Films Of The Year 2009

Another year is done so it's time to pick some of the best films to come out in those fifty two weeks. 2009 was a little strange movie-wise. In some ways it felt like a damp squib mainly thanks to a blockbuster season full of utter dross. The big event movies were nearly all tied to running series that just weren't very good and Michael Bay finally made the mess of Transformers we all thought he would first time around. As such it was smaller cinema's year to shine. Not just in the "indie" or arty fields but in horror, sci-fi, comedy and so on. While Hollywood strove to destroy the world or saturate the already packed vampire sub-genre those looking to tell different stories really came to the fore. The list sees some fantastic movies from old favourites and new filmmakers alike. It also is missing some great films that just didn't make it. So what follows isn't some snobby, screw the blockbusters list. We here at Splice love a good wham bam summer movie. The problem was that none of them were any good. Thankfully there was many a great film released during the year as this now attests:

10) District 9

A stunning exploration of how countries treat immigrants and an even more stunning effects driven sci-fi thriller. Made for something like a fifth of what it cost to make Revenge of the Fallen Neill Blomkamp's debut film shows Hollywood how to do it. Employing a documentary-like handheld style and some breathtaking effects work for the price spent District 9 is creative in a way most Hollywood fare of a similar ilk (Cloverfield) can only dream about. Plus the performance of first time actor Sharlto Copley is astounding, not just because it is his first film but because a great deal of his dialogue is improvised and he wrings real emotion from the situation.


9) Drag Me To Hell

Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre, although it's arguably actually a comedy, shows up the rest of the genre for the redundant blunt edge it is. Whereas the plebs chose yet another ineffective, pointless remake of something they may have heard of from the 70's or 80's, those in the know chose Drag Me To Hell. It's a good, old fashioned shocker and Raimi has no shame in going for the obvious to get his audience jumping. There is no one better working in film in terms of creative camera work, use of sound and editing and it's through these supposedly simple techniques that he crafts many of the film's best scares. Plus he loves punishing his lead actors and Alison Lohman takes Cambell-level abuse. The horror genre has really missed Raimi, let's hope he works in it again soon.

8) Zombieland

Or the geek's guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse. Ruben Fleischer's debut felt a bit like if Tarantino made a zombie movie given how it's full of dialogue and lots of self-conscious nods to what has gone before. But given that the great man has now descended into relentless self-parody let's be thankful for someone else able to channel the energy needed to make this more than just another comic zombie flick. Like Shaun Of The Dead before it Zombieland does a lot of the cliches but in a way that feels fresh thanks to the direction and witty writing. The performances are great as well, with Woody Harrelson in particular clearly having a bawl. Oh and we can't finish without mentioning that cameo. Simply genius.


7) The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow does war. The Iraq War to be exact. It's a brutal experience taking you inside the action thanks to a free form, handheld style and it's a place you don't really want to be, well not in real life anyway. Some have criticised Hurt Locker for being pro-war but it's more neutral, which for some is just as bad. Instead it focuses on the soldiers experiences of it and looks at what can only really be described as "war addiction", people who only feel alive when in a situation that could cause their death at any moment. The performances are great, especially Jeremy Renner, the direction tight and the action nerve-shreddingly tense. The year's most intense experience.


6) A Serious Man

It's the Coen Brothers being the Coen Brothers. They've went and done it again sneaking this little gem in right at the death. It focuses on one Jewish man's attempts to explain why his life is falling apart. It could be God, or luck, or, you know, the shit for all intents and purposes happening. It's clear the Coens are playing with us creating something that appears to be incredibly deep and meaningful and yet in the end it seems to be actually pretty meaningless. Call it their response to critics endlessly trying to pick apart their films that they claim don't hold any deeper meaning. The proof lies in the middle of the film with the story about the teeth that contain a message from God. Plus it's the only film this year where you'll get to witness a Bar Mitzvah through the eyes of a stoned 13 year old.

