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JR'S TOP 10 FILMS-2009
2019,
2019-2010,
2019 MID YEAR,
2018,
2018 MID YEAR,
2017,
2016,
2015,
2014,
2013,
2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
2009-2000,
2006
"Good Old JR" Jim Rutkowski
weighs in with his picks for the TOP 10 films of 2009 |
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THE BEST OF 2009...
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Movie Reviews by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Another year, another list. In 2009's defense, this was an easier year to find
10 films. Unlike some others in the past where finding a full slate was akin to
trying to find clear skin in a high school, 2009 was a very good year for
cinema. My list begins and ends with adaptations from other material and both
were films that greatly polarized the audience. So let's get to it!! |
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#10-WATCHMEN
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"This isn't Watchmen beaten into
submission for movie screens,"
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Zack Synder's adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal
graphic novel certainly divided audiences. The general movie going public
outright dismissed the film due their own inability to see beyond what had come
before in terms of comic book films. This certainly was NOT like Spiderman. The
“fan” audience were, of course, more nit-picky. Some found the film a worthy
adaptation on it's own merits. Others could not forgive Snyder for leaving out
the giant squid that figured into Moore's denouemont. But looking at the film
objectively, Snyder takes what is, inarguably, some extremely difficult
material, and finds the right tone and cadence. Many said that Moore's graphic
novel was unfilmable. Snyder I think proves that wrong. He certainly retains all
the graphic novels elements and carefully transfers those sensibilities to
another medium. What was originally a deconstruction of the comic book becomes a
thought provoking morality play on the nature of evil and how it exists in
various shades of gray. |
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#9-UP IN THE AIR
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Only his third film and director/screenwriter Jason
Reitman is forging a formidable career. The film, which centers around a man who
flies around the country doing the dirty work the corporations don't want to
touch: he fires people for a living is the kind of movie that Preston Sturges
and Frank Capra made during the golden age of Hollywood. This is the type of
film that will be looked at by future generations as a cultural signpost to the
early 2000's. It also contains an award calibre performance by George Clooney. |
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#8-PANYO
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"Quiet beauty reigns here....Ponyo towers over this summer of empty
toy-related blockbusters"
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Master animator Hayao Miyazaki ( Spirited Away,
Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke) continues to prove that his
imagination and storytelling are second to none. This reworking of Hans
Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid is pure magic without ever trying to be.
The traditional hand-drawn animation contains imagery that is elegant and rich
in color and technique. But it's more than that. Miyazaki's script is also
emotionally involving, creating endearing characters that resonate with children
and adults. With Miyazaki, it's not just animation, it's art.
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#7-DISTRICT 9 |
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"....a well-made, entertaining work with enough originality to set it apart
from other big-budget genre items"
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This is one intense, intelligent, well-crafted action movie — one that dazzles
the eye with seamless special effects but also makes you think without
preaching. Like the excellent "Moon", "District 9" has the aesthetic trappings
of science fiction but it's really more of a character drama, an examination of
how a man responds when he's forced to confront his identity during
extraordinary circumstances.
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#6-PRECIOUS
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"...more concerned with the first steps of empowerment, not an overall cure,
leaving more of a lasting impression"
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While the director, Lee Daniels, does not shy away from the grimmest elements of
the story, his eclectic filmmaking style is almost exhilarating, finding room
for fantasy, operatic melodrama, and authentic humor. This is a fine movie, and
a deep one. It's about unearthing some deeply human buried treasure.
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#5-MOON
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WThe years best science fiction film of the year. Directed by first time helmer
Duncan Jones ( the son of David Bowie) Moon delves into areas that sci-fi films
haven't for awhile, the hard science fiction realm. Reminisent of 2001 and
Solaris, Moon is challenging but vastly rewarding.
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#4-A SERIOUS MAN |
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"...one of the Cohen's best films and reconfirms that they are the most
daring filmmakers working today”
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The Coen Brothers follow up their Oscar winning No Country For Old Men with
probably their most personal film. A tart, brilliantly acted fable of life’s
little cosmic difficulties, a comedy with a darker philosophical outlook than
“No Country for Old Men” but with a script rich in verbal wit. This time it’s
God — or chance, or fate with a grudge against the Minneapolis suburbs —
wielding the stun gun. The most we can do, the film implies, is stick to our
principles and hope for the best.
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#3-HURT LOCKER
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"... one of the very best and most exciting war movies of any kind to come
along in a long time.”
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The Hurt Locker is a small classic of tension, bravery, and fear, which will be
studied twenty years from now when people want to understand something of what
happened to American soldiers in Iraq. Overwhelmingly tense, overflowing with
crackling verisimilitude, it's both the film about the war in Iraq that we've
been waiting for and the kind of unqualified triumph that's been long expected
from director Kathryn Bigelow.
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#2 UP
REVIEW-A-PALOOZA |
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"Pixar has become a studio that film after film is creating great cinema.”
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Pixar seems to have a yearly spot on the top 10 list. The quality level
continues for the studio with another near perfect gem. This tale of a senior
citizen who embarks on a fantastical mission, shows of Pixar's mastery of
cinema. The first 15 minutes alone provide some of the finest storytelling I
have ever seen on film.
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#1-WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE |
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"...manages to bring a beloved classic to the screen-in ways that are
engaging and powerful.”
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As all truly great art does, this film greatly polarized the audience. In
elaborating on the original book so boldly, and repopulating it so richly,
Director Spike Jonze has protected "Where the Wild Things Are" as an inviolable
literary work. In preserving its darkest spirit, he's created a potent, fully
realized variation on its most highly charged themes. Most important of all,
he's achieved with the cinematic medium what Sendak did with words and pictures:
He's grasped something true and terrifying about love at its most unconditional
and voracious.
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Images © Copyright 2019 by their respective owners No rights given or
implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated
Review © 2019 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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OTHER REVIEWS... |
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2009 |
FORWARD INTO THE PAST
(aka "Old Reviews")
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2009 |
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