My Movies of 2009

1. ‘In The Loop’ (Armando Iannucci)
This incredible witty movie is a great extension from the TV series ‘The Thick of It’. The genius script and the brilliant acting crosses the line between satire and real-life so well that it is almost scary to watch at times. Without doubt, one of the best political comedies of all time.

2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
This dark and melancholy film is set in a small village in Protestant Germany on the eve of World War I. The focus of the movie is a set of mysterious accidents and who is behind them. When the truth is revealed it raises many disturbing questions about society in general, a fantastic movie!

3. Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi)
This movie is as emotional as it is humorous. The heavy metal band who should have had it all but never made it big for some reason. In spite of all this they are still going strong, playing to anyone who will listen to them. A true underdog story.

4. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
A great revisionist view on the Second World War and it’s close. Expect the usual long dialogues and epic length but, also, as usual, it is done expertly well. The acting, soundtrack and pace of story are all first class, in a word; brilliant!

5. The Hangover (Todd Phillips)
The best comedy of the year comes from a group of guys on a stag party in Las Vegas. On paper it seemed like a recipe for disaster. However, the script is fantastic and the story is engaging throughout. It had me fully involved from beginning to end.

6. Moon (Duncan Jones)
I’m not usually a big fan of Sci-Fi movies but this one was certainly a cut above the rest. The acting is clearly a highlight as we are dealing with a one man show from beginning to end. The story raised many poignant questions about our near future.

7. About Elly (Asghar Farhadi)
If this is what Iranian movies is all about then count me in for a whole lot more. A middle class family ventures to their holiday retreat in Northern Iran only to have a tragedy strike them. The story is not complicated but it engages you from the very start.

8. Cannot Live Without You / Bu neng mei you ni (Leon Dai)
A touching Taiwanese movie about a father’s quest to keep his young daughter at all cost. It is well written and gives a great view of the less fortunate side of Taiwanese society. A great all-round movie.

9. The Boat That Rocked (Richard Curtis)
A great movie about the start of commercial radio back in the 1960’s. It is part fictional but largely based around true characters and events. It was great to get an insight into this exciting time in music. The damn preventing music of all genres flooding into the country (the government controlled airwaves) were giving way for the first time and this is a story about the very start of that. Great viewing for anyone interested in music for the soundtrack alone and, as usual, Curtis doesn’t let us down with the script either.

10. District 9 (Neill Blomkamp)
As far as alien movies are concerned I am not a fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, this was great and different to the usual storyline of aliens coming to earth, aliens destroy earth, and Americans save the day! Really well acted and great references to general life in society.