The Top 10 Films of the Year - 2009

It's been a rather subdued year for cinema. Hollywood became ever more bloated and relied on JJ Abrams (Star Trek) to provide some actual light relief in the summer, 3D bolstered its reputation as the future of cinema with the likes of Pixar's Up, Coraline and the return of James Cameron in Avatar, a film which was so magnificently beautiful and dazzling to the degree that the likes of it have never been witnessed before. What it did tell us though was that although 3D can enhance the visual experience and create a fully immersive cinematic experience, it cannot cover up the poor storytelling or problems with the script. Slumdog Millionaire shocked the world with its overhaul of Oscars, even if the film itself has been grossly overrated, its still a perfectly entertaining awards magnetic, and credit should go to Danny Boyle for accomplishing such a feat. New emerging talent in British cinema came in the form of David Bowie's son. Duncan Jones' Moon was a adult science fiction film which dazzled not with extravagance, but with deep, philiosophical concepts and a tight story. The Cannes film festival was notable mainly for two innovative, provocative and unique auteurs. Lars von Trier declared himself the greatest director alive, then recieved cackles and boos when his latest Antichrist premiered. Tarantino rode into town which much anticipated WW2 drama Inglourious Basterds only to find the French unimpressed with his latest effort, rewriting history in the process. The breakout comedy of the year was about a drunken, amnesia filled stag night in Vegas, which proved to be both ridiculous and hilarious in equal measure and finally, after years of production hell, Watchmen, the greatest graphic novel ever written, hit the screens, and was a faithful as possible. Zach Snyder proving an adequate director to bring the vision of an alternate 1980's to life. So after a rather subdued end to the decade, below are the ten films which stood out and towered above everything else in cinemas in 2009.

10. Up
Pixar's latest certainly comes first for most tear inducing opening. A rattling adventure with some great gags and visuals, but the film fails to maintain the stratospheric standard of the opening 20 minutes. If it had, it might well have gone on to become the best thing Pixar has produced.

9. Wendy and Lucy
Michelle Williams beautifully subdued portrayal of a woman adrift in America, is a wonderful evocation of the dislocation and alienation of America society. A simple tale, which deliver little on plot, but over compensates with heart and emotion. Williams carries Kelly Reichardt's film to deliver the female performance of the year.

8. The Class
About as close to documentary as fiction film comes, the 2008 Palme D'or Winner is a superbly acted, and directed drama about the life in a school in a tough inner city, racially diverse school. It may be the best film ever made about teaching, as both pupil and educator are held up to close scrutiny; the resolution revealing that the system doesn't work, or support either.

7. Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufman finally steps away from the keyboard to director his first film. Penned, predictably, by Kaufman the film has the best cast of the year, and the best actor of the decade. It's pretentious, indulgent, makes little to no sense, but asks big questions about life, love and art - which is exactly what great cinema is designed to do. A film which is enriched with multiple viewings.

6. Che
I saw Che not in its two part, but as one long 4 hour epic. Seperately neither film would make this list, as each suffers from presenting a single polemic. Together though each part comments and informs the other. As you watch the failed Bolivian revolution you crave for the momentum and enthusiasm which made Cuba a success. Soderbergh's direction is equally up to the challenge. There is a buzz, a righteousness to part 1, which is juxtaposed against the fatalistic, harsh tones of part 2. Seperately these are enjoyably but deeply flawed films, as a whole Che is one of the most intriguing, engaging and monumental acheivements of the past decade.

5. In The Loop
Fucking hell, this is one funny film. Armando Ianucci takes his TV show to the big screen, and for the first time in my memory as spin off from a TV show actually equals if not surpasses the original, in this case The Thick of It. Addressing the war on terror, Ianucci and his fellow writers create a rib splitting insight into the inanity of government. Peter Calpaldi is perfect as Malcolm Tucker and delivers every line with a vile relish.

4. A Serious Man
After No Country For Old Men and Burn After Reading, The Coen's tackled their own up bringing to deliver one of the most critically lauded films of the year. It's certainly their most personal film, and is as cryptic as it is funny. An almost staccato style throws you into the world of Larry Gopnik as he tries to find spiritual meaning as every pillar of his life seems to be falling away around him.

3. Let The Right One In
Horror cinema, and more specifically the vampire genre received a much need bite in the neck, with Thomas Alfredson's majectic film about the unlikely love which develops between a 200 year old vampire in the body of a 12 year old girl, and the boy she meets (Oskar). The subtly and grace with which this story unfolds elevates even the rare moments of horror to create a sublimely uplifting experience, capped by the best ending of the year.

2. The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow returns to directing with the best Iraq War film ever made, and one of the most intensely emotionally and gruelling films in years. A cast of unknowns, littered with famous faces and a shocking opening reminds us that in war no one is safe. Bigelow chooses to depict the chaos and unpredictability of war by examing not only the teams of bomb disposal experts but also by presenting an unsettling question of what you have to be like to surive, at least mentally, in war.

1. The White Ribbon
Michael Haneke's Palme D'or winning masterpiece may well be the finest film he has every directed. Every image is beautifully composed and lit and the performances are impecible as Haneke ruminates on the birth of Fascism. Set in 1913, the First World War encroaches and looms over the lives of a quiet village in Germany where a serious horrific accidents, which may or may not be accidents, are perpetrator against both the adult and children of the village. Haneke exposes the oppressive nature of German, and by extension human, society, and how the seeds of Fascism are sown. It being a Haneke films very little is shown, so that which is has maximum impact, and Haneke also exlpores the edges of the cinematic image, creating the most emotionally churning scenes of the year.

So that's it. Only 8 five star films released in 2009, and no Avatar. That is a personal dissapointment, but one which is made up for by the quality of those films which made the list.

As for 2010, a new decade, new possibilities for cinema, and a new Toy Story film, in 3D obviously on the horizon. Last year, I listed the 9 films I was most excited about and non of them lived up to my expectation. So this year all I will say is I am most excited about the films for which there is no buzz, there is no hype, which quietly enter our lives, take us to a world we had never imagine and beguile, dazzle and wonder us the unexpectedly life affirming way.

Goodbye noughties hello, er, tens. teens, tennies. Who knows.