Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melaine Laurent, Diane Kruger
Quentin Tarantino has a unique talent in his ability to flawlessly mix extremely long scenes driven entirely by dialogue with over-the-top action scenes, and he is in top form here. Bouncing back from the comparably terrible Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds is a roller coaster ride through World War II-era Germany and France, filled to the brim with a revisionist history of the war that you will wish actually happened. The cinematography is very colorful, creating many memorable scenes, and the mixing of languages between German, French, English, and Italian adds a needed hint of reality and even a few moments of comedy. This is a genuine Tarantino film, though, so if you were not previously a fan of his work, this film will likely not change your mind on him. For me, he's a cinematic genius and this is one of his best pieces.
Best Moment: When all the characters finally converge at the Nazi propaganda film screening.
Director: Scott Sanders
Starring: Michael Jai White
Black Dynamite is the best pure comedy of 2009. From the grainy camera filters to the purposely terrible editing to the silly kung-fu, Dynamite is an homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. The dialogue is extremely cheesy from every character. All of these things sound negative, but when you see them as they are presented (satirically and with obvious jest by the actors), they become huge positives. Do not go into this film expecting to see some beautiful piece of cinema, or even a coherent plot: neither of these things will help you understand the film. However, if you are able to watch the film for what it is, a satirical account of black stereotypes and bad cinema, then you will be treated to some of the more hilarious moments of 2009.
Best Moment: When they figure out the truth behind Anaconda Malt Liquor.
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit
Before you dismiss this film as another in a string of terrible Nicolas Cage films, I beg you to give this one a chance. Bad Lieutenant is about, obviously, a crooked lieutenant in the New Orleans police department and his means of fighting crimes. BL is also, in its own very unique way, a cinematic treasure. Werner Herzog brings one of the most unique and off-the-wall perspectives to directing that you can find, infusing what could have been a very generic cop story with some of the weirdest scenes of 2009, including no less than three close-up shots of reptilian animals walking around and a dead man breakdancing. Nic Cage fits into this variety hour perfectly, infusing his character with so much over-the-top acting that it stops being over-the-top at all. One drawback many people have with the film is that Cage's character is too much of a bad guy to sympathize with, but I think that was Herzog's goal: he's basically a criminal with a badge, and yet he still enforces the law and fights crime. Bad Lieutenant is one of the weirdest films I've seen in a long time, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Best Moment: The scene about "Nigga Elk".
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson
Another film to throw into the "sadly underseen" pile, The Messenger is a different kind of war film. Instead of focusing on the war in terms of Iraq or Afghanistan, this film focuses on the aftermath: Foster and Harrelson play wounded in action veterans whose job is now to inform the families of soldiers when their family member was killed in combat. The extremely dark subject matter is handled perfectly by the director; in a film where there is basically no tension (we already know the soldier is dead), Moverman manages to make every house trip unique and heartbreaking enough that it doesn't matter that we know how it will end. Harrelson plays the seasoned veteran role perfectly, earning his Oscar nomination for a certain scene near the end alone. Similarly to The Hurt Locker, The Messenger creates a sense of realism for the film by portraying the soldiers as men enlisted to do a job as opposed to supermen with no feelings or opinions about anything other than war. I previously stated that The Hurt Locker ruined future war films for me because of its accurate pacing and realistic settings, but that's not completely true: The Messenger has ruined future war films for me in the exact same way.
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
Starring: Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil
Although three of the other five nominees for the 2009 Best Foreign Language Film made this list (The White Ribbon, Ajami, and A Prophet), none of them come close to the near-perfection of The Secret in Their Eyes. This is, in my opinion, one of the best pure mystery films in my lifetime. The film follows a trio of detectives as they investigate the rape and murder of a woman. Actually, that's not entirely true: the film follows two of those characters long after the murder as they recall the period of time surrounding the murder. The plot will keep you glued to your seat as you attempt to figure out the many twists and turns it takes, none of which are cheap or forced for the sake of drama. There is also a wonderful love story between the two main characters, the sort of love story in which we know, and we know that they know, but they don't know that they both know. The lead actors portray their mutually unrequited love perfectly as well as their roles as detectives and law enforcers. The cinematography of this film is also one of its many highlights, including one scene that will leave you completely baffled as to how they shot it. If you are willing to give a foreign film a chance (and you've already seen Pan's Labyrinth and Life is Beautiful), then this is the one film I wish you to see.
Best Moment: The one-shot chase scene at the soccer game.
