirety in the trailers), a single example of their scalping, and then it's on to the big assassination plot, which they play a relatively minor role in. The British spy and the German actress are really in charge, and Shoshanna turns out to be the real protagonist, having the better arc, more screentime, and the largest result on the finale.

The reason that's a problem is the Basterds are a great idea, and I would have liked to have seen a movie about them. There's such a mythology behind them - Aldo the Apache! The Bear Jew! - that it seems like we only see the surface of it. BJ Novak and Samm Levine barely seem to even have speaking parts as background Basterds. And Aldo feels more like a walking punchline than an actual character. With Shoshanna, Bridget, and Col. Landa all such real and interesting people, it's no wonder Tarantino would rather spend time with them, but it's also a shame.

So there you have it. Inglourious Basterds' biggest flaw is that it can't fit everything into a 2 hour, 40 minute running time (feels way shorter than Transformers). And that doesn't mean it needed to be a 6 hour miniseries, it means Tarantino needed to stop kissing his own ass and tell a tighter story. But if he did that, he wouldn't be Tarantino, and his movies invariably wouldn't be as good. Kill Bill probably didn't need to be two movies, but they are two great ones. As maddening as Tarantino can be, he's earned the right to get away with it, and Inglourious Basterds will end up as one of the most memorable movies of the year.

Summer Movie Preview

Last Friday, Entertainment Weekly released its Summer Movie Preview, one of my favorite issues of the year. It looks like this summer's even more packed with movies worth seeing than usual, so while I'm listing my top 10 must-sees of the summer, I had to toss on 5 more.

Wolverine (May 1st)
Like I'm going to miss out on the first big movie of the summer. Yeah, I thought X-Men 3 was an overstuffed mess, and I've always put Spider-man and Batman higher on my preferred superheroes list. But with a focus on one mutant instead of 30, and an intriguing supporting cast (Charlie!), I've got high hopes this will be remembered well come summer's end.

Star Trek (May 8th)
I've never seen a single episode of any Star Trek series. Nor have I ever seen one of the movies. But with JJ Abrams at the helm and trailers that play down the Star Trek connection, I can't wait.

Terminator Salvation (May 21st)
Christian Bale is just what John Connor needs to lose his rep as whiny and annoying (see: Edward Furlong in T2, the Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV). Rumors of an Ahnuld cameo add one more reason to check this out, but I'd show up just for the theme song.

Up (May 29th)
With The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Wall-E, Pixar's been on a hot streak of great movies for all ages (we'll give them a pass on Cars). If Up is anywhere near as good, we may have to list the great Pixar movie as more of a summer fixture than superheroes.

Land of the Lost (June 5th)
I haven't seen the '70s show and I can't say I was excited when the movie was announced. But the trailer won me over, as did the presence of Danny McBride and Pushing Daisies' Anna Friel.

Public Enemies (July 1st)
A historical biopic with Oscar possibilities in the summer? Sounds like a nice break from sequels. As John Dillinger, Johnny Depp's found another part that fits his oddball charm, and Christian Bale makes his 2nd appearance on the list.

Bruno (July 10th)
If you've seen the redband trailer, you know this will be the funniest movie of the summer. So if you just started sighing in relief over the decline of obnoxious Borat imitators, tough luck. I'm calling it now: Bruno will be the most quoted movie of 2009.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 15th)
Since most of us were ready to see this at its original release date last Thanksgiving, this is a long overdue must-see. With no more books to bring us back to Hogwarts, these last few movies will be all the bigger.

Funny People (July 31st)
I'm not quite sure what to make of this Punchline-style dramedy about stand-up comics. But I do know Judd Apatow is currently 2 for 2 on movies he's directed. So that automatically makes this my (second) most anticipated comedy this summer.

Inglourious Basterds (August 21st)
Late August is a strange time to release a big movie, but there's a lot that's strange about this one. Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, and World War II - three things that you wouldn't expect to see together in any possible combination. But from the trailer, this looks like the movie Valkyrie should have been.

And 5 more:

Angels & Demons (May 15th) - More obligation than desire, but I'll still see it.

Away We Go (June 5th) - A Sam Mendes roadtrip comedy? Absolutely.

Whatever Works (June 19th) - Like I'm missing a Woody Allen movie.

(500) Days of Summer (July 17th) - Can it still be called a sleeper hit if it's what everyone already thinks it will be?

Taking Woodstock (August 14th) - The only other movie besides Public Enemies with a shot of lasting til Oscar season, and it's Ang Lee!

Inglourious Basterds Trailer!

Update: Here's the official trailer. That means longer and better quality.

The first teaser for Quentin Tarantino's new movie, Inglourious Basterds [sic], aired on Entertainment Tonight. Thanks to youtube, we can take a look:



It's hard to think of three more disparate movie elements than Tarantino, Brad Pitt, and World War II. It only gets weirder when Mike Myers and BJ Novak (The Office's Ryan) are thrown into the mix. But at least in the trailer, it seems to be working. The Tarantino dialogue is still there, but doesn't seem out of place. Brad Pitt is actually acting, so maybe we'll get something more Twelve Monkeys than Benjamin Button. Basterds looks like the movie Valkyrie should have been - a campy action movie about taking down Nazis. I'm definitely excited, but is everyone else ready to forgive Tarantino for Death Proof?