Another Oscar Season in the Books

And there you have it, the lowest grossing film (ever?) to win Best Picture. And you know, I think that's pretty cool. I'm sure there will be a lot of Avatar fans who are disappointed by the outcome, but hopefully they will give this thrilling and unique film a chance. And special kudos to Kathryn Bigelow for becoming the first woman to win Best Director. As for the rest of the categories, it was all pretty clear who would win. The big surprise, certainly, was Precious shutting out Up in the Air for screenplay. Not entirely in agreement with that decision, but at least it was surprising. Anyway, some stray thoughts:

• Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were awful. Really, really awful. Which is a shame, since these guys are usually very funny. You'd think given ten nominees, they'd have a wealth of material to work with.
• Indeed, the whole show was a big letdown. From the strange dance sequence during the score nominees, to the return of the supremely awkward acting presentations by other actors, this year was, dare I say, a disaster. It was becoming clear these last few weeks that Adam Shankman, the producer, had no love for the Oscars at all, so this wasn't all that surprising.
• Jeff Bridges finally won! He has True Grit, with the Coen Bros, coming out this Christmas, maybe there's a chance he will be the first consecutive winner since Tom Hanks?
• So, of all the people who have died since Stanly Kubrick in 1999, none have been more worthy of a standalone In Memoriam than John Hughes? I like the guy's films plenty, and his impact is undeniable, but that's just silly.
  
• Less silly? The horror montage. I was doubtful when they announced it, but damn if it didn't make me want to go watch a bunch of scary movies. Good on them for recognizing it in the show.

So it seems the 10 was a big success for the Academy. I'm sure the ratings this year will be huge. Hopefully the Academy will make as good of a selection in their picture choices next year as they did this year. If they continue to show good, varied taste, this could be an experiment I can get behind.

Oscars: Final Predictions

I'm still not entirely sure what to make of the 10, but I think it will largely depend on how the show goes next Sunday. If the new voting system is as flawed as we are hearing, something completely unexpected could show up as the winner. Up is a good example here. Not many people will place it at number 1, but how many would honestly place it in their bottom 5? So if the front runners really are as divisive as they seem, something no one hates could slide in for a win (no offense, Up!). Ultimately, this seems like a pretty cut and dry season, and I doubt there will be a surprise like that, but it will be interesting to see in future years how this plays out when the front runners aren't so certain.


Picture

• Avatar
• The Blind Side
• District 9
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up in the Air
  

This is seemingly a two film race: Avatar vs The Hurt Locker, a battle to the end. At the moment, it appears as though The Hurt Locker has this easily, but it is still very hard to ignore the fact that no film has ever made so little money and won the big prize. I do love the idea that the year the Academy makes such a blatant attempt to draw in mainstream audiences, it will award Best Picture to the smallest film in their 80+ year history. Still, Avatar has the advantage of being seen by everyone, which can't be ignored.

Winner: The Hurt Locker
Surprise: Avatar


Actor

• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
• George Clooney - Up in the Air
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman - Invictus
• Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
  

Some years just belong to certain actors. It's kind of funny to think that up until November, Crazy Heart was not a 2009 release. Jeff Bridges has so completely wrapped this one up, it's hard to imagine who would have benefited had he stayed in 2010. My guess is Renner would have snuck away with it a la Adrien Brody in 2002. Still, no sense in debating it now, as Bridges finally gets his long deserved Oscar.

Winner: Jeff Bridges
Surprise: Jeremy Renner


Actress

• Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren - The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan - An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
• Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
  

I wonder how much of the support for Bullock this year comes from the notion that she probably won't be nominated again, so if they want her to ever win, they better vote for her now. Streep seems to suffer from the fact that she will probably just be nominated again next year or the year after, so they will have ample opportunities to award her again. Personally, I think it'd be cool if Mulligan or Sidibe won, but it's clearly not going to happen. Bullock has this pretty locked down, but I think there's a contingent of folks who want to see Streep win another one. It's the closest thing to a real race in the top categories.

Winner: Sandra Bullock
Surprise: Meryl Streep


Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon - Invictus
• Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
  

While in other categories, the winner seems so certain because of how beloved the performance is, here it seems to be certain due to how forgettable the competition is. No knock against Waltz, who is indeed amazing, but his competition is extremely meager. Woody Harrelson is the only one who actually makes sense being here, the other three are the very definition of place holders. Nothing special to see here, Waltz gets this with ease.

