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<\/a>*Sharlto Copley, District 9<\/p>\n
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker<\/p>\n
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man<\/p>\n
George Clooney, Up in the Air<\/p>\n
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart<\/p>\n
Peter Capaldi, In the Loop<\/p>\n
\u00a0Honorable Mention:\u00a0 Hugh Dancy in Adam, Robin Williams in World\u2019s Greatest Dad, Colin Firth in A Single Man, Sam Rockwell in Moon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in [500] Days of Summer, Viggo Mortensen in The Road<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n *Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia<\/p>\n Abbie Cornish, Bright Star<\/p>\n Carey Mulligan, An Education<\/p>\n Gabourey Sidibe, Precious<\/p>\n Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Honorable Mention:\u00a0 Rose Byrne in Adam, Zooey Deschanel in [500] Days of Summer, Maya Rudolph in Away We Go<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Maggie Gyllenhaal, Away We Go<\/p>\n Juliet Lewis, Whip It<\/p>\n *Mo\u2019Nique, Precious<\/p>\n Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air<\/p>\n Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air<\/p>\n Best Supporting Actor<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Schneider, Bright Star<\/p>\n *Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles<\/p>\n Woody Harrelson, The Messenger<\/p>\n Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Honorable Mention:\u00a0 Frankie Faison in Adam<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Duncan Jones, Moon<\/p>\n *Neill Blomkamp, District 9<\/p>\n Lee Daniels, Precious<\/p>\n James Cameron, Avatar<\/p>\n Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker<\/p>\n Jason Reitman, Up in the Air<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mo\u2019Nique\u2019s shocking and shattering performance as the worst welfare mother around in Precious.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moon (Nathan Parker, Duncan Jones)<\/p>\n The Invention of Lying (Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson)<\/p>\n District 9 (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tachell)<\/p>\n *Up in the Air (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)<\/p>\n Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Clint Mansell, Moon<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Broken Embraces<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Every Little Step.\u00a0 A tremendously enjoyable film which connects the dots between the origin of the 1975 Broadway phenomenon A Chorus Line and its recent revival.<\/p>\n Outrage.\u00a0 The appalling stories of closeted gay politicians who use homophobia to further their own careers.<\/p>\n The Boys:\u00a0 The Sherman Brothers Story.\u00a0 The fascinating exploration of the songwriting team behind Mary Poppins and many other Disney standards.<\/p>\n *The Cove.\u00a0 Filmmaking as political activism.\u00a0 This movie might just help dismantle the dolphinarium industry.<\/p>\n Ingelore.\u00a0 A work of stunning simplicity and power; a tale of survival redemption.\u00a0 [Egotistical note:\u00a0 After posting my review of the movie I got a nice note from the film\u2019s director!\u00a0 Read the review at http:\/\/hubpages.com\/hub\/Thirty-Great-Movies-Youve-Probably-Never-Seen–Ingelore]<\/p>\n Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg!\u00a0 A fascinating look at a forgotten television pioneer.<\/p>\n Art and Copy.\u00a0 The stories behind the people behind the most famous ad campaigns of the last fifty years.<\/p>\n Capitalism:\u00a0 A Love Story.\u00a0 A surprisingly good piece from activist Michael Moore.<\/p>\n Visual Acoustics.\u00a0 Tracing the career of iconic architectural photographer Julius Shulman.<\/p>\n This is It.\u00a0 A remarkable record of the final rehearsals of the show Michael Jackson didn\u2019t live to perform.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Adventureland.\u00a0 A very sweet coming of age story set during a crappy summer job at a crumbling amusement park.<\/p>\n In the Loop.\u00a0 Fall-down-on-the-floor funny political satire of the most scathing variety.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A Perfect Getaway.