Since Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain, lists have come in tens, not that we couldn't have done with several more commandments. Who says a year has Ten Best Films, anyway? Nobody but readers, editors, and most other movie critics. There was hell to pay last year when I published my list of Twenty Best. You'd have thought I belched at a funeral. So this year I have devoutly limited myself to exactly ten films.
On each of two lists.
The lists are divided into Mainstream Films and Independent Films. This neatly sidesteps two frequent complaints: (1) "You name all those little films most people have never heard of," and (2) "You pick all blockbusters and ignore the indie pictures." Which is is my official Top Ten? They both are equal, and every film here is entitled to name itself "One of the Year's 10 Best!"Alphabetically:
¶ The Top 10 Mainstream Films
Bad Lieutenant. Werner Herzog's edgy noir fed off Nicolas Cage's flywheel intensity in a portrait of a cokehead cop out of control in post-Katrina New Orleans. He starts out bad and, driven by a painful back and pain meds, goes crazy and gets away with it because of the badge. Herzog paints the storied city in dark shadows and a notable lack of glamour, and when he involves Cage in a stare-down with an iguana it somehow needs no explanation. I predict they'll work together again. They probably got along at least as well as Herzog and Klaus Kinski.
Crazy Heart. This year's late-opening sleeper, built on a probable Oscar-winning performance by Jeff Bridges. He plays a nearly-forgotten C&W singer, touring nasty dives and smoky honky-tonks for a few dollars and change. He had hit songs, but alcoholism eroded him. Maggie Gyllenhaal is inspired as the woman who cares for him but doubts his newfound sobriety--and no, this isn't a cornball story about romantic redemption. After the screening a critic said: "This year's "The Wrestler." That sounded about right. Astonishing debut by Scott Cooper.
An Education. A star is born with Carey Mulligan's performance as a 16-year-old schoolgirl who is flattered and romanced, along with her protective parents, by an attractive, mysterious man in his mid-30s (Peter Sarsgaard). He's sophisticated, she's not; she sees him as a way out of London suburbia and into the circles she dreams of entering. He's not a molester but an opportunist and role-player, and Lone Scherfig's film is wise about what people want in a relationship and what they get. Faithfully adapted by Nick Hornby from the memoirs of the well-known British journalist Lynn Barber.
The Hurt Locker. "War is a drug," the opening title informs us, and in one of the best war movies ever, Jeremy Renner plays an expert member of an elite bomb disposal unit in Iraq. Somewhat guarded by a protective suit, he handles delicate mechanisms designed to outwit him. It's like chess. He's very good at his job, but is that what drives him to put his life on the line hundreds of times? Not pro-war, not anti-war, not about the war in Iraq, but about the minds of dedicated combat soldiers. Directed flawlessly by Kathryn Bigelow; as one critic's group after another honored it in their year-end awards, it became a sure thing for picture, actor and director nominations.
Inglourious Basterds. Quentin Tarantino is a natural and joyous filmmaker who feeds off his own tory story that fearlessly rewrites history. It finally comes down to a conflict between a fatuous Nazi monster (Chrisophe Waltz) and a fearless French Jewish heroine (Mélanie Laurent), with Brad Pitt as a knife wielding American commando leader. You have to hand him this: it's one World War Two movie where we don't know the ending. Waltz won best actor at Cannes 2009, has swept the critic's awards, is a shoo-in as best supporting actor.
Knowing. Among the best of science fiction films--frightening, suspenseful, intelligent, and, when it needs to be, rather awesome. In its very different way it's comparable to the great "Dark City," by the same director, Alex Proyas. That film was about the hidden nature of the world men think they inhabit, and so is this one. I loved the film's extravagance of energy, and the hard-charging Nicolas Cage performance (so different from his work in "Bad Lieutenant.") My praise stirred up a fierce pro and con debate among readers: http://j.mp/4MmMss
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire The heart-rending story of an overweight, abused young teenager and the support she finds from a teacher and a social worker, who both glimpse her potential. Harrowing, depressing, and yet uplifting, as director Lee Daniels uses her fantasies to show the dreams inside. What a sure and brave lead performance by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, and what a powerful one by Mo'Nique, as her heartless mother. She, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton and Sherri Shepherd are all but unrecognizable as they disappear into key supporting roles.
A Serious Man. Another great film the Coen Brothers, returning to their homeland of the Minneapolis suburbs to tell the story of a modern-day Job who strives to be a good man, a "serious man," and finds everything--but everything--going wrong. Michael Stuhlbarg gives a virtuoso lead performance as the suffering man, who earnestly tries to do the right thing. Fred Melamed is inspired as his best friend, who, he discovers, is having an affair with his wife. The friend tries to console him; he is grief and grief counselor at once.
Up in the Air. George Clooney plays a man for the first decade of this uncertain century. "Where do you live?" he's asked while seated in a first class airplane seat. "Here." He wants no home, no wife, no family, and says he is happy. His job is depriving others of theirs; he's a Termination Facilitator. He fires people for a living. Vera Farmiga plays his friendly fellow road warrior who sleeps with him on the road. Anna Kendrick is the sincere young college grad whose first job is terminating others. The third wonderful film by Jason Reitman, after "Thank You for Smoking" and "Juno."
The White Ribbon. The subterranean and labyrinthine secret history of a German village in the years before World War One. A mysterious series of deaths descends like a vengeance. Michael Haneke's elegant b&w photography etches the rural community in striking portraits of sinister normality. We become familiar with the important villagers, we follow their stories, we comprehend everything hat happens -- but something else is happening, something unspoken, kept secret from them, among them, and from us. Infinitely tantalizing.
Now you are thinking, hey, what about "Avatar?" Faithful readers know of my annual Special Jury Prize. This year it goes to James Cameron's ground-breaking epic. No, that doesn't mean it's the best film of the year. It means it won the Special Jury Prize.
¶ The Top Ten Independent Films
Departures. In Japan, a young man apprentices to the trade of "encoffinment," the preparation of corpses before their cremation. It is the only employment he can find, after he loses his job as a cellist in an orchestra that goes broke. The company owner approaches the job as a sacred vocation, and although the hero and his wife find the task unsettling, he slowly learns a new respect for himself through respect for the dead. A visually beautiful and poetic film by Yojiro Takita. Winner of the 2009 Academy Award as best foreign film.
Disgrace. A masterful performance by John Malkovich as a disgraced Cape Town English professor, forced to resign during the first years of Nelson Mandela's administration. He goes to live with his daughter (Jessica Haines) on her remote farm, where the manager (Eriq Ebouaney) seems to be establishing an independence of his own. The hard, ambiguous issues of the new South African world are squarely engaged in Steve Jacobs's film, based on the novel by Nobel winner J.M. Coetzee.
Everlasting Moments. The great Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell ("The Emigrants" and "The New Land") tells the story of the wife of an alcoholic dock worker in Malmo in 1911. He's not a bad man, except when he drinks. She wins a camera in a lottery and tries to pawn it, but the camera store owner develops the one photo she took, looks at it thoughtfully, and asks her to keep taking pictures. Her inner life is transformed by discovering that she has an artistic talent. A luminous performance by Maria Heiskanen.
Goodbye Solo. the third remarkable film by Ramin Bahrani, after "Man Push Cart" and "Chop Shop." In Winston-Salem, NC, a straight-talking man around 70 (onetime Elvis bodyguard Red West) gets into the taxi of an African immigrant (Souleymane Sy Savané, from the Ivory Coast). For $1,000, paid immediately, he wants to be driven in 10 days to the top of a mountain in Blowing Rock National Park, to a place so windy that the snow falls up. He says nothing about a return trip. As a friendship develops between them, the days tick inexorably away.
Julia. The most striking performance in Tilda Swinton's exciting career. Only poor marketing prevented this from succeeding as the thriller of the year. Swinton plays an alcoholic slut who agrees to help kidnap a child, and ends up with him on an odyssey in Mexico through a thorn thicket of people you do not want to meet. If there's one thing consistent about her behavior, it's how she lies to all of them. Directed by Erick Zonca.
Silent Light. A story of romance and conscience set among the Mennonites of Mexico. A happily married man falls in love with a single woman, and she with them, and they are both haunted by guilt. Their gravitas is a stark contrast to the casual attitude toward sex in most films; they are violating rules they respect, hurting people they love. Such matters are rarely taken so seriously in films. Carlos Reygadas tells his story with a clarity and attention worthy of Bresson.
Sin Nombre. Atop the fright cars of a train running north through Mexico, hopeful emigrants ride toward their dream of the United States. Two stories: We follow a young woman from Honduras, and Casper, a young gang member who robs those riding on the cars. During the odyssey, scenes of great beauty join with others of the horrifying closed world of gangs. We realize that the difference between the two worlds is the scope of their dreams. An extraordinary debut by Cary Fukunaga, only 31. Won for direction and cinematography at Sundance 2009.
Skin. The Sandra Laing story obsessed South Africans in 1965. She was the daughter of white Afrikaners. She didn't look white. Her father fights to the Supreme Court to have her reclassified as white, and then when she falls in love with a black man she tries to have her classification changed. A wrenching dilemma, starring Sophie Okonedo ("Dirty Pretty Things") in a tricky and compelling role, and Sam Neill as her deeply conflicted father.
Trucker. Michelle Monaghan is remarkable as a truck driver who has just paid off her own rig. She's 30ish, hard-drinking, promiscuous, estranged from the father (Benjamin Bratt) of her 12-year-old son. In an emergency she has to take the boy back, and that leads from an arm's-length relationship to difficult personal discoveries. A powerful debut by writer-director James Mottern, who avoids the obvious gurns this story could take and follows the characters wih empathy.
You, the Living. In a sad world and a sad city, sad people lead sad lives and complain that they hate their jobs and nobody understands them. The result is in some ways a comedy with a twist of the knife, and in other ways a film like nobody else has ever made--except for its director, Roy Andersson of Sweden. Fifty vignettes, almost all shot with a static camera, in medium and long shot. You laugh to yourself, silently, although you're never quite sure why. Flawless in what it does, and we have no idea what that is.
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Nice list(s). May we look forward to a best of the decade list as the calendar year rolls over?
I like the two lists, but what seperates a "main-stream" movie like Bad Lt or Crazy Heart versus an independent film.
Star power? Eventual (very limited) wide release?
The lists include a lot of movies I've been wanting to see, but the only one I've made it to was Avatar. This is probably because, besides that movie, only three of the others opened at my local theater, and only Inglorious Basterds lasted longer than two weeks. Too bad I don't live in more of a mainstream area.
I am glad to see The White Ribbon on this list. I think it might be the best directing of the year.
Mr. Ebert, I find it interesting (not bad) which films you consider mainstream, compared to which you do not. Frankly, I'd be a liar if I said that most people I knew had heard of Michael Haneke's film, or An Education, or even had the ability to see A Serious Man (my personal choice as best of the year). I guess that the splitting is literally one of the first times I've ever seen people label "indie" films as such; usually, someone might label something like The Hurt Locker as indie, simply because it does not star name actors; you, though, got it right. The indies are independently financed, and the others are not.
These are great lists, and I'm glad I had the good fortune of seeing many of these films (sadly, not all).
Savvy
In what order?!?!
Avatar is a classic scenario you've seen in Hollywood epics from Dances With Wolves, Dune, District 9 and The Last Samurai, where a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member.
If we think of Avatar and its ilk as white fantasies about race, what kinds of patterns do we see emerging in these fantasies?
A white man who was one of the oppressors switches sides at the last minute, assimilating into the alien culture and becoming its savior.
These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations.
The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed.
This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.
Thank you very much Roger for putting Knowing on the Top 10. I think you're probably going to be the only critic to do that, and I really respect you for it. I don't really understand way most of the press wasn't receptive to that movie.
Great list. Yet, I can't help but feel a little unsatisfied - you've avoided the following question this and last year: out of all of these great films, which is the film you'd call "the best film of the year?"
It's wonderful that you're being fair to all of these films, mainstream and independent, but I still think we, your readers, have a right to know which is the one film that gave you the best moviegoing experience of the year.
Couldn't you just pick one?
(As a side note: although you technically didn't have a "best film" last year, you said that your heart told you "Milk" would win Best Picture at the Oscars. So...in your opinion, does that make "Milk" your choice as the movie of 2008?
Thank god for Netflix or I would never see most of these movies.
Roger, you very carelessly forgot to include "Transformers 2" and "My Life in Ruins" on your list. . .
(Just kidding--hopefully my little joke contained more humor than the entirety of the said latter film)
But I am surprised that you didn't include "Up" on your list--I remember your review praising the film.
Truly great list(s), Roger, although it makes me sad to admit how few of these I have actually seen, especially under the "indie" category. It makes me sick thinking about how, had it not been for your reviews/blog, I would have never heard of any of those indie movies(and a few of the mainstream ones), and yet movies like the trash of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Epic Movie. etc.) can make its way into my local theaters.
Also, no special jury prize for indie films?
totaly agree with everything here that I've seen.However, my teenaged mind can do nothing but remember (500) days of summer as one of the most personal movies of the year. Hope it won't be forgotten. Can't wait to see Crazy Heart!
I applaud you for stepping out of the constraints of ranking your favorites. The first time I saw a major reviewing publication go from ranking to list the best in alphabetical order was Gameinformer Magazine (the number 1 gaming magazine in the world), which originally listed the ten best games of each year, but changed to listing 50 great games and listing them in order of release. However, they still highlight one game as "Game of the Year". I think that would be a good thing you could do: I'm sure that their is one film that just strikes you like no other in a year, that you could highlight as the best of the year. Or maybe more than one. Anyway, another kudos to you for being unique in your best films of the year lists, and I can't wait to see what you do with the Decade list (you are making a "best of the decade" list, right? That would be a huge bummer if you didn't. Just saying).
How can a film with Tilda Swinton in it be considered an "Independent Film"?
Ebert: Perhaps because it grossed $64,000? I could have made that much on a game show.
There is some serious Nick Cage love which I find somewhat unconscionable. He is perhaps one of the worst actors still working. Has he ever played anyone but himself, really?
I haven't seen "Crazy Heart" yet, but I will asap. The only one I would add to your list is "500 Days of Summer."
On behalf of "Alvin and the Chimpmunks: The Squeekal", I would like to request a recount. I'm sure there was a simple mistake because...
"Alvin!!!!"
Interesting lists, Roger. I, sadly, haven't had the chance to see a majority of these movies--as a college student working for Carrols Corp as a burger-flipper-trash-taker-outer, I don't necessarily have the funds or time to drive out to see these. But I really wish I could.
I was hoping that our vacation to Orlando coming up would help alleviate this drought of ours, but that doesn't seem to be the case for "Bad Lieutenant" or Terry Gilliam's "Parnassus." At least I get a chance to see James Cameron's "Avatar" in 3D at IMAX--at 15 dollars a ticket.
But I complain. I can only hope that these hit DVD and Blu-ray sooner rather than later.
YES. I wait for this list from the minute January begins. I don't always agree (Precious was my least favorite of the year), but I always find your reasoning and voice to be indispensable in the world of cinema!
For me, it didn't get better this year than The Hurt Locker. I find it exciting that both Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron both had high-profile films this year.
It was also an interesting choice putting Knowing on here. I'm sure you'll catch flack for it, but I commend your bold decision.
Since Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain, lists have come in tens,..
Or since men had ten fingers. The number system popularised is decimal only because of the number of digits we have. Computers have only two fingers....and I have seen two of the above "Hurt Locker" and Inglourious..apart from Avatar.
AND a very joyful Christmas to you and your loved ones.
Very glad to see Silent Light make the list. One of the most visually-stunning films I've ever seen, and I feel very lucky I was able to catch it on the big screen. It'll definitely land near the top of my year-end list, along with Inglourious Basterds and Where the Wild Things Are.
Wow. Great list(s).
It's daunting to read a list like this and realize that I've only seen 2 of 20 films that were "best". So much yet to see.
I will start with Up in the Air.
Then, I'm more likely to see the MS films: Bad Lieutenant and Hurt Locker, for example.
But, I am really going to try to get to the Indies. I'll start with Everlasting Moments, a film that I would never have heard about without you.
Come on Roger this type of list is too safe and politically correct. What happened to those 1 to 10 rankings? I see your point but those are definitely more fun. Coming up with such a ranking forces you to think which movies spoke to you in a more personal way and this process reveals your taste with more clarity, rather than being a compilation of all good films. Thanks for the list though. It's really nice.
Ebert: The moment someone can explain to me how #7 i3 better than #8, I'll go back to that meaningless listing.
Hey, you're righ. My pal Mahola Dargis strictly limited her Best Film list to 10. Of course, there were so many ties on it that it included 19 films..:)
This sucks. We want to know the TOP ten movies of 2009!
Interesting list! There's a few I haven't seen moreover and that I'd forgotten about, so thanks for reminding me.
This will come as no surprise to Roger as I virtually lived inside his "Hurt Locker" thread for two weeks (smile) but I want it to win Best Screenplay, Best actor (Jeremy Renner) and Best Film and to see Kathryn Bigelow get the Oscar for Best Director.
I want her to get it first and foremost, because I think she deserves it. But also and on a selfish note, to get it for making a film like The Hurt Locker.
For I think that's the way to tell these stories and do justice to them. By getting the hell out of the way and just letting a moment convey itself.
I've seen The Hurt Locker 5 times now. Yes, I loved it that much. :)
And the novelty of how she approached her subject matter, never wears off. It always feels fresh and because of everything she didn't do.
She didn't make it look like you'd want to be there. She didn't make war look cool or sexy.
I will always remember the scene where James and Sanborn are hunched down in the sand, in the blistering heat, watching a small building in the distance (shots had been exchanged) and they needed to make sure they got everyone.
And we wait with them.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Until finally, they conclude they have killed them all and it's safe to go now.
In showing the reality of that, that sometimes nothing happens and for HOURS, it serves to relate the reality of War; it can be really tedious. To the point where it's ironically exhausting. It's not a video game where conflict is condensed and all the boring bits edited out. It's not a non-stock adrenaline rush.
And as a result, when something does happen the juxtaposition between nothing and something is all the more startling. And underscores the surreal nature of finding yourself in a strange place where you don't speak the language and the person who smiled at you earlier this morning might be waiting for a change to blow you up after lunch.
Or not.
The sheer paranoia that generates is palpable; you can't trust anything, a rock is enough to freak you out and simply because it seemed to "look at you" funny. Imagine actually being there in real life, eh?
And Bigelow accomplished it with 4 cameras using actual film stock, no CGI, worked on the screenplay with Mark Boal (a reporter who'd been entrenched with a bomb unit in Iraq) and shot the film in the Middle East (not in Mexico) with temperatures well over 130 F.
Oh, and she also made it for under $250 million dollars and financed most the film herself.
Smile.
This may be a basic question here, and I don't mean to be snarky (I think you are one of the best critics out there, and I trust your opinion) Some of the people (including movie fans like myself), might think some of your mainstream movies to be independent films, in terms of marketing and wide release. Some of the titles you mention here have not been released widely in the sense that chain theaters play them in small town America. Most of the 'mainstream films' that you recomment have opened only in the arthouse, non-chain theater here, and which don't exist in many parts of the country (and which I feel fortunate to have and frequent). In my recollection, only three or four of the independent films here played at the truly independent, non-profit theater in town (which I also feel fortunate to have, and frequent). All of this begs the question, how does one define "mainstream"? Is it by who produces it?
Yes, in light of postings and discussions, I was checking to see if you had two titles on your list: Avatar and Anti-Christ. I guess the latter didn't make the cut.
What is Special Jury Prize? And I like the selection.
I saw Sin Nombre a year ago(I think) at the Tivoli in St.Louis. It just moved me with how raw it was. Also I wish Tilda Swinton was getting alot more attention for Julia.
Where does "Up" fall on your list? Would of liked to see that instead of "Knowing." Oh well, I will now continue studying for my modern French history exam, but wondering why "Up" isn't top ten worthy.
Man this is tough. I've been looking forward to your ten best list every year since I started reading you (I'm 28 now, started reading you in 1993). The child in me wants a numerically ordered top ten list, not only for justification on movies that I loved, but to see that one great movie at the top of your list. Movies higher on your list are held in higher regard, even if they are completely different and almost impossible to compare with the rest of the films on the list.
Ranking the ten best of the year seems a little arbitrary. For example, Minority Report is at the top of your 2002 list, but why was it a greater achievement in cinema than Adaptation? How can you even rank those movies?
That said, I'm now glad you don't rank your top ten. I would even prefer you just list all your 4 star and 3.5 star movies. Or maybe even just the movies you thought were the most memorable? Not a comedy on this list, not The Hangover or Bruno. Maybe they weren't worthy of the best 20, but you liked them quite a bit from what I could tell.
And isn't a glowing review good enough? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and enjoy reading everything you post. But from what I've read lately, you hate the idea of coming up with these lists. I think you should just stop doing it. Id love you more for it.
Ebert: This way I'm not forced to rank "Minority Report" and "Adaptation.
I just don't understand why Skin has not gotten much attention. Maybe it is simply because it's an independent film. Skin is probably the best film of 2009 and one of the best films I have seen in years. It affected me emotionally in ways that most films fail to do. I very much cared about the characters. I would love to see Skin get an Oscar nomination.
Since a decade is closing, another important topic is best films of the past ten years which I am glad Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott are covering.
My choice for best film of the decade is Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005). My dad and I saw it cold turkey (without knowing anything about it) at a theater that showed independent films in 2005. We were blown away by it. We went to see it because we wanted to see an independent film and since I had noticed that Roger gave it 4 stars.
Roger,
I was looking forward to reading a review from you about The Blind Side. A good Sandra Bullock performance is actually something special because it doesn't come around often. Maybe you wrote a review and I didn't catch it, but I am guessing you never did. Oh well.
I just saw Avatar this morning with 3 of my kids. Wow! The only thing missing was a carnival barker outside making promises of the amazing sites we would see inside. And that was the 2D version. I'd love to see IMAX.
I have must regret I have not seen a single one of the "indie" films. As for the mainstream ones, where is Up?
These are all going to the top of my Netflix queue. My only complaint is, what is THE best film of the year? I always saw lists like these as I saw the Oscars: One winner and a nine-way tie for second place.
I love you Roger, but KNOWING???
The first half of knowing was great, then it just got, well, ridiculous...I loved the plane crash scene though!
