By the end of the year, I'll update this list. As of now, here is a draft version, of sorts, of the films that wowed the pants of me in 2009.
Moon
As I wrote when I first reviewed Moon, I originally went into the movie thinking it would be an indie ripoff of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Instead, it ended up being an achingly sympathetic view of a man's loneliness. The isolation of space is even more apparent when it becomes increasingly clear that the memories that held him together were never as they seemed.
Star Trek
I know perilously close to nothing about Star Trek except the most basic of facts: Spock has pointy ears. Their ship is the Enterprise. But J.J. Abram's Star Trek prequel is wonderfully inclusive of non-fans like myself with just enough tradition to appeal to hardcore followers. It's intensely exhilarating, smart, well-crafted fun, a summer blockbuster that rises above its ilk with fantastic acting, an engaging script, and the gloriously saturated backdrop of space.
District 9
District 9 has two distinct parts. The first, and the one most widely applauded, is the somewhat heavy-handed (to me, at least) allegory to Apartheid-era South Africa. The second, and the one I appreciated the most, was the terrifyingly brutal transformation of a normal, somewhat dim-witted, human into a monstrous hybrid that doesn't quite belong anywhere.
And hey, there's a mecha robot, a big spaceship, and illegally-distributed cat food.
The Informant!
The Informant! is a fantastic film, precisely because it is not what it appears to be. It looks like another quirky expose on white-collar crime, but after awhile, when the audience is allowed to observe just what is going on here (and even then, we're as befuddled as the rest of the cast), Matt Damon's bumbling and clueless character consistently throws us for a loop. By the film's end, we're not sure if we're sympathetic, amused, or horrified, but in this case, that was it's intention all along.
Zombieland
The strength of Zombieland, and what sets it apart from other contenders in the horror-comedy genre, is the fact that it's motley crew of unlikely heroes are the stars, not the zombies themselves. Even if there were absolutely no zombies whatsoever, and we only get to see the team discussing the appeal of Hannah Montana for 12 year old girls, Zombieland would still be one of the funniest films of the year due to the absolutely fantastic chemistry between them.
Inglourious Basterds
Once upon a time, I was convinced Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds was either, A: never going to be made, and B: once it was made, going to be terrible. Heralds of it being his "masterpiece" only served to increase my suspicions and cynicism. I went into the theatre without expecting much, and came out of it absolutely speechless. It's a Tarantino film all right, but it's his most subtle, the most nuanced, the most controlled, and still incredibly fun, featuring a host of stellar actors (including Best Supporting Actor hopeful Cristoph Waltz) who all seem to be having a hell of a lot of fun too.
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