\u00a0 A sharp and attractive cast help raise this little thriller out of the mundane.\u00a0 Good scenery, too!<\/p>\n Taking Woodstock.\u00a0 Ang Lee\u2019s gentle riff on an iconic American event.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Complicated.\u00a0 Not really, but it\u2019s fun to sit through.<\/p>\n Whip It.\u00a0 It\u2019s shameful that more people didn\u2019t see this charming tale of rebellion on roller skates.<\/p>\n The Informant!\u00a0 Won\u2019t hurt you.\u00a0 Reasonably funny and interesting true story.<\/p>\n Surrogates.\u00a0 Decent science fiction thriller starring The Bruce.<\/p>\n 2012.\u00a0 Go watch buildings you\u2019ve worked in collapse into the abyss!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Taken.\u00a0 Liam Neeson kills really bad guys really dead.\u00a0 Better than it sounds.<\/p>\n The International:\u00a0 Clive Owen dodges bad guys in the Gugenheim museum.<\/p>\n Coraline.\u00a0 Deeply creepy, but worth seeing with an adventurous kid.\u00a0 Or adult.<\/p>\n Where the Wild Things Are.\u00a0 Not exactly enjoyable, but could spark some really good conversations between parents and kids.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Hotel For Dogs<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Road.\u00a0 I loved the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Cormac McCarthy novel it\u2019s based on.\u00a0 But it\u2019s such grim subject matter that I cannot believe they got anyone to invest money into it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The House of the Devil.\u00a0 Scary and funny homage to tacky early 1980s horror films.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A pack of cute Scotty dogs turn into upside-down hanging bats in Coraline.<\/p>\n The first time the bedroom door moves in Paranormal Activity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019s Just Not That Into You.\u00a0 Okay, so it\u2019s not Citizen Kane.\u00a0 But it has an attractive and charming cast (as well as Scarlett Johansson).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Long underappreciated, two of my favorite actors had very very good years in 2009:<\/p>\n Bradley Cooper in The Hangover, not to mention He\u2019s Just Not That Into You and New York I Love You.<\/p>\n Ryan Reynolds hit pay dirt with The Proposal, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even had time to shine in the indie charmer Adventureland.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Old-fashioned stop-action animation.\u00a0 Two excellent films were released in this venerated, but largely abandoned format.\u00a0 Coraline was creepy and lyrical, and Fantastic Mr. Fox was arch and whimsical.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Justin Long<\/p>\n John Krasinski<\/p>\n Maya Rudolph<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a fan of this quirky, pretty actress since her chilling turn as a psychotic teen murderess in Heavenly Creatures.\u00a0 In 2009 I was happy to see her talents in three different movies:\u00a0 Away We Go (a young wife struggling with infertility), Up in the Air (a young woman struggling with a reluctant fianc\u00e9) and The Informant! (a young woman struggling with a crazy husband).\u00a0 Send your agent a REALLY expensive muffin basket, girlfriend.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Frankie Faison has been making movies better for decades.\u00a0 Why isn\u2019t he better known?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Chris Evans<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Goods:\u00a0 Live Hard, Sell Hard.\u00a0 Okay, I\u2019ll grant you it has a truly awful title.\u00a0 But this broad comedy about car salesmen is actually quite funny.<\/p>\n I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.\u00a0 A TRULY awful title kept people away from the film version of Tucker Max\u2019s memoir of debauchery.\u00a0 Matt Czuchry (also saddled with a challenging name) is terrific as Max.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Star Trek.\u00a0 J.J. Abrams managed to make it feel classic and new at the same time.\u00a0 The superb cast helped a lot.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Opening card of the credits for [500] Days of Summer:\u00a0 Author’s Note<\/strong>: The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.