Nick Murphy's Obligatory Top 10 Movie List: 2009

The end of the year is upon us once again. So it is my obligation and my compulsive desire to look over the past 365 days in a valiant effort to determine which movies stood out above all others during 2009. There were quite a few awesome flicks that saw the light of day along this stretch and I saw a good amount of them. Of course, with my busy schedule, I couldn’t sit through every movie. However, I am confident that the following list is unequivocally the best of the bunch because this is the most solid top ten I’ve crafted in years and there were at least five other flicks that I would like to have added to this list, but due to the limitations of a top TEN list, I was forced to make the (Sophie’s) choice to leave a handful of films out.

So without further ado, I present:

NICK MURPHY’S TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2009



10) AVATAR
With the ten year anniversary of ‘Titanic’ surfacing in 2007, I was beginning to wonder if James Cameron was ever going to make another movie. Now here we are, twelve years after the biggest movie of all time and Cameron has done it again. He has crafted the most revolutionary visual effects extravaganza since ‘Jurassic Park’. While it does have its share of flaws in the script department, I can’t ignore just how unique and unforgettable the 3-D journey through planet Pandora is. With ‘Avatar’ Cameron accomplishes what Robert Zemeckis has been trying to do with his last three films: to blur the line between CGI and real life by creating a photo-realistic merging between the two kinds of imagery. James “King of the World” Cameron does this and manages to go a bit beyond, raising the bar impossibly high for the kind of epic, effects driven filmmaking that few directors will be able to match up to.




9) DISTRICT 9
While ‘Avatar’ was otherworldly and full of wonder, ‘District 9’ was gritty and uncompromisingly brutal. The two films have virtually the same story: An outsider infiltrates the environment of an alien race that is intended to be relocated. He slowly becomes one of them and rises against the folks that are trying to move the aliens out… The main difference being that each film takes the opposite approach to the subject matter. While the alien invasion movie has been done time and time again, it’s worthy of celebration when a movie takes a fresh advancement to the material. This is what ‘District 9’ does in a very admirable way. It’s the ‘City of God’ of alien movies and that’s a feat in itself.





8) STAR TREK
I’ll be honest, I’m no Trekkie. It wasn’t from lack of trying. I watched some episodes of the TV series and viewed most the movies. The issue was every time I watched one of these stories, I felt there was something missing, some kind of feeling. In comes J.J. Abrams with his resurrection of the ‘Star Trek’ saga and manages to convey that missing feeling in every frame of this motion picture. It is an ingenious revamping that manages to utilize a plot twist which allows this film to coexist with the original series’ history while still being able to create its own legacy with the original characters. Finally after over 15 years of trying to enjoy these installments, I’m officially a ‘Star Trek’ fan!




7) THE HANGOVER
The true greatness of ‘The Hangover’ can honestly be appreciated on its second of third viewing because unlike most comedies of its kind, this manages to become even better on repeated experiences. Yes, ‘The Hangover’ is the simple and familiar story of a bachelor party gone horribly wrong, yet the comedic material feels fresh and the mystery behind that wild night is so unexpectedly intriguing that it’s near impossible not to embrace it. Also the leads are a welcome change of pace when people like Will Ferrel, Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler are headlining most of the comedies that come out of Hollywood. The trio of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifanakis are the three horsemen who are ushering in the next decade of comedy. I’m looking forward to what these folks do in the coming years.



6) WORLD'S GREATEST DAD
In this film, Robin Williams plays a poetry teacher. The last time Williams played a poetry teacher, a kid ended up killing himself. Well… the same thing happens here, but with a much more comedic effect than in ‘Dead Poets Society’. ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who really comes into his own as a filmmaker by taking a timely subject like autoerotic asphyxiation (R.I.P. David Carradine) and milking it for both laughs and bittersweet epiphanies.



