2009 year in film

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been a good year so far

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1
Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking) (2008,  Unrated)
2
L'Heure d'été (Summer Hours) (2009,  Unrated)
3
Tôkyô Sonata (Tokyo Sonata) (2009,  PG-13)
4
Goodbye Solo (2009,  R)
Goodbye Solo
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5
Moon (2009,  R)
Moon
It's not too often that I see a science-fiction film that has the ability to make me care about its characters or think on any philosophical level about the themes it explores.

Duncan Jones' compelling debut MOON is an exciting exception. It wields silence, inventive B-Film production values, the ambient musical stylings of Clint Mansell, and an emotionally complex performance by Sam Rockwell for a twisted no-nonsense space freakout. It puts the gimmick juggling antics of most studio sci-fi-fantasy to shame.

Though not quite as great as other heavy-weight genre classics like SOLARIS or 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, those who found interest in those two films and other overtly intelligent sci-fi projects like SILENT RUNNING, BLADE RUNNER, and PRIMER should definitely seek it out when it is released theatrically.

Also, Duncan Jones is apparently David Bowie's biological son?
6
Treeless Mountain (2009,  Unrated)
7
Le Silence de Lorna (The Silence of Lorna) (Lorna's Silence) (2008,  R)
8
Coraline (2009,  PG)
Coraline
The fine line between dreams and reality has been Neil Gaiman's signature obsession on paper for sometime, and I believe stop-motion master Henry Selick (JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH) has brought one of the author's best stories to the screen with his dark adaptation of CORALINE.



This is one of the best uses of 3D technology that I've seen at the cinema, there aren't gimmicky shots of shit flying at the audience for shock sake (MY BLOODY VALENTINE : 3D), instead Selick uses the technique as a means to immerse the audience visually in an otherworldly atmosphere where landscapes and objects feel like they have real texture. You feel like you become a part of this ALICE IN WONDERLAND quality story, It's really a thrill for the senses while it lasts, wish it was longer though. Every frame of the movie has an imaginative richly layered depth, there's always something interesting going on in every corner of every frame.



Although she's a hyper stylized character with a ginormous head, this plucky little girl is very endearing and realistic. I think Coraline embodies the imagination and longing of adolescent life at that age so well, makes me wonder where Neil Gaiman got his inspiration for her character from. In a slightly different way, I think she's just as good a role model for young girls as Abigail Breslin's title character from last years KIT KITTRIDGE : AN AMERICAN GIRL.
9
Up (2009,  PG)
10
35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum) (2008,  Unrated)
11
The Hurt Locker (2009,  R)
12
Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon) (2009,  R)
13
La Mujer sin Cabeza (The Headless Woman) (2008,  Unrated)
14
In the Loop (2009,  Unrated)
15
A Serious Man (2009,  R)
16
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009,  PG)
17
Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo) (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) (2009,  G)
18
Munyurangabo (2009,  Unrated)
19
Tetro (2009,  R)
20
Somers Town (2009,  Unrated)
21
The English Surgeon (2009,  PG)
22
Sugar (2008,  R)
Sugar
This was so much better and so different then what I was expecting.

Director duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's SUGAR would be boilerplate sport-film uplift if not for their classy and honest lyricism. These filmmakers have a real gift for writing interesting and charismatic characters that are easy to empathize with.

SUGAR is an affective portrait of a Dominican boy's coming-of-age within the ultra-competitive world of U.S. pro baseball. It successfully commingles the kitchen-sink realism of the filmmakers' early documentary work with the poetic style of their previous feature HALF NELSON (2006). It functions as the story of an immigrant's experience as well as it does a baseball drama. Unlike the idealized sports fare Hollywood dishes out each year, this movie depicts the successes and disappointments of its protagonist with a poignant degree of truth.