Avatar and The Hurt Locker are great....been trying to see Inglorious Bastards and Sin Nombre for a while now and can't wait.
Also where is in Invictus and Up? I've seen Up and it was one of the best animated movies I've ever seen...and I've seen most of them, including toy story, incredibles, finding nemo, ratatouille and all the other great ones! I haven't seen Invictus, but I here it is amazing.
I'll wait for Up in the air and the rest when they come out on dvd, but overall a decent list besides KNOWING....and Avatar, Invictus and Up should be on there.
Great lists, but 'Special Jury Prize'? Do explain. Does this make Avatar any better or worse than the other Top 10? I just saw it in 3D and it totally blew me away.
'Knowing'...wow. I haven't seen it, and quite frankly, I thought it looked terrible. But you may have at least pushed it to the top of my Netflix que.
I thought Bridges was tremendous in 'Crazy Heart', but that the film itself was merely okay.
Everything else seems pretty spot on.
Is there any point to a list with twenty movies in alphabetical order? You might as well throw in all of your recent four star reviews and call it a best of fifty list.
I'm not sure you heaped praise on any film this year more than Antichrist; it was at least your most-written about film. I thought sure you would name it 2009's best, but it's not on either list. That's really odd. Is it because you only awarded it three and one-half stars, as I recall?
Thanks to your review, I'm really looking forward to seeing Bad Lieutenant, and I agree, Knowing was one of the year's best films. Powerful, terrifying, thrilling.
Glad to see Inglourious Basterds made the cut. I thought it was Tarantino's best, most mature film. Christoph Waltz is astonishing! If he doesn't win best supporting actor (and I've said this a million times) the Oscars have no credibility.
Thanks for your lists, Roger, they help put the whole filmgoing year into perspective. (But really .... no Antichrist?) And will you do a 10 Worst list? Or does Transformers 2 say it all?
Two Nicolas Cage films in the mainstream list. Interesting.
I watched "Goodbye Solo" after reading your review. It simply wrecked me. I'm curious, why didn't "Munyrungabo" make the cut? You called it a masterpiece in your review.
Gosh darn it, when am I gonna get to watch all these? I know they're all good.
How do I know they're all good? 'cuz the other night Catt and I started watching Netflixes by Roger's recommendations. All good. I'd been meaning to watch "The Brother from another Planet" since 1984 and still hadn't got to it. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" quite a whopper.
I didn't know Philip Seymour Hoffman's name, tho' I've seen him in one film or another. Boy he's good. Catt told funny story: back at the studio she brought her mother and sister for a visit one day, and Hoffman was sitting at lunch by himself. They liked each other and he expected them to come over for lunch. Catt didn't, because she couldn't remember his name to introduce him.
Loved Cage in Bad Lieutenant. Much more light-hearted in a weird way compared to that 'other' Bad Lieutenant which is also a fantastic film. I found myself laughing alot at Herzog's Bad Lieutenant, it was just so absurd. Nicolas Cage is just a big ball of charisma on screen.
Okay, you've seen "Crazy Heart" and liked it well enough to put it on a top-ten list for 2009. So when do we get to read the review?
Departures seems to be from 2008 according to imdb. I enjoyed it alot and several others from your list, wich is rare. I'll pay more attention to your critics from now on.
Oh, I loved your non-sequential "20 best" last year! I hate having to label a film the "6th best" or something silly like that. Oh well. I still get a kick out of lists, but it just makes more sense to lump your favorites together and say "here they are, they're all great!" I like this year's list though, although I've only seen 7 of the films on it (including Avatar). Nice work.
There were ten commandments because "they knew if it was eleven people wouldn't take it seriously. They'd say 'what are you kidding me? The eleven commandments? Get the f--- outta here'" - George Carlin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzEs2nj7iZM
But wait... did you do twenty last year? I seem to remember you doing a Top 35 (20 narrative + 5 Docs + 10 Foreign Films on their own list).
Great indie list; I loved Goodbye Solo!
Aw, no Up.
Very interesting lists Roger. A lot of what I expected (and in the case of "Knowing," which I also loved, what I hoped), although I too would like to know what happened to "Up," which is one of Pixar's best, and it seemed from your review probably one of your favorites from them (maybe a victim of whatever boring details that left "The Wrestler" off your top 20 last year?). Also, I was surprised to see "Watchmen" excluded. Like "Knowing," I don't see it ending up on too many lists, but I thought for sure it'd end up on yours.
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of movies- especially the smaller movies- on here that I haven't seen for myself for whatever reason.
Roger,
Wonderful choices! That's probably the most interesting and eclectic list of the year's best that I've seen so far. You picked unconventional choices and that's refreshing. I get so tired of people raving about "District 9" and "Star Trek." Those movies sucked! They'll be quickly forgotten about in time. They're already forgotten about now that the fanboys are gobbling up "Avatar."
I'm glad you stuck to your guns and put "Knowing" on your list of the best mainstream films. I saw that film solely on your recommendation and I was blown away by it. I was raving and raving about it on IMDb. That's what good science fiction is supposed to be. It's still the best film I've seen all year.
Great lists. A handful of films I'd replace there. I'd give room for 'A Prophet', 'Still Walking', and 'Afterschool'. I've seen 15 of these 20. Of those I saw I enjoyed them all in varying degrees.
There's also a few films from out of Cannes that I hope to see eventually. 'Samson and Delilah', 'Dogtooth', 'Police, Adjective' are supposed to be good. I wonder if there are any films you wanted to see this year that you didn't get the chance to.
I'm tempted to watch Kinatay if only to understand that scathing review of it you gave earlier in the year.
Also, might we see a best performances list in the near future? Or if you have it in you, maybe you'll perform the arduous task of compiling a favorites of the decade list.
No Watchmen?
If it werent for the LOTR's I'd say with great reason, Watchmen was the film of the decade. It is an incredible masterpiece of filmmaking.
great list. BRAVO for including Knowing!
But did you not see Single Man yet? I loved it and though it was be the type of film you would include.
great list though!
go Hurt Locker!
Dug the list Roger, and I would like to respect your decision to not rank these magnificent movies (I've been able to see six of them myself, but I'll be off to see Bad Lieutenant tomorrow and I'm going to try to catch Precious next week, many others will be making their way onto my Netflix queue). As I am known amongst my friends as a film buff, I'm often asked what my favorite movie of the year has been, and the thing is, I can usually pick a clear-cut favorite (for example, 2008: Synecdoche, New York, 2007: No Country for Old Men) but, for reasons I really can't get my head around, I have found it impossible to do that this year. I've currently found myself juggling an awkward, four-way tie in the #1 spot between The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, A Serious Man and Avatar, and really how does one pick amongst those films? I admire your dogged egalitarian approach, but personally, I've decided a run-off is in order. I'll be going out and watching all four movies again so I can decide once and for all which is the best. Maybe it's a fool's game, but I think my real aim is just to enjoy those movies again.
On a side note, I saw Avatar in Imax 3D and found it a horrible experience. I've not been keen on 3D in the past and I try to avoid it, but a friend paid for my ticket so, you know...the point is I found my enjoyment of the movie completely ruined by the "revolutionary" 3D experience. First, the 3D glasses technically fit over your regular glasses, but do so very poorly, and I was fidgeting with them the entire movie. In addition I found the image blurring at the edges of the screen (not because of simulated depth perception but more like the 3D was failing) and though Cameron's 3D was not intrusive, it was still highly distracting and kept reminding me that I was watching a movie when all I wanted to do was get lost in the imagery, something the entire mechanism of 3D, from the glasses to the picture, renders impossible. I have a sneaking suspicion that when I go back and watch the movie in proper 2D perspective (Cameron can go to hell with his 3D revolution) I will enjoy it a great deal more than I did the first time. I have also made it very clear to all of my friends that I don't care if they buy my ticket and a nice dinner afterwards, I am never, ever, ever watching a movie in 3D again.
I just saw 500 Days of Summer, and it is a great movie! I was a little disappointed to not see it on your list, but to each his own!
no UP?
I want to suggest an iranian movie Roger (if I may), it's called "About Elly" (Darbareye Elly).
I don't know if you can find it in US or not but it's a great movie.
By the way I like your list (I still don't get "Knowing" being in your Top 10).
Roger I think you have a great list, and while I did not enjoy Knowing at all (for reasons i will not say because then i will start to ramble) but i just want to know why you omitted some films that you seemed to like more than a couple on your list. For instance "Up." You wrote an entire blog about it, and you seem to really enjoy. Personally it is my favorite film of 2009 (followed by Inglorious Basterds, The Hurt Locker and 500 Days of Summer). Is there a reason in particular you chose not to include it, or did you simply enjoy the other films better?
Glad to see "Bad Lieutenant" get some love! The last film I saw at TIFF... and the best as my first year at the festival went out with a bang (and after the dud that same morning of "My Son, My Son"). Half the fun of "BL" was the sound of the audience throughout, caught between gasps of horror and fits of laughter. The madness! Cage at his finest (the deranged Jimmy Stewart accent is genius!) and Herzog doing what Herzog does. The moments where the camera lingers on various creatures digs another wacky dimension out of an already screwy screenplay. A. O. Scott described the movie as an "anarchist noir".
Whatever it is, it's also outrageously funny, a nice companion piece to "A Serious Man" IMO. Not a double feature for those who believes the world works in a just or logical way however. May cause panic attacks in said person.
Well, Roger, I'm with ya as far as silly ten commandment lists go. Of course we do it to highlight some great movies but I grow weary of the process, whether its my list or reading others...
I am, however, anticipating your best of the decade list, if only because it only happens once a decade.
Steve Real: "This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside."
As opposed to all these non-interracial heroic fantasies, where the protagonist serves as chariot repairman while some other guy defeats the invading armies and gets the princess?
Srsly...
Not sure what distinguishes some of the mainstream from independent - Sin Nombre (independent) showed at 5 or 6 theaters in Houston I think, but Bad Lieutenant (mainstream) is showing at only one. I think unless it has some buzz, independent means it may not show at all: Disgrace, Julia, Silent Light, Skin, Trucker, and You, the Living, never showed. This is the worst I have ever seen it.
Glad Departures made your list; it touched me deeper than most.
Are you going to do a documentary list? None of the 8 that I have seen so far nor any of the others I am familiar w/ on your lists are docs.
Sorry not to see [500] Days of Summer here, but that's what happens when the shoulda-been-outmoded-long-ago Decimal Straitjacket is imposed on a list . . . :o)
Thanks for not ranking your lists. It just causes a lot more stress for many movie fans. To each his own.
Looking forward to your best of the decade (if you've got one ready).
Hear! Hear! I was so moved by "Everlasting Moments." Great list (of course) and luckily I saw most of these great films because of your reviews (of course!) Thanks Roger!
I just wanted to say how much I really enjoyed this list. I highly respect you for again not doing a numerical list and going alphabetically despite the backlash you got from it. It's hard saying whats better than what because there's no real right answer.
Also good job for putting Knowing on there. Most people will hate you for it but you know what, you're the man.
Your "Best of..." lists are always a pleasure to read, Roger. Of course there are the expected inclusions (The Hurt Locker, Precious, A Serious Man, -- and on the 'independent' side, -- You, the Living, Departures), but you almost never fail to upset the status quo: on this year's list, Knowing is the most obvious peculiar entry, Disgrace an interesting one too, and probably won't make many other "Best" lists, in years past Dark City, Minority Report, and Juno as #1's, the lack of There Will Be Blood and the inclusion of The Great Debaters, etc, etc. I rarely agree, but I always love to see what you come up with.
The only film I'll plug here is Funny People, a picture that's been unfairly relegated by most critics and viewers to the unenviable status of "moderately successful dramedy," and my favorite film of the year (in other words, what I'd consider to be the best picture of 2009, based on what I've seen up to now). It's Funny People that's "this year's The Wrestler" for me -- at least at a meta-filmic level: the deconstruction of a major star's career coupled with proof that said star is more than what's been made of him of late. Crazy Heart bears more obvious similarities to The Wrestler in terms of emotional content/tone, but for me Funny People and The Wrestler are comparable not only in terms of their emotional punch, but in a more interesting way.
And, a final note on "Best of..." lists in general from film reviewer and essayist Alex Jackson (http://ividdiedit.com/#), who echoes exactly my sentiments: I consider “favorite” to be synonymous with “greatest,” however. Any criterion for “greatness” that even implicitly excludes the affection we normally have for the movies does not have much utility to me. If we can like things that aren’t great and not like things that are great, then the entire concept of “greatness” seems pretty ridiculous... Or perhaps determining “great” as something separate from “favorite” isn’t a task that much interests me... Liking is a perfectly reasonable arbitrator of quality... There seems to be a misconception that “like” doesn’t really tell us anything. The suggestion seems to be that the pleasure we get from something is somehow independent from any qualities of the object itself. To me, liking a film isn’t incidental and isn’t even the most important thing to think about when watching one. It’s the only thing.
I cannot see how the movie Inglorious Basterds was chosen as one of the best films of 2009, when I saw so many films that were better this year. It was long and not an interesting movie to watch. I kept wondering when the scenes would end.
My gun sights are zeroed on Goodbye Solo.
I know that my past comments on your blog postings were in praise of "The Hurt Locker", and in one of your postings you even convinced me to appreciate the film because politics supposedly did not matter in the film's success.
I am now having trouble accepting this.
There is a reason for that: I can't shake the feeling that "The Hurt Locker", despite taking no sides for or against the war, is- in the end- a prowar film. What is the "war is a drug" tagline, after all, but meaningless philosophical hogwash? By taking no sides over the War in Iraq, Kathryn Bigelow inadvertently supports it. Samuel Fuller would have recognized this as a "military-recruitment film".
Before you charge that I'm letting politics corrupt my art critiquing, here's a point I have to raise: what if John McCain had been elected in 2008? Would Bigelow still make "The Hurt Locker" in the same way she did- zero politics, 100% support of the troops' efforts? It's that kind of ignorance that got us into Iraq in the first place, and films like "The Hurt Locker" certainly don't help in the effort to get us out.
The reason I've become bothered by this is because 2009 was, overall, a year of right-wing films. "The Hurt Locker" encourages further conflict in Iraq without realizing it. "Inglourious Basterds" is a film that I admire and enjoy a great deal more, but there is no question that Quentin Tarantino is a supporter of torture. "Law Abiding Citizen" advocated reactionary vigilantism. Even "Precious" is being promoted by former First Lady Barbara Bush. It's like the right is getting revenge for that long slew of outraged liberal artistic statements made in the last 8 years.
That's why my favorite films of 2009 were less right-wing and more, well... liberal. The Coens deconstructed the American Dream in "A Serious Man" with their tongues in cheek, though the film offers a sliver of hope in that wonderful bar mitzvah finale. Cameron's "Avatar" and John Hillcoat's adaptation of "The Road" are both exciting and direct criticisms of our hesitation to go green as a country. I also applaud you for putting Jan Troell's "Everlasting Moments" on your list- a fantastic little film that champions photography as salvation for a suffering family.
But again, films like "The Hurt Locker" take us a step backward. McCain would most certainly have used it as encouragement for the troops, had he been elected. I suppose that's the price Bigelow pays when she makes a film with the sole intention of "keeping politics out of the trenches".
Interesting list. I will refrain from commenting until I have seen all he films listed.
Isn't Roger Ebert the man behind the campaign that cost the infinitely superior BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN to lose to the interesting but far less accomplished CRASH a few years ago, the greatest and least deserved upset in Academy Awards history?
Ebert: I'm unaware of any "campaign." I certainly wasn't its leader.
Sorry for being off topic, but concerning your review of the "Princes and the Frog" movie. wouldn't you say that Disney has run out of tricks?
They use the same old formula: A character (Usually female) that's a misfit or outcast, meets a peanut-gallery of odd supporting characters, and is in love with someone that society or fate made it unrealistic and foolish to desire; a really mean bad-guy makes life even more miserable for the protaganist, but with the help of the main character's friend's, overcomes the baddy, proves everyone's doubts about them wrong, and lives happily ever after. Oh, and some singing here and there.
You said that the film reminded you of Disney's classic days. I say Disney's last classic was
"The Hunchback of Notredame" back in '96. Disney's magic is gone. Before the Disney Renaissance that started with "Little Mermaid", The House That Mickey Built was on it's last legs. Disney's short-lived comeback was nice, but it wasn't long before the same formula became recycled in forgetable works like "Treasure Planet."
Oh, speaking recycled, here's a short but well done video of just how much Disney recycles the same old formula (You need not watch the whole thing, you'll get the point within 30 seconds):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOIrXGd51jE&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Sad to say, but Disney's magic died long before our old buddy Roy.
I'm glad there's no best of the decade list here. What people don't realise is, if the decade ends at the end of 2009, the first 'decade' had a length of exactly nine years.
For some reason, I expected Beaches of Agnes to be here.
I like the number of ploys you use to lengthen your list. :P
hmmm... isn't that cheating? technically you're still giving your twenty best films of the year...
I'm with the camp that says ranked lists are goofy but fun. E.g., I've ranked my personal favorite top 1000 rock and roll oldies (mostly from the 60s, 70s, 50s). I have my own countdown MP3 playlist, that I can keep tweaking as my whims dictate.
I've been keeping track of my movie watching on a Google Docs spreadsheet, that anybody can see by clicking on my name at the top of this message. It has quite a number of lists, integrated into one database. If one is logged into Google one can make a copy of the spreadsheet, and then sort the copy by the various columns, to see the AFI lists, the Spectator 50, your annual top 10s from those years when you made them, your Ebertfest playlists, etc.
Roger, I notice you didn't review "The Blind Side", starring Sandra Bullock of "Speed 2" fame. I imagine the timing was wrong with your Thanksgiving break, and negotiations with the studio to get you an early disc fell through. They were stubborn; you were stubborn. But, now that Sandra has snagged a Golden Globe nomination for it, don't you think you ought to go back and have a look?
Great List Mr Ebert.
The only glaring omission is "In the Loop". I am sure it will find itself as one of the best written comedies. And it was not only comedy, as you very well may be knowing.
Regards
Like others, I'm a little surprise that - SQUIRREL!
...
that "Up" wasn't included. But way to stick to your guns on "Knowing". You certainly caught a lot of flack for giving it a positive review, and will now catch even more. I haven't seen the film and don't really plan on it, but following your recommendation I might give it a chance some time.
Thanks for sharing these lists. I always look forward to them, though it's shocking to realize how few of those I've actually seen. I wish more would actually show here in Ireland, but I'll have to get them over the internet, I suppose.
My take on 2009. I thought it was a great year for the classic Hollywood genres.
We had one of the best action movies ever made in The Hurt Locker. Disaster movies were pushed as far as they can go with 2012 (if only someone could explain that to the movie execs who'll be coming up with derivatives for years to come).
Up pushed the boundaries for the computer cartoon brand and we found the ultimate in special effects in Transformers 2 :-) (Seriously how anyone can actually enjoy that movie is beyond me. I saw it on an airplane and even with a 3 inch screen my eyes began to hurt.)
Lastly of course there was Avatar, which I saw yesterday and enjoyed immensely, though I feel in the end it will be mostly remembered for the special effects break-through (anything's possible now).
I disagree with Inglorious Basterds being Tarantino's best. He's surely at the top of his game as a film maker and there's no one who can put as much tension in a dialogue scene as he does. But I hope that he'll one day use his powers for good and not make a film that needs to wink at the audience every few minutes (I may be getting a bit Scroogy here).
Next on my list to see are Up in the Air, The Road and Bad Lieutenant. Should be a good Christmas break :)
I have seen 8 of them(Inglorious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, Knowing, Avatar, Departues, Julia, Goodbye Solo, You the living) and I going to watch 5 of them soon. Glad to see "Silent Light" on your list. I recently bought DVD and I am going to watch it this week.
Meanwhile, I am also making my own list for my blog like previous years. I have been ranking movies in my head, but, what the hell, I am going to list 10 movies and another 10 movies without ranking. And 10 Korean movies, too.
P.S.
1. Are you going to present movies of the decade just like that?
2. They postpone to release "Julia" again, damn it! And in case of "Milk", there is rumor that our government is terrified of the last sequence and prevents theater release. We had a huge candlelight demonstration against government policy in early 2008, and government has been trying to put off any possibility of protest since that incident.
No Public Enemy?? Blind Side can stand toe to toe with any of the mainstream movies listed as well. I absolutely loved Sandra Bullock's performance.
I like your addition of Knowing to the list. It was a movie not quite like any other this year and Nicholas Cage is fantastic in it. The addition of Inglorious Basterds brought a grin to my face. Waltz may be a lock for Supporting Actor next year but what about Brad Pitt?? He certainly should be getting some Supporting Actor chatter as well. In any case it was my favorite movie this year and I can't wait to see it again.
My only real quip about the list is INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, I found the ending so loud and so out of any sort of reality (not to mention history) I had one of those "it's only a movie" moments in which one is no longer inmersed in the screen but instead left wondering if the director has simply gone mad.
Then again, I know most people loved it but I guess different movies have different effects on each of us.
Great lists, but where oh where is "Sita Sings the Blues"? It's one of my top three films of 2009 in either mainstream or independent category And it was you who put me on to it in the first place.
Ebert: Still to come: Lists of animated and documentary films.
Surprised not to see Up on the list. One of my personal favorites and I remember you raving about it. Nice lists though.
Unless I'm mistaken there ARE more commandments than ten. I looked once and after the 'big ten' it gets into what not to do with slave ownership when married and whatnot. Perhaps even then someone was saying 'Moses, can you just give us the top ten and we'll go from there?'. Maybe we are, as humans, truly tapped into the tidiness of ten. And you think you are above it. For shame Mr. Ebert. For shame.
I have only seen Inglourious Basterds on your list, and found it most watchable. Mr. Tarantino's films always feature great characters and great dialogue even if I find they don't add up to much often enough. Jackie Brown is a perfect example; fantastic performances but I just didn't care about the film as a whole.
'Up' should be on the list though. The first ten minutes are as good as anything ever put on film animated or otherwise. If you weren't moved by it, deeply, then I don't want to know you.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
I am waiting for your top 10 list of the 2000's
Roger:
Devon and I have two things in common: we love you and did not like Knowing.
