2009: Best of movie years... or not so much?

surprisingly i have to side with mr maltin on this one. there are still a few big films i need to see this year (bright star, a serious man, the road) but so far nothing has blown me away. 2009 is no 2007, in fact it isn't even 2008.

Well, Crash was from 2004, but it's close enough to 2005 to count, I guess, so...yeah, 2005 was one of the best years for movies ever. I assume you all agree.

Yeah, a while back Roger tweeted that 10 Best Picture nominees aren't enough this year. My response was that if there are going to be more than two nominations that there might as well be 200.

Of course if one goes with the idea that Precious is among the year's best films (I have it down as one of the worst), I can see why 2009 seems so special.

I'm with you on 2007. An amazing year. As a matter of fact, I just finished watching There Will Be Blood. To borrow some Daniel Plainview phrasing, 2007 paid us in oil prices. 2009 is paying us in pheasant prices.

Yeah, a while back Roger tweeted that 10 Best Picture nominees aren't enough this year. My response was that if there are going to be more than two nominations that there might as well be 200.

Of course if one goes with the idea that Precious is among the year's best films (I have it down as one of the worst), I can see why 2009 seems so special.

I'm with you on 2007. An amazing year. As a matter of fact, I just finished watching There Will Be Blood. To borrow some Daniel Plainview phrasing, 2007 paid us in oil prices. 2009 is paying us in pheasant prices.

Ebert's tweet left me scratching my head as well...I agree with 2007 and 2005, but I'd also add 2008 to that list. 2008 was a pretty damn good year.

This year has had, what? Inglourious Basterds, Hunger, The Hurt Locker, Moon, Goodbye Solo, The Girlfriend Experience, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and - for Kris Pigna and I at least! - Where the Wild Things Are.

Then you've got the films that were simply very good to decent like The Hangover, Watchmen, Public Enemies, Sin Nombre, The Informant!, and Big Fan

Of course I haven't seen Up, 35 Shots of Rum, Up In The Air, A Serious Man, The Messenger and others. I have no intention of seeing Precious or The Blind Side because, quite frankly they look like exactly the kind of movie I despise. This year hardly screams "magical", and there are only two films that I would consider unforgettable (WTWTA and IB).

2009 just seems aggressively mediocre...

2009, eh.

I'm probably with Jim here. 2007 was especially great. I remember having a really good time in 2004 and 2005, but that might be because I was at the height of my personal cinemania.

But in order to really answer this question, I think we need to let a few years pass. We need to revisit some of the movies and see how they hold up. And maybe in the process we will discover some that we let slip by.

Who knows, maybe "Crash" really was a masterpiece.

JE: I was with you up until the final line. I've tried. Believe me, I've tried. I feel sorry for everyone involved -- but especially Thandie Newton. I feel this movie abuses her kind of like the way Roger Ebert felt "Blue Velvet" abused Isabella Rossellini.

2005, the year Batman Begins came out, the greatest movie ever made! Oh, and Crash(its structure is somehow light, amiable yet strong manipulation. More effective manipulation than Kubrick's Clockwork Orange without being as desperate. Then again maybe Orange has a heavier message to deal) And I have to say Sin City, as much as I don't want to.

Batman Begins and Sin City sincerely showcased personality traits that other movies avoid because of their negativity. The dynamics are usually botched(and it's still not anywhere near perfect in both these movies), going for simpler representative actions, dodging the negative reasons for the actions. Batman Begins especially gives the reason priority over the action. It's like trying to sincerely explain why those guys killed Jack Twist(if they did), and where the emotions to do so originate. Again, No Country For Old Men. A movie in favor of Chigur is something hardly anyone makes. There Will Be Blood did go there but then stopped short.

For me it's either 2007 or 2008. Ultimately I think 2007 has to be considered the best of the decade, although I LOVE In Bruges and Let The Right One In which I think were both 2008 releases.

I too was a bit perplexed by Roger's twitter. I haven't seen some of the late releases but comparing this year to those two years seems a bit more hyperbolic than I'm used to from Roger.

What 2009 movies will people be talking about in 2 years, much less 20? I'm not even sure my hands-down favorite, "Still Walking," will be remembered in a few years, and I consider it a masterpiece.

Anyway, I'll join the chorus in praise of 2007.

Then again...

2002 had Spirited Away, Morvern Callar, Punch-Drunk Love, The 25th Hour, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, 24 Hour Party People, Talk To Her, Adaptation, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Metropolis, About Schmidt, The Two Towers, The Pianist, Far From Heaven, Gangs of New York, Read My Lips, Russian Arc, Solaris, The Fast Runner...

How do you top that? Even the failures are more interesting than the successes of most years!

Frank McDevitt: High five.

But yeah, I agree about 2009. After "Where the Wild Things Are" and, to a lesser extent (and in this specific order), "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Hurt Locker," and "Inglourious Basterds" (and maybe throw "Watchmen" into the "lesser extent" category too), not much from this year stands out. Still haven't had a chance to see "A Serious Man," though. Or "Goodbye Solo." Just saw that one's on Netflix streaming, though, so as soon as I have the time...

Also, looking over Jim's best of 2005 lists, I'm reminded that that may well have been the best movie year of the decade after all. "Munich," "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," "A History of Violence," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Syriana," "Grizzly Man," "Man Push Cart"... there was a remarkable amount of quality packed into those 12 months.

The internet really does need a sarcastic font.

By the way, will you be hosting the film at the Conference on World Affairs this year? If so, what movie will you be going over?

I usually hate it when critics say what a weak year it's been at the movies, but 2009 really has been a weak year. With the exception of Up, the summer was uninspiring, and this has been the worst Oscar season in recent memory. (How are they possibly going to fill the ten slots for best picture, and will we have to hear about all ten of them during the broadcast? Yawn.) I don't even remember many exceptional foreign movies this year, though I haven't seen Almodovar's new one yet. Where's this year's Yi-Yi or Head-On or Oldboy or 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days?

