Mike's 2009 Movie List

I agree with Eric in this year's depth of films. Lots of really great genre films that I will definitely be revisiting the rest of my life. The top 5 I will watch many, many, many times. You may notice I have two number ones. I watched a handful of films in 2009 that will not be released until 2010. Those films I ranked in the appropriate place in 2009 and just duplicated the rank. So my favorite film I saw in 2009 was "Kick Ass" but unfortunately the masses will not be able to see it until April 2010. Also, the version I saw was incomplete, the soundtrack was temporary, the special effects weren't finished, and it is not the best made film. Kick-Ass is ranked so highly because it was definitely the most fun I had in a theater last year. I watched it in a crowded film geek filled theater during a 24 hour film festival at about hour 18. The temporary soundtrack came from iconic comic book movies such as "Superman", "Batman", and "Spiderman" and included rock songs that would normally be too cost prohibitive to include in a lower budget film. The crowd literally cheered along with every scene. There was even a technical issue with one of the front speakers and the film was stopped for about 20 minutes. The festival took a break and the crowd couldn't stop gushing over the film. This is one of those viewings where it was all about the experience. I can't wait to see it again (I just hope it holds up). Lots of great documentaries this year but none were close to last year's "Man on Wire". "Boy Interrupted" haunted me for many months after I watched it and is highly recommended. The biggest surprise for me is "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans". The movie is absolutely not what I expected and it made me appreciate Nic Cage again. It's 2009's "JCVD". Bronson is another one that came out of nowhere. It is a fierce movie and should be watched by many of my friends that will read this. All of the films I saw in 2009 with the exception of the bottom 10 get my recommendation. The bottom 9 aren't completely horrid but that last flick is a real stinker.

1 Kick-Ass
1 Inglorious Basterds
2 Moon
3 Where the Wild Things Are
4 Fantastic Mr. Fox
5 District 9
6 An Education
7 Up
8 The Hurt Locker
9 Humpday
10 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
11 Thrilla in Manilla
12 Boy Interrupted
13 A Single Man
14 Drag Me To Hell
15 Bronson
16 500 Days of Summer
17 Crazy Heart
18 Shutter Island
19 Broken Embraces
20 La Nana “The Maid”
21 The Cove
22 Thirst
22 Frozen
23 Up In The Air
24 The Brothers Bloom
25 New York, I Love You
26 A Serious Man
27 Avatar
28 In The Loop
29 Goodbye Solo
30 Watchmen
31 Big Fan
32 The Road
33 Paranormal Activity
34 Observe and Report
35 Adventureland
36 Star Trek
37 I Love You, Man
37 Micmacs
38 Precious
39 Coraline
40 Tyson
41 The Hangover
42 Anvil: The Story of Anvil
43 Black Dynamite
44 Girlfriend Experience
45 Paper Heart
46 Brothers
47 Skin
48 Che Part 1
49 Sunshine Cleaning
50 The Blind Side
51 Youth Knows No Pain
52 Fanboys
53 Away We Go
54 Food Inc
55 Bright Star
56 The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
57 9
58 Rip: A Remixer’s Manifesto
59 Crank 2: High Voltage
60 Defiance
61 The Lovely Bones
62 The Men Who Stare At Goats
63 Taken
64 Two Lovers
65 The Box
66 Batman Superman Public Enemies
67 Pandorum
68 Che Part 2
69 Bruno
70 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
71 Funny People
72 Love The Beast
73 Earth
74 My Bloody Valentine 3-D
75 Big Man Japan
76 Cheri
77 Spread
78 Donkey Punch
79 Notorious
80 Xmen Origins: Wolverine

Eric's 2009 Movie List

There's nothing this year I'm ridiculously in love with like in recent years past (like No Country for Old Men, The Wrestler, etc.), but this year is incredibly deep. My top 40 or so are all really good and then the following twenty or twenty-five are worth seeing. My top ten is a pretty good cross-section of my taste: quirky comedy, a little violence, some war, toss in some redemption, Tarantino, buttoned-down English people, a good dose of anxiety-ridden foreign fare, an equal dose of anxiety-ridden domestic fare, a couple of old Southern dudes here and there and some post-apocalyptic wandering for good measure. I hope your Netflix bill is paid-up.


1 Inglourious Basterds
2 Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)
3 Sin Nombre
4 Crazy Heart
5 The Road
6 An Education
7 A Single Man
8 Adventureland
9 That Evening Sun
10 The Hurt Locker
11 Moon
12 (500) Days of Summer
13 A Serious Man
14 Up
15 In the Loop
16 Entre les murs (The Class)
17 Is Anybody There?
18 Up in the Air
19 Goodbye Solo
20 Funny People
21 Downtown Calling
22 Youth in Revolt
23 The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
24 Strongman
25 The Hangover
26 The Brothers Bloom
27 The Cove
28 Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo
29 Brothers
30 Sugar
31 Treeless Mountain
32 Humpday
33 Bright Star
34 Best Worst Movie
35 Sons of a Gun
36 The Promised Land - A Swamp Pop Journey
37 Where the Wild Things Are
38 45365
39 Afterschool
40 World's Greatest Dad
41 The Invention of Lying
42 RiP: A Remix Manifesto
43 The Informant!
44 Houston We Have a Problem
45 Me and Orson Welles
46 Big Fan
47 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
48 Food, Inc.
49 The Boys Are Back
50 The Great Buck Howard (2008 #54)
51 The Girlfriend Experience
52 Crips and Bloods: Made in America
53 Breaking Upwards
54 MINE
55 L'heure d'été (Summer Hours)
56 The Messenger
57 Tyson
58 Adam
59 The Way We Get By
60 Severe Clear
61 The Soloist
62 How I Got Lost
63 Brüno
64 Alexander the Last
65 Sunshine Cleaning
66 Crude Independence
67 American Violet
68 Julie & Julia
69 Extract
70 Taking Woodstock
71 Public Enemies
72 Rudo y Cursi
73 My Run
74 Paper Heart
75 Humble Pie (formerly American Fork 2007 #60)
76 Observe and Report
77 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
78 Owl and the Sparrow (2007 #73)
79 Beeswax
80 Bart got a Room
81 Away We Go
82 Tenure
83 Whip It
84 My Suicide
85 Passing Strange
86 Harmony and Me
87 Pocket Full of Soul
88 Thor at the Bus Stop
89 Stoner