1. Inglourious Basterds -- I actually caught this late in the game because I didn't think I would like it (mostly because I didn't care for Kill Bill or Grindhouse, and the promos made it look like it was going to be a gang of soldiers carving up Nazis for two and a half hours), but I ended up loving every minute of it. Hands down the best film of the year. Not on the same level as his true masterpiece (Pulp Fiction), but his second best work in my book.
2. Star Trek -- This was the most successful reboot/remake/adaptation ever. It nailed so many things Star Trek while deftly side-stepping continuity to blaze its own trail. If I compared it to the other Star Trek movies, it easily ranks up there with Wrath of Khan and ahead of First Contact. It shocking how well Abrams pulled this off. I can read you a list of quibbles, issues, and glaring plot holes a mile long, but none of that makes a dent into the amount of entertainment and discovery I experienced.
3. Food Inc. -- This isn't what a lot of people think it is -- it's really not about how dirty your food is -- it's about how the food industry oligarchy is dictating what you eat and using price as leverage to ensure their food gets on your table. Cheap food has its costs, and Food Inc lays out the humanitarian and health consequences of cheap food (many of the farmers that supply Big Food are virtually indentured servants) and shows how cheap corn is the backbone of the food complex -- corn made cheap by subsidies that come out of everyone's paycheck. The lack of oversight is criminal, aided by the appointment of food industry insiders as the ostensible government watchmen. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes indeed.
4. Watchmen -- I still think Watchmen is better served as an HBO mini-series, but in lieu of that, I'll take Zach Snyder's ultra faithful adaptation. Aside from the reworked ending, the movie hews so closely to the comic book that it lack suspense or surprise, but the realization is so spot on that I was totally engrossed in the movie and its myriad details.
5. Up in the Air -- Anyone else tired of seeing this film on every Best Of list? And yet, it's so endlessly engaging that there isn't a single dull spot in the entire movie, something that's like to pitching a no-hitter these days. At times, the writing and performances absolutely sparkle. I didn't expect to like this movie much, so I was surprised at how thoroughly entertained and emotionally connected I was.
6. The Hurt Locker -- I put this on the list by default -- as a piece of filmmaking, it is extraordinary. But as a movie, I can safely say I never want to see it again. Because once you get past the "you are there" immediacy and the palpable specter of death that hovers over the characters, there isn't a lot of "movie" there for me to want to view again. As far as I'm concerned, I made it through the rotation and I ain't going back.
7. Taken -- A Charles Bronson revenge film updated for the 21st century, Taken is a shark of a movie -- relentless, propulsive, sleek, bloody, and brutal. And jingoistic, to be sure. But every gunshot and bone breaking blow has a bloody and satisfying purpose. I now understand what my dad saw in those old Bronson flicks. The International was also a great actioner, but Taken was so much more visceral. This is the movie to satisfy your lizard brain.
8. Red Cliff 1 & 2 -- Like across between Ran and LOTR, Red Cliff is long a spectacular, but much like LOTR, the first part has a lot of slow setup and character development. The second half is worth the build up.
9. Ponyo -- I'm not really a big Miyazaki fan, as there is usually a point in a Studio Ghibli movie where I lose the tenuous grasp on understanding what is happening and the foreigness becomes off-putting. But I watched Ponyo with my 4 year old daughter, and at one point she asked me, "what's going on?" I said, "I don't know dear, I just don't know" with a big smile on my face and I just let the movie happen. Even though I only have a shaky comprehension of what happened (describing it to someone is like describing a freshly experienced dream -- you keep stopping yourself to think, "wait, what I said makes no sense"), but Ponyo resonated and stuck with me far more than Up and was a million times more inventive and interesting than Princess and the Frog. If you liked Ponyo, you should definitely check out My Neighbor Totoro.
10. Avatar & District 9 -- Both of these films lack something to be my favorite movie, but both of them did things to breathe life into CGI characters that went beyond anything Peter Jackson did with Gollum. In both films, I totally bought into the illusion that these pixels were living, breathing creatures, and although the love story fell a bit flat for me in Avatar and the all out action ending of District 9 became tedious, there was a lot to appreciate in both movies.
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