Well, Christmas time is officially here and the year is coming to a close. As a film critic that only means one thing, it’s time to compile a list of the ten best films of the year. While 2009 didn’t produce any movies that immediately seemed destined to become timeless classic, there were quite a few impressive titles that snuck out during the year and demand recognition. While by no means a definitive list of a universally accepted list of the 10 best movies of the year, the following ten titles stuck out for me as particularly exciting trips to the cinema. If you haven’t seen any of these yet, get off the computer and go watch them immediately! You might just discover your new favorite movie.

1) Where The Wild Things Are: Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic work of children’s literature is a remarkable achievement. Not only does it manage to capture the visual splendor of the book and present some of the most amazing creature effects ever caught on film, but it’s also a dramatically more complicated work than your standard issue Hollywood family film. More of an art film about childhood than an extended advertisement for stuffed animals and Happy Meals, this is one of the most unconventional blockbusters ever made. Spike Jonze had to battle to get this released (after the studio saw the initial cut, they threatened to fire the director and hire someone else to reshoot the film. It took almost well over a year for him to convince the studio to release his version) and we should all be grateful that he was able to complete his vision. This is one of those movies that is only going to look better and better as time goes by.


2) A Serious Man: The Coen Brothers strike again with one of the most bizarre, hilarious, and oddly personal films they’ve ever made. Set in the world of the sibling filmmakers’ youth, this is one of the few films they’ve made that actually feels like it takes place in the real world. The strange tale of a possibly cursed Jewish professor’s life falling apart won’t appeal to everyone, but for Coen fans it’s cinematic nirvana. You might hate A Serious Man, but it’s impossible to deny that you’ve never seen a movie like it.


3) Coraline: A remarkable work of craftsmanship featuring some of the best stop motion animation and digital 3D effects ever produced. On the surface Coraline might appear to be a children’s film, but much like director Henry Selick’s previous effort The Nightmare Before Christmas, it’s hard to imagine anyone not getting caught up in this remarkable horror fantasy story. Avatar might be getting all of the press at the moment, but this is probably the most impressive example of new 3D filmmaker technology yet. If you haven’t seen this film, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. It’s not quite as jaw-dropping at home without the fancy digital 3D, but it’s still a wonderful story told with remarkable skill and style.


4) Inglourious Basterds: For years Quentin Tarantino claimed that he was working on a rowdy WW2 action film that would be his masterpiece. He hyped it up for so long that it began to feel like he would never actually make the film, but just talk about it in interviews until he died. Then all of a sudden the videostore clerk turned brand name director cranked the film out in less than a year and the result was his finest outing since Pulp Fiction. While the director probably still relies a little to heavily on references to other movies rather than crafting his own original scenes and sequences, this is still a remarkable piece of writing and directing. Not many directors could get away with making a movie in which history is changed and Hitler is brutally shot down for laughs and still have it taken seriously, but then Quentin Tarantino isn’t just any other filmmaker. Unlike his claims, this is not Tarantino’s masterpiece (that’s still Pulp Fiction and probably always will be), but it is the closest thing the filmmaker has made to a serious outing in over a decade. For that alone, we should be grateful. Hopefully next time he focuses on writing first and movie references second. Inglourious Basterds almost pulls that off, but not quite.


5) District 9: Rookie director Neil Blomkamp came out of nowhere with this brilliant social satire/sci-fi action film that proved to be the best summer blockbuster of 2009. Made for barely a fraction of the brutal Transformers 2, District 9 saw the former commercial director return to his native Johannesburg to tell the story of a group of aliens who were forced to live in slums by the South African government. The parallels to apartheid are obvious, but handled well. What really made the film work is that in addition the intelligent commentary, it was also quite a funny and exciting action film with some of the best CGI effects in years. If you somehow missed this in theaters, run to the nearest videostore to grab a DVD. It’s hard to imagine anyone not being impressed by this incredibly smart and entertaining film. No one may have known Neil Blomkamp’s name before this summer, but he now has to be considered one of the most exciting filmmakers on the planet.