My top 5 for 09

After a fair bit of thought, here are my top five movies of 2009.

5) Watchmen: A lot, and I mean a LOT, of you would not agree with me on this one. In fact, this movie,(to my complete surprise!) ended up in quite a few of the 'worst of 2009' lists (this one, for example) that I happened to chance upon. Many seem to complain that, this was such a horrible adaptation of a story, which is anyway "un-filmable", it should have never been made! Let me make this clear to you, the graphic novel is, in my opinion, "un-filmable", which is why I think Zach Snyder did an absolutely brilliant job of it. Yes, he did not give the characters the depth they deserve. Yes, pretty much half the story is missed out.
However, if you aren't completely bowled over in the first five minutes, with Dylan's "these times are 'a changin'" playing in the background to a visual treat in the form of pop culture parodies perfectly compiled, just to define an alternate history universe, you shouldn't bother with the rest of the movie. Go watch 'The Hangover' instead.

4)Inglourious Basterds: Only Tarantino could have made a movie this, for lack of a better word, AWESOME! This movie has no real "plot", nor is it historically accurate ( my argument, alternate history).
Where this movie scores for all its "short comings" is, firstly, Brad Pitt. Time and time again, he proves how good he is. This guy can act, very VERY well at that too. Though the Oscar's would probably never consider it, I believe he deserves one for his role in Inglourious Basterds. Secondly, entertainment. There are very few movies that really satisfy your need to be entertained. This is one of them.
I am still surprised how easily Tarantino brings in a scene with blood and gore and very few really noticed how gruesome it was! Everyone seemed to enjoy the blood, guts, beating-Nazi-soldiers-heads-in-with-a-baseball-bat, scalping and forehead-carving that was on display in all it graphic horror.
This, to me, was a "fun" movie. The fun part was probably because it was mostly Nazis getting massacred, but it was fun none the less. This in my opinion, is Tarantino's best work after Pulp Fiction. If nothing, the movie is worth a watch just for its sheer "awesomeness" quotient!

3)District 9: Finally, a movie where aliens land up on earth, and DON'T destroy our most beautiful cities! for once we see, what would most likely happen if aliens, did in fact land here. However, that is not what sold it to me. If you get the metaphors, you can see how strongly this movie talks about racism. The parallels one can draw to 'Blood Diamond' are endless.
That being said, what got this movie to my #3, is in no doubt the documentary style of film making employed. The camera work is sheer genius, the idea of putting in interviews of various characters to build the plot line is brilliant and most importantly the simplicity of the characters makes this movie, about aliens, almost believable!

2)The White Ribbon: If you happen to be someone who knows me well, you probably think that I am a pompous jackass when it comes to the movies I like to watch/talk about. If you don't know me, here is my side of the story, I AM a pompous jackass when it comes to the movies I like to watch/talk about. There are movies I have seen, only for the half chance that I would be the only person who has ever seen the movie! I like to watch movies no one has heard of and then be the one the tell EVERYONE about it.
That being said, 'The White Ribbon', was a movie I heard about on a random blog a few months ago. From my understanding of the review it felt like a director's self indulgence pouring out over film. I decided to give it a watch anyway. I expected a boring two and a half hour drab.
I could not have been more wrong.
I don't think they made black and white movies this well, even when all movies were black and white! I have my doubts if the movie used natural lighting, but if they did, hats off!
Though the ending of the movie leaves us hanging in the air, the point the movie tries to make is quite fascinating. It talks about 'innocence', but its not from the angle you are led to believe. Its meant to be satirical. You might initially think that its the innocence of the children in the village that the movie talks about, but in fact, its the whole village that is ignorant and innocent to what is happening to the rest of the world.
There are no actors who stand out individually, but the children in the movie steal the show. Talent, would be an understatement.
There is very little wrong about this movie, probably one of the best movies ever made. If you get a chance to watch it, don't miss it.

1)500 Days of summer: This being the #1 movie for me in 2009, is more from a personal side rather than a comment on the actual quality of the movie. Don't get me wrong, the movie is brilliant. It is probably the closest any movie could get to talking about real life relationships. Not to mention one of the best uses of music in a movie since garden state. It is very easilly one of the very few romantic comedies a guy can watch, alone, and not be questioned about this sexuality. I absolutely love this movie. And if you were ever in a relationship, you will too.