Yeah your right that 2005 and 2007 were the best years for movies, but I would also say 2001 was pretty good at least to me.

In 2005 there was The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,The New World, Cache, The Squid and the Whale, Brokeback mountain,Man Push Cart, Grizzly man, A history of violence, etc. It was a year of flat out masterpeices.

In 2007 the best movie of the decade came out which of course is No Country For Old Men, and there was alos I'm Not There, Zodiac, Super Bad, Helvetica, Persepolis, There will be blood, No end in sight, and The Assination of Jesse James.

In 2001 There was Mulholand Drive, Donnie Darko, the Royal Tennabaums, In the Mood For Love Waking Life, In the Bedroom, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

I thought it was a bit strange myself. I do think that, with the exception of Synecdoche and Let the Right One in, the highs of 09 (Basterds, Serious Man, Hurt Locker -- itself a staple of some '08 festivals) were generally better than the highs of '08, but 2007 blitzkrieged over everything. NCFOM is either my pick for film of the decade or second to Yi Yi (I need to go outside and find some sort of mate). 2005 was good but I think 07 was the only truly great year of the decade. But there are some foreign films I still need to see plus domestic limited releases like The Road, Bad Lieutenant and Up in the Air, so who knows.

I get the feeling from reading some lists that have already come out that the best films are out of the mainstream, the Richard Brady's from the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2009/12/best-films-of-2009.html

It's ironic that the Oscars chose this year to expand to ten nominees. Maybe Up stands a chance at best picture? People thought it might happen with Wall-e.

I'd have to side with Mr. Emerson 2007 and 2005 were great years from what I remember. All I remember was going to the theatre a lot and enjoying practically every movie I saw. By the way I do believe "Crash" was actually 2005, a film I really liked when release, but I've found no urge to revisit it since, especially since 2005 I have now seen "Do the Right Thing" which made me forget about "Crash almost immediately, now that's a real film about racism.

For me it's 2007 and 2000.
2007: There Will Be Blood, I'm Not There, Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Southland Tales, and Stelle Licht ("Silent Light" the Carlos Reygadas masterpiece)...
2000: Wercmeister Harmonies, Russian Ark, In the Mood for Love...

But 2009 was exceptional too: Inglourious Basterds, White Ribbon, Antichrist, A Simple Man, Up in the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox...

2007 was amazing though!

Yeah, I'm not sure what I'd rank as the best year of the decade, but it certainly wouldn't be 2009.

I don't mean to disrespect Mr. Ebert, but lately he thinks just about every year is a magical year for movies. He writes about 30-40 four-star reviews every year now. In fact, I just checked - 68 four-star reviews (!) just between this year and last year, and December's not even over with yet.

Anyway, point being, as much as I love reading him, such a lofty value judgment about 2009 should be put into a bit of context. If any of us believed we'd seen 35 masterpieces in a single year, we might say this is a pretty fantastic year, too. Then again, nobody else who saw all the same movies as Ebert believes that he or she saw 35 masterpieces among them.

For me, I think the majority of them have been in the decent-to-mediocre range. To be honest, I don't think that's out of the ordinary - as both a critic and compulsive moviegoer, you tend to sit through a ton of middle-of-the-road movies, which makes the great ones and even the good ones all the more sweet. But it seems to be more true of 2009 than most other years; not sure why. Five or six have stood out as legitimately great, a few others are close behind, a decent-sized chunk have been absolutely awful, and the rest are floundering in between. Ambivalence is the worst thing to feel when coming out of a movie, is it not?

Year in, year out, I defend the quality of contemporary cinema, and take the time to list the many films that made each year a strong and deep year in cinema.

Until 2009.

It's been a disaster from start to finish. Even the Toronto Film Festival, invariably a reliable source of great films, was a huge disappointment this year. My fervent hope is that I am now in the same camp that I accuse other people of being when I say that "People who claim there aren't any good movies these days just don't see the right ones."

But, man, by last count I've seen 148 releases from 2009, and I am struggling mightily to put together a Top 10 list that even includes films that I _like_ let alone love.

I thought 2008 was great: Birdsong, Wendy and Lucy, The Wrestler, My Winnipeg, The Unforeseen, Trouble the Water, Encounters at the End of the World, Let the Right One In, Momma's Man, Ballast, Iron Man, Hunger, Waltz with Bashir, Man on Wire. Loved 'em all. What a fine crop of films that span the spectrum.

This year, I can think of precisely three films that excite me as much as any of those: "Police, Adjective," "The Limits of Control," and "Beaches of Agnes" the last of which I saw at the 2008 Toronto Fest. And "Limits" being a film Ebert gave 1/2 a star to. I also really liked "The Maid." "In the Loop" was a riot. And I lied "Sugar" but I also saw that in 2008.

And that's about it for me in 2009. I liked "Revanche" so maybe that's another one, but it wouldn't have been Top 10 material last year. And, um, uh, well "Coraline" was fun. "Drag Me To Hell" was a partial return to form for Raimi. "Inglourious Basterds" was the first QT film I've liked in a while but still not a huge favorite.

It's been one disappointment after another even from the auteurs. The Haneke was just OK. The Solondz was a disaster. Didn't even like Clint's newest one. Both Soderberghs (ugh). Oh yeah, and that Trier thing. Week in and week out, one crushing disappointment after another. One exception - "Bad Lieutenant" seemed like it couldn't be anything other than a total misfire and it turned out to be pretty funny. At least Werner didn't let me down.

Last year was a GREAT year for documentaries in terms of top quality and depth. This year, aside from "Beaches of Agnes," I'm hard pressed to come up with anything special. Um... I liked "Herb and Dorothy" well enough. And "Collapse" was pretty good. And... I'll have to get back to you. (Don't get me started on "The Cove.")