5) (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
We all experience heartbreak. Sometimes heartbreak can be a serious bitch to accept. ‘(500) Days of Summer’ explores the evolution and disintegration of a relationship with such depth and unflinching truth that you’d swear you lived through it yourself. The young couple Tom and Summer (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel respectively) goes through subtle glances in the hall to idle chit chat in an elevator to a passionate love affair towards the building of one-sided indifference which leaves Tom yearning and Summer gone. Levitt masters his character and the exhaustive longing that goes with it while Deschanel gives a signature performance allowing Summer to have an impenetrable mind and empty eyes reminiscent of many girls I know personally. With all these elements including some hilarious sequences and a winning soundtrack, this is a near perfect portrait of a hopeless romance.



4) UP IN THE AIR
At this point in the game, ‘Up In The Air’ is pretty much a shoo-in for this year’s Best Picture Oscar and there are obvious reasons why:
- George Clooney. He’s an actor renown for his charisma and movie star sensibility and he has never been more charismatic than he is here in a performance of incredible charm and confidence who still remains likable in spite of sometimes being an insufferably isolated prick.
-Jason Reitman. The son of Ivan “Ghostbusters” Reitman proves for a third time after ‘Thank You For Smoking’ and ‘Juno’ that he’s not just another part of Hollywood royalty by directing what is simply a masterpiece of mature comedy and harsh truth that is so inspiring that it can change people‘s lives.



3) UP
In the 14 years since ‘Toy Story’, Pixar has become the heart of originality and traditional yet innovative storytelling. This style reached a new level in 2009 with ‘Up’, a film that manages to do in ten minutes what most movies fail to do in two hours by presenting an opening montage spanning over 70 years in one man’s life and giving it such power and energy that it is hard not to declare ‘Up’ the crown jewel in Pixar’s library. Even after such a strong beginning, the movie still maintains its sense of wonder as the story unfolds into a fantastic adventure. Because it’s so rich in design, detail and execution, I must say without question that ‘Up’ is the best animated film of the decade.




2) ANTICHRIST
With egocentric manifestos declaring new revolutions in filmmaking and reported comments that most people would find anti-American, Danish writer/director Lars von Trier is no stranger to controversy. And when he unleashed ‘Antichrist’ on audiences at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the scandalous nature of the film caused an uproar and left those who saw it divided and disturbed. Say what you will about von Trier, it won’t change the fact that he is a gifted filmic artist and that artistry is on full display here. Featuring only two characters, ‘Antichrist’ is a personal and beautifully constructed tale about grief, fear and chaos that crescendos to a cringe worthy finale featuring one of the most unsettling moments of self-mutilation ever shown on screen. Equal parts heartbreaking and undisputedly terrifying, von Trier redefines the horror movie with his experimental style and breathes fresh air into a dead genre.



1) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Not since Steven Spielberg’s ‘1941’ has an American film been so bold as to rewrite the history of World War II. This is what Quentin Tarantino does with ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and it is done with a grace and a confidence that few auteurs would have the balls to conjure up. While far removed from the hipster chic of Tarantino’s earlier work, the film dives head first into the thick of its subject tackling men on a mission, espionage and violent revenge films in a way that is quintessential Tarantino, but in a new style all its own. The ensemble cast works wonders with QT’s phenomenal script and exposes one of the finest performers seen in any film this year with Christoph Waltz sinking his teeth into the role of Hans Landa, a S.S. colonel who can convey charisma and frightening intensity in a single sentence or gesture and does so using no less than four languages throughout the film. It is a wicked portrayal and is the finest character Tarantino has created thus far in his filmmaking career. Add in Brad Pitt in a hilarious turn as the gung ho American Lt. Aldo Raine who is revealed to be the polar opposite of Landa in both demeanor and linguistic skills as he takes his crew of Jewish American soldiers behind enemy lines to dispatch some good ol‘ Apache resistance. As a film, ‘Inglourious Basterds’ managed to exceed any expectations I had for it by leaps and bounds revealing itself as Tarantino’s finest hour as a director and his best film since ‘Pulp Fiction’. This is the apex of cinematic craftsmanship and the most excellent film of 2009! Now who wants to send a message to Germany?