Christopher Small’s “Best Movies of 2009”
1. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
A masterpiece for those who love the movies. The cinéphile who loves to spend his or her money on popcorn and drinks, who loves to sit in a big comfortable seat, and watch a movie where the characters, the languages, the dialogue and setting are all superbly balanced: and as an English, a French and a German speaker – I felt entirely at home switching between the three languages along with all the characters.
2. Avatar (James Cameron)
This is one of the movies that will be remembered hundreds of years in the future, because of the emotions they evoked in audiences, from critics to movie lovers to just a couple on a date. Yes, she looked adorable in her glasses.
3. Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog)
Herzog’s direction is not only relentless and honest, but touching. He is very...well, direct with his direction. Will he pad out his movie with things he thinks will win an Oscar? No. What he does is make a movie that isn’t about “fluffy penguins” but about the futility of the human perseverance to be immortal by demonstrating that Antarctica is proof that nothing can win against nature.
4. Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Terry Gilliam)
Gilliam was heartbroken, as was the rest of the world, myself included, when the news was announced. Heath Ledger was an amazing actor and I'm not on autopilot. He had such wonderful charisma and charm onscreen, unlike many today. He gave everything to his performances, lighting the screen on fire as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" or breaking hearts just like James Dean in "10 Things I hate about you". I'll admit that I wanted to see "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" out of respect for him, but what I saw was spectacular, as the mind of Terry Gilliam painted a brilliant tapestry of pure imagination and delight before my eyes.
5. A Serious Man (Joel Coen)
A Serious Man is a movie that makes you wince, rather than laugh; but also empathises us with its oddball characters. That is a triumph. I love the Coen brothers; they never release a movie that doesn’t, at least, impress me. A Serious Man is their most personal movie to date, even thought they’ve frequently denied it.
Other titles not yet released in Great Britain but guaranteed to be loved by myself:
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans (Werner Herzog)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
Precious: Based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire (Lee Daniels)
The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
Crazy Heart (Scott Cooper)
NB: Encounters at the End of the World was made in 2007, released in the USA in 2008 and then in Britain in 2009, so I suppose I’m cheating a bit.
Like most people who don't live in L.A. or New York, I've seen very few of these films. It's hard to be responsible for seeking out an independent film and see it in its first and only week of release when one has a job, family, and other responsibilities in life. I happen to have met the director of Hoop Dreams a few years ago and we had this conversation. I love independent films, but I also a kid, aging parents, a 60-hour per week job, and I can't always get to a film in the exact week it's been released. When I don't, it disappears, and I feel guilty for not having "supported" it immediately. The trend that each week's box office returns seems a requirement for survival to the following week is terrible. Thank goodness for NetFlix and DVDs, otherwise I wouldn't get to see most of these wonderful films. On the other hand, watching a film on my medium-sized TV in my living room isn't the optimal environment for experiencing some of these films. I'll take what I can get, though, that's for sure.
In any case, thank you, Roger, for the recommendations. Thank you for not pandering to people who want you to label big commercial hits as mainstream, who want you to order/# the movies, who want you to stick to only the number of fingers on your hands, and for everything you do.
BTW, the commentary from Steve Real on 12/19 was fascinating.
Great to see an entirely separate list for the year's best independent films. It's a real shame that more and more people are ingoring films like "Skin" and "Silent Light", whose bugdets may be small but whose excellence is right up there with the Oscar winners.
P.S So i guess we're not getting a list on the year's Best Foreign Films?
Hey, second year in a row a film by a Canadian director
got your Special Jury Prize.
No documentaries? Or will that be a separate list too? I think you did that last year. Anyway, The Cove, Anvil, Tyson, Food Inc., Collapse and Burma VJ also deserve some recognition.
Great list Roger,
I would add "Sugar" to that list, as well as "Two Lovers". It would be nice if you'd add an honourable mention category too, so i'd be able to pick out the films i missed.
One problem i have though, is that the "independent" films are in a separate list than the "mainstream" pictures. This is such an arbitrary distinction. what makes a film "independent" or "mainstream?" I think all films should be seen on an even keel. Why not make a top 20 list of the best films of the year?
I'm thrilled to see "Sin Nombre" on your list of the top 10 indie films. I saw it at Sundance in January 2009 and was extrememly impressed. Exceptional film, and I hope people will seek it out on DVD.
Great list Mr. Ebert. I've gotta start watching more indie movies and this list seems like a perfect starting point.
Great list. Have you seen «I killed my mother» by Xavier Dolan? Very unique!
Hi Roger,
Which of the twenty do you consider the best of the year? This is the only ranking that counts. If you were to award best picture, which film would you give it to? Thanks for another great year of film criticism.
I already have several of these films in my Netflix queue, thanks to you. (Don't know how I ever got along without Netflix. Thankfully, Blockbuster is a distant memory.)
Special mention for "Julia"...This was one of those films I only saw because the reviews said I should, but I was immediately engrossed. Love it when the "must-sees" turn out to be "really enjoyeds"!
Fascinating list as always. I'm wondering which ones you may have seen twice. Does that affect your judgment? Also, do you like bon bons?
I have to admit I've only seen a handful of these films (trials of living in a non-big city market), but I did get a chance to see Moon, and that ranks very high on my list. Sad to not see it on this one, but great list anyways!
You chose the remake of Bad Lieutenant for a top ten list? I haven't seen it, but I have seen Nicholas Cage's hackery in the remake of Wicker Man. Now Wicker Man was a cult film, and that doesn't necessarily mean it was a great film by the strictest standards, but the original was a great deal more suspenseful and intriguing than the remake (along with having Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee in the cast.) I have a very hard time believing that he could improve upon Harvey Keitel's intensity in the original by Abel Ferrara. It's like saying you prefer the remake of The Manchurian Candidate over the original, when there's a very special chemistry in the original that made it unforgettable. In fact, that chemistry made it so unforgettable that someone decided to remake it with a better budget, but sans chemistry. The problem is that actors and directors have two directions to choose from in a remake situation. They can try to recreate the original performance or they can decide this is impossible and change it to be their own. Usually only the second route works out at all, and NEVER when it's Nicholas Cage doing it.
Why Knowing and not Moon? They were both great films, but I'd have thought you'd choose Moon over Knowing.
Pretty good list Rog....alot better than some of the others ive read...only did see hurt locker, and inglorious basterds,(best movie of the year hands down in my opinion), mostly because none of these other movies are playing in my area which is rediculous. Plan on seeing avatar and up in the air soon both look real good. You know i dont put much stock into movie reviews but definatly before i view a movie i do check out your reviews, for the most part they are very honest and stay away from your own personal feelings about a certain film, which most critics fail to do. Its good to see that you can take a movie for what it's worth like "knowing" which got crushed by critics this year. Keep up the good work my man.
Hi Roger,
I have written about 60 movie reviews this past year and without question the one that I took the most heat from was Knowing. Simply put, I could find nobody to agree with me. At the time I was giving ratings out of 10 and gave it a solid 9, and under my current system it would be a 4 or 4.5/5.
I am not sure if I can find a spot for it in my best of list this year, but then again I will probably only do a favorite 10 total, not separate lists, and I don't see nearly the amount of films as a professional.
I also wanted to make one plea - Please add a shout-out to The Great Buck Howard, a film that nobody I know has seen and yet I am sure will find a spot on my favorites of the year.
I must say I am a little upset seeing your indi list, as I know I can't possibly find a way to see most of those anytime soon - but thanks to it I am going to go out of my way to find at least a few of them.
Thanks for all you do - Matt
I don't usually like to post links in comments sections such as these but I thought it might be helpful for the more mainstream readers of this site. We try to do something different with the year-end wrap-up at Hammer to Nail by voting exclusively on American narrative films that were produced for one million dollars or less. Just because they were made cheaply doesn't mean they aren't ambitious and rewarding on many different levels! Roger will certainly vouch for our Best Film of 2009, but the rest are so-very-good too:
http://www.hammertonail.com/genre/comedy/2009-hammer-to-nail-awards/
"Departures" caught my eye when it first crossed your desk and has been in my queue for entirely too long now. I'll have to bump it to the top. Ditto "Sin Nombre", which looks like it has a bit of an "El Norte" vibe in more ways than one.
Mr. Ebert;
Thanks for the lists. I think breaking out films into two lists is a wonderful idea.
So many films for me to see! I am especially looking forward to the Swinton film.
Can anyone explain why QT's film was so much better with a second viewing? The pacing seemed to improve significantly the second time around!
Dear Mr. Ebert--
So far, I'm really far behind in my movie-watching this year, but I was moved incredibly by "Up," "Zombieland," and "District Nine," "Inglorious Basterds," and "Adventureland."
Thank you as always for the recommendations--I've already added them to my netflix account.
At the Houston Film Critics Awards ceremony last night, "The Hurt Locker" cleaned up with Best Film and Director and Cinematography. George Clooney and his supporting actress both won acting awards.
Woody Harrelson in "Zombieland" was wonderfully fun. Can't wait to see him in "The Messenger." Could a supporting actor nod be in the works for him? He's one of my favorites.
Best wishes to you and your family, Mr. Ebert!
Ebert: This way I'm not forced to rank "Minority Report" and "Adaptation."
...but "Adaptation" is so undeniably obliviously obviously innately quantifiably exasperatingly the... oh never mind.
A rather excellent list if I do say so myself. Now, if you had an honorable mentions section you could include:
Moon
Waltz with Bashir
Collapse
Gommorah
(500) Days of Summer
...maybe.
I haven't seen the film Knowing yet. Since you recommend it, I'll have to check it out, It did make me curious after reading the comment above about Knowing getting "ridiculous" and it seems to follow the general buzz about the film. So I read your March 18th review and your blog essay. Suffice to say your film review strikes a similar chord that runs through many of your more philosophical essays. Films often resonate within us because they are representative extensions of deeper stories we are debating within yourselves. I tend to flow along with your stream of thinking in these matters. I went and looked at dozens of other reviews of Knowing and very few delved into the deeper metaphysical premise you embraced. Very few reviewers enjoyed it as much as you. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 38%. My point is, with all the other films you loved this year including Me and Orson, Antichrist. Why top ten for such a flawed film such as Knowing? P.S. I can't find a review from you for The White Ribbon, You are writing it as I speak?
Thank God. I thought I was going to look crazy when Inglorious Basterds, Goodbye Solo, and A Serious Man wound up in my top 10.
Is the only thing holding A Serious Man back from being considered an indie film the fact that it was directed by the Cohen brothers? If I remember correctly, Goodbye Solo was released to around the same number of screens.
By Steve Real on December 19, 2009 9:54 PM
"Avatar is a classic scenario you've seen in Hollywood epics from Dances With Wolves, Dune, District 9 and The Last Samurai, where a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member."
Did you even see any of these movies. None them are about a white guy saving these people, in fact they are the exact opposite. They are about these peoples cultures saving the white guy and in none of those movies is the white guy the actual hero, or even best character.
Last Samurai: The white guy is an alcholic, suicidal soilder suffering from PTSD. The hero and far and away the best character of the movie is Katsumoto, played by Ken Watanabe. His character saves Cruise, teaches him a new way of life, helps him deal with his past and accept who he is oh and is the actual Hero of the movie who saves his people from the corruption of American culture. While Cruis helps him, so do all of the Samurai including his son who dies saving him.
Dances with wolves is about the tragedy and beauty of Native American culure. While Cosner is a hero he is among many in the movie and once again it is the Sioux culture and people who save Costner not the other way around. Not only do they help him learn a better way of life, they actually save his life from his own people, and at no point are the white man portrayed as being good. The best characters in the movie are in this order: Kicking Bird, Stands with a fist, Wind in his hair, two socks the wolf and the Horse. Costners character is a good guy, but its pretty clear the movie focuses on the Sioux and its people and simple friendships and understanding they come too.
You must seen Avatar yet, cause while the Hero is white as a human, the tribe only knows his as blue. Not to mention they are a different spices all together, and skin color has nothing to do with the movie. Their is Culture vs. Culture, man vs. nature; greed vs. good. But color against color? First off the hero of the movie and best character is Neyttiri, who saves the white dudes life 4 times in the film and is his teacher. She is also his love intrest. While the white dude helps save the Navi, its actually far more than him doing anything that helps save them. Again, not only is Neytiri the hero she is by far the best character in the movie and she is played by Zoe Saldana, so not only is the hero blue, its woman not a man. Sure the white dude helps, but again for his character its about culture, and him finding happieness and a new way of life. Considering most people will leave this movie wanting to be ten feet tall, blue, living in a bioluminescent jungle on a far off moon and riding around on a your own flying dragon, I doubt race has much to do with it. Unless of course this is the Blue Navi propaganda machine. I knew those blue people were up to no good. I doubt anyone leaves this movie going I wish i was a white guy. Or any of them, what do generally wish is that you could have experienced those different cultures and the people within them. So I am pretty sure the race card has little to do with any of them.
Lists are fun for the discussions they can start. My brothers and I used to list the ten best movies, etc, during long car rides to college. From Roger this becomes a great recommendation list--back before kids I would have the list for each year handy for picking out movies to rent. But I don't know why anyone would expect to agree with every pick--that's just weird. I liked Knowing OK, but I suspect the only reason it would make my top ten list is that I saw maybe 5 movies this year. I really would love to see all of these next year, once sleep (hopefully) becomes a reliable part of our lives again!
Fabulous list(s). Unfortunately, I missed all of the listed indie films here in Toronto, and I'm not sure why. Since Michael Clayton, I'm a fan of Tilda Swinton, so I definitely want to see Julia.
As with others, I'm surprised that Up didn't make the mainstream list. I'm also surprised at the absence of Watchmen.
Regarding Knowing, I understand that Mr. Ebert is somewhat bucking the trend on this one. I'll admit that I found it excruciatingly ... odd and grating, particularly the music; as well, I simply could not trust Cage in the role for some reason -- he just didn't seem like the right fit for the character. I am willing, though, to give the film another chance, as maybe I missed something the first time. Hmm.
Most importantly, however, I must see The Hurt Locker. I still kick myself that I didn't catch it in the theatre ....
Thank you for the lists! I look forward to them every year.
It's been said here already, but it bears repeating:
No Up? Really? I mean, I can understand no D-9 or Trick R Treat (Does the best holiday-themed movie since A Christmas Story count as a 2009 release?); but no Up?
Really?
Good list for both Mainstream and Independent. Yes, a list for the best film of the decade would nice. Sure, hope Ebert will make one.
For inspiration here is my list of the best movies from 2000 - 2009. It´s impossible just to name one movie for each year so I took the liberty to add four from each year. Stil, there are so many great movies that has been left out in cold. My apology. Anyway, here we go:
2000:
Cast Away
Quills
Billy Elliott
Memento
2001:
Ghost World
The Pledge
The Others
Donnie Darko
2002:
Minority Report
Hero
Insomnia
About Schmidt
2003:
Owning Mahowny
Secondhand Lions
Seabiscuit
Pieces of April
2004:
Ella Enchanted
Open Range
The Aviator
Mean Creek
2005:
Batman Begins
Constant Gardner
Downfall
Thank You for Smoking
2006:
The Illusionist
The Prestige
Happy Feet
Pan’s Labyrinth
2007:
Stardust
Ratatouille
Enchanted
Gone Bay Gone
2008:
Revolutionary Road
In Bruges
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Synecdoche, Ney York
2009:
UP
Nine
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
Roger, how are Bad Lieutenant, Crazy Heart, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, A Serious Man, and The White Ribbon mainstream? Is it because they have either a major studio backing it up or because they have well-known directors or because they have recognizable actors?
Just curious how many of readers can name the winner of last year's prestigious Special Jury Award. No fudging now. If you have to look it up, you don't know. Better yet, how many of you saw it? Not many, according to my bible, boxofficemojo.com. Grossed a measly $256,000 worldwide during its 10 week run. Avatar beat those numbers on its West Coast opening day advanced ticket sales.
At another site, there were bloggers already rumbling about what luminaries are on the Special Award Jury. Other than a strong inkling that the Sainted Chaz is a member. I have no clue. There is however a rumor circulating that Jerry Berliant crashed the jury's deliberations when Avatar was selected. No confirmation whether Jerry voted or not.
At the same site, some dude commented, "Ebert,
what a crafty old dog." I concur.
Best-of Lists are a guilty pleasure for me. It was never a 'guilty' pleasure, though, until you once described it as "giving the impression of news where there isn't any".
And note the ramifications of making a list, with all the readers wondering where 'UP' is. You gave it a glowing review from Cannes, 4 stars, and now, to some, it's diminished or tarnished because you didn't christen it one of the TOP TEN best.
I'd suggest: readers search your archive for four star movies in 2010, there's your list right there, and you can take the day off to shop for Chaz.
Are you going to post a 10 worst films list as well? I always look forward to some good old-fashioned film-pulping!
Fine choices, huzzah! I think we all know you love "Goodbye, Solo" best, but I'll keep that hush, hush.
I'm surprised how many people are mad about the list not being ranked, considering Mr. Ebert didn't rank his list last year.
Anyways, if people are really concerned with what was Ebert's favourite movie of the year, they're not reading hard enough. I think it's pretty obvious what two movies Roger considers the best, and I think there's been enough written in reviews, on his blog, and in twitter updates, to figure out which one he thinks is #1 and #2 (Then again, I could be wrong).
But, also, the idea of a year-end list isn't about determining what movie is best and having your opinion validated because it's the same as Roger's, nor is it about criticizing someone else's opinion because it's different from your own. The point of year-end lists is to learn about movies you might not have seen exposed to you by others, and to expose others to films that you love. It's about a love of film, not some quantifiable determination of the exact worth of a film.
Ebert: This will drive people nuts. I believe I know which two titles you're thinking of, and I suspect you may be correct.
Hey Roger, I remember you wrote a very glowing review for Tim Blake Nelson's "Leaves of Grass" earlier this year. I thought for sure it would make your list. Did you not include it because it has not received distribution?
Ebert: True.
It's curious. Not long ago, you said that we live in a depressing time for film (this shortly after your reviews of Transformers 2 and the new Terminator, as I recall, which might explain the comment). And, yet, here you have recommended enough great films to keep most moviegoers busy for a year, and week after week one can visit your page and find current films getting three, three-and-a-half, and four stars. So, are things really so bad, after all?
PS
Thanks again for this blog. I have spent many enjoyable hours here. GB
Regarding the distinction between independent and non-independent films, I thought a movie is independent when it hasn't been financed by a major studio or any studio at all, rather than depending on philosophical parametres.
Or is that only for awards?
I still haven't heard of a lot of your "mainstream" movies. And I, like many others, express my surprise at Up's absence from your list.
Me, I can't make a top ten, because I don't see enough movies, and frankly, most of the ones this year that I saw weren't top-ten worthy. However, Up, Avatar, and Star Trek definitely make the list. And Up was the best movie I saw this year, as far as I'm concerned.
Great list Roger, but where's Watchmen?
Hurt Locker was compelling, but tainted for me by the fatuous Colonel Cambridge, surely the unlikeliest (outside of comedies) Army officer ever seen. And a psychiatrist to boot!
brilliant idea, the two lists. glad i thought of it.
brilliant idea, not ranking 1 through 10. glad i thought of it. it's hard to compare something like avatar and a serious man because they're sooo different. list them alphabetical and tell everyone to shut up and enjoy or make their own damn list.
glad i thought of that too.
merry happy blah blah blah.
Thank goodness Steve Real has such uncanny insight into the psyche of every white person alive. Someone should have told those African American marines that they were on the wrong side.
Not one documentary? Not even The Beaches of Agnes? Or a documentaries relegated to their own 'ghetto'? Indies get a separate category are docs below that?
To Mr. Ebert and Sun Times Readers:
Concerning your Special Jury Prize Winner, "Avatar". James Cameron has said he started writing the script for the movie in 1995. Really?
The main plot points of "Avatar" appear to be nothing more and nothing less than an updated, plagiarized version of the 1955 Robert Silverberg sci-fi novel, "Revolt on Alpha C". In that novel, an earthling goes on an intersellar voyage to an enchanting planet to put down a revolt of the locals, only to, at the last minute, switch sides and fight for the oppressed local people instead. Sound familiar?
Never ceases to amaze how people and critics like you seem to be so impressed with multi-millionaires who plagiarize other people's work, and they can do it with impunity, just becaue they're rich and famous. Sort of like how our new President cow-tows to the Wall Street
Greed Merchants and the likes of T. Boone Pickens just because they have become super-rich by screwing the American Public six ways to Sunday!
Sincerely,
Barry Gram Carol Stream, Il.
No "Up", Roger? I'm surprised.
What about "Ponyo"? One of the most gorgeous things to grace movie screens this year.
Where is Sita Sings the Blues?
Couldn't agree more on Departures. That movie reminded me why I added an extra year to my college career studying Japanese on top of engineering.
One of the ones I want to see the most isn't up there: Pedro Almodovar's, "Broken Embraces."
On the list, I definitely need to go see, "Bad Lieutenant."
Haneke's, "The White Ribbon", should be good too. I have the DVD for, "Cache", and Haneke is very intellectual with his movies. And it looks better than, "Cache."
"Tulpan" is the one omission that surprised me. Although IMDb says it was released in 2008. Maybe that had something to do with it?
I understand not ranking, but I wish you would at least reveal your #1. What is the best film of 2009?
It was so important, for example, that you famously called Dark City the best film of 1998.
Everlasting Moments. - Looks wonderful. I'll have to recommend that to my mother.
Departures - Is already on my list too, along with Still Walking. I'm a great fan of Japanese cinema.
Julia and Trucker - Certainly on my 'must watch' list now. Tilda Swinton is such a unique person, at least in my view, it would be interesting to see what she does with this role. I could definitely see her juggling this material. I remember your review of Trucker as well, I was glad to know that the director did not tack on the obvious 'Hollywood' ending. Such integrity must be rewarded! I will certainly rent it.
Goodbye Solo - Probably my favorite movie of 2009. It's a simple story but it has a certain control over you that you can't resist while you're watching it. Some movies are so obvious in there intent, "I'm trying to make you feel sad now....so please feel sad", and so you do, not because the emotion is irresistible but because you feel obligated to meet the filmmaker halfway. Goodbye Solo has no such pleading. There is never a "you know what I'm trying to get across?" aspect to the film making. Ramin Bahrani is entirely confident in what he is doing, totally in control of his material and I don't believe he could have done a better job at casting. Souleymane Sy Savané was completely authentic, and so was Red West (take note Academy!).