I have never said this before about a year in film, but 2009 was a dud, especially for American cinema. The worst I can recall, honestly, but perhaps my recall doesn't reach back far enough.

I still cling to the hope that I simply missed out on all the best titles and I'll catch up to them next year. I'm not sure what they might have been, but I'll be looking for them.

Can we maybe include the end of 2006 with 2007? The year in general didn't seem like it'd be that impressive, and then suddenly we got Children of Men (which Jim was, of course, wrong about) and Pan's Labyrinth to really give the year some punch. Add to those Borat, Brick, Half Nelson and L'Enfant, among others, and 2006 definitely had its high points. Maybe the span from 05 to 07 had the strongest titles—I'll have to concoct a best of the oughts list and figure it out in the process.

I definitely don't think any single year this decade topped 1999, but what can you do?

In terms of the movies people actually went to see this year-- the ones that set box office records-- we've got Transformers 2 and Twilight 2. Yeesh.

I'd agree that both 2007 and 2008 were strong years, but I might just have a short memory.

"Best of..." I don't know... Well I'll admit after considering the controversy around the top 10 novels of 2009 I don't know what 'best of' means, really. Other than simply favorite in the sense of movies you enjoyed the most, for whatever reasons.

It’s an arbitrary argument to the bone, so I’ll give my arbitrary piece. Maybe you’ll think me too soft, but I think there have been many great movie years since 1939. For me 2007 was one of those years, and I think Ebert is right about 2009 also. Undoubtedly there are many great films released every year, but for me the great films of 2009 have struck a chord that have defined this year in comparison to most others this decade. The best of the year I’ve seen so far have been Up, Inglorious Basterds, and The Hurt Locker. I have many more to see, and I can’t remember a recent year where I’ve been more excited to walk into the cinema. I’m dying to see Bad Lieutenant, You, The Living, The Night Mayor of Winnipeg, Precious and a whole lot more.

If you go to Roger's advanced search and plug in all the movies he awarded four stars, you get a healthy dose, many of which haven't been brought up in the discussion for best of the year consideration. I haven't seen many of them, so a fair assessment may take some time. But I'm at least looking forward to hunting down some of those titles.

2007 seemed to be one of those years when there was an overabundance of great work. The last time this happened was 1999 - just think how many now classic films came out that year. 2007 gave us:

No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
I'm Not There
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
No End in Sight
Away From Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Persepolis
Lust, Caution
Control
Sicko
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Sunshine
Zodiac

I particularly like Ebert's comment about "magic movie years." Those two years he mentions would not instantly come to mind for me. I'm guessing 1939 is supposed to represent the release of both The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind? I don't know. As for 1976, was that a better year for movies than say 1974 or 75, which saw the release of Nashville, Barry Lyndon, Night Moves, Chinatown...?

I do not see 2009 as a "magic movie year," although there are a few 2009 releases I was completely blown away by: A Serious Man, The Informant, Goodbye Solo, Inglourious Basterds, Watchmen. A Serious Man is a classic in my mind and will be remembered for many years to come. Does that make 2009 a magic movie year? I don't know.

I agree that 2007 (TWBB, NCFOM, Zodiac) probably takes the cake, and 2005 might have the greatest number of "really good" films of any year this decade . . .

But how about 2001: Mulholland Drive, A.I., In the Mood for Love, The Man Who Wasn't There, In the Bedroom, The Royal Tenenbaums, Gosford Park, Together, Memento, Amores Perros (which, if you forget about 21 Grams and Babel, packs quite a punch), Ghost World, Sexy Beast, Donnie Darko. Plus, it endowed us with two of the decade's greatest comedies: Hannibal and Vanilla Sky.

Bob, could you expand on that?

It's hard for me to measure how good a year 2009 has been, since so many of the films haven't come to Australian cinemas (such as Hurt Locker) or are yet to come (such as Precious). I tend to measure a year by the awards season; yes, it's far from perfect, but I look at 1976, and that year, Taxi Driver, Rocky, Network and All The President's Men were released, and they were just four of the five films up for the Best Picture Oscar! 1974 brought us The Godfather Part II, The Conversation and Chinatown. Also, since so many films are released a year, and I can't possibly see them all, if the year has produced the likes of Taxi Driver, Network, The Godfather Part II and The Conversation etc... then I think it's a great year.

Well, I agree with Jim that 2005 and 2007 were the best of the decade, with half of my personal „top 10 of the decade“ coming from those two years. Even the more „mainstream“ offerings such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Atonement and Michael Clayton were just falling short of greatness and the smaller edgier stuff, was not so limited in scope and ambition, as I felt was the case with so many movies from 2008 (The Wrestler, The Visitor, Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky). And the movies considered by many (including me) as failures, like Crash, Domino, War of the Worlds, Elizabeth: TGA, Lars and the Real Girl, Margot at the Wedding, The Brave One -were at least interesting failures, not by-the-book indie-comedies, message-movies, „inspirational“ epics or biopics.

Also, I think, a case can be made for 2006. Consider these titles: A Prairie Home Companion, Borat, Casino Royale, The Lives of Others, Pan’s Labyrinth, Inside Man, Letters from Ivo Jima, The Departed, The Fall, Volver...(fill in your preferences).

And what about the worst year of the decade? I make my pick between 2000 and 2008. By the way, which one is more important, to have 30 good or very good movies in a year or, say, three masterpieces (or at least movies you think, in decades to come, will be viewed as such) and loads of mediocrity?

For strongest movie year of this decade, I'd probably go with 2006: it had my favourite film of the decade ("Children of Men"), plus "The Prestige", "A Prairie Home Companion", "Borat", the underrated "Bobby", the powerful "An Incovenient Truth", "Pan's Labyrinth", "Little Miss Sunshine". Even some of the failures or near-misses ("Babel") were at least interesting.

Then again, 2001 was also pretty solid: "In the Bedroom", "Amores Perros", "Memento".

But this year? Don't know what Ebert's thinking on that one...

