Best Movies of 2009 - Top 3
Here are the 3 best movies of 2009 that got our adrenaline pumping and the dynamite exploding. We love good movies and have seen hundreds in our time.
- Crazy Heart. At age 60, Jeff Bridges proves he’s still got it in this quiet but crowd-pleasing adaptation of Thomas Cobb’s novel. Here, he plays Bad Blake, a boozing country singer who quite literally lives up to his name. It’s a big performance in a Crazy Heart that is sure to earn Bridges an illustrious fifth Oscar nomination — and quite possibly his first win (yep, he’s that good).
- The Cove. Widespread love for dolphins dates back to the days of ‘Flipper,’ and comes full circle with this expose of their mass slaughter occurring in Japan (some 23,000 are killed a year), The Cove 2009 the best documentary of the year. Louie Psihoyos’ doc is equal parts thrilling and heartbreaking — he crafts a mission to uncover the slaughter as a full-on caper; the film then climaxes with one of the most devastating (and disturbing) scenes ever committed to non-fiction filmmaking.
- Up in the Air. With three feature films now under his belt – ‘Thank You for Smoking,’ ‘Juno’ and now this instant classic — is there any doubt that 32-year-old Jason Reitman is one of Hollywood’s best directors? George Clooney somehow makes a corporate downsizer (topical!) lovable and magnetic in a superb lead turn (his best yet), while Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga kill as the distinctly powerful women who change his life. Download Up in the Air Movie is a near-perfect film that is at times bitingly funny, at other times heartrendingly sad — sort of like life, come to think of it.