|
Subscribe!
770-267-8371
|
|
Thursday
September 2, 2010
|
|
|
|
Marketplace
|
|
Sections
|
|
Service Center
|
|
 |
|
Rating top films of 2009
Published December 27, 2009
As the year wraps up, I find myself looking back at the films I enjoyed the most in 2009.
All of them conveyed that sense of wonder that film can capture better than almost any other medium. These are the 10 films that could convey emotion and awe and remind me why we still have such a love affair with the cinema.
At 10 is “Zombieland,” which was perhaps the funniest movie I saw this year. Also, a zombie clown had its head smashed open, and that can sell a movie all on its own in my opinion.
It may be for kids, but at nine, “The Princess and the Frog” reminds me of the magic that was once Disney. This celebration of Disney nostalgia and New Orleans jazz works because every frame of glorious, hand-drawn animation is sumptuous enough to serve as a painting by itself.
“Where the Wild Things Are” captured the childlike spirit of the Maurice Sendak book to land at eight, while at seven the stop-motion marvel “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” was funny, heartfelt and a marvelous adaptation of the Roald Dahl book. Both were ostensibly kids’ films that also functioned on an adult level.
It may be based on a cheesy television show from the 1960s, but the reboot of No. 6 “Star Trek” was shockingly great, a fun and action-packed thrill ride that is just as much about the lovingly-recreated characters as the spaceships and monsters.
Five and four are also animated films (a full half of my top 10 are). “Up” was both thrilling and emotional, conveying more emotion in a four-minute montage than most films can get in their entire running time.
“Coraline” is not as nakedly sentimental, but the story of a girl who gets what she thinks she wants and must fight to get her real life back is just as powerful and, in every painstaking stop-motion frame, even more enchanting to watch.
In a good year for science fiction, “District 9,” at three, was the action film with a brain, commenting on immigration, racism and human nature while never forgetting to blow up a few things.
Any other year, “Inglourious Basterds” would have been my top film, but this year it had to settle for two. The newest film by Quentin Tarantino is a World War II film with a bizarre twist, a history-skewing love letter to film itself that is uproarious, touching and entertainingly violent. Also, a lot of Nazis are killed, which is always a good thing.
But my top film of 2009 was also an animated film, the Japanese cartoon “Ponyo,” a re-imaging of “The Little Mermaid” story that is a magical summation of the glory of cinema. The entire film is great, but no scene in any other film better conveyed sheer wonder than when a 5-year-old girl, giddy with joy, delight and longing, literally runs across the waves of the sea just to get back to a loved one.
That is why we watch films, and why 2009 was a good year for the cinema.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