I've fallen way behind on watching 2009 films, but so far I'm leaning toward agreeing with Jim. But for me, it's between 2006 and 2007:

2006-
Inland Empire
Pan's Labyrinth
Children of Men
The Departed
The Lives of Others

2007-
No Country for Old Men
Encounters at the End of the World
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Once

(I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, even limiting it to my five favorites). To my eyes, that's a pretty close call, but both lists are better than how 2009 is shaping up.

I agree with Ebert. This year has brought us so many wonderful films in all genres. Harry Potter and Star Trek have been far and away the best so far in their respective series. (500) Days of Summer is the best romantic comedy in years. Inglorious Basterds is Tarantino's best film. Where The Wild Things Are is the best film I've ever seen about childhood and one of the best book-to-film adaptions I have ever seen. Public Enemies ranks among the best of Michael Mann. Up is another smash hit for Pixar. A Christmas Carol is, in my opinion, the first new Holiday classic since Elf. People are saying A Serious Man is one of the Coen's best. I haven't seen even half of the film I want to from this year, and yet already I have a top 10 that's just as good as the ones I have for others years when I've seen all that I wanted.

2007 was great, but I think 2006 may have been better: United 93, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, The Lives of Others, The Prestige, Letters from Iwo Jima. Any one of those I would put in the top 10 films of the decade.
Of course, 2007 felt like a really good year. That was the first year when I saw all of the Best Picture nominees. I felt so excited going to see Juno, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton, and even Atonement (which I didn't much care for). 2007 also had Once which is easily one of my favorite films of all time. 2007 was so good that it made 2008 seem not so good. But of couse, 2008 had The Dark Knight, In Bruges, Let the Right One In, and WALL-E, so I wouldn't do without that year.

From what I've read, 2009 was a great year...for foreign films. But since most of the films I've heard so much praise about won't even get to the states until early next year, they just don't count as far as I'm concerned.

For American film, 2009 was the pits, but anyone who didn't see this coming with the writer's strike isn't doing their homework. My personal Top Ten of the year will come with lots of asterisks and disclaimers.

2001 had some of the most unique movies of the decade: "Mulholland Drive", "The Gleaners & I", "Waking Life", "Donnie Darko"...

I don't really have a favorite. They all had their highs and lows. 2000 and 2009 were the worst for me though. All and all, I don't feel enough time has passed for me to know which year stands out.

Any year that produces both Inglourious Basterds and A Serious Man is a good year. I'll be able to determine how good after seeing the December releases. I thought 2007 was the best year in film of the past 15 or so.
Jim, I also note that your 2005 and 2007 top ten lists are eerily similar to mine. Evidently we share excellent taste in films.

Ebert's opinion about 2009 aside, I'm more dumbfounded by how he has made such claim without writing a review about this year's "In The Loop." And the film is already on DVD, I believe.

I think it is the best film of the year -- even if that isn't saying much here in 2009. But then, even if it isn't considered the best by others, the film has gathered enough critical claim universally as well to at least warrant something. It also deals with 21rst century politics in a brilliantly original manner. And its just a damn good satirical movie that doesn't get made anymore (language and logic in general, in both comedy and in politic, are really the film's main themes -- a topic that I'm sure would interest Jim as well).

It strikes me as the type of film Ebert would be attracted to, if only because of its political tackle. Hopefully a review is coming soon.

You know it's odd, but I often consider a movie year not be more than just the handful of cinephile bait. I also judge it by the mainstream fare, the versatility of the movies provided, and the overall sense we're getting somewhere.

2000: Often gets a bad rap--but it's an interesting year to look at for being transitional. 1999 said everything it needed

2001: When it wasn't good, it was bad, but when it was good--2001 was just the year of so many game changers, so many people like Lynch, Anderson, Jackson, Nolan and Luhrman just really rewriting the rules.

2002: May be the single most pleasing year of the decade. A little soft on outright masterpieces, but with the single most solid foundation. Didn't always rewrite the book, but it's not like we saw a lot of low points either.

2003: When I analyze it, I think 2003 actually struck the best balance between works with bite, and entertainment. I think it probably isn't as appreciated as much because it had a lot of high profile letdowns.

2004: A very good year, but not as exciting. It was like constantly being satisifed with morsals so you were never hungry, and then you realize "Not a lot of stuff really kicked ass, did it?" Strangely, I'd say it was a year that didn't plumb too many depths.

2005: A strange year, one of "sedate masterpeices". Unfortunately, it gets a lot of smack-talk because of "the slump". While I myself add points for mainstream penetration, I also realize it's kind of stupid to explictly link quality to money made.

2006: A handful of great films, but outside that handful, we start getting into abortions. The box-office hits and true masterpieces of a year don't always correlate, but I think 2006 may have single worst "Top 10" grossers list of the decade.

2007: Some of the greatest masterpieces of the decade. But on some level, brooding, laborous movies with unhappy endings and...that's all you've got? It's a very, very good year, but not a particularly versatile one.

2008: There are two kinds of people I don't trust. Adults who walk into Chuck E Cheese by themselves, and people who consider 2008 a stand-out movie year. I'm sure there are people who can justify it with more than Batman, but I've seen way too many folks using Dark Knight as a yardstick.

JE: This comment is a masterpiece.

Of meaning to nobody but me, I just data-mined my Top 100 Films of the 00's list and came up with the following distribution:

Films from 2000: 12
Films from 2001: 6
Films from 2002: 6
Films from 2003: 20
Films from 2004: 6
Films from 2005: 8
Films from 2006: 16
Films from 2007: 9
Films from 2008: 12
Films from 2009: 5

2003, huh? I wouldn't have named that as the strongest year. But let's see.

2003: Touching the Void, Goodbye Dragon Inn, The Same River Twice, Cowards Bend the Knee, Los Angeles Plays Itself, Elephant, Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, Coffee and Cigarettes... No need to go on. Yep, 2003 was a mighty fine year. Oh yeah, and The Brown Bunny too. Man I was having fun going to the theater that year.

