Best- alas I have an internet connection and whenever I think I might have watched most of the films I want to watch I find a whole bunch more. I pay little attention to years they were made either and coupling this with the occasions I watch six or seven films a day I am left with no choice but a long post for a reply.
Still I scanned through
http://www.moviefone.co.uk/2009/12/22/best-movies-of-2009/ (biggest numbers of films in simple single page format I could find on short order). At present I have seen about 7 of them, in their order
Duplicity
Had it not had the blurb/summary on the site I would not have remembered it. A passable con/spy film but one done better by numerous others.
Ponyo
Animated film, still not sure entirely what is was about other than a loosely veiled environmental message which then places it in competition with Princess Mononoke and then it instantly loses.
Adventureland
Coming of age film, it will probably be a "I saw that when" film in years to come (many have called various actors and the director as up and comers, I would not be inclined to disagree). This being said if I could mute or otherwise remove the soundtracks the 80's have many better examples.
Food, Inc.
Not sure documentaries count here. I have something of a soft spot for documentaries but nobody has really caught up to TV (looking towards people like Adam Curtis) just yet for such things.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I have called the Harry Potter series passable fantasy before and the label sticks here. I am however starting to think TV and games have medieval fantasy down better though.
District 9
Had it been a TV series instead (with TV series length and character development)
Zombieland
One of the best mainstream zombie films I have seen in years (Dawn of the Dead remake is the first thing that springs to mind here as well as Grindhouse/Planet Terror)- you start heading into the more offbeat (dare I say the traditional realms of zombie films) territory including stuff like Dead Snow which also saw a 2009 release and it starts to not hold up.
The Hangover
I saw this on Christmas day so it may need a rewatch before I call it, I will however say Vegas comedy of this sort was probably done better by "Very Bad Things" or at least it provides the baseline for such films for me.
Inglourious Basterds
Saw this boxing day and while I am not going to call it bad it will be a film that in 10 years time will probably only be remembered by fans of Mr Tarantino.
Final thoughts on 2009 films
I will however call 2009 as the year TV was finally cemented in my mind as being better than films- I am drawn to note the oft performed comparison between games and films at this point, I now reckon TV and games are more comparable (same amount of play time, similar budgets for the most part, similar roles and "heroes" of the industries).
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And just as I go to press send I bother to do the same on IMDB
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Grab Wolverine and the X-Men (cartoon) instead or better yet the 90's series or Xmen evolution.
Public Enemies
As period crime drama goes this was pretty good and better yet it does a lot to overcome it being an American driven film (the story of the great depression and John Dillinger means little to me).
Angels & Demons
Done a fair bit to put me off mystery films for a while, perhaps even more than the time I watched National Treasure.
Crank: High Voltage
I really really did not care for the first and I dare say over the top violence/action has been done better several times before especially coming from a games background and being a great fan of John Woo but I did not regret the time spent.
Fast & Furious
There have been far better car films before and much of the plot in this was something I would expect to see in the transporter series. It did not bore me senseless like the rest of the series though which was good.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
I wanted to like it (indeed I even saw it at the cinema) but can any of you say it stacks against the films IMDB suggests as films like it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111422/recommendations
Friday the 13th
No just no.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
I have done worse in pursuit of a cheesy horror film.
Gamer
Someone saw existenz, Johnny Mnemonic, the fifth element, paycheck and the matrix and then decided that they wanted to merge all of them. If you want a film like it I instead suggest Avalon by Mamoru Oshii. I did not regret the time spent though.
Pandorum
Top notch post apocalypse/new earth sci fi.
12 Rounds
Not bad but I was reminded of Déjà Vu from 2006 throughout it and that was a better film I thought.
Watchmen
A good comic film but I never read the comics and frankly I like cartoons of comics more.
State of Play
A better thriller/mystery than Angels & Demons but I am left to compare it to the wire which means it instantly loses.
I have prattled on for long enough now. There are still loads I have missed that I have seen this year.
