By Noah Redfield and Michelle Hart, Staff Writers
Noah Redfield:
10. “Of Time and the City”: The history of Liverpool through the often elegiac, sometimes ironic, and always poetic eyes of director Terence Davies.
9. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”: “Avatar” may have better special effects at its disposal but it has nothing on the madcap magic and wonder that flows all through Terry Gilliam’s latest – and Heath Ledger’s final – opus.
8. “The Road”: John Hillcoat’s haunting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic tale of a father-and-son bond which is held together by Viggo Mortensen and the young Kodi Smit-McPhee.
7. “A Serious Man”: The Coen Brothers hit another one out of the park with this personal and surreal pitch-black comedy about the search for meaning in a nihilistic universe.
6. “Hunger”: Michael Fassbender is jaw-dropping in artist Steve McQueen’s (not to be confused with the actor) visually stunning and emotionally arresting account of the IRA hunger strike in 1981.
5. “In the Loop”: Armando Iannucci’s foul-mouthed satire about the invasion of Iraq is easily the comedy of the year with its psychotic characters, Shakespearean profanities, and a litany of gags at the expense of the madness of politics.
4. “The Hurt Locker”: The current Oscar frontrunner and rightly so, Kathryn Bigelow’s nail-biting Iraq war thriller is less about politics than it is about male bonding, the nature of violence, and its own belief that “war is a drug.”
3. “Moon”: The directorial debut of Duncan Jones (aka David Bowie’s son) takes on issues of identity and the future, and proves that all the best and most moving science-fiction in the world is primarily about ideas.
2. “The White Ribbon”: Michael Haneke’s abstract drama about the origins of terrorism in a 1910’s German village where the children will grow up to be Nazis is the single most anxious and yet beautifully crafted piece of cinema released in 2009.
1. “Antichrist”: With its haunting images, discordant soundtrack, explosive performances and that talking fox, Lars von Trier’s psychological horror movie about evil and misogyny, among other things, is a love-it-or-hate-it work of art whose merits will be debated for years to come.
Michelle Hart:
10. “Inglourious Basterds”
Only a cinephile like Quentin Tarentino could make a movie like “Inglourious Basterds.” Rife with his trademark sardonic humor, unapologetic violence, and morally-ambigious heroes, Basterds is one of those alternative history movies you really wish were true.
9. “Up”
Hot off the heartwarming success of “Wall-E,” Pixar has created another astonishing animated film that makes you laugh, cry and everything in between.
8. “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Sorry Pixar, but the award for best animated feature of the year belongs to Wes Anderson’s wickedly fun, “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
7. “Avatar”
Even though it only made it to number seven on this list, “Avatar” was by far the best movie-going experience of the year. Although the script wasn’t earth-shatteringly original, the special effects and scenery really were otherworldly.
6. “Watchmen”
Any fan of the seminal graphic novel who says that they didn’t enjoy the big-screen rendering is either lying to everyone or to themselves. “Watchmen” was pretty much a word-for-word, panel-for-panel adaptation of the original comic series.
5. “The Hurt Locker”
With characters so three-dimensional and action sequences so incredibly tense, Katherine Bigelow (who deserves her Oscar nomination for Best Director) crafted a movie so mind-numbingly realistic it could have easily.
4. “District 9”
“District 9” was probably the best science-fiction movie of 2009. The film deftly reminds audiences of a time where science-fiction was synonymous with intelligent social commentary.
3. “(500) Days of Summer”
A romantic comedy that is neither romantic nor all that funny, “(500) Days of Summer” is one of the most honest depictions of relationships to come along in years.
2. “Up In The Air”
Endlessly thought-provoking and impeccably acted, “Up In the Air” is the one movie this year that has its finger on the pulse of our times.
1. “Star Trek”
What’s perhaps most amazing this film is that it remained firmly rooted in the earth. To be unabashedly human is a testament to the screenwriters, the director, and, most especially, the brilliant cast.
A scene from “The Hurt Locker” (Photo courtesy aceshowbiz.com)