Er, then let's look at 2008 sans Dark Knight, shall we?

Happy Go Lucky, Let the Right One In, Chop Shop, Wendy and Lucy, the Wrestler, Waltz With Bashir, Rachel Getting Married, Shotgun Stories, WALL E, My Winnipeg, Iron Man (you didn't say "no Iron Man"), Milk, Synecdoche New York, and Che.

So is the comment "a masterpiece" because he took a shot at TDK at the end, or is it "a masterpiece" because the rest of it is basically on the money?

We've got:

One film that reinvigorated the tired vampire genre

One of Pixars greatest works

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut (which turns out to be a masterpiece)

Jonathan Demme's best film in 20 years

Mike Leigh's best film since, well, his last film

Mickey Rourke's bravura comeback performance

Robert Downey Jr's bravura comeback performance

Another Guy Maddin movie

And some other truly excellent films thrown in that could be considered among the best American films of the decade.

That seems like a pretty standout year to me.

Unfortunately I think we're a year late. While 2007 is the best year of the decade, I feel like 1999 is the year for film we should be comparing to 1939 and 1976. Many of my favorites ever came from '99, including the world masterpiece "Beau Travail", as well as "Eyes Wide Shut", "Magnolia", "Fight Club", "Being John Malkovich", "The Green Mile" and "The Iron Giant". There was also the watershed films "The Blair Witch Project", "The Sixth Sense" and "The Matrix". Hell, it even gave us "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"! You know it's funny...

While I may not be as wildly enthusiastic about 2009 as Mr. Ebert, I would have to agree that it's been a fairly strong year for movies. A Serious Man and Inglourious Basterds will both have a place on my "Best of the Decade" list. In addition, there's been an abundance of terrific family films/animated films (The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Where the Wild Things Are, Up, Coraline, Ponyo).

For my money, 2007 was not only the best year of the decade for film, it was the best year for film that I've been alive (b. 1983).

2006 is the best year.

1. United 93
2. Apocalypto
3. The Departed
4. Children of Men
5. Pan's Labyrinth
6. Letters from Iwo Jima
7. The Pursuit of Happyness
8. Rocky Balboa
9. The Queen
10. The Last King of Scotland

I tend not to get too upset if there's a dearth of quality movies being released for a few months in any given year, simply because it allows me some more breathing room to catch up on more obscure fare that I missed (usually wasn't aware of) in past years. I mean, there are always good-to-great movies to be seen...who cares if they were released in the current calendar year? That said, I've rather enjoyed many of the films I've seen from 2009, and most of the rest had some redeeming qualities as well.

Pretty Good Or Better, alphabetically:

An Education, Coraline, District 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, In The Loop, It Might Get Loud, Mother (Korean title: "Madeo", my favourite for 2009), Moon, A Serious Man, Up, The White Ribbon.

Uneven, But Relatively Interesting, Or Entertaining: Drag Me To Hell, Public Enemies, Star Trek, Watchmen, Where The Wild Things Are.

Given how many of the "prestige" pictures for December seem to be falling flat with critics, I doubt I'll see anything other than Up In The Air and (perhaps, in 3D) Avatar prior to December 25th. I'm relatively confident that some quality "2009" foreign language films will become more visible early in 2010.

Moving on, it's interesting how you bring up 2005 as one of the two best years of the decade (you'll get no argument from me with regards to the terrific 2007), as, in my mind, I'd always slotted it away as being bereft of any truly "great" films. Good Night, And Good Luck is probably my fave from that year, and I wouldn't consider it anything more than a nicely acted, and photographed, cocktail of a film. Brokeback Mountain had some resonance, but isn't the sort of film with a huge amount of replay value (my typical yardstick for cinematic worth, in most cases, random guilty pleasures notwithstanding). It may just be that I've overlooked some quality 2005 foreign films...

Most of the movies I've seen this year have ranged from alright to good. The only two that stood out were "Antichrist" and "Adoration" (I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned this so far).

As for the best year of the decade, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't become a very active moviegoer until 2007, but between 2007, 2008, and 2009, I would give my vote to 2008, simply because it was the year I saw the decade's two best movies: "The Fall" and "Synecdoche New York."

Um, hello, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY was 2007 and it is the Single Greatest Artistic Achievement Of All-Time. Next to Matthew Barney's DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 which was 2005. Anytime Sirs Schnabel and Barney grace we pedestrian "cinephiles" is a miracle of the highest order. So, in conclusion, 2007 and 2005 are the best. Now let's all go buy tugboats made of petroleum jelly, hang out with hot nurses, and cut off our legs.

JE: You capture precisely the way I felt I was supposed to feel during Maestro Schnabel's "DBB." Well, that and kind of like the camera inside Bill Murray's mouth in "Little Shop of Horrors," the Musical. I felt like that, too.

All three of you are wrong.

Ebert thinks this has been a magical year simply because he seems to be growing less discriminating each year. Every year is magical for him because he just plain loves every movie he sees (that's not even much of an exaggeration). The truth is that it's merely been an average year.

Maltin is wrong, both in his estimation of Up in the Air as the year's best movie, and in his dismissal of the year as a whole.

And 2007 was the worst year for movies, not only of the decade, but of the past two decades.

I'm not sure what the best is, though. Maybe 2002. Or 2005

This is an interesting debate. How do we determine a best year in the decade? Does 2009 lose points because Transformers 2 was the highest grosser? Do we ignore bad movies completely? Is a great small film worth less than a great blockbuster? I would contend that if Avatar ends up being great that is more significant for the overall feel of the year than the fact that Moon was great. Is Up better than Wall-E? Some of 2009's biggest releases have yet to be released, so we might want to hold off anyways. Lovely Bones, Invictus, Up in the Air, and Avatar have yet to see release. Do people really count Inglorious Basterds as one of the years best?