Winner: Christoph Waltz
Surprise: Woody Harrelson


Supporting Actress

• Penelope Cruz - Nine
• Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
• Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
• Mo'Nique - Precious
  

Now here is a category filled with strong performances. I haven't seen Nine, but the other 4 performances are all worthy ones. Which makes it probably harder for someone to upset Mo'Nique: the support for the performances are pretty evenly split. When all the competition is so equally good, the obvious one is usually the smart bet. I still can't believe that Mo'Nique is soon to be an Oscar winner, but she deserves it.

Winner: Mo'Nique
Surprise: Maggie Gyllenhaal


Director

• Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron - Avatar
• Lee Daniels - Precious
• Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
  

You've probably heard it by now, but no woman has ever won a directing Oscar. That statistic seems destined to change this year with Bigelow. This usually goes to the Best Picture, and in the rare times it doesn't, it goes to the person whose film is usually looked back upon as the one that should have won (Saving Private Ryan, Brokeback Mountain, The Pianist). Regardless of what film wins Picture, I think Bigelow gets this one. Cameron might have been a bigger threat had he not won for Titanic.

Winner: Kathryn Bigelow
Surprise: James Cameron


Original Screenplay

• The Hurt Locker
• Inglorious Basterds
• The Messenger
• A Serious Man
• Up
  

Perhaps the most uncertain category for me, I can't choose between The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds. Logic dictates that a Best Picture winner needs to rack up a few smaller wins to justify being the big winner, and screenplay is usually a gimme along with editing. Still, the writing in Basterds is what makes it work so well, and I'm sure there are a lot of people who want to give Tarantino another writing Oscar. My head says The Hurt Locker, my heart says Basterds, so in this case I will go with my heart.

Winner: Inglourious Basterds
Surprise: The Hurt Locker


Adapted Screenplay

• District 9
• An Education
• In the Loop
• Precious
• Up in the Air
  

This seems pretty easy to call for Up in the Air. Reitman has been turning out well loved films consistently since the start of his career, and it is time to award him for that. Precious is probably a bit too melodramatic and unpleasant to win here, but it's the closet to competition Reitman has. The other three have no shot, though some of them are certainly wonderfully unexpected nominees.

Winner: Up in the Air
Surprise: Precious


Cinematography

• Avatar
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• The White Ribbon
  

Our two eternal combatants, Avatar and The Hurt Locker, appear to be at it once again here. Unfortunately, they each have some pretty strong things going against them. The Hurt Locker is very dreary looking, there aren't a lot of pretty visuals to speak of. It's simply down and dirty film making, as it should be for this kind of film. Avatar, though, is CGI cinematography. What will voters make of that? Will they even count it as cinematography? Could a third party sneak in here? I don't think so, but it's so hard to tell what voters will make of these two films. I will go with Avatar simply because it's big and pretty, something that voters seem to like.

Winner: Avatar
Surprise: The Hurt Locker


Editing

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
  

The easiest award to win for a Best Picture winner is usually editing. This goes to The Hurt Locker, which is able to sustain long stretches of tension through its expert editing. Occasionally big blockbuster action films can win here if the editing is really great (The Bourne Ultimatum), so Avatar is certainly still in the conversation. I think the fact the film is almost 3 hours long will hurt it in the end, though.

Winner: The Hurt Locker
Surprise: Avatar


Art Direction

• Avatar
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Nine
• Sherlock Holmes
• The Young Victoria
  

Another of those more difficult ones to get a feel for. I just have a hard time believing that voters will embrace Avatar in these technical categories where CGI is usually frowned upon. Can entirely computer generated environments really win an art direction award? I think yes, but if they snubbed Avatar here I wouldn't be too surprised. The problem is, what wins instead? Having seen none of the competition, it's hard to say. I would say Sherlock Holmes would be the threat, based on the stylized period recreation that film needed to create.