5) The Wrestler

Darren Aronofski decides to tone down all that stylistic stuff and turns in his most raw and human of films as a result. Plot wise it's pretty much every boxing movie ever made only this time it's about a guy risking his life for a "sport" that isn't even real. At least that's the perspective of those who don't like Wrestling. It is for the people involved and its fans very real, as is Randy's situation. It's a movie about someone whose life has passed him by. His glory years are long behind him but he can't let go as he has nothing else. It's a heartbreaking watch and this is mainly thanks to what has to be the performance of the year from Mickey Rourke. He is Randy to some extent, only he is now finding the redemption the character might not allow himself to receive. Oh and Springsteen's song on the end credits should have won a damn Oscar but since Rourke didn't win it was clear the Academy didn't like it. But then, what do they know?

4) Moon

Another debut feature, from Duncan Jones, and another incredible sci-fi film that defies its budget to show Hollywood how ideas will always triumph if allowed to flourish. Moon cost $5 million and yet looks amazing thanks to clever practical effects, model work and subtle CGI. It's a deep, funny and very touching film about a man isolated in a mining base on the lunar surface with only a robot for company. It does what all the best sci-fi does and questions the ideas of what it is to be human. Plus in a time when Hollywood is happy for the genre to feature planet sized destruction Moon comes as a breath of fresh air by looking back to smaller films like Silent Running. Sam Rockwell is brilliant acting pretty much himself for the whole movie and it also features the year's best score thanks to Clint Mansell.

3) In The Loop

Or the sweariest fucking film you'll shitting well see all pissing year. Armando Iannucci's first film, based on the TV show The Thick Of It, is easily the funniest of the year. Anchored by the always brilliant Peter Capaldi as British government spin doctor Malcolm Tucker the film details the run up to a war in the Middle East which both the American and British governments want, they're just struggling to justify it. Sound familiar? It's a biting satire on how rubbish government actually is, whether it's in dour northern English towns or the White House itself. The film is driven almost entirely by dialogue and by the, mainly idiotic or sinister, actions of the characters. And in Jamie the press secretary it features the best one of the year. Witness his outburst towards a fax machine and bask in the sheer insane genius of it all.

2) Up

Why do you have to make me greet like a big wean every bloody time Pixar? There I am in the cinema surrounded by kids who are busy laughing and I'm tearing up. Thankfully when I wipe those tears away I realise all the parents are too, as are my mates. That's the power of these guys and their magical little tales. Everyone gets something from it. For the kids there's talking dogs and silly birds. For the adults, well, there's talking dogs and silly birds as well but there's also a genuinely sad, but ultimately uplifting, story of an old guy who loves his wife, no matter if death separates them or not. If the opening ten minutes, the finest opening to a film all year, doesn't get you, Carl seeing what's in the rest of the adventure book will. Sublime, beautiful and damn exciting Up is another fine achievement from some of the best filmmakers in the business, animated or otherwise.

1) Let The Right One In

So after all the moaning about how many bloody vampire films and TV shows have been released thanks to the abysmal yet ridiculously successful Twilight my film of the year is a bloody vampire film. But what a film it is. Whereas so many others added nothing to the bloodsucker sub-genre Let The Right One In is a stunningly original take on the tale that seems older than time. Instead of being an outright horror it rather is an exploration of adolescent love, friendship and loneliness. Well seeing it's a European film instead of Hollywood. Like many of the other genre pictures on this list it towers above most other modern examples by trying to be something different instead of yet another blunt, redundant pile of rubbish. It is a stunning little film, slow and ponderous, yet brutal at all the right moments. It is also a brave picture, not just in its attempts to bring something new to the vampire film, but in how happy it is to dwell in its ambiguities. It asks the viewer to work out what is going on and can be read many ways. Original, brilliant and the best film released this year, even if it is yet another bloody vampire film.

P.S. Make sure you see it before the Hollywood remake comes out and ruins everything!