I'd say it's been a particularly lousy year for movies.

Of course, it's not all bad. I've seen a handful of fantastic movies this year: I'm a QT guy and "Inglorious Basterds" is his best movie yet. . . except maybe "Jakie Brown." "It might Get Loud" is the most insightful little movie about rock music I've seen (the filmakers clearly "get" what music geeks like myself really geek out over). "Tyson" was pretty astounding. (am I the first to mention that one? It really is a pretty amazing movie.) "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" was surprisingly good. "The Informant" is really underrated and deserves more attention. "A Serious Man" was a really solid, second tier Cohen Brothers Movie. Worthy of attention but not a masterpiece. "Jennifer's Body" is waaay underrated also. It's much better than you think it is.

But beyond those, I can't think of much else that is worth seeing. I thought "Zombieland" and "Drag Me to Hell" were refreshing.

There's nothing on that list that unexpectedly moved me. "Let the Right One In" hit an emotional pitch I've not seen before and throughout the film I didn't know what to expect. Nothing up there works that way. OF COURSE I liked "It Might Get Loud." The fact that it was insightful and smart is important, but it really just did a good job of doing what I wanted it to do. Nothing challenging there. (But is does kick ass! I'll certainly buy the DVD.) To a certain extent, you can say that about a lot of the movies up there. Very well done, but nothing surprising.

Which is fine, but it means that here aren't any real masterpieces up there. (I might make a pitch for "Inglorious Basterds" actually. . . ) "No Country for Old Men" and "Pan's Labyrynth" fall into the category of "if you don't like these movies, I question your taste." Of course, reasonable people can disagree, but you'd have to make a case for not liking NCFOM without me just thinking you're a doofus. I love "Inglorious Basterds," but I can easily understand why some smart moviegoers don't. I am suspicious that if you can't respond to "Brokeback Mountain" or "The Son" or "The Wrestler" on some level, something is the matter with you. I can't make a claim like that about anything made this year.

Maintream movies this year have been an unmitigated disaster. Usually there are some "event movies" that are worth taking semi seriously ("The Dark Knight," "Casino Royale," "Spiderman 2") Usually those movies are a least fun. But this year? "Transformers 2"? "G.I. Joe"? For Gods sake. "Twilight"?

I mean seriously, "Twilight"?

I think that there was a great period from 05-08 that will be remembered. All of the trends were just right for a bunch of great movies to happen. (Actually, since film production takes a couple of years, the middle of decade was when the great stuff was really going on.)

Seriously though, frickin' "Twilight"?

Many has been the weekend this year when I've checked the movie listings because I wanted to go out on Friday night and found NOTHING I could imagine being able to tolerate.

Dave C. writes: "This is an interesting debate. How do we determine a best year in the decade? Does 2009 lose points because Transformers 2 was the highest grosser?"

If that is the case then surely 1999 gets knocked back several pegs for birthing highest-grosser "The Phantom Menace" and biggest-award-winner "American Beauty".

I was one of the people coming down on 2009, but I agree with the point that this was a great year for foreign films. I quickly drew up a top ten list and it looks like this, in no order:

Ponyo
The Headless Woman
Observe and Report
Hunger
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tulpan
Still Walking
The Informant!
Goodbye Solo
Gomorrah

Not too shabby! And I still haven't seen Hurt Locker, Serious Man, Basterds, Up in the Air, Mother, the new Haneke...

I'm going with 2007 although 2006 is close on its heels.

Best of 2007:

No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Charlie Wilson's War

Those first 3 might all end up in my top 10 of the decade.

I think 2003 was the worst year of the decade. The only movie I remotely enjoyed was Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl. I didn't care for the sequels by the way.

So far in 2009 I've only seen two standouts; UP and Star Trek. I really want to see A Serious Man and the Road both of which open in my home town next weekend, so 2009 may be great yet.

Why was 1976 a banner movie year? 1974 or 1959-1963. But 1976, other than Taxi Driver and Network there's not much including international cinema. There wasn't even a good Robert Altman film in '76.

Yeah, I'd say 1976 was one of the worst years in movie history. There wasn't a single great movie that year (I recently rewatched Taxi Driver and it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it). I think my favorites from that year are The Shootist and Carrie, but even those aren't that great.

2009 was a great year...

Up in the Air and Away We Go were perfectly detailed films about how we live today...

Inglorious Basterds was movie heaven...

2012 blew up EVERYTHING...while not a "Top 10" it was good at what it did...

500 Days of Summer was the best romantic film all decade...

The Blind Side and Precious showed how the hardships of inner city life can be overcome through friendship and love...

There were many great films this year...

I thought 500 Days of Summer was the most interesting movie of the year. It was clever without wearing a smirk. I'm sad to see it absent from so many people's top picks.

One of the things that makes 2009 a letdown for me is the memory of how good 1999 was. It would've been a good year for someone to get their crash course on cinema. You had The Iron Giant, Fantasia 2000, Toy Story 2, Tarzan, The Blair Witch Project, Cookie's Fortune, Eyes Wide Shut, Bringing out the Dead, Summer of Sam, The Matrix, Any Given Sunday, Sleepy Hollow, the first of the Star Wars prequels, The Sixth Sense, Arlington Road, American Pie, Being John Malkovich, Magnolia, The Limey, The War Zone, The Insider, Three Kings, Mumford, Office Space, Run Lola Run, The Straight Story, Man on the Moon, The Ciderhouse Rules, The Green Mile, Limbo, Men with Guns, Buena Vista Social Club, Austin Powers, Bowfinger, Dogma, Election, My Voyage to Italy, October Sky, Topsy Turvy, South Park, Titus, eXistenZ, the Virgin Suicides, and The Winslow Boy.

Now granted, those aren't all great movies. But what a VARIETY of films! That's what was missing this year.

JE: Fight Club was 1999, too.

