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Halfway in - the top 10 movies of 2009
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As June inches towards it closing, as does the first half of the year. If there is anything film critics love as much as compiling an end of the year top 10 list, it’s prepping and tinkering with them each month. So, with 2009 halfway over, and the year shaping up to be a pretty solid one for cinema, let’s take a quick look back and countdown the best pictures to have hit theaters thus far.
10.The Limits of Control : Jim Jarmusch’s latest is a smart, lyrical tribute to cool, played out as a deconstruction of the spy film. Gorgeous for the eyes and ears from start to finish.
9. (500) Days of Summer : A SIFF 09 veteran, this romantic comedy is smoother and more fun than any in its genre for years. Full of imagination, it contains a dynamite performance by the endlessly watchable Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
8.Drag Me to Hell : Sam Raimi’s return to horror has the splat-stick king inviting us to play in a bloody pool, surrounded by swearing goats, gypsies with staples in their eyes and genuine scares. Sorely overlooked by audiences.
7. Moon : Another SIFF representative, Duncan Jones’ debut is a lyrical space trip, claustrophobic and bewildering in its every turn. Sam Rockwell is spectacular as pretty much the only person in it.
6. Coraline : Henry Selick proves his bewitching directing hand with a tale of poorly chosen curiosity. Sensational songs, unforgettable design and enough terrifying images to make young ones to remember this for years to come, no matter how much they try not to.
5. Summer Hours : Stunning Olivier Assayas family drama, with the year’s finest acting. Pitch perfect in execution.
4. Up : The best comedy to hit screens all year just so happens to also bring maybe the most tears.
3.Adventureland : A melancholy summer haze envelops each frame of Greg Mottola’s coming of age picture. Far more heartfelt and far less silly than adds portrayed.
2. Goodbye Solo : Ramin Bahrani’s modern American neo-realist treasure draws you in softly and its confident storytelling never lets go. A pair of masterful performances (Souleymane Sy Savane & Red West), present an unlikely friendship that demands to be witnessed.
1. Tyson : Equal parts disturbing and revealing, James Toback’s stark series of interviews with the infamous boxing champion can not be turned away from. Like diving head first into a troubled psyche, where one sees all the frayed wires struggling to keep things moving. Unforgettable.
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