Winner: Avatar
Surprise: Sherlock Holmes


Costumes

• Bright Star
• Coco Before Chanel
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Nine
• The Young Victoria
  

If the last one was hard to call based on my lack of knowledge of the nominees, this one's even worse. Having seen none of these films, it is especially hard to call. Coco is about a fashion designer, so it certainly must be in the mix. But The Young Victoria is the prototypical winner here: period costume drama. I think they will stick to the norm, but just maybe Coco can eek out a win?

Winner: The Young Victoria
Surprise: Coco Before Chanel


Sound Mixing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  

Now we start to get into the Avatar sweep zone. Sound awards are an easy win for a mega blockbuster like this one. There are exceptions, like last year with Slumdog Millionaire, so watch out for the more beloved film in the race: The Hurt Locker. Still, it's hard to imagine Avatar not getting this.

Winner: Avatar
Surprise: The Hurt Locker


Sound Editing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Up
  

See above. No reason to think Avatar can't take this one. Had Up had a nomination in both sound categories, it might have seemed a bigger threat. The Hurt Locker does have the benefit of being an action film of sorts, so it certainly has a shot in this race as well, but it seems less likely than Sound Mixing.

Winner: Avatar
Surprise: The Hurt Locker


Visual Effects

• Avatar
• District 9
• Star Trek
  

I know I am in the minority (perhaps I am the only one?), but I think District 9 has the best special effects of 2009. Since I am the only person who thinks this, it won't win. But it's nice to imagine.

Winner: Avatar
Surprise: District 9


Makeup

• Il Divo
• Star Trek
• The Young Victoria
  

They don't usually nominate two aging-makeup films, so Divo and Victoria will probably cancel each other out, allowing Star Trek to take this.

Winner: Star Trek
Surprise: The Young Victoria


Song

• Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind"
• Nine - "Take It All"
• Paris 36 - "Loin de Paname"
• The Princess and the Frog - "Almost There"
  
• The Princess and the Frog - "Down in New Orleans"
  

A lot of people like to badmouth this category, but I think the voters do a good job 90% of the time in picking winners. As such, Crazy Heart will win here. The Princess and the Frog might have won here if this was 1994.

Winner: The Weary Kind
Surprise: Down in New Orleans


Score

• Avatar
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Hurt Locker
• Sherlock Holmes
• Up
  

Will Michael Giachhino finally win his much deserved Oscar? It looks like it. Up is such a unique and memorable score, helped by the fact that it is pretty much the only thing you hear during the opening montage of the film. But Avatar lurks in the shadows, as it does in so many categories, hoping to steal a win from a more deserving choice.

Winner: Up
Surprise: Avatar


Documentary

• Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
• The Cove
• Food, Inc.
• The Most Dangerous Man in America
• Which Way Home
  

Because you have to watch all 5 nominees if you want to vote, this is one of those categories where it really helps to see all of them before you predict. I have only seen The Cove, but it seems like a very solid choice - it's thrilling, informative, and powerful. I've heard a lot of good things about Food, Inc, so it might pose a threat.

Winner: The Cove
Surprise: Food, Inc.


Foreign

• Ajami
• The Milk of Sorrow
  
• A Prophet
• The Secret in Their Eyes
• The White Ribbon
  

The obvious choices would be A Prophet and The White Ribbon, the two high profile films. But high profile has nothing to do with it when all 5 must be seen in order to vote. That apparently really benefits The Secret in Their Eyes. Add to that the fact A Prophet was apparently the film that had to be shoehorned into the nominees by the special jury (this is the only category where the voters can't be trusted to choose good movies, so a jury is in place to make sure at least one good movie gets in), it seems like only The White Ribbon can compete with Eyes.

Winner: The Secret in Their Eyes
Surprise: The White Ribbon


Animated

• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Princess and the Frog
• The Secret of Kells
• Up
  

It would be silly to bet against the film also nominated for Best Picture. Still, Pixar fatigue is inevitable, and a viable option actually exists for a change. Fantastic Mr. Fox is certainly a threat here, and were I willing to go out on a limb, it would be my wildcard choice this year to go against the grain. But ultimately, I don't think Up will be the Pixar film voters finally choose to shun.

Winner: Up
Surprise: Fantastic Mr. Fox


As for shorts, my money would be on The Door, A Matter of Loaf and Death, and The Last Truck. It looks like The Hurt Locker will not only be the lowest grossing winner ever, but also one with only 3 wins. Hopefully it will win 1 or 2 more than that, and if it does, it will be pretty clear that a Best Picture win is inevitable. Still, I can't help but wonder how, if at all, the preferential voting will affect the outcome.

And The Nominees Are

It's Oscar time again! Some initial reactions to the nominees:

• I keep flipping back and forth about the 10 issue. On the on hand, we get dreck like The Blind Side. On the other, my top 3 favorite films of 2009 are all BP nominees, something that's never happened before.
  
• Also worth noting, you get films like A Serious Man and The Blind Side as Best Picture nominees with only 2 total noms.
  
• A lot more autopilot noms this year than normal: Cruz, Damon, Mirren, Freeman. I was really disappointed with the acting nominations in general this year, although there were a few pleasant surprises (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
  
• It's nice, after the last 2 years, to have an actual race for Best Picture. Granted, one of the 2 big contenders is a bland summer blockbuster masquerading as quality cinema, but I prefer excitement in my Oscars!
  
• You did it Pixar!
  

Best Picture

Nominees:

• Avatar
  
• The Blind Side
  
• District 9
  
• An Education
  
• The Hurt Locker
  
• Inglourious Basterds
  
• Precious
  
• A Serious Man
  
• Up
  
• Up In The Air
  

Which ones I've seen: Much like last year with The Reader, I got a last minute hunch and forced myself to watch The Blind Side yesterday. It's as awful as expected, but I have seen all ten.

Who should win: Inglourious Basterds

Who will win: The Hurt Locker seems like it is in the lead, but no movie has won BP with that small of a gross. The fact it tied for most nominations is a good sign, though.

Possible upsets? Avatar is just as much as in the running, so it wouldn't be a surprise (but it would be upsetting...)


Best Director

Nominees:

• Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
  
• James Cameron - Avatar
  
• Lee Daniels - Precious
  
• Jason Reitman - Up In The Air
  
• Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
  

Which ones I've seen: All five (with the ten in place, will we ever see a lone director again?)

Who should win: Tarantino, though Reitman and Bigelow would not bother me at all.

Who will win: Bigelow will go down as the first woman to win Best Director, something long overdue.

Possible upsets? Again, it's a race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Cameron already has his Oscar, so hopefully they will pass him over. The sheer size of his film may garner him a lot of votes, though.


Best Actor

Nominees:

• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
  
• George Clooney - Up In The Air
  
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
  
• Morgan Freeman - Invictus
  
• Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
  

Which ones I've seen: All but Firth

Who should win: Clooney has never blown me away as an actor because he usually plays the same part in most films, but here he makes that signature style work in perfect service of his film.

Who will win: Jeff Bridges. I wasn't amazed by his work in Crazy Heart, but as a career achievement award of sorts, I can't argue: he's a great actor.

Possible upsets? I really don't see any, but perhaps Renner if they love The Hurt Locker a little too much.


Best Actress

Nominees:

• Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
  
• Helen Mirren - The Last Station
  
• Carey Mulligan - An Education
  
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
  
• Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
  

Which ones I've seen: All but Mirren

Who should win: It's funny, but the two front runners are the two worst performances here. I'd prefer to see Sidibe win, but Mulligan would be just as nice.

Who will win: I think it's Bullock's year. I don't understand it, but that's fine.

Possible upsets? The perennial question; when will Streep win another Oscar? The only reason she isn't leading this race anymore is because she already won twice. Were it not for that, she would have no problem beating Bullock.


Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

• Matt Damon - Invictus
  
• Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
  
• Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
  
• Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
  
• Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
  

Which ones I've seen: All but Plummer. Seriously, I live in Hollywood, it shouldn't be that hard to find The Last Station and A Single Man at a nearby theater, and yet it is.

Who should win: What an awful line-up. Thankfully, the one brilliant performance will win: Waltz.

Who will win: Christoph Waltz has this locked up.

Possible upsets? Woody Harrelson is the only other deserving person here, and he is long overdue for some serious recognition.


Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

• Penelope Cruz - Nine
  
• Vera Farmiga - Up In The Air
  
• Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
  
• Anna Kendrick - Up In The Air
  
• Mo'Nique - Precious
  

Which ones I've seen: All but Nine. I don't think I will rectify that.

Who should win: I don't know where Mo'Nique found it in her to give that performance, but that Oscar has been hers for a while now.

Who will win: Mo'Nique

Possible upsets? Wow, I honestly don't see any threat here. The Up girls will steal votes from each other and Cruz won last year, so maybe Gyllenhaal?


All in all, not too many surprises this year, which I think we have the 10 to blame. Still, when films like Up and District 9 can get Picture nominations, it's not all bad. We'll see if this sticks around for a while, or if they ditch it in a few years. But they definitely achieved what they set out to do, with five $100 million films in the lineup, and Up in the Air likely to join them thanks to it's awards tally today.

Nominations Tally

Avatar - 9
The Hurt Locker - 9
Inglourious Basterds - 8
Precious - 6
Up in the Air - 6
Up - 5
District 9 - 4
Nine - 4
Star Trek - 4

Top 10: 2009

More than most years, 2009 seems to be a year that no one can agree upon. Usually there seems to be a very strong consensus among critics what the top 10 or so movies of a given year are, but not this year. I can look at a top 10 list by a critic I respect and have it not match at all with another critic's list. And what's funny is that neither really matches with mine, nor does mine match with any of my friends'. This was such a diverse year in film that nothing stood out ahead of the pack. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not, but either way, there's no denying there were a lot of interesting movies this year.

The running theme I noticed was how many messy, ambitious films came out this year. Filmmakers were really trying to be ambitious with their projects, and many failed to reach their lofty goals. And yet, those films became something more special for having tried to be bigger, different. Films like Funny People, Watchmen, Antichrist, The Informant, and Where the Wild Things Are were incredibly ambitious, and all failed on some level. And yet, those shortcomings made the films all the more fascinating. I will always take a failed masterpiece over something that plays by all the rules. While none of those films made my top 10, they deserve special mention for at least trying something.

So, without further ado, here are the greatest films of 2009.

10. Coraline

2009 may go down as one of the great years for animation. So many delightful animated films were released, and on top was Coraline. From Henry Selick, he who brought us Nightmare Before Christmas, this is a wonderfully weird and dark family film. In the character of Coraline, Selick found an offbeat and engaging heroine, one you could both route for and shake your head at simultaneously. The use of 3-D in this film also made me realize just what sorts of things were capable with the technology. Never used to beat you over the head, it brought you into the dual worlds Coraline exists in. Stop motion animation is a very exhausting and time consuming process, but I sincerely hope that Selick continues to champion it in the near future.

9. Adventureland

No film gets at the post college-grad life quite as perfectly as this one does: you know you've accomplished something great by getting a degree, but now what? Perhaps it is because I too had a pointless summer job post college graduation, but this film rang incredibly true to me. Sold as a raunchy Apatow comedy upon release, it is anything but. Filled with heartfelt moments, subtle humor, and engaging, conflicted characters, it is incredibly astute in its examination of a very specific moment in life. I admit, I can be a sucker for films that tap into a nostalgia for something in my past, and this film cut right to my heart. There are moments in life where you pause for a while and do something that seems meaningless at the time, but in retrospect it ends up being one of those great moments in your life. Adventureland gets the allure of those fleeting moments.

8. The Brothers Bloom

Following up his breakout film Brick, Rian Johnson makes a caper film that is every bit as fun. Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz are in top form, and the script is incredibly intelligent. It hits at a theme that I think resonates with everyone, yet few, if any films really tackle: life, if we're being honest, has no narrative. No matter how many biopics we see that try to turn a life story into a cohesive narrative, we all know it isn't true. And yet, we all try to make our own internal narratives anyway. We find important meanings to our lives, and we try to construct our own story based on them. The Bloom Brothers understand this, and they feed off of it to create elaborate cons in which the mark can play into their own imagined life narratives. It is such a life affirming movie.

7. Paranormal Activity

I am something of a horror film buff. Every October I put a dozen horror films at the top of my Netflix queue and just enjoy the most macabre and silly films I can find. I have seen essentially all the "Scariest Moves Ever," from The Exorcist to Nosferatu to Halloween. None scared me as much as Paranormal Activity. None even came close. The experience of seeing this in a theater with a large audience is something I will take with me for the rest of my days. People were shaking, people were sobbing. This film was overwhelming. Of course, the backlash will ensue, but those of us who saw it in a darkened theater when it was still this small thing know that it is terrifying. I know it's a film I will break out every few years for Halloween, hopefully scaring some unsuspecting friend who hasn't seen it yet.