I remember being very surprised when I saw Roger's tweet. At the very least, I can understand why you'd make that claim about 2007, but 2009? I sure don't think so.

Is there something I missed?

You forgot to mention American Beauty in 1999.

When being a reviewer it pays to be patient. But I do have a few problems with dismissing 2009 already. First, the year is not over. Second, I am reminded of a quote Jonathan Rosenbaum has on Nick James:

"This makes me wonder how a contemporary critic as sophisticated as Nick James can still make claims such as the following (in the Spring 2009 Film Quarterly): “The wonderful golden run of great international cinema in the 1990s that brought us the best of Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, Takeshi Kitano, and Abbas Kiarostami, among many others, petered out several years ago.” But if we were already oblivious to so much important stuff being made in the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, what gives Nick such confidence that we can be on top of these things today, when the task of following everything that’s going on is arguably even more impossible than it was then? Does he really think that critics are so prescient that they no longer need to worry about missing any of the important films being made—which, thanks to the uniform brilliance and prescience (and, presumably, the absolute reach) of festival programmers and distributors, are readily apparent? And if not, what kind of sense are we supposed to make of his statement?"

Ever year sagacious cinema is made. It is not always known right away though. Even the most ardent of movie goers are going to miss important cinema.* This is why I always have trouble dismissing any era, country, etc… and find it hilarious when anyone can state a whole year as the best/worst of a decade (along with the difficulty of actually stating when you should consider a non-American film as a specific year).

Now am I the only one to think of Sparrow as a solid 2008 release?

* Sometimes it is lost and/or forgotten over the years. I have been going over the wonderful shorts of Charley Chase for example (both one and two reelers) and it is interesting to see if the recent release will improve his popularity (though I have found many books reference him throughout the years).

Have to agree with everyone saying 2007. Can't imagine tiring of There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, I'm Not There, Once, or Ratatouille. And I could easily list another 10 or 15. Great year!

The additional 5 films in the Best Picture List will allow some genre films to get in, comedy like Funny People and sci-fi like District 9 and maybe even the new Star Trek (and probably Avatar). There are still some year-end movies like Up In The Air that will get in there too.

Is this a better movie year than others? That I can't say.

I was shocked when I read Ebert's message on Twitter about how he thinks that 2009 is a great year in film like 1939 and 1976. I would like it if Roger wrote a blog in his journal explaining why he thinks 2009 is one of the greatest years ever for film. There are of course some good films like Skin, The Blind Side, and Public Enemies, but no film in 2009 has changed my life in any way.

I have noticed that things are changing for Oscar season. I remember the days of what I call big Oscar films like Schindler's List, Amadeus, or The Last Emperor to name a few. These were big, expensive dramas intended to change people's lives in some form or another. Lately, however, Oscar season movies are getting lighter, leaning more towards entertainment, and many of them are even looking more like summer films. In 2009, we are not going to find a Lawrence of Arabia type film that is for sure. What are we getting now? 2012, Twilight, some small dramas that could be released at any time of the year like Brothers, dumb comedies like Old Dogs, and some small and not too expensive George Clooney film that could come out at any time of the year like Up In the Air. The money is probably not there anymore for filmmakers and studios to do what they used to do. All I am saying is that it doesn't feel like an Oscar season, although that is not a bad thing.

The bad thing is that although there are good films this year, there is nothing that can absolutely blow our minds or change our lives like a Lawrence of Arabia or Schindler's List type film. Films this year are either good or mediocre.

I bet someone is going to respond to my post by saying, "there has been some great films like Precious and The Hurt Locker." Sorry, I hated Precious. I found it sleazy, cartoony, over the top, and trashy. Its trashiness even made it unintentionally funny. I didn't feel for those characters. They were some of the most unlikable people I have seen in the movies. Precious is someone we are supposed to care about, but she lacked emotion too often, and looked meaner than hell. I despised these people, and wanted someone to drop an atom bomb on them. I felt more emotionally connected to the characters in Skin.

The Hurt Locker isn't terrible, but I found it repetitive, tedious, and kind of boring. My attention went elsewhere at times.

I think 2005 and 2007 are more memorable years. It does not seem to be completely crazy to compare 2007 to 1939, but saying 2009 is great like 1939 is pushing it.

We just need Roger to go past the word limit of Twitter, and really sink into this subject.

I'm with you on 2005 and 2007, Jim. In both years there were stunning films by several of today's legends.

2005 included...

"Munich" and "War of the Worlds" (Steven Spielberg)
"No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" ( Martin Scorsese)
"The New World" (Terrence Malick)
"Grizzly Man" (Werner Herzog)
"Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut" (Ridley Scott)

2007 included...

"No Country for Old Men" (Coens)
"There Will Be Blood" (Anderson)
"Youth Without Youth" (Coppola)
"Redacted" (De Palma)
"Eastern Promises" (Cronenberg)

2009 COULD HAVE been a swell year, but we were denied both "Tree of Life" and "Shutter Island". Damn!

I think "Tree of Life" will be exceptional even though I have no idea what Malick has conceptualized with it. As for "Shutter Island", the trailers are goofy, but it looks as though Scorsese is paying tribute to Welles and Sam Fuller; doesn't the look of it (and the story) remind you of "Shock Corridor"?

who is robert fuller and can he please provide some sort of argument for the hyperbole he's just throwing out there? also...TAXI DRIVER isn't as good as you remember? it's not my favorite scorsese, but that statement doesn't even make sense.

whatever.

aside from that, i present all of you haters of 2009 with the boldest cinematic statement of the year, topping ANTICHRIST and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS in pure chutzpah:

OBSERVE AND REPORT

you're allowed to not like the movie, that's fine. what you're not allowed to do is completely dismiss it as the game-changer it is. and on top of that, jody hill and danny mcbride also gave us EASTBOUND AND DOWN this very same year. whatever you say about your likes or dislikes, these are unique endeavors to say the least. so, in my book, 2009 was at least 'OK'.

