MADness—the Blog

On the first day of the year—also the first day of this blog—I said not to expect a list of my Top 10 Movies of 2009.  I’m not one to go back on my word, but in the interest of looking one more time at films from last year—and today is a good day for that—I’ve put together a list of the five films of 2009 that I found to be the most enjoyable.

1. The Hurt Locker
   A movie that is topical, engaging, and leaves you with plenty to think about is the kind of movie that I especially enjoy.  The Hurt Locker had that in spades.  Best movie of the year, and the most enjoyable too.
2. District 9
   The sci-fi genre is hardly among my favorites.  I like movies that are human-scale.  When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, I tend to yawn.  When the ultimate, epic battle of good vs. evil is unleashed on the screen in all its CGI splendor, I tend to look at my watch hoping it’ll all be over soon.  But every so often there’s a sci-fi film that transcends the genre, and this past year District 9 was that film.  Like the great sci-fi classics of the past, it’s not about effects and action.  It’s about human beings living through difficult circumstances.  It’s a smart film with lots to offer for thinking people and enough of an adrenaline rush for the fanboys.  It will be remembered long, long after all the fuss about Avatar has died down.
3. In the Loop
   A satire with a political edge that’s spot on.  It’s the rare English-language film that might have been helped by subtitles, but I just wish that American films could be this kind of funny.
4. Inglourious Basterds
   I went into the theater expecting to be disappointed.  What I’d read about the film was less than glowing, and I was finding Tarantino less interesting with every movie he made.  But the movie had me hooked in the first scene and never let go.  The plot is so far over the line you almost have to admire the audacity.  I’m not sure that I look back fondly on some parts of it, but I sure did enjoy the hell out of it.
5. Up
   The Carl & Ellie sequence is one for the ages, and the rest of the film is quite good too.  I hope not to sound too much like an old fart to say I’m glad they’re still making movies that I can see at the theater with my four-year-old son and have us both enjoy the experience.