5. A Single Man
Director: Tom Ford
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore
Yes, this film is about a gay man, and yes there is some gay stuff that happens. But, unlike Brokeback Mountain and almost every other gay-centric film, this movie isn't about being gay. A Single Man is simply about a man who cannot cope with the loss of his significant other. The story is intricately relatable to anyone who has ever been in a committed relationship and had the relationship end. A Single Man is also very visually stylistic, which makes sense because the director, Tom Ford, is also a fashion designer. Scenes tend to emphasize the feeling of the moment just as much as what is actually happening. Some of the shots linger, allowing the viewer to focus on the natural beauty of the scenes, such as the way the cigarette smoke curls away during a conversation. Color is also an important facet of the film, used to emphasize the important or meaningful moments of Colin Firth's character's life. Speaking of Firth, he gives the acting performance of the year, earning him an Oscar nomination (should've given him a win, too). Overall, if you are vehemently against gays, you obviously want to skip this film, but for everyone else, this is one of the best films of the year.
Best Moment: Either the first scene or the last scene when Firth's character is at home.
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Many people have called Up in the Air the "film of the moment" (well, before The Social Network came out, they did). I believe this to be a fair assessment: the film is about a guy whose job is to fly around the country to companies and fire people. This theme resonates very soundly with the current status of our economy, creating an immediate relevancy to the film. However, Up in the Air is more than that. The film also touches on subjects such as sexual morals, loneliness, family values, and change. Many of the funniest moments of the film stem from Clooney's character (an older businessman who trusts his own judgment better than a computer's) attempting to teach Kendrick's character (a recent graduate who relies heavily on electronically- and computer-operated devices) the simple task of empathy. Though I laughed out loud more at other movies this year, none of the jokes in Up in the Air seem cheap or unoriginal (sorry, no fart jokes), and the film itself is charming. The film is beautiful in an architectural type of way, and the opening credits are easily the best of the year. I really can't think of a person who wouldn't like this film.
Best Moment: The scene where they crash the party.
Director: Roy Andersson
Starring: Jessica Lundberg, Elisabet Helander, Bjorn Englund, Leif Larsson
The final of the eight foreign films on this list is You, The Living, one of the oddest films I've ever seen. It's really a collection of short sketches that are extremely loosely related. Some of the characters transfer over from different sketches, but not usually. In fact, remember when I said The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was the most unique film on this list? I lied. It's this one. I will admit without hesitation that this film is not for everyone. It is hard to understand at times, the characters do inexplicable things, and the comedy is very dry. To me, though, this film is nearly flawless. One of my favorite parts of the film is the look of it; Andersson intentionally made the sets look unrealistic, and the end result is a painted feeling, like you are watching an animated film that real actors accidentally walked into. I also thoroughly enjoy the randomness of the film. Some of the sketches include a woman on a park bench singing her sorrows, a man executed for failing to do a parlor trick correctly, and a dream about a woman marrying a rock star on a housecar as they travel through their crowd of adoring fans. The final scene is somehow the most powerful of all while also being the most uneventful. As I said, this film is definitely not for everyone. But if any of this interests you at all, I highly recommend that you give You, The Living a chance.
Best Moment: Maybe the barbershop scene, maybe the end sequence.
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman
In a year filled to the brim with great animated films, Fantastic Mr. Fox still led the pack by a long shot. The film follows the story of Mr. Fox, who can't stop robbing from the farmers nearby. Eventually the farmers catch on to Mr. Fox's schemes and decide to kill him, which leads to a host of shenanigans involving the Foxes and other forest animals. The film has the best stop-motion animation that I've ever seen (including The Nightmare Before Christmas). Characters express themselves through hilarious stop-motion movements that are hard to explain if you haven't seen the film. One of the best parts of the film are the comedic spots that come out of nowhere sometimes, such as the opossum being overtaken by anxiety or the random guy playing a song on the banjo. One of the best animated films of the new millenium (along with WALL-E), Fantastic Mr. Fox is a must see film.
Best Moment: You cussin' with me?
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
Here it is: the best film of 2009. 500 Days of Summer follows the romance of two people, Tom and Summer, from their beginnings and past their breakups. This film, like a less depressing version of A Single Man, is really about the inability to let go of someone. It is also about the miscommunications prevalent in most relationships when the couple doesn't really listen to one another.What sets this film apart from basically every other romantic comedy in history is its brilliant and original script. The film is told completely out of order, with story progression focusing mainly on the mirroring of different phases of a relationship's lifespan as opposed to a cohesive order of what exactly happened. Surprisingly, the film is still very easy to follow even with the nonlinear plotline. Aside from this, there are other artistic techniques that Marc Webb employs, including a musical number in the middle of the film, split screens comparing imagination to reality, and ambiguity about who is really at fault in the relationship. To me, this film is almost flawless and I am disheartened that so few people have actually seen it.
Best Moment: Probably the split screen scene.
Welp. That's it. I might post some other good films from 2009 to wrap it up, but that's it for the official best films.
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