Best Pure Pleasure Films of 2009

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By my yardstick at least 13 extraordinary films -- each with some kind of striking, original-seeming quality and made from deep-seated, rock-solid material -- opened in 2009, and four others came close to breathing the same air. Anyone who whines that '09 was a weak year just hasn't been paying attention or has been living in a cocoon. It wasn't one of the all-time great years, okay, but it was certainly more than decent if you brought an intelligent, open-minded, ready-for-the-next thing attitude to the theatre.

On 11.18 I said I'd be assembling a list of '09 films and filmmakers that achieved one of two things. One, they simply gave me enormous viewing pleasure. (Even if an isolated aspect of some of these films was the primary provider with other aspects registering or satisfying less than 100%.) Or two, they introduced me to some new aesthetic or style or attitude that I hadn't really absorbed before but which I felt very comfortable with as I left the theatre.

A list, in short, of my favorite films that I liked for my own damn reasons and which I'll end up owning on DVD or Bluray and will most likely revisit from time to time in years to come. So in this particular instance let's say "to hell with taking the pulse of the town" and paying lip service (or list service) to Oscar pundit consensus favorites.

In order of preference with links to my original raves...

First-place tie between The Hurt Locker and Up In The Air. The former because it blended a sense of profound existential peril and a completely believable, no-GG, real-world excitement with amazing expertise. And the second because it's one of the calmest and most unforced this-is-who-we-are, what-we-need and what-we're-afraid-of-in-the-workplace movies ever made -- and blissfully free of the usual Hollywood bullshit and jerk-offery, and with a kind of Brokeback Mountain-y theme at the finale -- i.e., "move it or lose it."

Followed by (in order of vague preference) Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces, Chris Smith's Collapse, Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man, Lone Scherfig's An Education, Armando Ianucci's In The Loop, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Michael Man's Public Enemies, Lynn Shelton's Humpday, Tom Ford's A Single Man, Louie Psihoyos's The Cove, Neil Blomkamp's District 9, Sacha Gervasi's Anvil! The Story of Anvil, James Toback's Tyson, Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo, and Jane Campion's Bright Star (for the production design and cinematography, and for Abby Cornish's performance).

17 Revisitings << previous | next >>Can't Be Moved

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 29, 2009 at 12:55 PM

comment #1

Colin says ...

Hurt Locker vs. Up in the Air could very well be the vote that decides the Best Picture Oscar.

Posted by Colin at November 29, 2009 1:11 PM

comment #2

Gordon27 says ...

The more Jeff writes about meeting people who have never even heard of 'The Hurt Locker', the more I fear it gets 0 nominations.

Looking at Jeff's list, he's gotten surprisingly easy. Of the ones I've seen, only two (maybe three) are actual great movies.

Posted by Gordon27 at November 29, 2009 2:49 PM

comment #3

lipranzer says ...

HURT LOCKER, A SERIOUS MAN, AN EDUCATION, IN THE LOOP, and ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL are all on my list so far. I haven't seen UP IN THE AIR, A SINGLE MAN, BROKEN EMBRACES, THE COVE, SIN NOMBRE, or TYSON yet (the only one of those I'm reluctant to see is TYSON). As for the others, I liked PUBLIC ENEMIES, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, and BRIGHT STAR, but not enough to be on a "best-of" list, I thought DISTRICT 9 was a little overrated, HUMPDAY very overrated (funny, to be sure, but I didn't find it as insightful as others did), and while I liked the filmmaking of IL DIVO, I have to admit I found it very confusing (unlike other Italian historical dramas like GOOD MORNING, NIGHT).

Posted by lipranzer at November 29, 2009 3:17 PM

comment #4

berkguru says ...

lipranzer NO ONE CARES about your feelings on Jeff's list

Posted by berkguru at November 29, 2009 3:52 PM

comment #5

Kristopher Tapley says ...

Is it really all that sound to do this before you've seen Avatar? I mean, seriously...

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at November 29, 2009 4:03 PM

comment #6

Jeffrey Wells says ...

I'm sure Avatar will be a wowser-level thing for many, and perhaps even for myself. If so, great. I'll run an update of this thing. But the year is essentially over. I think we all recognize that.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at November 29, 2009 4:27 PM

comment #7

Nick X says ...

District 9, Escapist, Public Enemies and... Fantastic Mr. Fox for me. Can't believe I put an Anderson movie on there.

Haven't seen Up in the Air yet.

Posted by Nick X at November 29, 2009 6:50 PM

comment #8

K. Bowen says ...

Bright Star is not getting the credit it deserves. It's getting unfairly thrown into that Merchant-Ivory class-conflict, prestige-film ghetto, when in fact it is so much more. Fantastic film. The only rival in my mind to The Hurt Locker.

I wish A Serious Man were a more pleasurable viewing experience. It's the most intellectually astute major film of the year, a film about how the ways of God and divine mystery are unknowable either through fables or through scientific rationality. It's 2001: A Space Odyssey re-made as a Jewish-American domestic black comedy. So far too many people are only seeing the latter. I just wish it wouldn't hit the brake so often in storylines we're not really interested in. It'll probably be in my top five, but it's hard to fully love.

Posted by K. Bowen at November 29, 2009 7:05 PM

comment #9

mtgilchrist says ...

is there any other standard or measure by which to determine your best-of other than your own damn reasons? i mean, there's no such thing as an objective standard of greatness, in which case it just seems unneccessary to frame any end-of-year list in any other context than, "yeah, these are my favorites." or is there some other criteria i'm not aware of? (i'm not being antagonistic, just wondering if there's some perceived or actual measure that other critics/ film writers judge the year's offerings with to figure out what's "the best.")

Posted by mtgilchrist at November 29, 2009 10:17 PM

comment #10

Bob_Roberts says ...

Pure Pleasure - I wanted to give a shout out to "It Might Get Loud". It is not a GREAT FILM but it was a solid, enjoyable way to spend time at the theater.
The three musicians and their personalities/egos made for the most pleasurable experience of the year for me (defined by the fact I was smiling ear to ear the whole time, rather than feeling the stomach punch of movies like the Hurt Locker, et. al. that will be, deservedly so, though of as the great movies of the year.)

Posted by Bob_Roberts at November 30, 2009 7:53 AM

comment #11

lipranzer says ...

Bob_Roberts: I completely agree. As far as pure entertainment goes, it's the best thing I've seen all year. Admittedly, it does appeal to the music geeks, of which I am one, but it also shows how much each guitarist is still a fan of music (Jimmy Page listening to Link Wray's "Rumble" is the best expression of pure joy I've ever seen).

Berk Guru: Wow! You really got me there! I've seen the error of my ways, and I'll never give my opinion on anything here again. Thank you!

Posted by lipranzer at November 30, 2009 8:45 AM

comment #12

MechanicalShark says ...

A fascinating list, and a reminder of so many things left to see from this year, many that I missed in theaters. Also, lol at Tapley being pissed for you not waiting until after Avatar. He rails about people prejudging Avatar badly, but he's so far in the tank for Cameron he can't realize how he's prejudged it positively. There's absolutely no way he won't like it.

Posted by MechanicalShark at November 30, 2009 1:24 PM

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