<\/p>\n The \u201cU\u201d on the Universal logo gaining an umlaut at the beginning of Br\u00fcno.<\/p>\n The jazzy music and graphic which opened An Education.<\/p>\n The peek-a-boo titles which immediately drew you into the claustrophobic world of Moon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The roller derby queens in Whip It had a catalog of wonderful names, such as Eva Destruction, Juanna Beat\u2019n, Bloody Holly, Jaba the Slut, Maggie Mayhem and Iron Maven.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Zoe Saldana, who burned up the screen as Uhuru in Star Trek and as a hottie blue alien in Avatar.<\/p>\n Sam Worthington, who I first saw ten years ago in Bootmen, an odd but affecting dance movie from Australia, where he also did a lot of television.\u00a0 After Avatar and Terminator Salvation, I think he can look forward to bigger jobs and bigger paychecks from here on out.\u00a0 Next up:\u00a0 He plays the lead in the remake of Clash of the Titans.\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s hope he got a personal trainer before principal shooting commenced for that one.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Wilson.\u00a0 Who knew Owen and Luke even had a big brother?\u00a0 He was excellent in Whip It.<\/p>\n Kathryn Hahn.\u00a0 Hot and hilarious in The Goods:\u00a0 Live Hard, Sell Hard<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Star Trek<\/p>\n A Serious Man<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel Stern<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wasn\u2019t it great to see Sigourney Weaver suit up for another rollicking James Cameron adventure?\u00a0 She really connects to his vibe and makes his movies better.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After a three-year absence from the screen, Ben was terrific as a corrupt politician in State of Play, an earnest boyfriend in He\u2019s Just Not That Into You, and especially as the naughty best friend in Extract.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Saturday Night Live comic scored comedy points in Adventureland, Extract and Whip It.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jennifer Garner in The Invention of Lying<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI do not like The Cone of Shame.\u201d\u00a0 Dug the Dog expresses the chagrin we can all (at least sometimes) relate to in Up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look like a radioactive tampon.\u201d\u00a0 Sam Rockwell gets real in Moon.<\/p>\n Bus Ad:\u00a0 \u201cPepsi.\u00a0 For When They Don\u2019t Have Coke.\u201d\u00a0 — truth in advertising in The Invention of Lying.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m committing carbicide.\u201d\u00a0 Using ice cream to end everything in Br\u00fcno.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The first fifteen minutes of Up.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Actually, it WASN\u2019T The Hangover, even though that was a fun movie.\u00a0 The funniest movie this year was the British political romp In the Loop, with its amazing performance by Peter Capaldi (you might remember him as the sweet young linguist in Local Hero).\u00a0 The scathing insults he pelts his fellow cast members spew like battery acid, and you laugh until your sides hurt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Br\u00fcno<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Drag Me To Hell.\u00a0 \u201cYou tricked me, you black-hearted who-o-o-o-o-ore! You b-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-itch!\u201d \u2013 Okay, so it\u2019s not much of a line.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing:\u00a0 It\u2019s uttered by a goat.\u00a0 A goat<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The running jokes on signs and advertisements in The Invention of Lying.\u00a0 Highlights include a nursing home called \u201cA Sad Place For Hopeless Old People\u201d and a bus ad reading \u201cPepsi.\u00a0 For When They Don\u2019t Have Coke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The formerly-dependable Alison Lohman\u2019s bafflingly unconvincing performance in Drag Me to Hell fatally undermined an otherwise fun movie.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Inglorious Basterds.\u00a0 I like Tarantino, and there\u2019s lots to like about this movie, particularly the two main women (Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger).\u00a0 There\u2019s also the spectacular supporting performance by Christoph Waltz, not to mention a devilishly charismatic turn by the handsome Michael Fassbender.\u00a0 But Brad Pitt is not a great actor, no matter how bad they want us to believe he is.\u00a0 He\u2019s an okay actor.\u00a0 And I left this movie with a fairly bad taste in my mouth.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The very glum Where the Wild Things Are.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Lovely Bones<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Terminator Salvation.\u00a0 Enough already.\u00a0 And speaking of Terminator Salvation . . .<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Christian Bale.\u00a0 Okay, so can everyone now get on my page regarding this strange guy?\u00a0 He was great as a kid in Empire of the Sun, and he\u2019s been good a few times.\u00a0 But now all he does is scowl and growl.\u00a0 Boring and bewildering.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Coco Before Chanel.\u00a0 Even my beloved Audrey Tautou couldn\u2019t make this tedious (and, reportedly, very fanciful) biopic interesting.<\/p>\n Terminator Salvation.\u00a0 Needless sequel with a needlessly colorless performance by Christian Bale.<\/p>\n G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.\u00a0 Lots of noise and things exploding and really attractive young actors running around in cool outfits.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it makes Starship Troopers look like Citizen Kane.<\/p>\n X-Men Origins: Wolverine.\u00a0 Not Hugh Jackman\u2019s fault, of course, but the plot didn\u2019t make a lick of sense.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen:\u00a0 Hours and hours of boring, repetitive CGI destruction.\u00a0 Yawn.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to hear your comments!<\/p>\n \nBest Actress<\/h2>\n
Best Supporting Actress<\/h2>\n
Best Director<\/h2>\n
The Performance of the Year<\/h2>\n
Best Screenplay<\/h2>\n
Best Musical Score<\/h2>\n
Best Foreign Language Film<\/h2>\n
Best Documentaries<\/h2>\n
Good Movies That Flew Under the Radar<\/h2>\n
Good Popcorn Movies<\/h2>\n
Guilty Pleasures<\/h2>\n
\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Take Your Kids To It But Make Sure You, Uh, Talk About It Afterwards<\/h2>\n
Good Family Fare<\/h2>\n
Can\u2019t Believe They Got This One Made<\/h2>\n
My Favorite Little Independent Movie<\/h2>\n
Scariest Bit<\/h2>\n
Harmless.\u00a0 Really.<\/h2>\n
The Year Two of My Favorites Finally Made It Big<\/h2>\n
Least Expected Comeback<\/h2>\n
Why Aren\u2019t They Bigger Stars Yet?<\/h2>\n
Go Go Melanie Lynskey!<\/h2>\n
Most Underrated Character Actor<\/h2>\n
Why Can\u2019t He Get Into a Good Movie?<\/h2>\n
Terrible Titles Scuttling Movies Actually Worth Seeing<\/h2>\n
Best Reboot of a Franchise<\/h2>\n
The Year Opening Credits Became Fun Again<\/h2>\n
Best Character Names<\/h2>\n
After Years of Working, They\u2019ve Hit It Big!<\/h2>\n
Can We Please See More of . . .<\/h2>\n
Best Argument for a Best Casting Academy Award<\/h2>\n
Good to See You Back in the Saddle<\/h2>\n
Two People Who Should Work Together More<\/h2>\n
Three Good Supporting Performances by Ben Affleck<\/h2>\n
Three Good Supporting Performances by Kristen Wiig<\/h2>\n
Sure, She\u2019s Not Bad to Look At, But Who Knew She Had Such a Flair for Comedy?<\/h2>\n
Best Lines<\/h2>\n
Best Love Story<\/h2>\n
Funniest Movie, Start to Finish<\/h2>\n
Not as Sublime as Borat but Still Funny<\/h2>\n
Best Random Moment<\/h2>\n
Funniest Bits<\/h2>\n
Jodie Foster Award For Worst Performance By An Actress<\/h2>\n
Movie I\u2019m Most Ambivalent About<\/h2>\n
Least Entertaining Harry Potter Movie So Far<\/h2>\n
Proof That a Film Can Be Perceptive, Beautifully Made, and Perhaps Even Brilliant . . . and Still Not Be Very Much Fun to Sit Through<\/h2>\n
Bleh.\u00a0 Just . . \u00a0Bleh.<\/h2>\n
Worst Burial of a Franchise<\/h2>\n
Scarlet Johansson Award for Career That Needs to End Immediately.<\/h3>\n
\u00a0These Movies Just Sucked<\/h2>\n
Did you try to sit through any of these turkeys:<\/h3>\n
And, of course, let\u2019s not forget:<\/h3>\n
The Year\u2019s Worst Film<\/h2>\n
Average Rating: 4.5<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 269<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>