Top 10 Movies of 2009!

Another year has passed and it's for some reason very contagious to recap the year that was. I love Top 10 lists and have been thinking for a long time about each placement for this list.

Remember these are all personal choices.

You all know how it works.

Top Ten Movies of 2009.


10. Taken. (Released in Canada Jan 09)
Easily one of Liam Neesons better movies, this one was a sleeper hit. The story revolved around an ex CIA operative (Neeson) sees his daughter off on her trip to Paris. Neeson's character is a quiet, but very lethal man and you feel very sorry for him in the first 20 minutes. His estrangement from his daughter and desire to be in her life is at the forefront of his mind. Neeson's daughter gets kidnapped and he is told by his CIA buddies that he has little time to find his daughter before she is sold into sex slavery and is gone forever. Great action scenes, combined with a solid script and some great camera angles make this movie one to see.


9. The Hangover.
Easily the best comedy of the year. Great script, fantastic comedic timing, dumb story, but that only works to the movies credit. The movie centers around a bachelor party gone wrong (Hooray for original ideas!) and when the group can't find the groom, things get crazy. With one great scene after another, it easily makes the 9 spot. Would have been higher had it had more staying power, but I felt bored after the second viewing.


8. Pandorum.
I'll be honest, this movie was not what I was expecting, but what it was, was great. It took the great psychological fears of being alone, in the dark, and in the most dangerous environment imaginable, space. And combined it with a great reboot of your average killer alien. The ending was a surprise and it was a welcome one. It just needed to NOT have Denis Quaid in it.


7. Haunting in Connecticut.
I think this movie is very underrated. It's a classic ghost story that aired in what was supposed to be a one off show on the Discovery Channel, but the popularity of it spawned a mini-series. Filmed in Teulon Manitoba and featuring a Winnipeg born actor Erik J. Berg this movie set a very creepy tone. The story revolves around a family that rents a new home to be closer to the hospital for their son who has cancer. He needs to be closer to the hospital because treatment is so hard on his body. Eventually the boy starts seeing things in his new house, is it real, or is it just the stress of his body fighting to stay alive? This is something that played a big part in the TV show, but the movie was hollywoodized to be more entertaining. And that's ok, but this is a main gripe for fans of the show. Listen for great creepy music in the trailer and easily the best opening and ending credits sequence this year!


6. The Fourth Kind.
I have to say right off the bat that this movie has a very niche market. It revolves around "real" recordings of hypnosis sessions documented by the "real" Dr.Abigail Tyler a therapist in Alaska. Patients claim to be visited by owls at night, and while under hypnosis, we find that the "owls" are the most frightening species ever! The movie jumps from the "real" recording to reenactments of these session with actor Milla Jovovich and other notables who fill in for key rolls in the story. The highlight of this movie is the shocking hypnosis sessions that take place in the second and third acts of the movie. I jumped in the theater at one point because I was expecting the scare to have some build up. This movie also has an ending that some people will find surprising but I saw it coming. Great experience, and it's always good to see a director try something new.


5.Collapse.
There were a few great documentaries this year (special mention goes to the amazing "Tyson") but this one really stood out for me. I just recently watched this but it left an impact on me that I just can't shake. Without going into to much detail the movie is one long interview with Michael Rupert. This man basically details how the economy of the world will collapse. Government, Safety, Food, Oil, everything is coming down. Believe him or not, this is a great movie with a guy who is very passionate about what he is preaching. He wants to help, but no one is listening.


4. Inglorious Basterds.
Wow. Just wow. Quentin Tarantino better get an Oscar nomination for this film because it is brilliant! Writing, pacing, acting, shot composition, violence, everything is damn near perfect. If Christoph Waltz doesn't get a nomination for his chilling and flawless role as Colonel Hans Landa we should all petition. This movie was pretty long at almost 2 and a half hours but I was never bored during any of it. Watch. This. Movie!


3. Paranormal Activity.
I'm proud to be the first one who signed the online petition to bring this movie to Winnipeg, and my name is even in the credits. (Seriously, look for it!) This movie was actually made in 2007 but wasn't officially released until late this year, after a very long campaign in which people "Demanded It" to come to their city. The movie had a small budget of roughly $15,000 and it was shot in the director Oren Peli's home. Although I'm not a fan of the Hollywood ending, this movie embodies everything I love about film making. It has scenes where I just can't imagine how they did it on such a low budget and scenes that just scare the crap out of you. I wasn't really scared at all in the movie, but a lot of people were. The thing I love about movies like this is that we, the audience, already know it's going to end up badly for these characters. We do everything we can to wish that they wind up ok, but going in we know it's not going to be good for them. The Cinderella story for 2009, and my number 3. Paranormal Activity.


2. District 9.
This movie blows my mind. The story, the directing, the special effects, the sci-fi, the aliens, the EVERYTHING! This movie creates a story that is cohesive as not only a standalone but as a allegory to the apartheid. This movie was originally a short film called Alive in Johburg that was made by Neill Blomkamp in 2005. It was picked up by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and Neill was told to, "go crazy". He did and it worked. This movie was my number one until late December when my now number one came out.


Alive in Johburg


1. Avatar.
Did you expect anything else? My full review is the blog entry previous to this, read here.
I'm not gonna say much other than, this movie is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Yes it does have a few script problems and similarities to other movie, in principal. But I've never been to a world like Pandora, no one has, except James Cameron. This movie is something that needs to be experienced and I will see it again when it goes to IMAX. This is now the fourth all time highest grossing movie, and James Cameron's second movie to make over 1 Billion dollars. Yes Billion.


Check out Kenton Larsen's Blog for other great movies that I didn't add to my list.

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