First time actor Algenis Perez Soto's amazingly natural performance as 'Sugar' Santos painstakingly charts the emotional journey of a young man adapting to life in a strange land at a ridiculously high-pressure sport. Already one of the best films I've seen this year.
23
Les Plages d'Agnès (The Beaches of Agnes) (2008,  Unrated)
24
Tulpan (2009,  Unrated)
25
Two Lovers (2008,  R)
26
The Messenger (2009,  R)
27
In a Dream (2008,  Unrated)
28
Drag Me to Hell (2009,  PG-13)
Drag Me to Hell
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29
Inglourious Basterds (2009,  R)
30
Bright Star (2009,  PG)
31
Il Divo (2009,  Unrated)
32
Beeswax (2009,  Unrated)
33
Julia (2009,  R)
Julia
This film ventures into some disturbing places. Took me a little by surprise. Tilda Swinton made me so uncomfortable as the damaged and despicable title character, she's so believable. She's one of the bravest actresses around for sure. Best 'manic woman under the influence' since Gena Rowlands circa 1974. The spirit of Cassavetes is alive and well in director Erick Zonca.
34
Flammen & Citronen (Flame & Citron) (The Flame and the Lemon) (2008,  Unrated)
35
The House of the Devil (2009,  R)
36
Where the Wild Things Are (2009,  PG)
Where the Wild Things Are
A welcome act of artistic lunacy. Says more about the human condition than Sendak's timeless book
37
Chi Bi (Red Cliff) (2009,  R)
38
Mary and Max (2009,  Unrated)
39
The Cove (2009,  PG-13)
40
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009,  R)
41
Extract (2009,  R)
42
The Road (2009,  R)
43
Madeo (Mother) (2009,  Unrated)
Madeo (Mother)
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44
Avatar (2009,  Unrated)
45
Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) (Broken Hugs) (2009,  R)
46
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009,  PG-13)
47
Brothers (2009,  R)
48
Fish Tank (2010,  Unrated)
49
The Lovely Bones (2009,  Unrated)
50
Mystery Team (2009,  R)
51
White Material (2009,  Unrated)
White Material
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52
Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) (Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment) (2009,  Unrated)
53
Pontypool (2009,  PG)
54
Agora (2010,  Unrated)
55
Red Riding: 1974 (2009,  Unrated)
56
Red Riding: 1980 (2009,  Unrated)
Red Riding: 1980
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57
Red Riding: 1983 (2009,  Unrated)
Red Riding: 1983
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58
The Windmill Movie (2009,  Unrated)
59
Loot (2008,  Unrated)
60
Chelsea on the Rocks (2009,  R)
61
Life During Wartime (2009,  Unrated)
62
Looking for Eric (2009,  Unrated)
63
Séraphine (2009,  PG)
64
Sex Positive (2009,  R)
65
Enter the Void (Soudain le vide) (2009,  Unrated)
66
Kinatay (Butchered) (The Execution of P) (2009,  Unrated)
67
Vengeance (2009,  Unrated)
68
Splice (2010,  Unrated)
69
Giallo (2009,  Unrated)
70
The Princess and the Frog (2009,  G)
71
Sympathy for Delicious (2009,  Unrated)
72
Du Levande (You, The Living) (2007,  Unrated)
73
Severe Clear (2009,  Unrated)
74
Volkodav iz roda serykh psov (Wolfhound from the Breed of Grey Dogs) (2006,  Unrated)
75
Wolke Neun (Cloud 9) (2008,  Unrated)
76
Voy a Explotar (I'm Gonna Explode) (2008,  Unrated)
77
California Company Town (2008,  Unrated)
78
Yasukuni (2007,  Unrated)
79
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008,  Unrated)
80
Passing Strange (2009,  Unrated)
81
Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008,  R)
82
We Live in Public (2009,  Unrated)
83
The Hagstone Demon (2009,  Unrated)
84
No Impact Man: The Documentary (2009,  Unrated)
85
Alexander the Last (2009,  Unrated)
86
Hadewijch (2008,  R)
87
Dogtooth (Kynodontas) (2009,  R)
88
The Age of Stupid (2009,  Unrated)
89
Paradise (2009,  Unrated)
90
Invictus (2009,  PG-13)
Invictus
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91
Les Herbes Folles (Wild Grass) (2009,  PG)
92
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman (2009,  Unrated)
93
In Search of Beethoven (2009,  Unrated)
94
Walt & El Grupo (2008,  PG)
95
Oh My God (2009,  Unrated)
Oh My God
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96
La Barbe Bleue (Blue Beard) (Bluebeard) (2009,  Unrated)
97
The Art of the Steal (2009,  Unrated)
98
Tatarak (Sweet Rush) (2009,  Unrated)
99
Alle Anderen (Everyone Else) (2009,  Unrated)
100
Vincere (2009,  Unrated)
101
Owl and the Sparrow (2009,  PG)
102
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009,  Unrated)
103
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR (2009,  G)
104
La Teta Asustada (The Milk of Sorrow) (2009,  Unrated)
105
Avaze gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows) (2009,  PG)
106
That Evening Sun (2009,  PG-13)
107
Fix (2009,  R)
108
Act of God (2009,  Unrated)
109
Solntse (The Sun) (2005,  Unrated)
110
Panique au village (A Town Called Panic) (2009,  Unrated)
111
Four Seasons Lodge (2008,  Unrated)

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