The Best Films I Saw in 2009

A list by Dennis D. McDonald

Here are my favorites among all the films I saw in 2009 (not all of these were released in 2009); my top 5 are tagged with an asterisk (*):

Funniest (tie):

• Peter Docter’s UP *
• Ruben Fleischer’s ZOMBIELAND

Most Disturbing:

• Alex Proyas’ KNOWING *

Best Ride for the Money:

• Neill Blomkamp’s DISTRICT 9 *

Best Music:

• Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM *

Best Special Effects (tie):

• David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
• Alex Proyas’ KNOWING *

Best Animation:

• Henry Selick’s CORALINE

Most Drop-Dead Gorgeous Female Lead:

• Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM * (Padukone)

Best Use of Fiction to Illustrate Truth:

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS * (first 20 minutes)

Best Off The Wall Perfomance (tie):

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS *(Pitt)
  
• Ruben Fleischer’s ZOMBIELAND (Harrelson)

Most Movie Movie:

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS *

Most Epic:

• Walter Salles’ THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Most Emotionally Engaging:

• Peter Docter’s UP *

Looniest:

• Timur Bekmambetov’s DAY WATCH

 Most Dramatic:

• Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud’s PERSEPOLIS

 Most Gorgeous Images (tie):

• The Polish Brothers’ NORTHFORK
• Tarsem’s THE FALL

 Best I-Would-Have-Loved-Reading-This-As-A-Novel-When-I-Was-A-Kid Movie:

• Gil Kenan’s CITY OF EMBER

 Best “Not With My Daughter You Don’t” Film:

• Pierre Morel’s TAKEN

Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald