As you may know, I’m doing my own Oscar balloting this year since my opinion tends to better than the majority of the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (at least in my opinion).
Basically, I took the 8 highest grossing movies of 2009 and the 8 most well-reviewed films of 2009 (per Metacritic). Then I watched them all and gave them scores based on Directing, Writing, Acting, Cinematography, and Editing (with Directing and Writing weighted 3x and Action weighted 2x).
Back in February I listed out the bottom 8, so here are 2-8 (I’m saving #1 for another post).
#8 — In the Loop (initial ranking: Metacritic #4) — In the Loop was such a surprise. It is a brilliant political satire export from Britain, and it hits almost all the right notes. I usually stray from political movies because they fabricate so much so the audience can stomach it. In the Loop is both scary enough to be real and scary enough to turn your head. It’s only real downfall was the overall story (war in the Middle East) which is somewhat tired in the post-Bush era, but it was one of only 3 movies which got a perfect score for dialogue, and you should watch it for this alone. It also got bad marks for cinematography and editing, but who really cares with lines like, “Twelve thousand troops. But that’s not enough. That’s the amount that are going to die. And at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you’ve lost.”
#7 — Up (initial ranking: highest grossing #5) — Up wasn’t my favorite Pixar creation. But, it is cute, and it’s wonderfully made. I just can’t stand Ed Asner. I haven’t forgiven him since I saw him in a play a couple of years ago where he was playing a dying man and I thought he had actually died on stage (it was really awkward, I felt like the stage hands should have done something).
#6 — Star Trek (initial ranking: highest grossing #7) — It was such a surprise to see Star Trek and to like it! I’ve never been a Trekkie, but this movie was fantastic. The acting, the writing, the directing… it was all great. I actually give huge props to the director, JJ Abrams. I don’t know how you take a storied franchise like this, attempt to resurrect it, and actually come out with a great and enjoyable movie. He used just the right balance of new and old, and he even brought back Spock in a scenario that wasn’t TOO hokey.
#5 — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (initial ranking: highest grossing #3) — I loved this installment of Harry Potter. If they had left out the “love” scenes between the kids, it probably would have been my #2 movie of the year. I felt that David Yates directing was absolutely perfect and the visual feel of it all couldn’t have been better. Aside from the dumb dialogue, the acting was, as usual, a bit mixed — as one would expect when you put pros like Michael Gambon and Alan Rickman up against Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
#4 — Up in the Air (initial ranking: Metacritic #8) — Up in the Air was one of the movies that stayed with me for a long time. We’ve all heard the coming-of-middle-age story before, but not with George Clooney! I don’t even really like George Clooney, but he was great in this. I’d never seen Anna Kendrick before, but I definitely hope I see a lot more of her. I thought she was perfect. Actually, the entire cast was perfect. And the dialogue was fabulous. Ultimately, I loved, loved, loved the ending. It was real… which means it took my heart out, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it a few times.
#3 — An Education (initial ranking: Metacritic #5) — For the record, the difference in score between An Education and Up in the Air is so infinitesimal, they should just be considered a tie. Also, if I had to recommend one movie subjectively, I would recommend Up in the Air, but that’s mostly because “I loved, loved, loved the ending” of Up in the Air, while hating the ending of An Education in inverse proportion. An Education’s ending was not real… which means it was happy. However, on my technical merit score, An Education scored higher, and it really is quite a good movie, despite the failings of the last five minutes. If Adam’s Oscars had Best Actor nominations, Carey Mulligan would most certainly be in the top two (with Meryl Streep of course). Her performance was incredible… really incredible.
#2 — The Hurt Locker (initial ranking: Metacritic #1) — The funny thing about The Hurt Locker is that I probably wouldn’t recommend it to many people, and I definitely don’t want to see it again… but at the same time, it’s a nearly flawless film. It’s only downfall is the story, which doesn’t have much depth — it’s a just a simple tale about a guy who is addicted to his own adrenaline and the bombs that keep that adrenaline pumping. In fact, of the top 7 movies, The Hurt Locker scored the lowest in the “Story” category. But, the other facets of the movie were so strong, it didn’t really matter. Kathryn Bigelow deserves the Oscar for Best Director. She did a truly fantastic job. Visually, the movie was stunning. It certainly felt like the Iraq I’ve read so much about, and just watching it made my throat parched. Lastly, Jeremy Renner was great in the lead role, and I wish he weren’t so overshadowed by the director.
But, however great these movies were, they were not even close to number 1… coming soon.
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