FilmFeed

This is my list of my 10 favourites films of 2009.

1) Avatar: written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. The film begins in the year 2154 and focuses on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of the three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. Top class sfx and groundbreaking 3D filmmaking technology that inspires.

2) Inglourious Basterds: written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film, set in German-occupied France, tells the story of two plots to assassinate the Nazi political leadership, one planned by a young French Jewish cinema proprietress, the other by a team of American soldiers called the “Basterds”. The film had one of the most memorable moments of the year for me in terms of performance and great cinematography - pure cinema.

3) District 9: action film written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events that took place in District Six, Cape Town during the apartheid era. Neill Blomkamp directorial debut brought one of the most innovative and fresh sci-fi of the year.

4) Moon: science fiction/psychological thriller film about a solitary lunar employee who experiences a personal crisis as the end of his three-year stint nears. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. The film pays homage to the films of Jones’s youth, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien and Blade Runner. Another fresh sci-fi and very enjoyable to watch.

5) Star Trek: science fiction film directed by J. J. Abrams. It is the eleventh film based on the Star Trek franchise and features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series, who are portrayed by a new cast. Faithful to the original Star Trek, the story establishes an alternate reality through time-travel with a modernized production design of the original show. As a ‘trek’ fan, I enjoyed this film a lot.

6) Watchmen: directed by Zack Snyder, the film is set in an alternate-history 1985 at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, as a group of mostly retired vigilantes investigates an apparent conspiracy against them and uncovers something even more grandiose and sinister. Another great film that breaks ground never before explored by a live-action movie.

7) The Hurt Locker: war thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The film follows a United States Army EOD team during the Iraq War. The story was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad. With brilliant cinematography showing raw, immediate microcosm/macrocosm perspective the audience gets a feeling of total immersion. I loved it!

8) Terminator Salvation: the fourth installment in the Terminator series, directed by McG, and starring Christian Bale as future Resistance leader John Connor and Sam Worthington as cyborg Marcus Wright. With a $200 million budget, it was the most expensive independent production in history. With very realist sequences many of the machines had an H. R. Giger influence. The design and special effects had lots of other influences too, such as Mad Max, Star Wars trilogy and Children of Men. That is why I enjoyed watching this film.

9) Up: computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The film centers around a grumpy old man named Carl Fredricksen and an overeager wilderness explorer named Russell who fly to South America in a floating house suspended from helium balloons. The Tepui mountains, Angel Falls and its surreal environment and creatures made it one of most enjoyable animated films of the year for me.

10) G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra: live-action film adaptation of the G.I. Joe toy franchise, with particular inspiration on the comic book G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the franchise. The story follows two American soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, who join the G.I. Joe Team after being attacked by MARS troops. I enjoyed a lot the special effects, that is why I included it in my top 10 favourite list of 2009. Many critics mentioned the film scientific impossibilities and poor plot but, the action scenes and design steals the show anyway.