The only movie that doesn't appeal to me is Knowing, which I found to be un-impressive and philosophically stale.
This is actually one of your most solid lists in recent years. Although, like other readers have stated, I was surprised at the exclusion of "Up". Also, "Watchmen" and "Ponyo".
Here is my list along with Honorable Mentions:
10. 35 Shots of Rum
9. You, the Living
8. Up
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. Where the Wild Things Are
5. Moon
4. The Hurt Locker
3. Hunger
2. A Serious Man
1. Inglourious Basterds
Honorable Mentions:
Sugar
Tokyo Sonata
Watchmen
Sin Nombre
Departures
Julia
The White Ribbon
An Education
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
The Informant!
Up in the Air
Big Fan
Two Lovers
Ponyo
In the Loop
Treeless Mountain
Are you going to have a separate article discussing the amazing year in animated films?
Roger, I collect data and quantify abstract concepts for a living. I understand the meaning and utter meaninglessness of numbers, and the importance of counting something only when the theory behind the counting is sensible.
A top 20 list, in my view, is no more logical than a top 10 list. This is because any pre-set numerical limit assumes that there are roughly an equal number of worthy films from year to year. This assumption is flawed. With movies, as with wines, some years are much better than others.
So I say stop with the numbers games entirely, and just list your favorite movies of the year. Some years there could be as many as 30 or 40 worthy films; other years, perhaps ten or fewer. As a faithful reader of your reviews and blogs, I'm not interested in an artificial ranking of movies; I'm much more interested in reading lists and summaries of movies that are worth my money and, more importantly, my time.
Give me more than 20 films if your heart desires. But give me less than ten if the year of film truly sucked.
Sadly missing:
1. I Killed My Mother
2. A Prophet
3. Everyone Else
4. Dogtooth
Did you really not like these or just not see them yet?
Roger,
Thanks for the reviews. I respect your opinions and movie knowledge and often seek your thoughts before choosing to plunk down hard earned dollars to buy tickets. That doesn't mean I always agree with you, I don't, but if you don't like a movie, I most likely won't either. More often you'll like something that I don't. Obviously, you've got to like somethings, whereas, I can be more discriminating and hyper critical.
I agree there is no need to rank the movies - that's childish and ridiculous. Your lists don't have to be similar to awards which we know are used mostly as business tools to promote ticket sales. Good idea to have two lists but that naturally creates its own disagreements.
Finally, this is the first time I've seen a movie critic respond to people leaving comments. That's way above and beyond the call of duty and think that is excellent. You are to be commended.
Great lists, but no love for 500 Days of Summer? {Sniffles} Gomorrah? {Shrugs}
I think it's awesome that you consider "The White Ribbon" a mainstream movie.
Nice list, as always - I'm surprised, like others as what made "the mainstream" list vs. the indy-list.
I wish a few of those indy films had wider release, I loved the book disgrace, I just wish I had a chance to see in the theaters.
Super-glad An Education made the list, it's a favorite of mine that I worry might miss out on some of the love it deserves because it's "lighter" tone.
Also: No "In The Loop" or "Up"? Not saying their better than Crazy Heart or Up In The Air (which I haven't seen yet) but I feel like they need honorable mentions.
Roger,
I for one was inspired by the fact that you finally came out and said what your faithful readers must've been thinking for years - given all of the lists and sub-lists and ranking and sub-ranking, how in the world could it matter if you made a "best 10" or "best of" list for the end of the year?!? You always name more than 10 films anyway (honorable mentions, anyone?)...
That being said, I'm disappointed you "limited" yourself to 21 films this year - since you praised so many more than that... Where are UP, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, ME AND ORSON WELLES, WATCHMEN, SITA SINGS THE BLUES, A CHRISTMAS CAROL...the list goes on and on... You gave a great number of "great" (****) reviews this year and I'm a bit perplexed whenever films get left off. I know they belong (because of the earlier review) and you know they belong (for the same reason) but does your computer know they belong? What about your editors?
Last year, you mentioned in your review of THE WRESTLER that it (deservedly) was one of the year's best films but was not on your list for "complicated and boring reasons" - which you've since sorta explained was basically human/technical error. Never mind you also left off LAKEVIEW TERRACE, TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE and SHINE A LIGHT - three other films that got 4 stars last year...
Looks like this year we have the same thing. Nevertheless, a great list that I'm largely in agreement about! :)
P.S. Can we look forward to a belated separate list of memorable honorable mentions that deserve their spot?!?
Add me to the 500 Days of Summer fan list.
I haven't seen most of these films, and I have seen only half of them mentioned in the press.
I'm so disappointed with what I'm fed by the bigtime cinemas. How do we rectify it other than to not support it, which is being, obviously, misinterpreted as a failing of movies in general?
I do my best to support the nearest cinema that plays the higher quality movies, but its 90 min. away, so it has become a two or three times/year treat.
Please, advocate for us who live in hick towns and want to see quality cinema. I would LOVE to be able, just once, to see an Oscars as an adult where I've seen all the nominees within a ten mile radius of my house.
Why do all the independent films have dark themes? Is it not possible to make a good independent comedy? Or even a light independent film? I think too often people equate serious and dark with art. To prove this look at the list above or at the oscars. When was the last time a comedy won best picture? Or a comedic role won best actor or actress?
I had resolved not to quarrel with your list, because after all it is your list and you never claimed it was anything else. (That's assuming you didn't chisel it into stone tablets.) But so many have commented on the inclusion of Knowing that I just had to put my oar in.
I think I probably enjoyed the first 3/4 of this film as much as you did. Basically, characters found hidden clues that Mysterious Powers were playing out a Deep Agenda, for the ultimate Salvation of Humanity. Each character had their own part to play so that Destiny would be fulfilled.
Don't let the psuedo-sarcastica caps above mislead you, I greatly enjoyed all that and was spellbound throughout.
But it seemed like these characters endangered the entire cosmic agenda toward the end, through mundane mishaps and confusion. (It was as if Jason Bourne had to stop and change a tire.) So at that point the Powers just stepped in and took care of things hands-on, and I was jarred out of my movie-induced trance to wonder, if they could that what was all the hocus-pocus about? Of course then there would be no movie.
So I agree with you about most of Knowing, but felt deflated and let down after it ended. Good thing I'm not a critic because I wouldn't know how to rate an experience like that.
My thumbs up for: Knowing and A Serious Man.
I bet I'll agree with Bad Lieutenant, The Hurt Locker, and Up in the Air when I see them. I'm not sure about the rest.
On the independent side thumbs up for Goodbye Solo and I definitely agree with that pick. Netflix thinks I'll love Silent Light. I've heard good things about Everlasting Moments, and yes I want to see You, the Living but I didn't come close to buying or liking what Songs from the Second Floor had to offer. I have to say though, from looking at empireonline.com, well where is 35 Shots of Rum? I haven't seen it but people seem to like that film.
The format of these lists is not only relevant but also brilliant.
Despite living in an area with megaplexes abound, I had a heck of a time tracking down theaters showing many of the movies in your "mainstream" top 10.
What were some of your honorable mentions? Also is The White Ribbon really a mainstream film
My Top Ten:
1. An Education
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Where the Wild Things Are
4. A Serious Man
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Sugar
7. Police, Adjective
8. Watchmen
9. Up in the Air
10. Drag Me to Hell
Special Jury Prize (11-20):
Avatar (my #11)
Moon
Summer Hours
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Me and Orson Welles
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Mammoth
Adoration
Adventureland
Bright Star
Honorable Mentions:
The Messenger
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Extract
Up
The Box
Precious
The Hangover
500 Days of Summer
The Last House on the Left
Coraline
The House of the Devil
If it is okay to post twice here is my top list for 2009 so far. They are in the order of how much I like them but orders change over time for me and with rewatches, and I think my film ratings age over time and due to what movies I see after whatever I previously rated. I don't have 10 yet because I don't put movies that I don't think deserve to be on a top 10 on lists such as this one. Maybe I have seen 20-25 movies this year so I have not seen that many.
Moon
Love Exposure
A Serious Man
Knowing
Goodbye Solo
500 Days of Summer
Two Lovers
Where the Wild Things Are
Watchmen
I only saw six of the mainstream films but I think you are right on. Hurt Locker should win for best director and perhaps best film. An Education should win for best actress and supporting actor and a Serious Man best screen play. Up In Air: Clooney is due for best actor, and Quentin Tarantino: best screen play his dialogue has no equal, and too bad there is no award for best visualist because he would get all the time.
Unfortunately I only saw one in the Independent category and did not care for it so I will not name it.
Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog deserve recognition as well and also Vera Farmiga.
As a "faithful reader", I know that in the past you have not only included a Special Jury Prize, but also listed many worthy "runner-ups". It's for this reason you're getting so many pesky posts bemoaning missing titles like "Up".
So, here's my pesky post: no "Munyurangabo"? Best film of the year, and I wouldn't have heard of it without your review, so thank you.
Did you see "Treeless Mountain"? As a film about children, it's as good as anything by Truffaut. I know you don't review everything you see, so I'm curious if you've caught it. It's a real gem.
OMG I HATE U SO MUTCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U WHERE SUPPOSE TOO GIVE US A TOP 10 AN RANK THEM AND U CHEETED!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WHERE LOOKING FORWAD TOO YOU'RE OPINON BECUZ WE LOVE U SO MUTCH AND WE LOVE YOU'RE OPINON AND WANTED TOO NOW WHAT TOO RENT BUT NOW WE DON'T NOW WERE TOO START!!!!!!!!!!! OMG THATS WHY I HATE U SO MUTCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE ROGER TELL US WHAT TOO WACH!!!!!!!!!!!! I DONT NOW WERE TOO START!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE WHAT I SHULD RENT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I HATE U SO VARY VARY MUTCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! J/K LOL I LOVE U HUGS AND KISSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ebert: I give you an A on "please."
GREAT LIST! How come everyone is hating on Nicholas Cage? Am I the only one who thinks he's one of the best actors alive?
I hope Jeremy Renner and Tilda Swinton aren't overlooked this year. Both gave jaw-dropping performances.
I'll work on my list next week :)
How is "The Hurt Locker" considered a mainstream film? When it won several awards recently it was described by most of the media as "an independent" or "indie" film.
The Lord, the Lord Jehovah, has given unto you these fifteen [drop, crash]... oy... ten, ten commandments for all to obey!
I thought I got to the movies a lot, but to see that I missed nearly everything you listed tells me three things: 1) I am hiking more, or 2) watching movies less, but 3) my Netflix backlog will grow!
Thanks very much for these reviews.
Dear Roger:
Since PBS I've been following you, so pretty much anything you write about I read and if it's a review, I'm often in agreement.
As an international independent film festival Director the last 6 years running, I'm glad to see you've included and talked about Independent Films on your 2009 Best Films list. You've made some great choices including Sin Nombre.
Independent films are where Hollywood gets their best ideas.
One film I'm sorry to see didn't make your 2009 list is: "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", which even though you gave it 3 stars, does everything a film of any genre should do. Give you a protagonist you care about, throw a few obstacles in their way and watch them triumph over all obstacles to a satisfying conclusion.
It's one of the best documentaries of the year and thanks to Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock box-office numbers, documentaries are now "films" too...
--
Thanks kindly,
Shannonn Kelly, Managing Director
http://www.reelheart.com
ReelHeART International Film Festival (RHIFF)
June 21-26, 2010
The "Filmmakers Film Festival"
Since I started taking a bit more interest in film beyond mere watching, it occurs to me how much one's expressed evaluation depends on one's state of mind, as determined,say, by the state of one's digestion?
I saw yesterday a Bengali film voted as the top-most Indian film ever in a survey called T20 of Indian cinema and could find little nice about it?
i think the "memorable honorable mentions" would be every other film that he gave 4 stars to this year. no real need to put them in a list.
anyways, i too found it perplexing that many of the films on Mainstream i would've dubbed Indie. but mostly, the question i'm asking is - if Knowing wasn't so critically drubbed, would you have put it on the list? i dunno, maybe i'm biased because i found the film so average, but i get the feeling that if everyone else had loved it as much as you, you wouldn't have wanted so badly to call attention to it by sticking it on your top "10" list, and would've instead placed Avatar or Up or any other 4 star flick there instead.
cheers
KZ
It's refreshing not to see these films ranked. Every year I enjoy watching the Academy Awards/Golden Globes, not because of who wins or loses, but just to look back on the year of films. Rankings are unnecessary. How could you begin to say which is the better film, Inglorious Basterds or Up in the Air? Keep lists like this one coming Mr. Ebert.
Excellent as always, ranked or not! So far, my top ten would go something like this:
1. "Up in the Air" (Devastating and honest)
2. "Inglourious Basterds" (Surprising, to say the least)
3. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (Start-to-finish hilarity)
4. "Away We Go" (Uncommonly interesting characters)
5. "Star Trek" (Bad script, yes, but so perfectly cast. And that music!)
6. "Avatar" (In 3D, a true spectacle)
7. "District 9" (Thrilling low-budget filmmaking)
8. "The Princess and the Frog" (A joyous return to form)
9. "Funny People" (Overlong, but enriching nonetheless)
10. "Adventureland" (Barely edges (500) Days of Summer in the indie romance bracket)
I can happily report that I've only seen two real stinkers this year: "Hannah Montana" and "T:ROTF." (I suppose "The Invention of Lying" and the "Julie" half of "Julie & Julia" come close though.)
Dear Roger:
And I mean 'dear':
It's because of you that I saw more of the 'Independent' movies than the mainstream ones, even though I can't forgive Reygadas his eye-rolling ending.
Looking forward to your top 20 of the decade, as well as with schaudenfreude for your bottom 20: something with Mike Meyers, Kate Hudson, Will Ferrell, Jack Black perhaps? Smack 'Watchmen', 'The Love Guru' and 'Mummy III' with a shovel while you're down there in partial repayment for my/our lost hours. Thanks!
i was kinda hoping for a best (favorite)
of the decade.
your list for the 90's was awesome.
since scorsese owned that decade with his various masterpieces. (goodfellas, casino, bringing out the
dead, etc,)
i thought you might get the coens. or perhaps
paul thomas anderson.
just a thought.
I am a regular reader of tech blogs about copyright, and the more I read, the more I think the copyright laws are ridiculous.
Why do I bring this up? Well, fans of "Knowing" may want to read this:
Filmmakers Sued for Fictional Patent Infringement?
From Chilling Effects.
Nice to see "Knowing" and "Julia" on your list(s). Nicholas Cage is always fun to watch--part Gary Cooper, part Sal Mineo--and "Knowing" has a '50s feel to it--in a good way, like the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" or "Enemy from Space."
As for "Julia": I have the same kind of crush on Tilda Swinton I had for Shelley Duvall in the '70s, both of them quirky-sexy and unpredictable. In "Julia" she goes all out, like Charlize Theron in "Monster"--and the movie itself is a knockout. I remember my wife and I watching it at home--all hail Netflix Instant Play--and being completely exhausted--then realizing it was only half over! An epic film in its own way.
excellent list. im proud to say that i have seen a lot of these films. the rest, i plan on seeing whenever i have a chance.
one movie missing up there is "a prophet". my personal favorite of the year.
have you seen it?
I know you probably won't be able to do a best of decade list with Martin Scorsese again, but could you at least ask him what they are? I would've never discovered "The Horse Thief" without him!
Hey, wait a minute, hold the phone--where's "Up"? Am I the first to ask that question? No? Am I the first to ignore your remark that animation and documentaries are forthcoming? No? Darn.
Actually, your last year's list not only had 20 titles plus a jury prize (and five docs), you also had a separate but equal list of 10 non-English films plus another jury prize. I like your rule-busting, and I like your diverse lists (which obviously doesn't mean I must like all the movies, but who cares?). Yes, you left out some of your four-star review titles of this past year, but that shows what rich years we're really living in, and thanks for calling attention to so many types of movie, Roger. Because of your efforts, I recently saw "Sita Sings the Blues," which so many have asked about and which I assume is on an upcoming list. Also, I hope your list confuses at least a few readers into imagining that "The White Ribbon" is a mainstream movie.
Continue to stick your own spokes into the wheels of the listmakers!
BTW, somebody above asks what he seems to believe is a rhetorical question about Kathryn Bigelow naturally changing "The Hurt Locker" if McCain had won. I haven't seen this movie, but a moment's research at IMDB informs me it's considered a 2008 movie because it already played at several festivals BEFORE the election. Movies take longer to write and make (and find distribution) than "real life," and that's why artists who are determined to make Art try to focus on what they think will last, as opposed to factoring in temporary distractions like who is elected president. If someone thinks that's a strange attitude, they're probably not an artist...
So...why is District 9 not on this list again?
Mr. Ebert,
I've been reading your articles since I was ten years old (now 23)and have always considered your year end lists as exciting as anything with Christmas. I can completely understand not ranking a list from one to ten, but I think you should at least choose an absolute favorite. I think you underestimate how much your declaration of a "best film of the year" has on your readers. For instance, by putting The Hurt Locker or Silent Light on your list just tells me that I should see those movies. Giving out the grand #1 spot tells me that it's something truly special and I need to rush to the theater or get my Netflix account updated so I can see the movie. Dark City. Hoop Dreams. 3 Women. House of Games. It was more important that I see these because of that rank.
BTW Roger, I have a new favorite pastime. Find a great character name in Ebert's reviews. EX. In Bruges " Noble Shambles" (re: Brendan Gleeson's face). Running a bit behind on best films, but look forward to your tips for 2009!
Ebert: I wonder if that's how Bob and Ray got Natalie Attired?
Anyone who disagrees with the fact that "Did you hear about the Morgans?" is the best movie of 2009, as well as the decade, is an utter moron.
That's right, Mr. Ebert, I said it.
Happy to see the love going 'round for The Hurt Locker; glad you're still standing up for the amazing Knowing; kudos for putting Inglourious Basterds on the list, because we all know Tarantino is a genius; Up was a minor letdown and doesn't belong on this list; and Barry Gram seriously needs to lighten up.
Happy Holidays, Roger.
--James S.
Nice job listing movies many haven't seen...it will make renting a bit more of an adventure...
Here are my top 10 films...no ranking order...just the films...
Up In The Air
A film for the decade...as well acted and written as any I saw...
Inglorious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino stamps his official seal of badass all over this one...
Away We Go
A forgotten little gem with the best female performance all year by Maya Rudolph...
A Serious Man
The Coen Brothers are genius...
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The most fun I had the movies. It takes all the great Wes Anderson nuances and puts them in a perfect format for him...
500 Days of Summer
The BEST romantic comedy of the decade...
The Hangover
Making a funny movie is harder than anything. I really believe a Best Original Screenplay nom would be justified here...
Taken
For me a first class thriller and a socially conscious film that makes aware of a great evil in society...
A Christmas Carol
A great book. A great director. A great holiday film addition...
The Great Buck Howard
A personal favorite for personal reasons. Which is why I really loved this film...
Roger: Have you heard of "Ink"?
It is a recent indie film that is quietly becoming a cult classic.
You can watch it instantly on Netflix. If it doesn't make your top 10 list I will be astonished.
Dear Mr.Ebert,
Reading your best of lists is an absolute pleasure. Kudos for including Knowing on your list. I enjoyed it a great deal myself, and would likely place it on my own list as one of 2009's best films.
At this point, I would choose The Hurt Locker as my favourite film from 2009, and I still plan on seeing Precious, An Education, Avatar and Up in The Air, among others, before the year is over.
It's incredibly refreshing to see a person who posts a list who is clearly does not let others opinions sway them.
Kudos!
No Fantastic Mr. Fox or Where The Wild Things Are?
Glad to see somebody recognize Goodbye Solo.
Glad to see you didn't numerically ranked the movies. I always think general movie lists are kind of pointless becauses movies mean so much to the individual. The experience isn't more or less. Anyway are we going to get a decade list?
Looking forward to seeing Ponyo and Up get their due in a future blog post.
It's really interesting seeing your lists from year to year. As an Ebertist (unashamed RE slut) now on 25 years, you really call it as you see it. I've read all your reviews for the year, obvously, and dear readers, Roger's best film of the year is Knowing. That's the place he's at right now. Being from Oz, I haven't seen a few that might be considered 'contenders' such as Up in the Air, Messenger, Sin Sombre, Invictus, et..
But I must say, I am really struggling to pick a top ten. There are just not enough good films this year for me personally. I saw Avatar in 3-D at an IMAX theatre in Melbourne Oz, and I was really disappointed. It was a spectacle and I enjoyed what I saw, it was just not...I think finished would be the word. I really want to see it again, which means I liked it enough. I can't put my finger on it. The strangest thing happned though, PJs King Kong was playing on television when I got home...it blew me away. What is going on here? I mean, I HATED it when I saw it years ago, but I think what was missing from Avatar was in 'Kong' ...and which brings me back to my first point. That's where RE is right now, and bless him for it. 25 years ago, looking at this years list, I reckon RE would have picked Crazy Heart as his best...
So, here is my 5, since I can't go to ten this year
1. A Serious Man - devastating
2. Inglourious Basterds - keeps storytelling alive
3. Star Trek - I bloody hate Star Trek, bit saw this twice?
4. Samson & Delilah - characters Rog, remember
5. Where the Wild Things Are - too bad there's no audience for it. The single bravest and greatest endeavour this year
Honourable mentions go to:
The White Ribbon - a Bergman /Bunuel clusterf**k
(500) Days of Summer - really like the fact that there's was 'love' found in this story - it just wasn't on screen
Avatar - hey, I'm talking about it still aren't it - just got to figure out why
Drag Me to Hell - make Evil Dead 4 already!!
District 9: Nearly got there, the end ruined it!
Anti Christ - good god - what to make of this. Lars please throw us a bone, the Mrs nearly beat me to death after I took her to see it. Performances are just too good, in a film to doer.
Bad L 2: Port of Call New Orleans - only for the headstand and lizard. This is risky, risky film making readers...
On a personal note Roger, I don't see why you can't do the Stephen Hawking thing on television? I LOVE your blogs and everything, and this is your evolution, but I can't stand some of the nasty replies. I don't know enough about US politics to reply and as an Ebertist, just makes me feel...inadequate.
