What made our list for the 'Best Films of 2009'? Read our list and see if you agree!

  "Bad Lieutenant" made the list for our "Best Films of The Year".  Check out the rest below.

It's that time of year: snow is on the ground, presents are being unwrapped, and year-end lists are being made to celebrate the stuff that was, 2009.  Because the Comedy Examiner's a film geek, we're offering up our "Best Films of 2009" list to you, the gentle Examiner readers.  These are also mainly comedies, so don't say we weren't biased in our choices.  Also: you'll notice there's no "Avatar" here, so those James Cameron haters in the crowd can rest easy.  Read on for all the details, my precious snowflakes...

Good Lord, it's a busy day here at the Comedy Examiner's Office.  Nevermind all the presents we've had to unwrap lately; attendance is up this week.  With this many people coming through the Comedy Examiner's Office, we felt it'd be a good time to get around to this "Best FIlms of The Year" list, seeing as we've been putting it off for the past week. 

So, with that, we'd like to get started.  What follows are our picks for the best films (most are comedy, but some aren't) of 2009.  If you've got an addition/alteration/suggestion for this list, feel free to add it in the comments section below, folks: we wanna know what you thought!  Without further ado, let's get to it, and click the titles for our full reviews (also keep in mind that these are presented in order from least-best to best):

5.  ZOMBIELAND (Dir. Ruben Fleischer):  Here's another one that came as a big surprise.  Zombies are really, really popular these days (Are they the next vampires?  Discuss), and director Ruben Fleischer came out of nowhere to hand in one of the best zombie comedy-horror films we've ever seen.  Woody Harrelson was in "Good Woody Harrelson" mode; Jessie Eisenberg finally made us understand why people have been calling him the "next big thing"; and that Bill Murray cameo was one of-- if not the best-- instances of cameo-usage we've ever seen.  "Zombieland" is getting a sequel, and we couldn't be happier.

4. STAR TREK (Dir. JJ Abrams):  We're big JJ Abrams fans here at the Comedy Examiner's Office, what with "Lost" and "Fringe" going strong on our BluRay players, and we're also partial to his version of "Star Trek".  Why?  Because JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" made us actually give a crap about the series.  Before this summer's unexpected blockbuster, we couldn't have cared less about the adventures of Kirk, Spock, Gilligan, Meatwad, and the rest of 'em.  "Star Trek" turned out to be the funniest, most spectacular (in the literal sense of the word), best-overall "Star Trek" film for many people, and that includes the Comedy Examiner.  Hell, we even went and watched "Wrath of Kahn" because of it.  What higher praise could one heap on the film than that? And, on top of all that, it was the funniest "Star Trek" ever.  We'd even go so far as to call it an action/comedy.  As such, it makes our list for best of the year, even though it wasn't strictly a comedy.  Thanks go out to JJ Abrams.

3.  BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (Dir. Werner Herzog): We're not sure you can call this a "comedy", but we do.  It's one of the craziest, morally bankrupt films we've seen come out of Hollywood in years, and-- like "Star Trek"-- it pulled off one helluva hat trick: it made us like Nicolas Cage again.  Even Eva Mendes-- usually just eye candy at the multiplex-- was awesome in this flick.  Add in a lucky crack pipe, phantom iguanas, and bloated Val Kilmer, and you have one outstanding movie from director Werner Herzog.  If you haven't seen "Bad Lieutenant" because you don't like Cage, trust us: you wanna see him in this. 

2.  IN THE LOOP (Dir. Armando Iannucci):  Chances are, you didn't see this hilarious political comedy; it didn't get a lot of attention when it was released.  But when it hits DVD and BluRay on January 12th, you need to make it your priority to check it out.  We never did get around to doing an official review of the film, but we did love every second of it.  Standout performances by Anna Chlumsky (the little girl from "My Girl", all grown up and swearing!), James Gandolfini, and-- here's the best of the bunch-- Peter Capaldi as the most foul-mouthed person we've met since ourselves.  Utterly brilliant work by all, and a must-see for fans of political comedy. 

1.  INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (Dir. Quentin Tarantino):  This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that reads the Comedy Examiner's Office often, but Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" is the film to beat for us this year (hint: you won't be able to beat it).  Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz (especially Christoph Waltz), BJ Novak (from "The Office", no less), and Diane Krueger made this an absolute joy to sit through, but it was Tarantino's insane re-imagining of history that kept us coming back each time.  Hell, we bought the film on BluRay and have watched it four times since.  "Inglourious Basterds" better get some attention come Oscar time, or we're going to be mightily disappointed.  One thing worth noting: why in the hell did Tarantino not do a commentary track for the BluRay?  We was robbed!

That about does it for this year's best films, folks.  If you agree, disagree, whatever, feel free to sound off in the comments section below.  We wanna know what you thought of our picks.  And, because it's Christmas, we have another present for you: more recent articles from the Comedy Examiner!  Who could ask for more?  Check 'em out here, folks:

THE TOP TEN MOST-MOCKED CELEBRITIES OF 2009: WHO MADE THE LIST? (WITH VIDEO)-- in which we provide you, the gentle Examiner readers, with a handy list of all the celebrities (and, in one case, a state) that made our "Most-Mocked of 2009" list.  You better believe "Twilight" is on there.

"THE DAILY SHOW" CORRESPONDENTS COME CLEAN ABOUT THEIR STEROID USAGE (WITH FUNNY VIDEO)-- in which the correspondents from "The Daily Show" answer questions from the internet.  We realize that doesn't sound hilarious, but trust us: it's worth the click.

"THE A-TEAM" REMAKE IS HEADED TO THEATERS, BUT MR. T WON'T BE INVOLVED-- in which we find out why B.A. Barraccus won't be appearing in the new action/comedy remake of "The A-Team". 

DOES THE "IRON MAN 2" TRAILER SPOIL A MAJOR PLOT POINT?  (WITH SPOILER VIDEO)--in which we learn that the "Iron Man 2" trailer may, in fact, spoil a teensy-little plot point for comic book geeks.  For the rest of us, this will barely register as noteworthy.  But read it, anyway.

(photo: aintitcoolnews.com)

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