Top Ten Films of 2009

I know, I know, it's the end of 2010 so I should be listing this year's best.  The problem is there are still too many films I have yet to see, so I'm starting a new tradition.  Before the New Year I will list the top ten best films of the previous year.  So before the clock strikes midnight let's go. 

Honorable Mentions
A Serious Man, Fantastic Mr. Fox, (500) Days of Summer, Where the Wild Things Are & Moon

10. Un Prophete (A Prophet)
  9. The Messenger
  8. The Brothers Bloom
  7. Star Trek
  6. Coraline
  5. El Secreto de Sus Ojos  (The Secret in their Eyes)
  4. District 9
  3. Avatar
  2. The Hurt Locker
  1. Up

127 Hours (2010)

Based on Aron Ralston's memoir, director Danny Boyle's new film tells the horrific and inspiring true story of a man trapped in a ravine, arm jammed against a boulder.  In what could have been a very good but bland film is instead full of cinematic mojo, celebrating life and a human's complex mind.   James Franco hit a home run in his portrayal and guaranteed himself an Oscar nomination, demonstrating such a wide range of emotions that in someways his performance ellipses the surrealistic style of the film.   I would say its only flaw is that Boyle tries too hard sometimes.  I loved the editing techniques applied through out but toward the climatic moments I would have liked if he had just stayed with the documentary style.   Overall a really good film that everyone should see.  Grade: A-.

Spoiler:  Okay, I know most know what Aron had to do to escape his entrapment but I still consider it a spoiler.  I have to applaud Boyle on how he handled the detaching feat:  gross but not over the top and very accurate and believable.   While watching the movie I kept trying to think of how I'd get out of that situation and every idea I came up with Aron would try it.  It really was hopeless.  Ultimately I'd like to say I would have been able to break the two bones in my arm and amputate it as he did, but I would have probably fainted from the pain and gone into shock.  What an incredible man. 

The Graveyard Book (Novel) by Neil Gaiman

A review is basically an long drawn out adjective and yet for something this good no list of positive praises can account for the mastery of this work of fiction.  Mr. Gaimen proves to us all again why he's one of the best storytellers of his generation (or any generation).  A riff on Kipling's The Jungle Book, this series of stories about Nobody Owens, boy raised by ghosts of a Graveyard, escalates to a pitch-perfect conclusion.   It's advertised as a Children's book (for young readers) but it's really just a great book for anyone who loves to read and loves stories of mystery, magic and adventure.  Grade: A

Moulin Rouge (1952)

John Huston's biography about the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, famous for his posters advertising the Moulin Rouge saloon as well as his paintings of dancers and circus performers.   Nominated for Best Picture in 1952, it dramatizes the story of a deeply tortured soul who uses alcohol and a biting wit to avoid companionship and love.  I didn't know much about Toulouse-Lautrec before last night, having only seen prints of his paintings and recognizing his name.  I didn't know for example that he had a genetic deformity causing his legs to stop growing when he was a kid.  Huston expertly keeps the story moving and Jose Ferrer is excellent as the title character.  I especially love how they colored the film so it had the same hues as Toulouse-Lautrec's work and thought everyone involved with the art production did great work.  There were a few times where Huston blocked the actors, when they are seated or standing next to each other, to avoid looking at each other.  They'd stare ahead giving the audience a stagy profile famous for daytime soap operas .  I didn't care for these moments although I suspect it's to demonstrate how detached the characters are; to me it looked stylized and unnatural.  Regardless it's a solid film that hasn't aged at all.  Grade: A-      

I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

A rather dull movie about a woman meeting a soldier on the train while visiting her uncle, aunt and niece for the holidays.  The dramatic point of the entire movie hinges on her secret and if she should tell him or not.  Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotton save the picture from being a complete waste of time and there are a few humours bits tossed in.  Shirley Temple is a teenager and her acting is kind of annoying, although her character isn't that interesting to begin with.   Grade: B-

Spoiler: Her secret is that she's a prisoner and was given a temporally release for the holidays.   Because Cotton's suffering from shell shock she doesn't want to tell him because she assumes it would upset him.  What makes up 85 minutes of drama could have been tossed in the first 20 mintues of a better film, where they deal with his shell shock and work around her prison sentence.  lt would have made for a less melodramatic story with real ideas behind it.   Oh well, I'm sure in the 1940s a woman sent to prison for manslaughter was risky enough.

This is the last of the Christmas movies I'm reviewing this year and I'm hoping Netflix has more available next December.  I was disappointed that Babes in Toyland (Laural and Hardy) wasn't available and that Holiday Affair was also a long await. 

air vol 2: Flying Machine (Comic book) by G. Willow Wilson

As non-superhero comic book series go, air is turning out to be inventive, weird, confusing, and loads of fun.  I wouldn't call it fantastic or say it's as addictive as other series I've fallen for but I'll certainly be looking forward to the next volume.   In this second volume our heroine, Blythe, begins to develop her abilities as a Hyperpract by delving into Zayn's past by actually living it.   I must admit that I'm not really following the pseudoscience of symbols as technology and consider it the weaker part of the story.  I'm hoping that some new characters emerge too, since Amelia Earhart's arrival no one new has  come along of interest.  Also we need another bad guy, two-face-clone Benjamin Lancaster's presence was sorely missed.  If you like comic books and want to read something different, think Lost meets Alice in Wonderland meets Alias (without Sydney Bristow).  Grade: B+    

Meet John Doe (1941)

Frank Capra's first Christmas movie before It's A Wonderful Life, Cary Cooper plays a down-on-his-luck, baseball pitcher playing the role of John Doe, everyman and inspiration to a nation, as written by Barbara Stanwyck.  It amazes me that these two performers made this movie the same year they did Ball of Fire (one of my favorite comedies, where Stanwyck and Cooper shine like the true talents they were).  It's kind of a parable in away on how the corrupt can hijack a good ideal, a brave and wonderful truth, and use it for power and gain influence over the meek.  A vaguely disguised modern retelling of Jesus and all the hooey devoted to milking his goodwill.  I also love how a very democratic, liberal film can tie in Christian ideas.  It's like the Tea Party of today except the followers want to help people instead squash health care and other programs that do just that, help.  Oh no, my review just became political, I better stop there.  Only time will tell how I rank this film years from now, and if it will someday make my top ten Christmas movie list, but as for now I was mesmerized by it.  Grade: A