Favorite Movies 2009

10. Grey Gardens (1975)

Little Edie: This is the best thing to wear for today, you understand. Because I don't like women in skirts and the best thing is to wear pantyhose or some pants under a short skirt, I think. Then you have the pants under the skirt and then you can pull the stockings up over the pants underneath the skirt. And you can always take off the skirt and use it as a cape. So I think this is the best costume for today.

I checked the original documentary out in preparation for watching the HBO movie with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. While that was a very good adaptation and I enjoyed it, nothing can quite compare to the real thing. Like a truly grisly train wreck, you just cannot look away from these two women, the house, the cats, the corn cooked on a hot plate while still in bed, the raccoon in the attic, the walls falling down around them.

9. In Bruges (2008)

Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.

Hilarious. Dark, filthy, and surprisingly affecting, but still hilarious. This movie was robbed last year as far as big, shiny awards go.

8. Death at a Funeral (2007)

Robert: What are you doing in my dad's coffin?!

Seriously, when Alan Tudyk's character starts feeling the drugs in his system, I laughed so hard I had to lie down, and then I missed most of the next few minutes, and my throat hurt, and I had to blow my nose, and I'm not sure, but I may have peed myself a little.

7. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

Father Moore: Do not ask it any questions or pay any attention to what it says.
Jason: It?
Father Moore: We won't be dealing with Emily tonight.

I watched this movie for Jennifer Carpenter. I was really worried, because I've still never finished The Exorcist and demonic possession gives me the jeebly-weeblies, but I was quite pleasantly surprised. There's certainly some scary bits, but this was more a compelling court drama than anything else, and it was really nice to see a movie that centered on two women and both were intelligent, interesting characters whose stories had nothing to do with boys. Really outstanding performances all around, but especially from Laura Linney, who elevated the movie to another level.

6. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Just watch the trailer.

This movie made me sob like a little girl. Which, some people might say, how does that end up being one of your favorite movies? What can I say, anything that can affect me like that is a job well done, and I'm a sucker for catharsis.

5. Let The Right One In (2008)

Oskar: Are you really twelve?
Eli: Yes. It's just I've been twelve for a very long time.

Beautiful movie. Beautiful. I'd read so much hype about this before I finally saw it - "Best vampire movie ever! Will change the horror genre!" - that I was sure I would be let down, but I wasn't. Hypnotic and compelling from start to finish.

4. Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Irene Adler: Why are you always so suspicious?
Sherlock Holmes: Should I answer chronologically or alphabetically?

When I was a little girl, I watched Jeremy Brett play Sherlock Holmes on PBS. He was dashing, witty, smart. I fell in love. When I heard that Guy Ritchie was making this movie, I thought, "That's absurd." When I heard that Robert Downey Jr. was going to play Holmes, I thought, "I love RDJ but that's absurd!" When I saw the trailer I thought, "That looks like fun but IT'S STILL ABSURD." I don't claim to be any SH expert - I still haven't read any of the books or stories other than "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" - I still had definite Ideas about what a Sherlock Holmes movie should be.

It's a good thing I'm adaptable.

3. Star Trek (2009)

Spock Prime: Space - the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Yay Star Trek yay!

2. Doubt (2008)

Father Brendan Flynn: You have no right to act on your own! You have taken vows, obedience being one! You answer to us! You have no right to step outside the church!
Sister Aloysius Beauvier: I will step outside the church if that's what needs to be done, till the door should shut behind me! I will do what needs to be done, though I'm damned to Hell! You should understand that, or you will mistake me.

If this were a Best Movies I Saw in 2009 list, this would be number one. If this were a Best Movies I saw in My Life list, this would probably be on it. Just a flawless piece of filmmaking; there aren't any car crashes or explosions or chase scenes or anything else to artificially build the tension, and yet at the end it's hard to breathe. Stellar performances across the board, a great score by Howard Shore, and gorgeous cinematography by Roger Deakins.

1. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz: Say goodbye to your Nazi balls.

God, how Laura and I love this movie.