The REEL Addict 

In spite of the writer’s strike in Hollywood, 2009 was a good year for movies. Maybe not Hollywood movies, but good nevertheless. I was a little surprised that ultimately THE DARK KNIGHT didn’t make my Top 10 since I was certain that it would when I first saw it. But there have been so many great films since, and I felt it just didn’t hold up. Aside from Heath Ledger’s brilliance as the Joker, there wasn’t much that stayed with me. Though technically astounding, the movie’s plot is convoluted, nonsensical and full of holes (the bit with the cellphones was plain ridiculous). The movies that I most remember were the ones that moved me emotionally, and there were plenty of those. It was hard to rank them since I loved all of these movies and would see them again in a heartbeat. But here’s how my list shakes down - at least according to how I feel about them today.

Honourable Mentions: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, THE DARK KNIGHT, FROST/NIXON, GRAN TORINO, IN BRUGES, IRON MAN, JCVD, KUNG-FU PANDA, MY WINNIPEG, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

10. Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T’aime (I Loved You So Long)
This touching film about a woman adjusting to life after 15 years of prison features a stellar performance by Kristin Scott Thomas in a French-language film. Elsa Zylberstein is also superb as her sister who helps her reintegrate into society and her family. As those around her tread lightly and awkwardly, we very gradually learn of her crime. The film’s gentle, subtle approach rewards your patience with a powerful emotional build-up. A gem.

9. Man on Wire
Not having known about the exploits of Philippe Petit - the man who tightrope-walked between the rooftops of New York City’s World Trade Center’s twin towers in 1974 - I found this documentary fascinating and thoroughly compelling. Since we see him interviewed and giving his own accounts of the incident, we know he didn’t plunge to his death. So it shouldn’t have been as gripping and suspenseful as it was. And yet it is. We get insights into the months and months of planning, their frequent setbacks, ultimate success and the subsequent reaction to what has to be the greatest stunt in history.

8. Milk
In some ways, this is a fairly conventional film by director Gus Van Sant. But it is elevated by a bravura portrayal by Sean Penn of the real-life Harvey Milk. Josh Brolin is another standout in the all-star cast as Dan White, the disgruntled colleague who ends up assassinating Milk and the mayor Moscone. Some of the writing is clunky, but the writer Dustin Lance Black wisely skips the first 40 years of Milk’s life to focus on his political career as the first openly gay elected official in the U.S. After so many states passed restrictions on gay marriage, this film couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

7. Doubt
Although this movie takes a while to really get going, once it does it doesn’t let up. The story of a stern older nun who comes to suspect the new priest at a school of inappropriate behaviour with one of the students is skillfully balanced and keeps you guessing. The ensemble cast (Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis) is uniformly outstanding. Streep especially outdoes herself. The film’s roots as a play occasionally show, but the literary devices of wind, light, cats and food aren’t intrusive yet add depth. Oscar-winning writer John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck) does a fine job in only his second directorial effort.

6. Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In)
This beautiful Swedish film was a real surprise. The unusual story is about a bullied boy whose new neighbour turns out to be a vampire, but the film transcends the horror genre. It’s really just a gorgeously-shot and skillfully-made drama that happens to involve vampires. This is a hundred times better than that bit of fluff Twilight which made a ton of money but was devoid of anything interesting. Catch this one instead if you haven’t already.

5. WALL-E
Some have called this Pixar’s best film - high praise indeed. Personally, I think Ratatouille is superior, but this nonetheless is very special. It manages to convey so much interest in the lengthy opening without dialogue, and gives emotions and personalities to the robots that can rival some human actors. WALL-E’s message of environmentalism and anti-consumerism is possibly heavy-handed, but timely nonetheless. There was a tiny controversy from fat people who were offended by the portrayal of humans in the future, but that was misplaced since that was a reflection not just of consumerism but of humans evolving over generations without gravity. Very smart and witty.

4. The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Not too many people heard of this fascinating documentary by cinematographer Ellen Kuras, which played at last year’s Sundance and Hot Docs Festivals. She followed the story of Laotian refugee Thavisouk Phrasavath for 23 years(!) We learn of his family’s involvement with the Americans in Laos where the U.S. was officially neutral but dropped more bombs on the country than in both World Wars combined. Every subsequent stage of his life is fraught with heartbreaking drama - from their escape to Thailand, to their hopeful immigration to New York only to be placed in a crack-house by their corrupt sponsor, to their reunion with their father, to family involvement with gangs. This is an epic achievement.

3. The Wrestler
I don’t think I’m the only one that finds Mickey Rourke’s cosmetically altered face hard to look at. But he was a perfect choice to play an aging wrestler with a literally broken heart. The life of Randy “The Ram” Robinson mirrors somewhat his own life personal where his acting career sputtered and he ended up returning to his boxing roots - which is how I think his face got mashed up and needing plastic surgery. This is a great comeback story (As a side-note, his Double Team co-star Jean-Claude Van Damme also has a great comeback in JCVD). The gritty, grainy super16 filming adds to the raw energy of the tragic story.

2. Rachel Getting Married
Director Jonathan Demme considers this his finest film and I’d be hard pressed to disagree. Shot on HD and handycams for a cinema verité style, he brilliantly captures the tension and emotion of a wedding disrupted by a sister returning from rehab. The writing by Sidney Lumet’s daughter Jenny Lumet is exceptional, especially as this is her first produced screenplay. Anne Hathaway gives her best performance yet as the sister Kym, while Rosemarie DeWitt and Tunde Adebimpe prove to be utterly believable and sympathetic as the couple. Originally, the fiancé was to be played by Paul Thomas Anderson(!) who became unavailable because of directing There Will Be Blood. I like that Demme opened up the casting and that no comment is made of the interracial relationship. Jenny Lumet’s grandmother is Lena Horne. And in the age of Obama, this is the way it should be.

1. Slumdog Millionaire
Bristling with exuberance, energy and life, this movie cannot fail to delight. What a remarkable achievement to film such a complex story about the journeys of three people from their lives in the slums to their brushes with wealth, all done on location in the chaos that is India with Indian actors. Director Danny Boyle expertly captures the feel of the culture, all the while telling a universal story of hope and love. Working mostly with a cast of unknowns (he cast the child actors from the actual slums), he manages to elicit first-rate performances from all of them. While there may be a few minor flaws, it must have been such a demanding production that I can’t imagine this film being substantially improved. It doesn’t shy away from some of the harsher aspects of life in the slums. But by the end, you’ll want to sing and dance along with the joyous end-credit song “Jai Ho” which means “celebrate life.”