Have a great holiday's everyone...be safe
I'd like to point out for other readers that 4 of the 10 independent films on the list are available on Netflix's Instant viewing.
You can watch;
Julia
Silent Light
Sin Nombre
& Goodbye Solo
(Also streaming 'Chop Shop', and 'Man Push Cart' two amazing movies I would have never seen if not for Mr. Ebert.)
You can watch these movies right now with little effort.
Ebert: Man, that's some good bviewing rihght there.
And steam "8 1/2" while you're at it, instead of going to see "Nine."
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD) I just watched Knowing again with my 7-year-old son, Hal. Within 30 minutes, prior to any big-scale CGI destruction, he had it pegged as a sci-fi film. When the main catastrophe's mechanism was revealed, he announced that humanity would have to go underground to survive. A few minutes later, and well ahead of the big reveal, he spoke up again saying that the whispering people were aliens who were moving to save a select few breeding pairs to take to a safer planet. How Hal followed the movie so closely, says nothing of the plot's originality (it is very), but much about my son and much about the mood and logic of the time he was born into. As the film's final shot faded, my son said breathlessly, "I LOVE THIS MOVIE." Likewise. Movies about the possible confluence of science and religion, or of the brutally mundane and the dizzyingly otherworldly, tend to give subtly short shrift to one side of the equation or the other. "Knowing" may be, in this regard, one of the most judicious movies I've ever seen. Its loyalties lie both with scientific rigor and with religious and apocalyptic feeling. Proyas says as much in the DVD's special features, and having heard him say so, I know I have in this director a kindred spirit. If only the bulk of top-tier critics could say the same; I believe strongly (hehe) that they were blinded to Cage's virtuosity, the skill of the score, the directorial master touch, etc., all because they owe philosophical and emotional allegiance to a worldview that holds humanity as its own savior and the Earth as the final word in what constitutes a greater reality worth preserving. We have no gods to turn to, and no other world to hope for; therefore a movie like "Knowing," they strongly believe (hehe), amounts to very dangerous and atavistic heresy--a fantasy that indulges our worst tendencies towards anti-intellectualism (someone out there will do the thinking and saving for us) and apathy (nobody can change the future, so nobody should try to save anything). In point of fact, "Knowing" is much more elegantly conceived than these objections would permit. In one scene, Cage strives to prevent a catastrophe; his actions don't affect the death toll but do clearly save a woman and her small child. And while the whispering people of the movie clearly operate within the boundaries of a grand determinism, their actions are yet clearly sentient and deeply inspired by compassion--after all is said and done, they seem to have gone to great lengths simply to guide a father and his son to the voluntary conclusion that they must, for a time, part ways, in order to give humanity the best possible new beginning. I love the movie's balanced view that reality comprises both unimaginably unneccessary catastrophes and some great beauty and design behind or above or one step ahead of the madness. I love even more the idea of gods like the whispering angels/aliens of "Knowing", who use their omniscience and omnipotence in the service of compassion and human free will, and who are themselves beholden to a grand design they cannot subvert. Who watches the watchers? Apparently, some great and violent Watchmaker. As it should be. As it must.
Having liked Chop Shop but not so much Push Cart I viewed today Goodbye Solo, with high expectation, and in any case,requires a second view so that issues of comprehension don't cloud things.
The essence of the movie I think can only be the issue of suicide. It's too major a thing to be set besides issues like race, immigration, loneliness, ingratitude etc.
It's difficult to concieve a person so precisely chartering out his exit, since most suicides seem to be on a spur though brewing over time. I suppose this plan has to be taken as a given thing like the ghost in Hamlet, and the unrolling leaves of the calender are the plot line.
The ending of course is one to savour many a time.
@ Goodbye Solo
Seeing that William's mind is made up, Solo not only decides to see him off, but even to take daughter Alex on that journey into the mist. This is the transformative moment for him.
It grows.
I am totally with you on Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. I knew it would never see the light of day near me and there was no way I was not going to watch it on screen. It released on 11/20 in Manhattan and I drove from Pennsylvania to see it. I live closer to Philadelphia but I would have had to wait a week. The matinee played to a packed house and we all had a fabulous time. What a hilarious movie it is and it has that certain Herzog texture I truly love.
It goes without saying that Herzog probably did have an easier time directing Cage than he did Klaus Kinski and I hope we get to see more Herzog/Cage pairings in the future. However, there is something about the films he did with Kinski that I will never forget. Somehow, each of these pictures added up to more than a sum of its parts and I treasure all five of them. I have become quite a fan of Kinski’s although I'll admit going through his filmography has also put me in touch with some of the most appalling films ever made and clearly Klaus phoned in many of those performances. Yet, even in the most atrocious of these movies, there are moments of Kinski’s genius. He was quite the unique individual. I am grateful to Herzog for his dedication where Kinski was concerned; working with the man must have taken the patience of Job.
Happy Holidays, Roger, to you and your loved ones. I am looking forward to your Best of the Decade list (or lists).
I think a lot of people don't understand what an "independent film" is. I mean there are some really "independent" films that would make 'The Hurt Locker' seem like a blockbuster.
The same happened to "Slumdog Millionaire." It started out as this independent film but wouldn't you call it mainstream, now that it has reached a "mainstream" audience?
No documentaries on the list?
I greatly admire this list. Many of the titles I haven't seen but maybe I should give some of them a try. As much as I loved (500) Days of Summer, I understand why it didn't make your list. I'll have to catch The Hurt Locker, since I know it's out of theatres now, and Avatar is on tap for this week.
Just one question though: Are there films yet to be widely released (Sherlock Holmes, Nine, The Lovely Bones, etc.) that you haven't seen yet, or have you seen all of those movies as well?
Inglorious Basterds and Bad Lt. were the only films listed that I've seen. I've got to say they were awful. I like N. Cage, but this inaccurately drug-obsessed film has a happy ending. How? Why? I saw no rehab that he would have needed; trust me, I know. In the end he gets promoted and everyone is clapping and smiling? Stupid. He also needs to do something about his fake hair - awful hairlines. As for In. Bas., well, another poor job by Brad Pitt (the guy can't act) and a boring storyline. Nazi Germany naturally draws me, but there is more to a movie than setting. I'll never watch them again. A poor movie year.
Roger,
Up man Up! My #1 of the year for the first time in ever, not on the list. This is typically a predictable, juvenille complaint, yet it's only because it's my favorite. I did enjoy "Knowing", but is that seriously more powerful or more enjoyable than the visual/emotional feast of Up?
If lists aren't for prodding discussion/disagreement, then what are they for? Thanks for the list though. I'll add the titles I haven't seen (most of them) to some sort of list and make sure I see them all... but c'mon, there HAS to be a number one. You know you want to pick one. how bout your gold standard, what movie on that list do you most want to watch RIGHT NOW?
Nice lists. But is Departures really an independent film in Japan? People seem to draw a distinction between independent films and foreign films. It's not a good distinction, in my opinion since, from an American standpoint, foreign films suffer a lot of the same distribution problems that independent films do. But it's one that is made that I wonder if you should have separate categories for "The Top Ten Independent Films" and "The Top Ten Foreign Films".
And yes, Mitra. I believe Departures was Japan's submission to the 2008 Academy Awards. Noticed it when I was looking up the submissions for that year for China, India, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
I think people hate on Nicolas Cage because he's made some truly, and I mean TRULY awful movies. The thing about him is that, even in the worst movies, he's never less than compelling. Among big stars, he also seems to be the most blatant about making "money pictures", which are movies that are going to net him a huge paycheck. He is a great actor, but I think I'll always have a grudge against him because the attention he got for Leaving Las Vegas completely overshadowed Elizabeth Shue, who I still believe gave the best performance by an actress that year or any year. I mean, she was truly amazing.
I'd put Up on there for the mainstream flicks, especially over the white-guilt poverty porn of Precious or the sheer train-wreck of a movie that was Inglorious Basterds. Despite a number of glowing reviews I found both to be massive failures, but each to their own. I'm glad to see Knowing up there. Hopefully it will help give it some recognition. Excellent movie.
Your list of mainstream films is fascinating because over half the list consists of films that mainstream America has not had a chance to see. Here are five of the films and the amount of theaters they were in at their widest release:
A Serious Man: 262
The Hurt Locker: 535
An Education: 317
Crazy Heart: 4
Bad Lieutenant: 96
Another, The White Ribbon, hasn't come out yet, while Precious was also made independently but recently managed to make it into over a thousand theaters.
It's a far cry from, say, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which hit 4,102 theaters.
My point is, you're unlikely to win applause from folks who've complained that you only pick indie films they haven't seen. But there's obviously nothing you can do; it's a major distribution failure. Or would these films fail in wider release?
Great list - a part of me wishes that you had mentioned a single favorite, but I know how difficult (and ultimately arbitrary, I suppose) that can be. If I had to pick just one it would probably be A Serious Man, and I'm very glad you included it here.
This time of year when everyone talks about the year's great pictures should help to remind us how the constant talk of how no great movies are made anymore is really rather silly; there are just as many good movies made now as thirty years ago or sixty years ago, and just as many bad ones - the only difference is that the bad movies from that period are mostly forgotten, with this year's bad films still around for us to dismiss. When we think of past eras, the good movies are all we remember and so too often we think that that was the general standard of the time.
I do hope you'll come out with your ten favorites of the decade.
@ Goodbye Solo
Goes much beyond the first two movies.
The windy rock is symbolically the precipice of death, and the misty woods and mountains the mysterious beyond. William may have an idea what he is running from, but not what he is running towards. Solo had to give up in the face of the stubborn old man.
I wonder what kind of inner vision is being conveyed in this bizarre situation.
Thanks for the continued great work. I think it's hilarious that people actually complain about a longer list of great films.
I read lists like these to get recommendations from someone I trust. It's a good thing that there are 20 films out there that you just can't justify leaving off your end-of-year list. That's the real issue here: there are simply too many good films to limit your list to ten.
Why would anyone complain about that?
I've got plenty of time: time enough to see more than ten great films.
And THANK YOU for recommending Sita Sings the Blues. I can't remember a better film experience... pure joy over the creativity I saw on the screen.
I look forward to seeing it somewhere on one of your lists.
Just want to thank you for this list. I echo the sentiments of Laura above---living in a small town, few of these movies reach our cinema and our "best" list consists mostly of Netflix dvds. I would never have heard of most of the independents without your list.
One of our best Netflix rentals was "Nothing But the Truth", which my lil brother recommended after seeing it at your Overlooked Festival. A great movie for discussion/debate. Love those.
"Up" should definitely be on the list
Great list
I agree with most of the movies, though I have the top five movies I have seen this year are:
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Big Fan
3. The Soloist
4. Trucker
5. My Sister's Keeper
For documentary I think September Issue, Man on Wire and Talhotblond were great.
I think the only one that I thought you would have in your top list is Big Fan.
Hi Roger,
Although I really like you lists (especially the Independent films that I am looking forward to getting on Netflix), I am very surprised that there are no animated films on either list. Considering how much you admired Pixar's "Up" and Miyazaki's "Ponyo" (as much as I did), is there a reason that neither one made your list?
Thanks for all the great work you have done over the past 42 years and have a great Christmas!
Wasn't Bo Derek the original 10?
Great choices for the year's best. Would I have preferred a numerical ranking? Yes, but only because numbers show which films the critic liked more than others. Perhaps a good way around this would be to take your two lists and break them into four, so that the mainstream titles are grouped into a "Top Five" list and "Five Runner-Ups," and the same with the indie titles.
But whatever, I'm done arguing with you about this.
My question is: what is the criteria for your Special Jury Prize? What's it's significance? And why didn't you include a SJP for your indie titles?
Also, although I liked your blog about "Avatar," I was a little disappointed. After "Knowing" came out, you posted an extraordinary discussion about the looming questions that "Knowing" posed. I think "Avatar" posed equally intriguing questions, but you put them aside to take about what other critics thought of the movie? Come on!
I remember the line you wrote in your Great Movie review of "Star Wars," where you said one problem with the movie was it's inability to engage the Force on a deeper level. Thirty-two years later, Cameron answers your prayer and provides you with a very serious and complicated spiritual presence on Pandora that, if Stanley Kubrick were around, would be scratching his head over for months! A Jungian-like collective unconscious at the biological level linking the Na'vi to each other, their ancestors, and the forest entire, and you chose to blog about how critics have reacted?
Back in 2007, on Christmas, you posted your incredible review of "Once," and though you later edited it out, your last line said, "I had to. Well, I did. You were right. Here's my Christmas gift for you." Not sure why you edited that out, but whatever.
For Christmas this year, can we have a discussion about "Avatar," not about critics' reactions?
Despite the caveat of having "limited myself to exactly ten films" one finds exactly 21 films here listed. One can divide a double-helping of desert into two servings, but it has the same calories.
Maybe its marketing: Brain Wansink at Cornell's Food and Brand Lab in his book "Mindless Eating" conducted an experiment at a movie: free popcorn in varying container sizes. Result - the bigger the container, the more people ate. So Mr. Ebert thinks he can bamboozle us with fancy-pants containers, two equal ten-best lists of artsie films and regular films, so to think we read only one...and added a "waffer-thin mint" to 21.
I was just going to whine about how much I find all the lists annoying at the end of the year, and now we have an end of a decade as well. But reading the comments has pulled my lip in before I tripped over it. Your lists are overwhelmingly a gift for so many who have eagerly awaited them. And, they may also represent a professional obligation on your part.
Seriously, it is true. My core personal belief is that you have gone all out all year with reviews and both the Thumbs Up collection and the Your Movie Sucks collection. And reports from Cannes, Toronto, and Chicago festivals and Ebertfest itself. And this blog --Sheesh!
What more can a body need? Apparently they need lists. It isn't just an American thing either. We tend to use competition in a pathological way, but not the only practitioners.
Thank you for the many gifts all year.
If that list is supposed to be alphabetical than shouldn't "An Education" come before "Bad Lieutenant"?
Is it just me, or does Avatar's ending seem depressingly like a false dawn?
I've always liked to read about movies, and I definitely think that taste and perception of greatness can be separated. But, since my specialty is not filmmaking or its study, the question remains...
How about you, Mr. Ebert? Do you think your list is 100% not influenced by taste?
Roger, you are my only authority in the movie world. Where is "Brothers" in your list? It worth watching for 2 reasons: the script and the acting. Oh, God, the acting of those 2 boys in the movie. I do not know who is better, who is more intence, who is more vulnarable.
Of all the films listed, I have seem exactly... none. One day, when children are grown and gone, they will find my lifeless corpse in a movie cinema.
I'll probably see most of the above films on cable or as torrents (ssshhh) in the upcoming year, as I now have a list to watch out for.
Special Jury Prize? Jury of One? Why include AVATAR on a list of the "best" if it weren't one of the films you considered "best"? I'd expect Mr. Ebert to review Cameron's latest pretty, silly, unnecessary game-changer positively, because he often likes the sort of garish blockbuster junk with out-sized (technical, at least) ambition. Of the year's films like that, there are at least a couple that many in the mainstream would prefer to have had mentioned. They can make their own lists, I suppose, but a "Jury Prize" reeks, suspiciously. Maybe Cameron's handing out bribes or paying for "blurbs." I didn't think he had any money left over.
The computer fx in avatar changed my life and community
I usually spend the first half of the next year watching the movies from the previous year. Of the movies I haven't seen, "Knowing" is the only film I am planning on seeing just because of your high praise for the film.
I had no idea they made a film out of Disgrace! And John Malkovich to boot! That's exciting. Thank you very, very much for bringing that to our attention.
All jokes aside, I think "The Hangover" deserves a slide in there, it was extraordinary..
I think it is nice to see readers choices match the chcago critic's choice in most of the categories for the year end best films. I though people where complaining that readers are not in sync with the critics anymore ?
World's Greatest Dad was clearly one of the year's best films.
One of the best "character study" films of memory exploring a subject we have probably all experienced in one form or another, but has not been examined much in film.
This movie had me on the edge of my seat as Robin Williams took the podium at the dedication ceremony, was he going to come clean, or was he enjoying having an audience too much. Further more the speech was not what we've come to expect in movies. In a typical movie, his speech would have been a long, heartful apology followed by a pep talk about looking within ourselves and how we can all improve. Then everyone would have looked at each other and understood, the father would then become a hero all over again and we would all feel better about ourselves. Instead, this character said I did this, nobody liked him that's all followed by people flipping him off, slapping him, calling him names and giving dirty looks. In a typical film, the girlfriend would have then come back to him after a hiatus and they would have lived happily ever after. He would have a girlfriend who may or may not have been sleeping with someone else who hated his guts. And something I have been saying for years: Robin Williams is not only a funnyman, he is one of the best actors of his generation.
This was an amazing film. To not consider it one of the year's top 10 is to not appreciate one of the rare, most powerful films you could hope to watch
Interesting list. At the moment, the four films that I really, truly loved this year (I don't know if I'm drawing a blank or that's all there were) are: "Funny People," "Goodbye Solo," "Watchmen," and "Avatar." I thought "Inglourious Basterds" was a great entertainment, but I can't say it affected me the way the other films did.
I understand the omission of "Up." I really wanted to love it, but I had to settle for liking it. I think Pixar has the potential to make some truly great films, but right now they're still too caught up in making things kid-friendly; everything's always over simplified. With "Wall-e," the whole second half of the film is just a well-done cartoon, and with "Up," the example that springs to mind the most is the old photo-album shown of Carl and his wife, wherein every single photo is of them beaming at the camera. It was hard to sympathize because their relationship was just too ideal (aside from the miscarriage), and thus, not believable. Also, the kid was more annoying than Jar-Jar Binks. I'm not presuming to know your reasoning for leaving it off the list, but that certainly would've been mine.
I thought "The Hurt Locker" was executed seamlessly, and it was certainly one of the most intense movies of the year, but it had a couple minor issues on the screenplay level that prevented it from being great. Also, like "Inglourious Basterds," I had a hard time truly connecting with the characters, although in this case that was kind of the point - you can't understand unless you've been there.
There are also quite a few movies on the list I haven't seen. I'm looking forward to "Crazy Heart," "Up in the Air," "Bad Lieutenant," and "Silent Light," among others. So perhaps I'll have more to add to my personal favorites after I've seen them all.
I'm a little shocked that Avatar made this list. Without reviewing the film here, I have to say that in a year that gives us Up, 500 Days of Summer, Public Enemies, District 9 and Invictus, none of which made this list, I'm finding Avatar's inclusion a little hard to swallow. Avatar is great fun to be sure, but aren't we all cultured enough to honor films that give us originality of concept, execution, and above all, story?
The knowing was not only one of the WORST movies of the year but one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Everyone I've talked to that has seen it agrees and that rarely happens.
Someone mentioned earlier a best decade list. Sir, before you draft one, will you consider revisiting Gangs of New York? The first time I saw it, I also thought 3 and 1/2 stars. However, when it landed on DVD I had an instinct to buy it, and was floored by this second viewing. To summon some items from your review, I agree the film does seem gang-oriented and Darwinian, but another look revealed to me how much more it is simply a great story about, well, The Hands that Built America.
Roger,
What's up with people still giving you crap about the whole BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN vs. CRASH for Best Picture thing?
You can't win for losing...the dittoheads & Hannity/Beck followers think you're liberal evil incarnate (next to Obama & Pelosi, of course), and supporters of BROKEBACK don't think you're died-in-the-wool liberal enough?
I saw both films & agreed with you completely, but that's really beside the point...
So what gives?
Deacon
Thanks for promoting less-mainstream films, Roger. When I was younger, all I wanted to watch was comedies. The older I get, the more I enjoy bitter-sweet dramedies, and as that's not a blockbuster genre playing at the theater all the time, your reviews are heavily relied upon when I'm looking to rent a good movie. I'm looking forward to "Up in the Air" and will keep my eyes open for the smaller-budget films you've recommended (promise).
Interesting lists, I plan to seek out all the films on it. But I really wonder what makes a black and white movie by Haneke mainstream while all other foreign language movies are on the other list, even one that already won an Oscar? It's not opening wide and none of the actors are really famous even in Germany. If it's a matter of budget, Everlasting Moments wasn't exactly cheap and was also by a famous veteran director. The only reason I can see is that the director made one mainstream American movie.
Ebert: Categories area s meaningless as lists, but you smoked me out with "black and white." What, a black nd white film can't be mainstream?
I believe black and white is the better choice for many films.
"Hurt Locker" sweeps the field in Chicago Film Critics' Awards" - Roger Ebert
Hurray! (Clapping!)
@ Adam Zanzie wrote:
"I can't shake the feeling that "The Hurt Locker", despite taking no sides for or against the war, is - in the end - a pro war film. What is the "war is a drug" tag line, after all, but meaningless philosophical hogwash?"
Actually, it comes from "War is a force that gives us meaning" written by Chris Hedges - Amnesty International NOW magazine, Winter 2002...
"I learned early on that war forms its own culture. The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug, one I ingested for many years. It is peddled by myth makers - historians, war correspondents, filmmakers novelists and the state-all of whom endow it with qualities it often does possess: excitement, exoticism, power, chances to rise above our small stations in life, and a bizarre and fantastic universe that has a grotesque and dark beauty. It dominates culture, distorts memory, corrupts language and infects everything around it, even humor, which becomes preoccupied with the grim perversities of smut and death. Fundamental questions about the meaning, or meaninglessness, of our place on the planet are laid bare when we watch those around us sink to the lowest depths. War exposes the capacity for evil that lurks just below the surface within all of us."
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/War_Peace/War_Gives_Meaning.html
Hardly meaningless, surely?
The Hurt Locker doesn't do what 99.9% of ALL films about war, do; namely, the above as lamented by Hedges.
The Hurt locker isn't sexy. There are moments when nothing is happening. Explosions are not "made by Hollywood" and why they look real. The dialogue is smart enough to let actions speak louder than words so words can carry more meaning when you do hear them.
The Hurt Locker is a clear-headed look at what's going on beneath the surface of war. It's not about foreign policy; it's about people.
"The enduring attraction of war is this: Even with its destruction and carnage it gives us what we all long for in life. It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living. Only when we are in the midst of conflict does the shallowness and vapidness of our lives become apparent. Trivia dominates our conversations and increasingly our news. And war is an enticing elixir. It gives us resolve, a cause. It allows us to be noble. And those that have the least meaning in their lives-the impoverished refugees in Gaza, the disenfranchised North African immigrants in France, even the lost legions of youth that live in the splendid indolence and safety of the industrialized world-are all susceptible to war's appeal." - Chris Hedges
To which I would only add this:
us = men. It gives men a sense of meaning and purpose. It gives men the chance to be noble. It's a drug for men.
