A few good films in 2009

By Sarah Sluis
Perhaps it's the part of me that grew up in a world where "participant" ribbons were a standard consolation prize, but I wanted my top ten of 2009 to include some movies that won't be seeing much play at the Oscars or in other top tens, but are good films in their own right. In particular, I wanted to reward fine genre works, whether it was an arthouse take on a police procedural (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) or that rarest of the rare, a comedy that makes me laugh out loud (almost all of those made the list).

The Hangover: This is not an Oscar comedy. It's not dark and ironic, the protagonists are young, it made lots of money, and it's definitely, definitely not "quiet" or "black." The raunchy comedy earns my top honors because instead of that cringe-worthy tactic of having its characters get into deeper and deeper trouble for laughs (a no-no for sensitive souls like myself), it created humor from having its characters try to pick up all the pieces. Miraculously, it managed to find new ways to shock audiences, and it had the best missing big cat since Bringing Up Baby.

Avatar: James Cameron's work feels like the sci-fi epics I loved

growing up: movies like Jurassic Park and Independence Day that broke

new technological ground and backed it up with a winning story (though

I'm not sure how well Independence Day holds up today). Cameron is a

master at his craft, and no adult will look at 3D the same way. Bonus

points for its environmental bent.

I Love You, Man: Another innovative comedy that turned romantic comedy conventions on their head and used the "falling in love" montage for the film's bromance. Its Rotten Tomato rating (in the eighties) is higher than most "awards" films, but it's received little end-of-the-year love. Having suffered through many terrible romantic comedies this year, it was a pleasure to watch something that was actually laugh-out-loud funny, and a welcome addition to the Judd Apatow-style comedy-bromance genre.

(500) Days of Summer: My indulgent, hipster choice. Young love has never been so ebullient than in this film that mixed up its chronology to make its kiss 'n break-up story novel. Its fantastic musical sequence (staged by director Marc Webb, a veteran of music videos) was proof that good things can come from music video-influenced films. It also violated the most important romcom trope: getting together at the end.

Thirst: Stylistically rigorous, this vampire tale is far, far from New Moon. Its scenes of sex and violence will have you wriggling in your seat in discomfort, but director Chan-wook Park (Oldboy) is truly a master at his craft, taking Asian horror to an artistic high, with a bit of a moralistic bent.

Up: Best thing about Up, #1: It makes you cry. Instead of adding double entendres for adult laughs, Pixar used the wide age range of its audience to make older viewers cry. The little kids next to me didn't get it, but I was wiping away tears underneath my 3D glasses. Best thing about Up, #2? It makes you laugh. The talking dogs were my most memorable chuckle of the year.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans: I thought I was so sick of police procedurals, but Nicolas Cage brings the genre back with the baddest, most insane performance of the year. The seediness of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina is made absurd by director Werner Herzog's inclusion of iguana point-of-view shots and the depictions of off-the-cuff abuse of power and drugs. A strange, strange movie, in all the right ways.

Precious: Based on the Novel �Push' by Sapphire: A tearjerker with equal parts horror and heart. Precious' world is so foreign to most of us, but director Lee Daniels makes it even more of a nightmare with his use of dream sequences and subjective point-of-view. Mo'Nique put in a jaw-dropping performance, and her final monologue is a gutsy move made by Daniels that raises more questions than it answers.

Up in the Air: Yes, this is one that's on a lot of top ten lists, and its tone of comedy mixed with anomie comes straight from the Academy playbook. But it's good. My favorite sequence was when George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick form their unlikely trio, learning from each other and crashing a party.

Food, Inc.: A well-researched complement to Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation, this documentary covered the food industry from moo to mouth and back again. I spouted "Did you know�?" to friends and families for weeks based on what I learned about the food industry. It's already out on DVD, calling out to me for a second viewing.

Why stop at top ten when there are a few films that deserve honorable mentions, but didn't make it into my rather loose list. An Education: The debut of Carey Mulligan with a fantastic performance from Rosamund Pike. Pike's glamorous and perfectly assembled look made her as attractive to adult-pining Mulligan as Peter Sarsgaard. The Cove: Environmental activism meets Ocean's 11, so controversial it had a hard time playing in Japan. And they're feeding dolphins to your children! The Young Victoria: a decidedly unstuffy costume drama and romance that should make Emily Blunt a star.

'Pelham' hopes to take 1, 2, or 3

By Sarah Sluis

With so many good films piling up in theatres, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (3,074 theatres) and Imagine That (3,008 theatres) may have a tough time making waves at the box office. While Pelham has a shot at number one, prognosticators estimate the film will pull in roughly $20 million--the same amount The Hangover and Up should settle at. Reviews for the film have been middling, as it requires some suspension of disbelief to get on board with the characters and plot. The New York Times' A.O. Scott enjoyed watching Denzel Washington and John Travolta "barreling through every clich and nugget of corn the script has to offer with verve and conviction. Even when you don't really believe them, they're always a lot of fun to watch," while Michael Rechtshaffen found "the sleek new edition isn't as transporting as it should have been." Pelham's no runaway train, but it just can't quite pull everything off.

Imagine That has received barely a blip in marketing, usually a sign that the studio has little faith in the film, but our reviewer Kirk Honeycutt found the banter between Eddie Murphy and child actor Yara Shahidi top-notch. He commends the director, Karey Kirkpatrick, for "[knowing] how to entertain children while amusing adults," and "[using] Murphy much better than many past directors, not letting him run away with the film, but forcing him to work with the story and his character." For some reason, Variety pegs the potential audience as moms and girls (which might explain why marketers abandoned it), but it seems like the kind of film a whole family would enjoy. That is, unless watching Eddie Murphy being chastised for being an absentee father is a bit too squirm-inducing for most dads.

On the specialty front, festival favorite Moon, directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones, opens in New York and L.A. "[A] meditation on the conflict between the streamlining tendencies of technological progress and the stubborn persistence of feelings and desires that can't be tamed by utilitarian imperatives," as summarized by A.O. Scott," the film has been commended by critics for its minimalism, which they also view as something of a fault. "There may simply have been too little in Parker's script to play with beyond a couple of plot twists," FJI's Chris Barsanti noted.

Also opening in New York and L.A., Food, Inc. provides a rundown of the organic, local, anti-agribusiness movement. I blogged about the documentary last week, and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more, or become more fervently devoted to, the food movement.

On Monday, I'll recap to see if Pelham will be able to debut above holdovers The Hangover and Up, and if Imagine That will manage to exceed the modest expectations set by Paramount.