6. The Cove

I know a lot of people can be quite resistant to documentaries. Docs can be so dry and dull, so full of themselves. And how could something that examines dolphin slaughtering in Japan not be that? Well, watch The Cove and find out. Framed like it is a heist film, a group of filmmakers and activists decide to find out what exactly goes on in a hidden cove in Japan. They all know that dolphins are being captured in that cove, but they have no proof of what becomes of those animals. The film is breathless in the way it shows how these people sneak into this forbidden cove and set up hidden cameras to document the slaughter going on. It is an eye opening film, but one that is equally entertaining. It's one of the few documentaries I would recommend to those who don't like the genre.

5. Moon

What a great year for sci-fi 2009 was. While we had big spectacle films like Star Trek and Avatar, Moon went a different route. More in the vein of Kubrick's 2001, Moon is small, quiet, thought provoking sci-fi. There are no villains, no action set pieces, just a lot of stuff to chew on. Somehow it was released without its central premise being given away, so I will keep to that in the hopes that you won't spoil it for yourself and just experience it. Sam Rockwell gives the best performance of his career, as a man working alone in a station on the moon. Things that seem like plot holes (why would anyone allow one man to work alone on the moon?) turn out to be major plot points, asking you to consider certain aspects of human nature. If you like your sci-fi small on scale but big on ideas, this film will delight you.

4. (500) Days of Summer

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is quickly becoming my favorite actor. 2009 was his break out year, thanks in large part to this film. What could have been a slight romantic comedy instead turned out to be a great meditation on what it means to be in a relationship with someone, and what that does to the two people. This film was filled with a number of year best moments, from the post-coital dance number to the devastating reality vs expectations scene. Like 2007's Once, this film is for anyone who knows what it's like to be in a relationship, and all the ups and downs that come along with that.

3. District 9

On the opposite spectrum from Moon, District 9 is the kind of grand sci-fi action film that, when done correctly, can really tap into the zeitgeist. Not content to just be empty spectacle, this film tackles racism in a new and interesting way. Framed as a documentary about the relocation of alien refugees in South Africa, the film features a breakout performance from Sharlto Copley. This is a rousing picture that never skimps on all the important things: characters, ideas, story. I am generally against sequels, but this is the rare film that actually demands to be continued. In a year filled with exciting new directors, director Neill Blomkamp is the one to really watch.

2. Up in the Air

As you have probably heard in a number of reviews, this is the film of the moment. There are certain films that you can watch if you want to know what the world was like at a specific moment in time, and Up in the Air is that to 2009. The idea of a man who fires people for living, himself uncertain of how long he has left in his own job, is a great way to look at these uncertain times. Filled to the brim with great performances, it is George Clooney who anchors it all. I like to watch actors stretch and try new things, but sometimes playing a variation of your persona is the most effective way to go. Director Jason Reitman rightly realizes that by utilizing Clooney, he is able to align us with this character much more easily than if it had been played by someone who had to stretch to play the part. Funny, emotional, intelligent, and just a great time at the movies, Up in the Air never misses a step from beginning to end.

1. Inglourious Basterds

What more can be said about Quentin Tarantino at this point? It's safe to assume that when he is gone, he will be looked back at with reverence and fascination in the same way we do with Kubrick, Hawks, Truffaut, and other iconoclasts of cinema. His best film since Pulp Fiction, this is a layered, unusual, and exciting film. For those simply looking for a good time, you have a great story told with exciting flourishes and dynamic acting. But for those willing to dig a bit deeper, you have a meditation on the power of language and propaganda. Every chapter in the film plays a part in Tarantino's examination of how we use words to our advantage. Be it that brilliant opening scene (May we switch to English?), or the first meeting between Hans Landa and Aldo (Bonjourno!), how people use language is the dominating factor throughout the movie. And indeed, Landa (played to perfection by Christoph Waltz) may be the character of the year. I can think of no character that was more engaging, more interesting, and more unpredictable, than he. Inglourious Basterds is just that perfect fusion of filmmaker, concept, actors, and ideas that comes around all too rarely.