For when faced with the needs of another, most women would rather just share their resources; it's easier and no one has to die.
It's a pity men can't get pregnant.
When you said last year you couldn't decide which were the ten best films, I thought, "Cmon, it can't be that hard." I certainly could've done it. Okay, I know it can be a hard process, with all the great films that come out, but doesn't that come with the territory? By the way, in response to your mention of Moses, ever hear George Carlin's joke about the Ten Commandments and the fact that we really don't need ten to begin with?
I've seen and liked plenty from your list. The Hurt Locker, Julia, Knowing ( after reading your review) Sin Nombre and haven't sat down and thought about all the films I've seen in the past year. But, I must say, Inglorious Basterds is getting way too much love on this site. I was really looking forward to this one but, boy, was it disappointing! I know Tarentino's trademark is great dialogue, but, like Death Proof, there were just conversations and scenes that were dragged down by endless streams of it. Does the guy edit anything out? I know, I sound like the character in Amadeus saying "There were too many notes" to convey his displeasure of Mozart's work. But I think Tarentino has lost his fastball. Pulp Fiction is his masterwork, since then he's been hit and miss. And the cramming of endless dialogue into his films over the last few years almost seems like he's trying to live up to his own reputation. I really wanted to love this film but now I ask, what is the great appeal? Overrated!!
anyway..... a nod to "Let the Right Ones In" "Star Trek" "Up" "Where the Wild Things Are" "The Messenger" "The Hangover" "Taken" "Duplicity"
"Drag Me to Hell" "Away We Go" "District 9" and "9"
A lot of people (except M. Soni) are chomping at the bit for a decade list a little early.
I felt that The Road was both a better adaptation and overall movie than Disgrace (I liked Coetzee's book better than McCarthy's, however). I feel as though Viggo Mortenson really stepped it up (again).
Both must have been extremely difficult adaptations, but Disgrace was disappointing on some level to me - maybe it was the fudged ending, changing the one that stuck with me for weeks after reading the book. Meanwhile, The Road was a very pleasant surprise. How far off was it from making your list?
I'm not sure why people don't realize "best of" lists are "best of" just for the person writing them. It's illogical to ask "Where is this and that film?" They're on the "best of" lists of those who liked them most, that's where they are.
I enjoyed reading your list. Favorites lists are the most fun for me, I think, because of what the choices on them say about each person writing them. But I also enjoy how they point out things I might like too. Thank you.
I have yet to see some of the most critically aclaimed films of the year, such as Up In The Air, The Hurt locker, or Precious. I'm going to try and see all of them before the year is over, with the exception of The Hurt Locker, which I will have to buy on DVD January 12th. As of right now, my best of the year front runners consist of:
District 9,
Inglorious Bastards,
Avatar,
Away We Go,
500 days Of Summer,
Where The Wild Things Are,
Thirst,
Public Enemies,
The Road,
Brothers
This list is subject to change (and probably will), but they are films I feel strongly about none the less. District 9 is a film that you (Roger) awarded 3 stars to, which is admirable, but you claimed that the film never rises above the level of a reasonably entertaining sci-fi opera... I disagree. Not only is District 9 an exhilerating entertainment, but it is a very important film in terms of it's social relavance. Acted to realistic perfection and filmed with loads of kinetic energy.. District 9 is a great movie, and thus far.. it is the best that 2009 has to offer. Another film I find missing from many a list is the outstanding Korean vampire film, Thirst. Along with last year's Let The Right One In, Thirst is undeniable proof that there is more to the vampire genre then just Twilight. Honorable mentions for the year include Whip it, The Girlfriend Experience, Watchmen, The Informant, Orphan (very underrated!), Funny People, etc...
I will also take this as an opportunity to express my strong disapproval of the critical praise (on a mass scale) that The Hangover has received.. I mean wow! I don't feel as if I've seen the same movie as so many others claimed to have seen. The Hangover aspires to be one of the traditional cult road comedies, but you know what? it isn't. It is unfunny, it lacks any sort of believability, and the characters are extremely unlikable. I didn't feel that these were normal guys with everyday problems, I felt that these were douchebags with drunken exploit problems. 2009 offered so much better in the way of comedy.. I Love you, Man and Zombieland for instance.
Pixar's Up is overrated, Did I enjoy it? yes I did, but I did not feel the same magic that I felt while watching even just 10 minutes of Wall-e, which is perhaps the best Pixar film of all time.
Clint Eastwood has made some fantasic movies in his career, and Invictus is a good one, but it lacks the raw power and importance that so many bestow upon it. In the end, it's simply an uplifiting sports film, of which there are many.
And lastly, after 12 years in hollywood hiatus, James Cameron has returned with a vengeance!
Avatar is an amazing movie! the plot follows a basic formula, and we are all familiar with it, but when all is said and done... it made me feel like a little kid again, lost in a lush world, surrounded by exotic creatures, bonding with the natives, and fighting those nasty humans! what can I say? I'm a sucker for this stuff.
What about A Prophet? The film is one I'm eagerly anticipating and one that won rich accolades at Cannes. Is a movie like that ineligible until it finds some avenue of release in North America?
Ebert: Yes. I think Sony Classics has it.
I wanted to like "The Hurt Locker." But I could not get through it because of the shaky cam, which literally made me nauseous, and I had to leave the theater. I guess the Chicago Film Critics who awarded it Best Cinematography are immune to motion sickness.
I think Tilda Swinton's performance in Julia is astonishing. I'm thrilled that Jeff Bridges looks like a lock at Oscar time, but what about Tilda? I can't think of another female (or male) performance this year that comes close to her work in Julia. For me it ranks just as high as Charlize Theron's work in Monster. Can the little studio that released the film garner the proper attention this terrific film desperately needs.
Roger, why give in to those who complain about your lists not having enough of a certain type of movie? Why reinforce the idea that "mainstream" and "independent" movies should somehow be treated differently in the eyes of a movie-goer? Quality is quality: tell us what you think and reward the best. With two lists, for all we know, the top 50 independent movies could have been better than all of those mainstream movies, or vice versa.
Roger, why give in to those who complain about your lists not having enough of a certain type of movie? Why reinforce the idea that "mainstream" and "independent" movies should somehow be treated differently in the eyes of a movie-goer? Quality is quality: tell us what you think and reward the best. With two lists, for all we know, the top 50 independent movies could have been better than all of those mainstream movies, or vice versa.
Netflix Streaming only has four of the twenty listed (and oddly enough, that four is listed in order on your list: Goodbye Solo, Julia, Silent Light, and Sin Hombre). And, I haven't seen any of the four.
So, which should I watch tonight? Come on, I know you're up. Nudge me in a good direction! If you could see just one of those... :)
Roger, why give in to those who complain about your lists not having enough of a certain type of movie? Why reinforce the idea that "mainstream" and "independent" movies should somehow be treated differently in the eyes of a movie-goer? Quality is quality: tell us what you think and reward the best. With two lists, for all we know, the top 50 independent movies could have been better than all of those mainstream movies, or vice versa.
I really like that you have no pretensions of how you get your kicks from certain movies that others might shun, like "Knowing". Entertainment is such a subjective thing, anyway. Even though I don't hold "Knowing" as high a regard as you, I can see how it could appeal to someone. And as good as "Up" was, it would not be in my Top 10, either.
Are you going to make a best of the decade list? If I had one I would include "Infernal Affairs", "Audition", "Elling", and "Batman Begins". I think the Japanese had one hell of a decade, unfortunately the remakes of some of their movies didn't have as much weight in my eyes.
How are the following movies considered mainstream: "Bad Lieutenant" (it's in its fifth week of release and hasn't played in more than 96 theaters and also is being distributed by First Look, an independent studio), "Crazy Heart" (what makes you think that this movie will expand to wide release?), "An Education" (it's in its 11th week of release and hasn't played in more than 303 theaters and also is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, an independent studio), "A Serious Man" (it's in its 12th week of release and hasn't played in more than 262 theaters and also is being distributed by Focus Features, an independent studio), and "The White Ribbon" (it's being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and I highly doubt that this foreign movie will expand to a wide release)?
Got to see Bad Lieutenant yesterday, "His soul is still dancing" gets my vote for best movie line of the year.
Having just my second view on ( so clear now ) of Goodbye Solo I must thank you for pointing this since it is one of the very best, ( and I would hardly have seen it, much less twice, but for your matchless scoutsmanship ) and merges in my mind with King Lear ( the scene at Dover ) and Ikiru ( Watanabe freezing himself after closing his account ).
It is very uplifting, right from the image of the plane taking off, to the gravity defying boulder.
It's thoroughly structured, and the resolution quite crystallised, or becoming more so, in the mind of the old man, as he disposes off his assets and winds up things meticulously. Much more than Solo's entreaties would be required to veer him off his road-map. He seems to have chalked it out lovingly, like a regular samurai, much like Mishima:Life in Four Chapters. Goodbye and Solo is so appropriate a title.
To have made a movie so utterly gorgeous, particularly the explosion into spring is a feat of lyricism one can but admire.
His two films have been preparatory for these deeper water, and one can only wait for much, much, more...only 34?
There's so much love for 'UP' on this comment board...
While I liked UP, I think it's been a over-hyped. Time will reveal it to be one of Pixar's lesser works.
While UP has a beautiful and unexpectedly meloncholy first 20 minutes, once the movie shifts to the jungle it loses its steam. The antics with the bird and the dog were uninspired, run-of-the-mill Disney(see also: Bolt).
I know this won't mean anything to anyone over the age of 35 or younger than 27, but UP felt like a dusted off and slightly modified old script for the Ducktales cartoon. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it is just that.
Ratatouille remains my favourite Pixar film, possibly my favourite film of the decade, as well.
Illuminating as always, Roger. I'd completely forgotten about YOU, THE LIVING. That makes three new movies my three of my favorite filmmakers - Andersson, Haneke and Herzog - that I have no (legal) way of seeing at the moment.
I recently posted my list of the best films of the decade. I hope the quote at the top is accurate... http://tinyurl.com/yh8ysut
William, the old man of Goodbye Solo is a movie watcher. He had this even if nothing else ( he had money too ), and might have kept him going for at least the fifteen years left probably in his bank account of good health.
Good list, but I am confused. I watched Reygadas' 'Silent Light' in the theater back in 2007, so I don't understand how it can be included in a 2009 film list.
Totally off topic-
Roger and fans of his creationism/evolution debates should check out this newsletter piece:
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/810-children-of-the-panda-or-happy-birthday-dover.html
Ah! critics, and they get paid for it.
You know, to make such a list, you must get paid by some of which you include on your list, i just cant believe, and you call yourself a movie expert? Come on, even my 10 year twins can do better that.
Ebert: Please post their separate lists. Let's see where they disagree.
I cant believe you left out Moon and District 9...
Great list but it missed "Still Walking" from the director Hirokazu Kore-eda!
I saw the Avatar pic and almost freaked out, thinking that I might be the only man on the planet not brainwashed by the marketing campaign for this fun, but video game style movie.Sigh, its only special jury prize... Not the last man yet.
Julia has been underlooked, its brand of insanity is freaky. Swinton rocks, she destroys it in this movie. Style almost reminds me of Tarantino without the same humor or unpredictable violence, combined with a little bit of Gilliam, sprinkle of Dumont, maybe a dabble of yet unknown ingredient... Anyone care to add, am I right or wrong?
No mention of "Survival of the Dead"?
George Romero was robbed, I tell you, completely robbed.
I really don't think you can possibly limit yourself to a top ten, or top twenty best of the decade list. In the last ten years there has been hundreds of good films. A more appropriate list would at least be the top 100 of this decade. Btw I must have missed something in Knowing, because it didn't do much for me. I also have to agree with most of the other posts on here Roger should have included Up. It was easily one of the top ten movies of this decade. Now what baffles me is how come no one has mentioned the great Speed Racer movie. Come on man...hehehe
I'm the film critic for my school newspaper. They only had room for four, so I had to be careful about what I picked. The list came down to (in no order):
A Serious Man
500 Days of Summer
Star Trek
Ponyo
I usually spend the first half of the next year watching the movies from the previous year. Of the movies on your list I haven't seen, "Knowing" is the only film I am planning to see because of your high praise for the film.
And...
I had no idea they made a film out of Disgrace! And John Malkovich to boot! That's exciting. Thank you ever so much for bringing that to our attention.
Just to point out...Gangs of New York is not a great film. IMO there should be no such thing as a ten best because it's pointless and things like that is just based on popularity. Years from now I wonder how many people is still going to remember these films especially the independant pictures.
Steve Real's comments were thoughtful, if debatable, but they were also plagiarized. Steve, you stole your words from an io9 post, and you didn't credit the author Annalee Newitz. Shame on you.
http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar?skyline=true&s=x
What!?!?!? No Up!?!?!?!?!?
Just kidding Roger, good list.
Roger-thank you again for helping me find films that I might never have heard of, or had the chance to see.
I don't get to the theatre as much as I used to, so I definitely rely on your input to help me find those gems that I might have missed.
Roger - not to be a nitpicker but you misspelled "District 9" in your list as "Knowing".
Any "Ten Worst" list this year? It's always good to remind people what not to see.
How about some love for documentaries? This was a pretty good year for them.
Ebert: Online by later tonight.
Have seen five of the top 2x10 plus one, and definitely agree with all of them. One question, how do you determine what counts for what year with the independents? I saw Silent Light two years ago at TIFF and it made a few top ten lists last year (including A.O. Scott's). And it was glorious to see Skin at the same festival last year with the subject of the movie making an extraordinarily moving appearance at the end, but it doesn't seem to have been released in anything other than extremely limited markets. So it could make next year's lists as well, I presume.
Agree that Waltz will (ahem) waltz off with Best Supporting Actor; any other year we'd be talking about how Stanley Tucci had it in the bag for The Lovely Bones. And that would *still* slight Christian McKay for Me and Orson Welles.
Although I sheepishly admit that I enjoy checking the results from all the awards shows, the fact that Waltz's (probable) award insinuates that the performances of Tucci and McKay were less amazing just proves the point of non-ranking your list.
Now I'm off to find some way to screen Julia.
Marry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Roger - thanks for another great year.
Glad to see "An Education" on here. I not only think it's better than "Inglourious Basterds," "Bad Lieutenant," "The Hurt Locker," "Knowing" and "A Serious Man," but of all the movies I've seen from this year, I think it's the best one, no contest.
Seriously, I think you consider just disabling the comments when you make your list every year. ;)
Everyone seems to be really comfortable telling you what you should and shouldn't pick based based on their own list.
"Where's UP? I can't believe you put Cage on there. What about UP? Boy, I'm glad you put Cage on there. Good job about Knowing. What about UP? What were you thinking putting Knowing on there. Where's District 9? Where's UP? Why no comedies? You gave some 4 stars. What about UP? Where's it?"
Good grief!
whew. I won't be visiting these comments next year. I'll just read the list and move along.
I find it amazing how some idiots here are trying to outwit or find any little error the great man says. Great list Roger, looking forward to that best of the decade list!
no offense as i understand that the list is just a point of view but come on man... Knowing cant be in the list, given that you decided against Up, The Hangover etc. Taking Woodstock was pretty good as well.
peace...
I thought Departures was fairly good, but nothing outstanding or exceptional (even though I'm a big fan of Ryoko Hirosue). Actually kind of standard fare. I watch metric tons of Japanese cinema, though, so I have a different perspective (Still Walking, which some already mentioned, was much better).
Departures is actually the only film on this list that I have even seen. Goodbye Solo is something I want to watch, but I have to say that the rest haven't caught my interest.
Dear Roger Ebert, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you and yours. I am sorry that Maxivision 48 and it's improved film projector image did not become a reality. I think that if the movie theaters do not improve the image of films shown at the cinema; more and more people will stay home to watch movies, and going to the walk-in theater to see a film will be about as rare in the future as going to the drive-in movie theater is now. I hope you get better and that you will continue to write such wonderful articles. I have been watching you since 1980 and you are still the best movie critic in the business. Thank you very much. Ben T. Albany, NY.
I was thrilled to see that the peculiar hodge-podge "You, the Living" or "Du Levande" was included in your list in spite of it's 2007 release in Europe. For anyone that is curious and is having difficulties finding it in your local video store you can find clips of it on You Tube; not the most ideal medium but there are some beautiful vignettes; particularly the newly married couple in their "mobile" home. Best Wishes in 2010!
my favorite movie of the year is probably Julia. or The Unknown Woman.
Tilda Swinton won't get nom'd for an oscar, just because of the smallness of the film. But she definitely deserves it. She is oneo f the best actresses working today.
Roger, Do you have any reasonable excuse for not listing "The Girlfriend Experience" ??
I saw Bad Lieutenant on an excellent screen in Thailand. Just before the movie started I was wondering to myself if I would be watching this movie(or would I ever of heard of Werner Herzog?) if it weren't for you?
Knowing was thinly veiled religious tripe. I can't believe Roger recommended it. It was really one of the worst movies I've seen this year. Apparently Roger is friends with the film-maker so there may have been some bias here in this selection.
But I also thought Precious and Inglorious Basterds were less than average movies. My best of 2009 list: Home, Polytechnique, Adventureland, Watchmen, Moon, The Necessities of Life, Food Inc, The Road, Star Trek, The Cove
Ebert: Unfortunately, I've never met Alex Proyas. Why do you use the word "apparently?"
I am glad to see Knowing on your list. Nicolas Cage in a surprisingly intriguing film: both quirky; a perfect match. The special effects also blend so well with the story you forget how dazzling they are.
Great list except for Knowing, also where is District 9?
I have not seen Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" yet, but after seeing it on other Year's Best lists I decided to check out his other work. I think that "The Time of the Wolf" is the most subtly devastating post-apocalyptic drama since "Threads".
I surely thought the film, "MOON" by Duncan Jones & Starring Sam Rockwell would've made the "Cut" for the 2009 Best Of List... What a fantastic picture that was.
Inglourious Basterds, The White Ribbon, and Knowing are really great. What about Invictus?
I said to my self, "What a gestute! what a gesture!" Morgan Freeman shoud get an oscar for his wonderful acting. He did really really really good in sailing trough Nelson Mandela's body.
Your Indonesian Reader, Walang.
I've not heard of most of these movies at all. I've only heard of Knowing and Precious.
Really? No "Yesterday Was A Lie"? No way that wasn't one of the best indies this year.
God, Mr. Ebert, please don't name Brillante Mendoza's 'Kinatay' as the "worst movie of the year" or the "decade". it just makes me sad that a filipino filmmaker finally makes it at Cannes, yet gets panned by critics. that being said, i have not seen Kinatay yet. there's still no DVD of it of any kind out here in the philippines. i just wish someone would appreciate filipino filmakers. if you think that the rom-com genre is dead in the US, wait til you see films here. dull, predictable, just plain awful. i think if a filipino filmaker gets recognize then the whole world will know that some of us hee love films too.
it's always sad when i go to a DVD store and ask for Pulp Fiction, only to find out afterwards that they don't have it.
While I have not seen all the movies on your list, I find it difficult to believe that District 9 didn't make the cut. This is one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in years.
I think Funny People should at least get some special mention.
I walked into it blind, and ended up having a great time. It's funny and good natured, which these days, goes a long way I think.
Judd Apatow never gets on these types of list. I wish I could understand why.
Thank you for taking the time to put this list together. I envy that your career allows you the great opportunity to see so many excellent movies every year and you seem to take the responsibility to view the terrible ones with (mostly) great humour.
I respect your opinion and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the list that I haven't caught yet such as Crazy Heart and Precious as you obviously were moved by both.
I suppose the reason that I posted though, was to throw out the idea that if someone else has their own list to share with the world (with different films, categories or individual rankings) they could start their own blogs... Might just be the eggnog talking, but I don't get why people are 'surprised' that their list doesn't match yours.
Hey Mr. Ebert I was wondering if you could do me the honor of watching my short film which is a cross between "24" and "Running Scared" taking place the day before Canada and USA go to war. Its at www.thecontinentfilm.com and was filmed in Vancouver hoping to sell it as a pilot for a series.
Hello Roger and his many fans:
Here's my list for the Decade:
http://sdrury.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/the-nextflix-decade-the-best-movies-of-the-2000s/
Thoughts and critiques welcome...
Nice,actually amazing list, Don't worry people will understand "Knowing" one day and they will stop saying "National Treasure" or "angels and demons" was better, HAHHA! Suprise I didn't see "wathchmen" on your top mainstream films.
I don't care what anyone says, I enjoyed Knowing quite a bit. It was a breath of fresh air. I went in with low expectations and the movie delivered and then some. I don't know if I would consider it my 10 best, but let me see.. these are the movies I enjoyed most this year:
1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Watchmen
4. Up
5. Moon
6. The Hurt Locker
7. A Serious Man
8. You, The Living
9. Avatar
10. District 9
Notable exceptions: Ponyo, Star Trek, Drag Me To Hell, Coraline.
A lot of those independent movies haven't been released around here, and I still haven't seen a An Education, Precious, Crazy Heart or Up in the Air yet, so my list will probably change as I see those.
I almost put The Road on my list too. I do need to see it again, but I have the feeling that it will be better the second time.
I really miss the days when you would do this yourself (bring back Ebert's Disaster Awards!), but since it's been years, the following is presented as a public service:
Roger's 10 Worst of 2009 (gleaned from the star ratings)
The Limits of Control (only 1/2 star movie of the year) ("I think the point is that if you strip a story down to its bare essentials, you will have very little left.")
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day ("An idiotic ode to macho horseshite.")
Fired Up ("The characters relentlessly attack each other with the forced jollity of minimum-wage workers pressing you with free cheese samples at the supermarket.")
House of the Sleeping Beauties ("The message is: You see what can happen to you if you direct and star yourself in a movie like this.")
The Marc Pease Experience ("Badly written and inertly directed, with actors who don’t have a clue what drives their characters.")
Old Dogs ("Seems to have lingered in postproduction while editors struggled desperately to inject laugh cues.")
Shuttle ("Why do I have to watch this movie? Why does anyone?")
