59. "Paranormal Activity"If I had done a top 20 of 2009 this would've been #11. I really comes close to making that top 10 for me, but just misses the boat due to some... re-thinking and what not between it and other films. That said I love a ton of things about "Paranormal Activity". It was made for dirt cheap ($15,000 which was mostly the cost of the camera), became a massive success, was surprisingly scary and in the right ways and was generally fun which is rare. At no point did I feel like it was a real POV type of movie like this really happened; it always felt strangely just like a film. Which it is. It's wealth is found in the subtleties of the movie. There's some big scares, but they're all done in quiet, unsuspecting ways which makes them more memorable.
58. (TIE) Peter Jackon's "King Kong" & James Cameron's "Avatar"
I cheat and this is the first of a few. Oddly enough most of the cheating does take place on this particular post, fancy that huh. Any ways the reason I grouped these two together was because they are most massive scaled adventure films that were both perfect homages to genre picture yester-years as well as original and thrilling pieces of work. Both were also labors of love that these two filmmakers had and worked damn hard on to accomplish that vision. For Jackson he has finally won his Oscars for "The Lord of the Rings" and got to remake the picture that made him love movies. Thus he creates a 3-hour epic that delves into great depression New York as much as it delves into the complexities and humor of these characters and the dangerous of Skull Island. For Cameron "Avatar" is the is love letter to "Dune" and "John Carter of Mars" ("Wall-E" director Andrew Stanton will be thanking Cameron soon for laying a lot of the ground work for JFofM, which he will be directing for Disney). His flawless animation and groundbreaking motion capture techniques payed off big time and he didn't hesitate to remind of us just how good he was at displaying large scale beauty and destruction.
57. "The Incredibles"
Brad Bird at his finest and really one of the best Pixar films I've ever seen. The reason? Because it was ballsy. I mean when you really look at it, it's a bit more adult then it lets on. Bird told a great softer version of "Watchmen" with this picture (by his own admission) and it works like a charm. The satirical look at superheroes and their existence in the real world is always interesting and it's been nice to see more films going that route in addition to the tons where their existence is more positively accepted and not debated or exploited. Furthermore the voice casting of Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee was 100% perfect.
56. "Babel"
The last ten years for Brad Pitt were better than the ten before it. Sure he had an Oscar nod back then too and did tons of great roles, but now he brings a lot character acting Brad to main characters and in turn has beefed up general dramatic acting Brad. In fact I'd say that he impressed me more in this film than Cate Blanchett. No easy feet in my book mind you as I do love me some Cate fuckin' Blanchett. But the real star of this was Rinko Kikuchi who plays the deaf Japanese girl. For me her story was so heartbreaking and strong that it brought me close to tears. However in truth the film is filled with interesting and strong stories and was a worthy ending to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's trilogy.
55. "Sin City"
The film that aided in the massive push for graphic novels to get the film treatment. Thank you Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino for that. And also thank the countless major actors and actresses that took pay cuts just to do this movie. I mean you have Bruce Willis, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Clive Owen, Brittany Murphy, Jamie King, Alexis Bledel, Carla Gugino (pause....), Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clark Duncan, Ruger Haur and Michael Madsen. And I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting someone... but oh well. Extremely violent and extremely fun. They took Miller's books and really displayed them for the mass public who would other wise have no idea what "Sin City" was.
54. "The Royal Tenenbaums"
Currently my second favorite Wes Anderson film and one great dark comedy that's got all the wit and charm one could ask for. Granted this style has remained pretty much his trademark, and I don't view that so much as a bad thing. I do have to say that after this and with the exception of his newest film the characters seem to follow very similar patterns. But for "The Royal Tenenbaums" it's a dysfunctional family story that plays out magnificently. Gene Hackman finally had another role that gave him something to do and the younger comedic cast (ala Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson who co wrote the script) are superb.
53. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Depressing. I've seen the film a number of times and it never stops being depressing. However despite that I love how it's made on every level. The CGI is perfect, the music is beautiful and director David Fincher (a major personal favorite of mine) made an amazing romance journey that was filled with ideas and emotions. Now I think some of what was in Eric Roth's screenplay doesn't spell out so much on the screen, but that's ok. One of the things that Fincher wanted to do was to make a film that spoke more after the viewing and actually it has worked out that way for me.
52. "Star Trek"
J.J. Abrams' well made reboot. In fact it's one of the best reboots I've seen. Abrams' style is what makes this all work. And by style I mean everyone he works with and what he does. His lense flares put me in the "Die Hard" mindset; dark, but with enough light and activity around that it feels like day. His casting was perfect to a tee and his action sequences rival most big name action directors working today. I expect great things from this new franchise, great things.
51. (TIE) "Public Enemies" & "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford"
This is like a married couple on so many levels. Hell I'd so a double feature of these any day of the week they go together so well. Here are two films that take a look at the facts behind two of American's first major criminals. Both have histories and legend behind so much of them that often the truth falls by the wayside because it's not as interesting. With Michael Mann however you'll be getting truth and in large doses. Depp's portrayal of John Dillinger is one that the more I see it, the more I like it. He's internal and knows what he wants and for the most part how to get it. But he's clouded more and more as his days get fewer and fewer. However Marion Cottilard sold the show as far as I'm concerned. Every times she was on screen I believed every word she said. Mann's digital eye is at it's best and the finale is one of melancholy, as only Michael Mann could bring us. Now with "... Jesse James..." we have a large scale western that's packed with the kind of stuff classics are made from. Brad Pitt delivers what I think is still his best performance and Casy Affleck was fan-fucking-tastic. Had he not been against Javier Bardem at the Oscars, he would've won it. The story is really one of the first examples of a fan murder, although Ford had it in his mind that James intended to kill him and really that's probably true. But what's even better is seeing the aftermath across the country and how Ford wasn't treated as a hero for bringing down the outlaw, but as a coward. Also the score by Nick Cave is one of the most haunting and beautiful scores I've ever heard.
50. The Re-birth of James Bond "Casino Royale" & "Quantum of Solace"*
This one isn't so much a cheat as much as something that I feel is more important. A character like James Bond for example is important and with these two films and actor Daniel Craig, James Bond has been reborn and made better. Here we don't have the cookie-cutter spy we've gotten used to. We've got a hard nosed British spy who doesn't take shit from nobody and is willing to get his hands dirty if need be. At the same time he makes mistakes. Sometimes minor ones, sometimes BIG ones, but that's what great about it. He feels human. I can't really think of many Bond films in which Bond really got the shit beat out of him before taking down the bad guys and getting his surve on with whoever the Bond girl was. So what's next for Bond? Still a bit unknown, but the next film will be directed by Oscar winning Sam Mendas of "American Beauty", "Jarhead" and "Revolutionary Road". I wonder if anyone is accepting pre-orders yet.
* film pictured atop this blog
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