We might just agree to say that this was a tremendous decade for movies. But barring that, I'd probably go with 2001 as the best year, actually. Just re-watched both "Monster's Ball" and "A Beautiful Mind," and I'd be hard-pressed to find two films as good since; hell, the worst good film from that year is "Hearts in Atlantis," and it's still a masterpiece.

We may not realize it, but the September 11th attacks did quite a number on American filmmakers' abilities to make pure, unadulterated cinema. Every year since 2001 has been superb artistically, but there's been not a single seriously great movie that hasn't striven towards a major political point, attempted some rather obvious political irony, or come very close to internalizing a very off-putting anti-Bush pretentiousness. (No fan of Bush and never voted for him, but he's the unseen force in most American cinema since 2001, and this inability to de-contextualize doesn't speak well of American filmmakers.)

Another vote for 2001, and add Amelie to its list.

I might have to go with, for now, 2006... It gave me films I expect to watch many times again over the course of my life, films I can point as examples of movies that either entertained me, haunt me or raised my awareness and guides my life... There weren't many films this decade that really stand up to that test for me... Here's three:

"A Prairie Home Companion," Altman's swan-song that is like a good cup of coffee in the morning with a friend. One of the great entertainments in my opinion... To me, great entertainment should have the ability to cheer you up and this has that. "In the sweeet bye and bye..."

David Lynch's tour-de-force "Inland Empire," the most shocking visual experience since "Un Chien Andalou." Rooms, just rooms, haven't looked as frightening since Stanley Kubrick floated us through the hotel in "The Shining." Laura Dern somehow gives a mesmerizing kaleidoscope-of-identities performance amidst all the schizophrenia.

"Half Nelson," the (IMO) must-see movie of the decade next to, I'm told, "Collapse" (which I haven't seen yet). And that's "must-see" as in seeing the film is vital to an understanding of where your society is at right now... (U.S., Canada, Britain, whatever, education all over has been failing, and there are people trying to make change... but, discouragingly it doesn't seem to be coming, not yet anyway.) In Dan Dunne, the grade 12 me found the inspiration to start standing up for things I care about, even if most of my fellow highschoolers couldn't seem to care less. It's a small, humble film. I think the filmmaking on it is much more solid and emotionally effective than many flashier Oscar-nominated films from the decade. At least one director out there (other than Bigelow) knows how to film handheld not as a stlylish gimmick but so we feel we're walking around with these characters.

And its story of a flawed person just trying to do some good in a flawed system, while stumbling over his own frustrations when he's unable to, moved me deeply. I feel like this is life. "The Truth" as they say... That fine line between trying and giving up that we all walk everyday. You try to change one life at a time... Sometimes even that seems impossible. Tough enough to help one's self... There's recognizable authenticity in the look on Gosling's face during the motel scene: the kindness in his face even at this moment his hopes have hit rock bottom. To think, he was the blonde heartthrob clown off "Breaker High" when I was growing up... That's inspiring too.

And then, of course, you have "Pan's Labirynth," "Borat," "Man Push Cart," to name a few of the other stand outs.

06 will also be remembered by me, sentimentally, as the year I started seriously getting into film. Strange to think that was just three years ago, feels like another life...

2001 had Mulholland Dr. (the greatest film ever made), Moulin Rouge, and some underrated but not great comedies.

2006 had Brick (outside of festivals) and INLAND EMPIRE, which is almost enough to put it up there with '01. Add in The Fountain, Children of Men (ovverrated, but good), The Prestige (Nolan's best film by a mile), and Wayne Kramer's weird Running Scared, it's better.

2003 had Bloom, The Cooler, the only good Rings installment, and two Guy Maddin films, one of them the Saddest Music in the World.

2004 is the year no one's mentioned though:
Anchorman
Collateral
the Dawn of the Dead remake
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I Heart Huckabee's
Kill Bill v2
Saved!
Sideways
Spider-Man 2 (the best live action superhero film)
The Incredibles (the second best superhero film, period)

It may not have the highs of the other years, but given how that Spider-Man 2 and the Incredibles came out and how the genre dominated the decade, it may be the defining year of the 00s. Maybe the 1-2 punch of the Dark Knight and Iron Man last year made people forget about '04, but the Incredibles still blows every film in the genre that isn't Mask of the Phantasm out of the water, and thanks to the polish Michael Chabon gave it, Spider-Man 2 has the most human characters of any live action entry in the genre.

"who is robert fuller and can he please provide some sort of argument for the hyperbole he's just throwing out there?"

It's not hyperbole. I'm basing my statements on the number of exceptional films each year. Why bother arguing when it's just my opinion (although I did in fact provide an argument for some of my statements)?

"also...TAXI DRIVER isn't as good as you remember? it's not my favorite scorsese, but that statement doesn't even make sense."

How does it not make sense? Which part didn't you understand? I guess it wouldn't make sense if I saw it for the first time yesterday and rewatched it today, but such is not the case.

All I can do is post my Top Ten list (plus a few) for this year:

1. "Ballast" (Lance Hammer, USA)

2. "Ponyo" (Miyazaki Hayao, Japan)

3. "State Of Play" (Kevin Macdonald, USA/UK/France)

4. "Throw Down Your Heart" (Sascha Paladino, USA)

5. "Kabei: Our Mother" (Yamada Yoji, Japan)

6. "Still Walking" (Kore-eda Hirokazu, Japan)

7. "The Red Jacket" (Zou Yalin, China)

8. "Telstar" (Nick Moran, UK)

9. "We Live In Public" (Ondi Timoner, USA)

10. "Big Fan" (Robert D. Siegel, USA)

Bubbling under: "The Windmill Movie" (Alexander Olch, USA); "An Audience Of One" (Mike Jacobs, USA); "It Might Get Loud" (Davis Guggenheim, USA)

Thoughts on those? I don't see many of them getting discussed here...

Andrew

2007!