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen ("If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together.")
Twilight Saga: New Moon ("Takes the tepid achievement of 'Twilight,' guts it, and leaves it for undead.")
Year One ("A dreary experience, and all the ending accomplishes is to bring it to a close."
(P.S. Thank you for "Sita Sings the Blues.")
Ebert: It's as if you've done the work for me.
I know you were at TIFF, Roger, but I see no love for many of the films that played here. But I do like your new list separating mainstream and indie. I, however, would make the distinction as foreign and english language:
Un prophète-- Where the Wild Things
Still Walking-- (500) Days of Summer
Police, Adjective-- In the Loop
Mother-- Two Lovers
Samson & Delilah-- Humpday
The Milk of Sorrow-- The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The White Ribbon-- Goodbye Solo
Tokyo Sonata-- Avatar
Sin Nombre-- Sugar
Summer Hours-- Moon
City of Life and Death-- Bad Lieutenant
Lake Tahoe-- Inglorious Basterds
I Killed My Mother-- Julia
I know! It's 13 each, but it's my lucky number. So sue me (actually it's 10, with 16 ties).
Best docs I'll keep at three: Collapse, The Cove, Food Inc.
As much as I respect you, Roger, you always seem to amaze me with choices that I feel are truly inexplicable (Knowing, Departures--which I think is the worst Oscar-winning foreign language film, ever. If you don't believe me, you should see Yôjirô Takita's follow up, Sanpei the Fisher Boy, which is absolute dreck, and written in the same sitcom-like way as Departures, including all of the hammy acting; Ozu would hate this shit).
But there is no way of convincing another who believes something is unmitigated junk. I am sure you would find some of my choices unfathomable, as well. C'est la vie. (By the way, Silent Light was my favorite film of 2008, so I am happy to see it on your list). Ciao for now, Bella.
Thanks Roger for another top 20 films, I guess I'm one of the minority who preferred last year's lengthier entries. One glaring non entry this year:WATCHMEN. I know you gave it four stars but come on, great characters, bizarre storyline, subverts the science fiction genre, and intellectually stimulating as well. One of the weirdest and most satisfying fantasy films of all time. Everyone can ooh and aaahhh about AVATAR's CGI effects, but WATCHMEN is visually striking in its own regard without the cornball script. Great list anyway, Erik.
my list for the decade....
1.there will be blood
2. lord of the rings (the trilogy)
3.minority report
4.A.I. Artificial Intelligence
5.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind
6.The Pianist
7.Adaptation
8.Wall-E
9.Watchmen:Ultimate Cut
10.Dark Knight (I wrestle with Watchmen Vs. Dark Knight)
11. Donnie darko:Director's Cut
12.Inglorious Basterds
13.The Fountain
14.Kingdom of heaven:director's cut
15.Avatar
Oh, and The Hurt Locker was self-masterbatory, American nationalistic hog-wash. The side story concerning the young, cd/dvd selling, Iraqi boy, is the worst kind of narcissism that attempts to forgive the crimes of war-mongers and the sheep that follow. "War is a drug", indeed! Especially for bullies.
Non-fiction films? I was especially moved by the important documentary, "The Cove."
Ebert: Me too, but I heard disturbing things about its accuracy.
I am such a wimp. I had ten foul movie titles to suggest adult versions of the year's best movies, but felt too childish sending it. Or more accurately, I felt it showed me for the puerile lout that I am. Let's just say The Fantastic Mr. Fox was like lobbing a softball.
Avatart, anyone?
Hello Roger,
I'd like to offer four comments from the currently well-iced Germany:
1.) Re: A Serious Man - still no distributor in Germany (at least nobody I know knows a release date). (Sorry for shouting, but: ANY GERMANS HERE WHO KNOW BETTER?)
2.) I think I'll surrender and admit that I ****ed up not seeing The Hurt Locker. DVD, here I come!
3.) I look at your list and miss both Up and Public Enemies.
4. You asked somewhere up there what's the difference between #7 and #8 on a Top 10 list.
/spinal tap mode on
"Well, it's one better, isn't it?"
/spinal tap mode off
Merry Christmas to all (except Michael B.)
It's me again.
To all German readers: In case you didn't already know, I was wrong (or at least dated) on A Serious Man not having a German release date. Jan 21, says imdb.
Best regards, Marcus
I have to umpteenth the motion:
'Up' and '(500) Days of Summer' deserve to be on the list.
'Knowing' was awesome right until it copped out at the end; I suspect it will be little remembered...
I think this is a bit of a cop out; its awfully convenient to separate mainstream and independent/art. Its a lot harder to combine the two and pick the very ten best. Considering the fact that you, like all other major critics, have probably seen more movies this year than some people have in a lifetime, I think its important to have that point of view made available. Not generalized into two lists.
Oh, that's cheating.
I'm one of the people who prefer ten movies, ranked. I appreciate your reasoning behind choosing 21 movies, but a list of ten makes each one seem extra special. If you feel bad about leaving too many worthy titles off your top ten list, how much worse does it look for great movies like "Me and Orson Welles", "Broken Embraces" and "Up" not even to have been included in the top 21?
You could always make a list of favorites, and then a long list of honorable mentions, like in past years. I think a top ten, with your #1 clearly highlighted, helps give your fans (such as myself) who read you regularly a sense of closure. It's the way you've been doing it for four decades - why seems it suddenly so particular with thee?
But maybe I shouldn't complain too much, especially if these lists get more people to watch "Everlasting Moments", "The White Ribbon", "Julia" and "Goodbye Solo".
"And steam "8 1/2" while you're at it, instead of going to see "Nine.""
No one who has good taste should miss out on the mesmerizing experience that is "Nine". Did you really not like it (and if so, how could you possibly dislike a movie so great?), or do you just think it pales in comparison to "8 1/2"? The latter is one of my favorites of all time, but I don't think it would be fair to judge "Nine" based on that because it's a separate thing. It's not a re-make of that masterpiece, but a movie in a different genre inspired by it, and a stunningly made one, too.
I'm surprised Watchmen wasn't on the list.
Why isn't there a "print" function to make it easier for your fans to make a copy of your list(s)?
Not fair!
Ebert: I just opened my Best Documentary list and hit Command-P. No P-roblemo.
Roger -
Great list of films, have seen 7 of the 21, so I have my work cut out in the new year. Thank you for including the brilliant 'Sin Nombre' and the very moving 'Goodbye, Solo' (a small yet very powerful film that went very much unnoticed - much like last year's 'The Visitor'). I would have never considered watching 'Knowing' (I thought you must have been referring to another film of the same title when I saw it on your list), but since you have included it here and I respect your opinion I will definitely check it out.
Ebert: So many people here have singled out "Goodbye Solo."
I recently saw TRUCKER, which was an amazing, emotional, yet restrained film, obviously made by a very talented first-time director. I agree with you that the director made a "powerful debut" with this film.
Michelle Monaghan's performance was incredible, astonishing really. The movie was gut-wrenching, and when I saw it, people were sobbing (one older man uncontrollably). I was surprised to see men crying. It takes courage to present a main character who is flawed, who essentially isn't likeable. Prim, movies like "An Education" don't particularly interest me. I am glad a gritty, gut-wrenching movie like TRUCKER is getting so much recognition. (And, there are a lot of funny parts, too. I can't remember the last film that made me laugh AND cry. Usually, it's one or the other or neither.) I will be checking out all the movies on your lists I havent seen yet, just thought I would add my impressions of TRUCKER since I did recently see it out in San Diego.
Ebert: I see these films, and I feel like I'm writing in a void, and then comes along a comment like this. I'm validated. These little films no one has heard of are the ones that would enrich their lives and bring them joy.
Was Up overlooked, didn't make the cut, or saved for a future animated list? I think Up would make my top 10 list for the decade. It was that enjoyable to me.
"knowing"?!??!? COME ON!!!! it's one of the most stupid and most ridiculous movies ever made! and cage is not credible one sec.!
Thanks Roger,
Will have to check these out (the ones I haven't seen already that is). Especially Julia; I love Tilda Swinton... she married? :)
I dunno if Inglourious Basterds is one of the year's best. It was a good follow-up to the Kill Bill's. But I'm waiting for a true and proper follow-up to his best film - the 1997 Jackie Brown.
I mean KB and IB are visionary in their own right, but in Jackie Brown, he had real, wonderful characters that spoke amazing, quintessentially Tarantino dialogue. Remember the scene between Forster and Grier about getting older - Beautiful. And the way the characters went over the details of their unfolding caper - "Now, you gotta listen to this, man, 'cause this concerns you, all right?"
Talk about going off on a tangent.
Anyway, thanks for the lists. Off to the Netflix queue I go.
Take care, man.
I agree with your comments on "liking" a film. Isn't the whole idea about entertainment? I can respect films that I do not like, but my list will only include films that I like :)
I've been reading or watching you for so many years and I sometimes agree and sometimes don't, which I would imagine is pretty typical, but Knowing! If I were to make lists, it would be on my worst films list. It was awful. If you felt a need to pick a sci-fi movie, why not the infinitely more interesting District 9 or the very entertaining Star Trek. While he has done a few good things, probably no major actor in modern Hollywood had made more bad films (some very successful) than Nicolas Cage and Knowing is right up there among the worst, though I must admit that it is better than Ghost Rider.
I'm surprised that District 9, which is as politically and socially relevent as any film on the list, didn't make the list. Friends of mine from South Africa passed on the film because they had no desire to relive the real events used to inspire the story. This film did a nice job of using irony to draw attention to a global social problem, without coming across like a preachy civics lesson.
It's interesting that this year has so many films set in South Africa. There's Disgrace, District 9, and of course Invictus. The projects all had to be planned and developed well in advance of the 2008 election, but the timing for delving deeper into the topic of race relations worked out perfectly.
Out here in the hinterlands I don't get to see many films, and cannot comment on your list. Several mentions of Minority Report prompt me to write that director Spielberg and script writers Scott Frank, Jon Cohen and John August missed an important part of that story. It was clear to me after watching it that Von Sydow's character, Lamar Burgess, had been behind the kidnapping of Tom Cruise's son, the event that had led Cruise to join, and eventually become principal investigator for, the Department of Precrime. Why a savvy director like Spielberg and his talented cohorts failed to realize this is one of the great mysteries.
I'm surprised Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" is not on this list somewhere. The last two movies that left in such awe were Pasolini's "Teorema" and Godard's "Week End". I think "Antichrist" will be written about for a long time.
do you really need to put all 306 (now 307) comments on a single page??? when it takes 30 seconds to download from the server, and my scrollbar is 1 pixel thick?
cmon guys, its 2010. get with the frikkin program.
Great lists, Roger. I really liked Knowing, I'm not sure why so many people disliked it. Star Trek and District 9 were good science fiction films as well, but Knowing is both entertaining and not afraid to ask a very important question: Is the universe and all events that happen in it determined by something (or someone) or is everything simply the unfolding of random chance?
Top ten lists are tough to create. I personally try my best to watch every film you rate with four stars. But, when I run out of time and can't watch them all, I at least try to see the movies on your top ten list. They're a concise and organized way of determining which of your recommended films I absolutely shouldn't miss.
You put "Knowing" on your list? No Watchmen?
Were you drinking when you made the list, then mistakenly pushed the send button?
"Knowing" was causally preposterous if you added up all it's temporally ridiculous assumptions.
Some good moments in the film, but all and all it's possibly your worst review of all time (And I've been following you since the 70's!)
Still the list as a whole is a good one.
Happy Holidays!
P.S I see from the post above me, somebody beat me to this observation.
Ebert: Several people have come to that observation. Scan the 1,058 comments here:
http://j.mp/4MmMss
I won't comment on your other choices, but your selection of "Basterds" says something about your character that's not flattering. I saw it and felt like I needed a shower afterwards. Or two. It's a BAD movie, as in morally corrupt.
Whatever its quality as "cinema," it disgusted me. I believe you and Tarantino share a common attribute: you know everything about films and nothing whatsoever about life. Since both of you are surrounded by sycophants, you never will, either.
Oh, and "Uncle Vanya," above: I have a three-word reply for you. I wonder if you're smart enough to figure out which three.
Ebert: I'm smart enough. Do you know Uncle Vanya?
Does the year 2000 count as "this decade"? Or, since there was no "year zero", does the decade start at 2001 and go through the end of 2010? Online sources (Wiki, etc.) don't seem to be in agreement.
Either way, Unbreakable is my favorite film of one of those decades. :)
Ebert: At the end of 2000, the decade is one year old. At the end of 2009, it is nine years old.
Mr. Ebert, thank you for including Precious. I'm a black woman, and I've noticed that most Top 10 lists did not include Precious, which I thought was a politically problematic but brilliantly executed film.
I think many white critics just don't respect films about black people, especially films about black women. You have always been the exception to that. African Americans notice that you are racially fair, and we really appreciate it. It means a lot to us that the most respected film critic in the world actually SEES us cinematically. Thanks for including Skin a well.
Also, thank you for listing BOTH mainstreem AND independent films.
I wish you'd included District 9, but I think you put together a great, fair list that really shows a respect for film. That's what readers really want from critics.
Thank you, and happy holidays from me and my family.
Hmmmm, Jack. I'll say this: You have a lot of balls coming in here and unleashing a vile character assassination on not only Roger Ebert, but his readership at large, without providing a single reason why. You've given none of us a tool to fight with because we have absolutely no idea why you're this pissed off. Instead of debating the merits of the film in question, you busted through the door, slung shit at all of us, then crept out quietly. Cowardly, don't you think?
Roger: Please feel free to not post this if you feel it unproductive; I'll understand.
No Star Trek? That was the greatest movie of the year.
Dear Steve Real, first of all, thank you for letting everyone know what you thought Avatar was all about. Unfortunatly only Mr. Cameron could say what the true underlying messages were, despite what we may have taken from the movie. I was stirred to discussion by your explination of how "some white guy" saves the day, and I have two things to say on this topic. 1) I hope you do not have children (or guardianship). 2) Perhaps you were unaware that it was the entire human race that was fighting for a place to live, not just that white guy. Similarly the "other colors" were fighting to stay in control of the world that "the whites" invaded. As I stated in the intro, I too cannot say exactly what Mr. Cameron was trying to portray beyond his bankroll, but I am hopeful that it wasn't something as petty as racist reformation.
Isn't it great how people tend to take your list personally? A lot of comments on Knowing being on your list seems to evoke a rather personal reaction, like you must have been in an altered state of mind or just plain crazy because you picked it. I'd say that maybe Nick Cage evokes that kind of reaction in your fans, but it seems to happen with other movies too.
It's just interesting to see how people take taste in movies so personally. You do a fantastic job and I really appreciate your site and your blog. Keep up the great work, and I will keep reading, despite the fact that you didn't include Star Trek, District 9, or Moon in your list (Yes, I'm a sci-fi geek). :) Have a Merry Christmas!
Really surprised that Pixar's "Up" is nowhere to be seen on this list, especially adter you gave it a 4-star review. I honestly think Up was the year's best film (over Star Trek, etc.). I thought it was great storytelling combined with good characters, a clever script, and it pretty much combined elements of many different film genres. It never got boring (to me, at least), and wasn't a step out of place. And for me, it's gotten better with repeated viewings.
Awww Rog, What about Star Trek?
I read Lynn Barber's memoir and I'm not sure how you think that guy was not a molestor. I found the entire memoir sad and depressing as it seemed to me about a teen who desperately wanted her parents to recognize that she was indeed being molested but instead was faced with parents who made her feel she should feel privileged by the attention. I did not find anything entertaining about the story.
Knowing ??
Knowing ??
That film stunk Roger. (32% RT)
You just lost all credibility. Ugh.
As always an awesome top 10!
I just feel a little snorky feeling when i don't see lar's von tier Antichrist even near last list.
I thought he was absolutelly astonishing as it touched me in a way that few movies can nowadays!
Except for that...5 out of 5!
Thanks Roger and keep them coming!
No Up or Ponyo? I thought for sure with the praise you gave them they would have been up there somewhere? Maybe a top 5 animated films list in in order at the very least? I mean, I think they should be up there anyway. At least you gave them both 4 stars, that's a good thing.
Goodbye Solo is available right now on Netflix Instant Streaming. I suggest that anyone with Netflix should check it out.
~( : (|)=
Hello, Homy Aeraport here.
I’m sure most of you remember me from my many witty and insightful comments on Mr Ebert’s blog. I am now located at The Chicago Moon-Tribune, where I and Donald Roy Miller have constructed a web site. Drop by and say hello.
I’ve just been reprimanded for attempting to promote my site on someone else’s site. Must be an error from the legal department.
As a way of promoting the site, I’d like to quote from a brief exchange I had with Mr Ebert. It’s true that I have from time to time been accused of making wildly exaggerated claims.
However, this is a documentefiable fact. Mr Miller, on my behalf, emailed Mr Ebert and stated that if he found my reporting on crime in Chicago politics immensely entertaining and howlingly funny, do NOT reply to this message. Well, I’m very proud to report that he did reply to my message, stating and I quote: “I found your reporting on crime in Chicago politics howlingly funny and immensely entertaining.” So there you have it! Proof positive of the kind of quality that you can expect to find at Learner’s World.
I just received another reprimand notice. I have been informed not to promote Learner’s World which is located at: http://WebStarts.com/LearnersWorld/index.html
That’s Learner’s World at http://WebStarts.com/LearnersWorld/index.html, for which I have been reprimanded.
Ebert: Rightly so. It's still under construction, so I have helpfully altered the URL to reveal that all you have so far achieved is to find a free website-creation service.
Here's RICHARD ROEPER'S TOP 10 of 2009.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1947311,SHO-Sunday-roeper20.article
Wow, I'm still shocked you gave Knowing 4 stars and now, you put it on your list for the year's top ten? I think Proyas has an incredible eye for visuals ("The Crow", imo, is his best film) and I did like Knowing's special effects/action scenes...but, I still don't see the "4 star" material in that film.
I'm even more surprised you didn't like "District 9", more than you did. I think that film deserved more than 3 stars. WAY more interesting and original, than "Knowing", imo.
And not puting AVATAR on your list? Sure, Jury Prize is cool and the story for AVATAR isn't very original, but the film is setting a standard of how future films will be made and be viewed. Seeing that movie in 3D was just an awesome experience.
I do agree, however, that The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds are some of the best films of the year. The Hurt Locker might even be the best film of the year.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Mr. Ebert.
Thank you for you list and thank you for not numbering them. I have read these endless comments and I am impressed that you respond to the comments.
There are many reasons for a movie to be brought to the attention of the public. Example; Does the movie entertain? Charlie Chaplin criticized the industrial revolution and the nazi party through humor. His political views reached people through comedy, most of the viewers of his time would probably have not heard his critique if he made documentaries.
I do believe that a entertaining film is just as valuable other films, even if they contain a pedestrian quality. IE; Basterds, Avatar, Star Trek. These films discuss our needs to continue to fight against hatred and consumption that undermines our future prosperity as a society. Avatar and Star Trek bring the notion to future generations (trite as it may be) that there is good in all of us, and even in darkness we can achieve something good.
As I read the comments, my reaction is this. Did anyone ever criticize Van Gogh for using cat hair paint brushes vs horse hair paint brushes? Did anyone ever comment that Divinci used walls instead of canvas? And did these decision effect the ability to communicate a message or make them any less artfull?
Did anyone ever say oh no! not another painting of moses! Or did they say, that's a beautiful painting. Why do we need to justify what is enjoyable or artful? Does it matter how many cameras or how many computer engineers were used or if the plot was seen before?
I defer to the Mr. Ebert, always have. Sometimes I disagree, but it's art. In the spirit of christmas, I love "it's a wonderful life", if it was made today or if it was remade today. It probably would not end up being a icon of the holidays or a icon of film. But for some reason it touches me, it's entertaining, it reminds me of my childhood. It is one of the top american films. Is it a great film, probably not. But it is one of the top (whatever that means) of american cinema.
So, who knows what makes a great american film? I still think that your (mr. ebert's thoughts are very interesting and worth reading).
Merry Christmas!
My wife and I watched "Knowing" solely on the basis of Roger's four star review. It was unquestionably the worst movie either of us saw all year. Laughably bad. The remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was better, and that was also a terrible movie. Roger's four star review of Knowing has caused me to disregard his ratings on all movies.
I'll be the first to admit that "Knowing" shouldn't be on this list.
Ebert: I'll be the first to point out you don't know how to spell your name.
goodbye solo is definitely on my to watch list. after what few previews ive seen, it appears to be well done and i cant wait to know the whole story.
Excellent list Mr. Ebert! Always enjoy reading your year-end BESTs.
Try "Schism" on DVD, a 2009 true indie about Alzheimer's and life in long term care from the perspective of the afflicted. A lot of food for thought from another first time feature filmmaker.
Happy Holidays!
I read your review for The White Ribbon @ TIFF and was wondering if you also had a chance to see Jacques Audiard's Un Prophète? I saw that at the festival and thought it was one of the year's best. Started promoting it as a cross between Shawshank and The Godfather to my friends (who were groaning in disdain at the comparison) and was pleased to see the recently released trailer featuring a blurb from a London Times review that called it "as epic as The Godfather"
Don't know if you've seen it, but am anxiously awaiting your take on it!
Ebert: Rightly so. It's still under construction, so I have helpfully altered the URL to reveal that all you have so far achieved is to find a free website-creation service.
I believe I have achieved more than merely purchasing a website. Also, it's going to be under persistent, continuing construction for the next several years. What I have in mind isn't a site that you throw together in only a year or two. So far, I have put well over two hundred hours into what's there right now.
Working and reworking ideas and finding resources isn't as easy as it may seem, which is one of the reasons for the site. I hope it will be a place where you won't have to wade through hundreds of pages to find something decent. I am pleased to share the many resources I have found on the internet with all of you.
For instance, many people don't know that MIT has hundreds of full-semester lectures video taped and freely available to everyone. Or that Microsoft has Express versions of Visual Basic, C#, and C++ free to anyone who wishes to download them. These are excellent resources that I intend to share with the visitors to my site. And just as the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, I want to share it with Mr Ebert and all of my friends here.
Some of you may be interested in paying a visit and seeing the daily progress that I make in the development of the site. Something like that would hold some interest for me, and so I think it might be of interest to some other few.
