Top Five: Best of film for 2009

A mixed bag of a year, to say the least. Some gems and surprises here and there, but the big budget films stunk up the place, especially in the wake of Iron Man, The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder. Here’s to a bright and cheerful 2010.

Keep in mind, due to a hectic schedule, my movie viewing wasn’t as much as it would usually be. I caught a handful of  what grabbed my eye and am still waiting on Inglorious Basterds, Public Enemies and a few others. A few of these films were leftover from 2008, but I caught them this year – so I counted them. Hey it’s my list, make your own, dammit.

Best Movie of the Year – Up: Pixar’s charming and wonderful tale of an old man, his motley crew in tow, searching for closure was modern cinema at its best. Full of heart and laughs, Up jerked tears one moment and brought laughs the next. A cinch for Oscar’s Animated Film of the Year, Up may make the grand leap to the Best Film category with the inclusion of five more nominees this year.

Some critics derided Up because it “turned into a kids movie,” but that may have been the best part – when the action kicked in, Up didn’t lose sight of its characters or the story, something too many films -  animated, children’s or otherwise – do far too often. The finest from the last great studio.

Funniest Movie of the Year – The Hangover: True, The Hangover enjoyed the success of an easily sold concept. The trailer itself was reason for half the bank. But The Hangover exhibited a truly funny story – one could sense the effort and creativity – and abandoned the usual pop culture cliches and references. Gone was the usual ad lib mad cow of Will Ferrell, in was originality and respect for the story. Unlike Ferrell’s testosterone-mocking derangement, The Hangover accomplished what great comedies like Caddyshack and Animal House sought to do – it gave viewers the feeling you knew these people or the events were entirely plausible – or that the film was one giant flashback.

An arch-typical cast could have easily turned the film formulaic; but Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis stretched their roles and you buy into their panic and amazement of their own bedlam. A great comedic effort.

Best Action Movie – Taken: Until I see Tarantino’s latest, I’m going with Taken, a cinematic surprise at the box office and a very satisfying revenge thriller.

Liam Neeson approached Bryan Mills with a kind of straightforward and stoic bearing that one would expect from an intelligence operative; and the kind of end-of-the-world fierceness you would find in a wronged father. No clever twists or CGI spell-binding action sequences, Taken delivers the meat and potatoes. You never get the sense that Mills is in over his head like Die Hard or most of its surrogates, but instead the viewer takes satisfaction as he nears his quarry.

Taken doesn’t break a lot of new ground, but is a refreshing respite of by-the-numbers film-making that has infected action movies since The Matrix. The simple approach works, as the always formidable Neeson is on screen nearly every moment of the film.

Surprise of the Year – Gran Torino: Stars sell movies. It isn’t that stars quit selling movies, Hollywood quit selling stars. Clint Eastwood proved that with the right role, he’s as much a star as anyone left in Hollywood.

Eastwood’s film was set in Detroit, done on a hamstring budget compared to most wide-release fare and is named after an obscure 60s and 70s Ford musclecar. Not exactly the type of film Hollywood would consider a tentpole. But it found an audience who found the tale of Eastwood seeking vengeance in his later years intriguing. Make no doubt, Gran Torino was the Man With No Name in retirement – and the Man With No Name still puts butts in the seats.

Best Director – Zack Snyder: Snyder’s visionary work is getting coped left and right, but he proved with Watchmen he’s the true master of his realm. Watchmen was just a tad smidgen away from greatness, a little too big for its britches, but his gift for visuals are like no other. No one understands modern technology and how to bend and influence the story before the eyes as well as Snyder. He also showed he’s no slouch when it comes to characters – I still get a tingle of satisfaction whenever I hear the Comedians speech on the world’s problems.

Biggest Disappointment – Blockbuster Thuds: This year lacked its Robert Downey Jr. or its Dark Knight and it showed. Perhaps the best blockbuster of the summer was Star Trek, a decent but very formulaic and by-the-numbers hole full of money that Kyle Smith rightly pegged for its cheesiness and sheer theft from the hits of yesteryear. Transformers made no effort for a serious story and G.I. Joe was video gamey and spastic at best. Playing for kiddie fodder or the weekenders escaping their couches may make the bucks, but viewer satisfaction has been raised when films like Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man (in the case of the first two), the new Batman series and Iron Man can take franchise film making to new artistic levels. The bar has been raised, but too many studios, directors and studios have yet to notice.

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