Monday 21 December 2009

Top 3 Films of 2009

A little caveat before I write this. I haven't seen Avatar yet. So it might have made the Top 3. It might not. We'll never no.

3: Inglourious Basterds
Maybe it was about the day I saw it. Maybe it isn't a great film but for me the best day of 2009 wouldn't have been 'the best day' without it. Funny, violent, and utter fantasy, Inglorious Basterds rocked in all the right ways. Yes Tarantino probably has to grow up at some point if he's to go down as a great, but 2009 wasn't the right year for that. Basterds doesn't hit the emotional brilliance of it's opening through out the rest of the movie but it entertains in spades and it's wish fulfilment ending really does have to be seen to be believed.

2: Watchmen
You really have to be a geek to get why this is up there at number two. Yes it failed on some levels to capture the utter brilliance of a beloved comic book but it didn't damage that legacy, which was always the worry. I loved it for trying to get it right. Yes maybe Zak Snyder was almost too reverential but he'd have been slaughtered if he'd done anything other than bow down to the book.

They said it was unfilmable. He proved it wasn't. The ultimate super hero movie? For me yes. But you'll need your Phd in Watchmen to understand why.

1: The Wrestler
Ok Diary of a Ledger baters, I know it came out in 2008 in the States. But in the UK it was released in January and for me it was the best film I saw this year.

It was the only one to make me well up and Rourke's performance was the stand out of many a year.

Dark, depressing and no pandering. Despite my above choices, that is how I like my films.

1 comment:

  1. Watchmen failed on one noticeable point for me.

    The soundtrack.

    Great 80s nostalgia, but mostly did *not* fit within the scenes in which they were played.

    Aside from that it was brilliant. A couple of things they could never have done justice to on film, but they did a decent job with. And they *improved* the ending.

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