I have received a great deal of inspiration from Mr Ebert from having seen him consistently persue his activities here on his site. I hope that I can do the same.
Donald Roy Miller
When Mr. Ebert issues "20 Best" year-end lists, can we safely conclude it was a "good year for movies"?
Am I wrong, or has 1999-2009 been a particularly good decade for movies? Or, at least, more "good individual years for film" than average?
Tilda Swinton in JULIA she was hilarious. great performance
All right. Top-10 lists. Here's another.
(in alphabetical order)
2009
Backyard
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
The Hurt Locker
The Messenger
Moon
Paper Heart
Sin Nombre
Soundtrack for a Revolution
This Is It
Up
The Aughts
About Schmidt
In America
Into the Wild
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Monsters, Inc.
My Winnipeg
Promises
Sita Sings the Blues
Together (Tillsammans)
United 93
Mr. Ebert, I could be mistaken, but you seem to have forgotten about foreign films...
Ebert: There were five in my top 20. Maybe I should make a separate list...
Awesome list, you haven't left anyone out; well probably Watchmen: the director's
cut and Gomorrah besides that it's a perfect list. you never seize to disappoint me
with your lists, if anyone could just grasp your list; people will lead a happier life.
WATCHMEN
I don't know about the theatrical version; I saw the director's cut.
This movie captures our time/s perfectly, although the novel is more
than twenty years old; is saying something or a lot; Life is a continues
journey for every generation to experience; some abide it, some fear it,
some disgrace it and others glorify it. "life; is for the living, not the dead".
Before time or religion; we always feared death, and only death will bring
us down or apart, death is always looming around on earth; looking for lost
souls to fill his joint.
What is the answer for the film? (Void) plain and simple; it's the centerpiece
of the film/novel, the character's are seeking someone, in the end
they're back from the start, perfect contrast to our life.
Time called it a landmark, a masterpiece and amongst the one hundred great-
est novel's ever, that's a lot of accolade for one graphic novel; is it really so,
I had to read it months ahead of time, before the movie was out; just to be pre-
pared of something I never heard of, and what an experience; I finished the novel
within an hour in the bookstore then bought it so that I can read it again and muster
what I've read the first time. It was like seeing Citizen Kane for the first time, except
Citizen Kane was mostly the work of one great individual; in the right time, whereas
Watchmen is an accumulation of time, art, music, American folklore, pulp fiction etc.....
For me; it's an achievement when a movie is made in a time when the audience doesn't
care anymore about the survival of mankind.
"Life is what happens when you think of yourself;
I think of the world for myself"
*****************************************
Did ya see Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart; Wow, is this the most powerful performance
of the year or what, what a fox; he held on to it until the end, after everybody else
has given what they have, and what about Peter Sarsgaard; I've never seen him in a
movie on an average scale, either he's got a great agent or just one of the smartest
younger actor's out their. I guess it's that session again when dramatic film's try
to win over the heart's of all movie-goer's before the Oscar nomination's are announced.
You should recommend Larry Fessenden's Habit with fine
acting to your New Moon gremlins.
Who said we need to import foreigner's to our country, because American actor's lack
vigor; when we have amazingly dependable and reliable actor's like Jeff Bridges, Alec
Baldwin, George Clooney, Kurt Russell and Dennis Quaid to name a few.
It's never the fault of a good actor if the movie doesn't make a billion dollar; just poor
publicity and timing, or just plain unsophisticated producers.
I never understood those who live in this country and can speak the American dialect
perfectly; yet they choose to stick to their own dialect when their in the spotlight or in
an interview, it's the same language; not a different one, just a different dialect, what
are they; ashamed to call themselves Americans, I guess their afraid to assimilate;
so that someone like Gary Oldman doesn't devour them.
Last but not the least of this year, nobody seem to have mentioned them in your blogs
all year long. I would like to thank those Hollywood executives who took their money
and fled the city, they've made it easier on us to differentiate the sheep from the wolves;
or for a layman; a clown from a performer, a dick from a chick and so on..................
****************************************
Rest in peace Brittany Murphy. 122009
Today I don't like God, when I first heard the news; I felt as if an angel was
pissing in my dream last night.
Out of all the actor's working today, it had to be Brittany Murphy, still very young,
gorgeous and with talents to spare, (it does not get better than a beautiful face that
can act; period) what a shock; she was born within a day apart from my sister and
dad; the same day. She felt sorry for her; I exchanged that sorrow of hers with a tear.
Last year it was Heath Ledger, this year it's Brittany Murphy, who's going to be in line
next year amongst the great and promising talents before we could recognize them in
time? Ever since I discovered her in a supporting role in (Freeway), I knew she was an
artist to reckon with, I just wished she lasted longer enough; so that all the world
would have known her better. Nevertheless; I've seen enough of her to know how great
she is, she was like a rose in a jungle.
I'll always have your movies to remember you; precious.
One doesn't know how great a thing is; until they loose it.
Actor's "artists" are very sad creatures; they're a cross between a teacher and a night
guard, if they're not commodities then what are they, somebody you don't care of
because they're doing your job?
It's a heck of a job for one on their own to clear out the way for themselves so that
they can make it without having their vision of something intact.
re: KNOW1NG: i think the reason why many people disregard it (including commenters here)...is the same reason comics aren't considered literature by many. anything with science-fiction overtones is subconsciously downgraded as juvenille by the literati and general public. It is only over the course of years their greatness can become apparent (like, say, Metropolis or Bladerunner). Kubrick's 2001 is the big exception-- of course it took one of the greatest directors of all time to pull off that change in perception.
@ Bad Lieutenant 2009
I could find no trace of the Herzog of seventies I'm familiar with. The film was engrossing enough and the closest I could parrallel it to was LA Confidential.
"Since Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain,"
Poor choice of words considering not everyone is a christian.
Ebert: Poor choice of words, considering not all Christians are Jews.
Leapfrogging over several thousand words, I'm putting my vote in as the third(?) person to want the Bottom Ten list. Back in the day, it was the year's-end show I actually looked forward to more than the Ten Best from you and Gene.
Glad you put Crazy Heart on the list. Jeff Bridges is the acting equivalent of writers John D. MacDonald and Jon Kraukauer -- he just tells the story, without a lot of fancy flourishes...'Tis the season, so I'll make a minor but related detour to another storyteller here, namely Jesus, who I think would be appalled by all the materialistic consumption that render the whole holiday blasphemous...I can’t relate at all to the Infant Savior, I must admit, but I like the flawed Jesus – the guy who probably cried a lot in that miserable manger, was occasionally curt with his mom, disappeared in his teens and felt frustrated by his friends; Jesus the rebel, who disliked authority, told his truth and didn’t care about spin, lost his temper in the temple, hung out with folks of questionable moral character, doubted himself (“Who do men say that I am?”) and, as another preacher once put it when discussing the parable of the fig tree, had his share of bad days…This is the “Hippie Jesus,” according to Indian Chief Black Elk, and the guy that poet Carl Sandburg admired – he said he didn’t know the Jesus that preachers shouted about on Chicago street corners, just as I don’t recognize the Jesus many conservatives cite…Jesus was The Dude, long before the Coen brothers resurrected him, but damn if those two Jewish guys from Minnesota -- with considerable help from Mr. Bridges -- didn’t get it right. The Jesus Dude Abides, so hey, Merry Christmas.
@ Seth: There's a whole other Chosen People who also read the Old Testament -- you don't have to be Christian. They're called "Jewish."
And even if you aren't Christian or Jewish, I bet most people got the allusion, just by being well-rounded.
Ebert: It may also come as a surprise that Muslims value the Old Testament.
Hey Ebert! I sent you a mail on leaves of grass. Anyway, I know you're busy so I can wait. Would leaves of grass had made it to this list had it had distribution? Tell me please. I've been waiting for this since pride and glory! :|
Ebert:
WINNERS of the Last Annual Great Limerick Contest, their winning entries, and their prizes:
http://j.mp/7Rcq8n
some of these are my favorite movies
I watched Disgrace at your behest - never read the book, but I liked the subtle motifs of Byronic and Dickensian morality.
I hope you do a decade list as well.
My personal choice for best film of the decade is a short film by guy maddin from WAY back in 2000 called "Heart of the World."
Everyone can watch here if they haven't seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JmeXXRmZg
I've seen it probably 200 times (literally), as I used to watch it once a day. I still see something new when I watch it after all this time. Looking back, it's eerily prescient and it kind of predicts all the big themes of the decade (global catastrophe, the perils of capitalism, religious fanaticism, the end of the world) -all without being overly gloomy or without loosing its sense of humor (it's quite funny, I think). If anyone loses their faith in the power of cinema, I think this is the film to restore it.
My choices for number 2 and 3 of the decade:
2: Y Tu Mama Tambien (it was Cauron's decade, I think. When combined with Harry Potter 3 and Children of Men, I don't think any director had a better showing).
3: There Will Be Blood (I hated Magnolia and thought Boogie Nights was good, but derivative. However, he proved himself to me this decade with "Punch Drunk Love" and "There Will Be Blood" -the latter of which was one of the single most visceral experiences at the cinema I've ever had.)
Ebert: I saw it maybe 20 times when it opened screenings at that year's Toronto Film Festival, and that wasn't enough, so I invited it to Ebertfest.
Dear Roger,
I write review for an online site and in my opinion, of the 100 or so films I saw this year, only two of them stood out:
1. The White Ribbon - Michael Haneke, after his excellent Cache, stamps himself as one of the great drectors in the world, with this near masterpiece.
2. Mary and Max - A claymation film that is funnier and more poignant than any other film I saw in 2009. With Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Colette supplying the voices, this overlooked gem will sadly be seen by very few.
My name is David. I think your list is wonderful! I really appreciate the things you do for film. I have seen many of the films on your lists. I'm glad you didn't add Avatar. Good move, but i think James Cameron the director and James Cameron the writer clashed a bit. The visuals can only be described one way; go see it! Most people that have seen it go right into how mind blowing the graphics are. Although hats off to the actors and all the training they did for the film. Precious is a well acted movie that sends chills down your spin in its horrible moments. Great acting! I hitnk Inglourious Basterds is Mr. Terantino's best film in parts. Hopefully his films will keep getting better. Some of the scenes in this film are breath taking. His best scenes leave me wishing more film makers would treat film making this way. Lots of great films don't get credit for the small moments of brilliance they deserve. God knows people has seen enough shitty movies to last life times.
Roger, I wouldn't make a "foreign" best films list just because of the films you left off of your "best of," "best documentaries" and "best animated" lists (well, not so much the last one)...
I just looked through your four star reviews for 2009 and see you have left off (of any list):
-THE CLASS
-GOMORRAH
-WATCHMEN
-THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
-TULPAN
-SERAPHINE
-(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
-MUNYURANGABO
-THE COVE (screw the person who claims its techniques were questionable; this was a great DOCUMENTARY!!!)
-PASSING STRANGE
-STILL WALKING
-THE INFORMANT!
-THIS IS IT
-ME AND ORSON WELLES
-BROKEN EMBRACES
So...yeah, room for another best 15 list if you wanted... I'd suggest "15 Equal or Better Films from 2009 That Were Overlooked (by me)"...
Also: to those who ask "where's STAR TREK?!?"... 2 1/2 stars and his sentiments do not a best of 2009 candidate make. Roger didn't recommend it, so why would he mention it at the end of the year? (I personally liked it quite a bit as entertainment if nothing much more than that)...
I've watched or read your reviews for 30 years, and have always turned to you first for tips on what to see--but KNOWING, Roger? The last time I remember being so bemused by one of your raves was when you and Gene Siskel heaped praise on Brian DePalma's WISE GUYS starring Danny Devito and Joe Piscopo. I remember sitting in a theater in Orlando, Florida, with the same thought I had while watching KNOWING: "This cannot be the same movie Roger reviewed." I won't weary you with a rundown of the failures I saw in KNOWING, save for one: the popular portrayal of an atheist as a bitter man who has only turned away from God because of the "senseless" death of a loved one--a prodigal who in time will see the error of his ways and return to the fold--or else be struck down prematurely. Can't an atheist be a moral person who derives "profound" joy from everyday life and the natural world? A person who accepts absolute mortality without cursing chance and contingency? A person who lives a long and genrally satisfying life? A plausible notion, perhaps, but far too radical for mainstream cinema.
Dear Roger:
Thank you for voting for Jeff Bridges for best actor. He is my peer, and I have always liked him the best for so many years in movies, thinking: yes, I know that guy. He is like a guy who was my neighbor, a friend of a friend (Lebowski?),--so familar to me. But I guess it is his talent--thanks for expressing it so well. And by the way, you have always been my source for everything movies. Thanks, as always.
Of course there's been some fine films this year (there always is), but hasn't this year been remarkably unremarkable? Where are the performances that beg "water cooler" discussions? It feels like months have passed without a film pulling me to the theater. Am I alone? Or is this the beginning of the sad and perhaps inevitable decline?
Finally got to see "Precious." Just came back.
This cineplex has the best movie selection in town, but it's an early mall design and smells like the carpet hasn't been shampooed since it was turned into an Art-and-Indie place. The odor suggests they've been liberal with the Lysol instead.
The theater was jam packed even at the 5:00 showing. We had to squeeze 'way up front and hard left for seats.
Somehow all this enhanced the feature up on the screen. It made it easy to identify with the unloved neighborhoods, the constant background noise, the odors in the uncared-for apartment buildings...
Now and then I "came to" and wondered how it was a greying white professional constant reader type could so easily identify with an illiterate 16 year old girl trapped in a grotesquely obese body and grotesquely humiliating circumstances, all alien to his life's experience. But it was easy.
We've all been trained to think we're stupid at one time or another. That we're misfits. That we're not at all worthy of love.
...that sex is something for insects. I was thinking this while Precious was being rammed by her partly-visible moral cockroach of a father. Later on, when a classmate told her that she'd spelled "incest" wrong, and Precious, who'd spelled it "insect," replied "what's the difference?" the point was made.
No more spoilers. Go see.
Just watched Knowing.
Thought the first half a great psychological thriller and the second half a very good sci-fi film. Had to go back and read your blog article (with spoilers) on Knowing and enjoyed it very much. The film is great because for me it initiates much potential for discussion and it was beautifully filmed and wonderfully cast.
In your Knowing article you also commented:
Why do some people dislike Nicolas Cage? I find him more alive than many actors, more present, willing to let go. Who but Cage could have played the role in "Moonstruck?" "Leaving Las Vegas? "Weatherman?"
One of my favourite Nicholas Cage roles and films is the lesser known but marvelous Red Rock West. I always enjoy his performances even if the film isn't the best. Regardless his performance can elevate the calibre of the film.
Hi Roger. I've been waiting to see "Up in the Air" since your TIFF review. Finally! Tonight's Saturday late show, and now I've seen 3 of your top 10 Mainstream films.
Loved it. Great moviemaking here from Reitman and cast.
You said in your review that "It's an observant look at how a man does a job." True. It's also an observant look at how a man lives a business-travel lifestyle by choice.
I lived on the road like that for several years.
A story: My company had a tradition at the Christmas party to recognize road warriors. It would start with having everyone stand up who had been on the road for 10 days or more. Lots stood up. Then they would start narrowing down. Stay standing if you were out for 50 days. 100 days. 200 days. The winner was the last one standing. One year, with my wife sitting beside me at our table, I realized when I was still standing past 300 days that I really hadn't won anything.
The movie had me in the opening credits, when various landscapes unwind outside of the planes windows. I used to love that, from farm fields to mountain ranges, to light city streets at night.
It had me when Clooney works his way efficiently around the sheep in the airport with the business traveller's lean approach to Security. Nicely done.
It had me when he pulls up to the Hampton Inn and Suites (my favorite chain!) and talks about Hilton Honors program benefits (I'm still a Diamond VIP). It resonates.
It had me with each shot of an airport interior or exterior, many of which I could identify. Heck, I lived just over I-70 from Lambert Field for two years. In Omaha for four years. When he's standing silently in a terminal in front of a large round black fountain with the ubiquitious JAL 747 behind it, it doesn't have to be (and isn't) named. You just know you are midway in the "A" terminal at ORD. I've stood there many times.
I had these thoughts about the the movie itself:
- the Clooney character is essentially Clooney himself. Is he ever going to get married, or just keep living that disconnected lifestyle that Ryan lived?
- I felt like I was watching a re-imagining of "Lost in Translation" (which I love). Except that the different culture that the pair finds each other in is not a foreign country, but the grounded non-travelling culture. Still, essentially an unrequited-love story.
- Halfway through the movie I guessed at the ending given the various setups in the plot. I guessed the obvious ending, but was wrong. The setups went unrealized. I think that I could have written the ending better. But, it was still good.
- There were two jarringly wrong actions by Ryan / Clooney near the end. So jarring that they took me out of the movie for a good period of time, before it got back on track and I could get back into the fiction of the movie. I hate when that happens.
Overall, I loved the movie Up in the Air.
Roger, you highlight in your review that Clooney's response on an airplane to the question of where he's from is "here". A secret:
One of the lucky business class travelers with an A1 through A15 boarding pass on Southwest airlines will head straight to the exit row seats in the middle of the 737 aircraft. The prize seats are on the right side of the plane only, where there is one row with only two seats and a gap next to the exit door. Most of the saavy travellers prize the window seat right behind that row, where they can extend their legs all the way into the gap of the missing seat in front of them. Not me. I prefer the middle seat in the two-seat row, where I can cross my left leg over my right and have my foot hang out in the air of the gap. That was airplane heaven to me. As often as I could pull it off, I lived in that middle seat. Leaning over occassionally to watch the farmland pass below the windows. :)
Ebert: It's when I get a lot of reading done.
Ebert! 25th hour for best movies of the decade :D
Off topic...
I just finished watching one of the few chick movies I'll own to liking:
"While You Were Sleeping."
Now, I don't believe for a second that a girl as pretty as Sandra Bullock would find herself living alone with a cat. However and to their credit, Lucy and Jack (Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman) are so charming together that I'm more than happy to tag along on a cold Chicago night during the holidays, and follow them without complaint down well-worn plot devices and pretexts to a telegraphed conclusion.
Ie: I don't care that there aren't any surprises and I know what's going happen well inadvance. For "While You Were Sleeping" is akin to comfort food and a warm blankie.
Which is how I saw it; feet up, snuggled under my favorite blanket with some Irish Bailey's and a few snacks, and smiling at everything I could see coming down the track like one of the express trains that nearly squished Peter.
I love the characters; they're just that endearing. They make me smile like old friends whenever they come to visit via my DVD player.
I also love the city and the houses and lights and the river - and definitely those hot dogs being sold on the street!
I thought of Roger then; for knowing Chicago is his city, wee-ners and all. :)
I also thought of Batman: the Dark Night when I saw the stunning view from Peter's high-rise condo; that must be quite a sight when all lit up at night, eh? A panoramic view of Lake Shore Drive. And how lovely to see in the winter mist. The old houses were nice too see as well, with all their Christmas decorations.
Location: Part of the movie was filmed at the Lake Point Tower building. State/Lake Station was used for exterior shots of the 'L'. Also in the suburb, La Grange. - wiki
Heck, the whole film is enchanting and for having its heart so firmly in the right place.
They even give the Chicago Sun-Times a nod over the Tribune, while attending mass.
Ahem. :)
But most of all, what I love is the chemistry between Lucy and Jack. Even those slipping on the side outside her building is lame - it never fails to make me smile and for thinking "they like one another, you can tell."
As you just can't help but want to see them triumph in the end. And because you know they're going to, why the film never fails to disappoint and is one of my "Xmas must sees" each season.
That, and A Christmas Story and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
SQUIRREL...!
Grin.
P.S. I wish romantic comedies were more like this and not "The Ugly Truth" eh?
i dont know about 'you, the living' since it came out in 2008. i saw it at the minneapolis film festival in april of 2008. so it definitely isnt a 2009 movie. any justifications for this?
Ebert: "Justification?!?"
Why...why...gulp...no, sir! No justification at all. I'm guilty as charged. Look, I'm burning my Official Film Critic's Card!
I can't apologize enough. You see, sir, sniff, sob...I broke my leg on April 2008 and wasn't able to get to the Minneapolsi Film Festival.
I was lucky to see it when I did, WHEN IT OPENED IN THE U.S. IN JULY 2009.
I liked "Knowing" too.
Not as much as you did, though.
I'm surprised to see it on your 10-best list, though. Didn't the overwrought ending alone disqualify it from that?
I didn't see enough movies this year, sadly.
-Nighthawk
Where is Moon and District 9. tis year is the rebirth of the intellegent sci fi movie. But out of your list The Hurt Locker remains at the top. I live in Seattle and i had to drive 3 hours to see it but it was worth the drive.
I'm glad to see 'The White Ribbon' listed. But why not Almodovar's 'Broken Embraces'? I agree that Julia deserves a go if only for Tilda Swinton.
But what about 'Let the Right One In'? See:
http://pleasurett.blogspot.com/2009/12/these-films-rocked-this-year.html
Ebert: "Let the Right One In" was at Ebertfest 2009.
Will you be making a "best of the decade" list as well Roger?
ME AND ORSON WELLES and BROKEN EMBRACES. Overlooked, or didn't make the cut (and why)?
Both 4 Star films.
I agree with Steve Real. Also about Avatar, what happens if the natives were Aliens such like the one in the Aliens movie. I think it would be a totally different story.
KNOWING? Really rog? Really? But that is why we luv ya.
I would actually encourage you to NOT make a best of the decade.
At least not in the conventional sense.
How about a piece, however, where you take what you considered to be the best film from each year from 2000 to 2009 and reflect upon how your views of them have or have not changed? And/or what they said about us, about the culture, etc., during the last 10 years?
And then just for fun, do that for the worst of.
-Nighthawk
Roger,
another list I'd like to see from you someday would be your Desert Island list - films you'd take with you if you were stranded and these were the only films you could watch for a year. There are a lot of worthy films, but these would be the ones you turn to for personal reasons - they inspire, they make you laugh or cry, they make life worth living, they were there at a turning point in your life. Films you'd rather not live without.
Thanks.
Roger said: "This will drive people nuts."
Someone section me please, I can't figure out if Roger's number one film of 2009 is "The Hurt Locker" or if his number two film of 2009 is "Precious" the suspense is hurting me..no seriously..
:)
Like the Academy you're relegating t