1. "The Hurt Locker"(2009)
Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first female to be awarded the Best Director Oscar for the best movie to deal with the Iraq War(so far). She fills each frame with explosive tension in this intimate tale of a trio of U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit(simply put, the bomb squad). Jeremy Renner landed his breakout role as the livewire leader of the group, a gung-ho maverick drawn to the thrill of battle and disconnected from sedate civilian life, while Anthony Mackie made us take similar notice as his calmer comrade. "Locker" may be the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner of all time due to real-life war withdrawal, but film is forever, and this one has already secured a spot in the pristine pantheon of crackling combat flicks.
2. "Avatar"(2009)
There's a lot of stubborn movie buffs that just refuse to give it up for James Cameron. I'm not afraid to call the man a trail-blazing genius with an almost unparalleled track record when it comes to big-budget 'event' film-making. After a 12 year absence from cinema, the bearded braggadocios unleashed the most hyped film project in history not called "Star Wars". Revolutionary, game-changing 3-D technology was a common boast heard by the "Titanic" director. An 'unoriginal' story(there's only about six movie plots, people) didn't diminish an unforgettable, fully immersive viewing experience for a guy rarely impressed by pyrotechnics(take that, "Transformers"). As I write this, "Avatar" is the highest-grossing movie of all time. Cameron broke his OWN box office records, and recently announced three more trips to Pandora that are guaranteed to keep the global motion picture industry thriving.
3. "Inglorious Basterds"(2009)
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino quickly rebounded from 2007's underwhelming "Grindhouse" to reestablish his ballistic brand of dialogue, death, and destruction in his most successful and satisfying work since "Pulp Fiction". Brad Pitt leads the Basterds, a bloodthirsty band of Nazi-hunting Jewish-American soldiers during WWII. Blonde beauties Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger aid in a fictional revenge fantasy/black comedy that QT began constructing in 1998, culminating with a fiery climax in a French cinema. Oh, and a scene-stealing Christoph Waltz, walking away with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, as the politely-pompous SS officer Hans Landa. I think this just might be Quentin's third masterpiece.
4. "Up in the Air"(2009)
Jason Reitman justified all that post-"Juno" buzz to join a select bunch of brand-name filmmakers in this sharp snapshot of the economic uncertainties that plagued the populace at the tail end of the 2000s. George Clooney is even charming when he's terminating the employment of working-class people, and most of us are glad he brought Anna Kendrick along to rip the heart out of the heartland. Reitman may be the only guy that got something out of the Great Recession, and his savage seriocomedy manages it's latent likability with help from Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride and J.K. Simmons.
5. "Up"(2009)
Pixar's titanic track record over the course of nearly two decades makes me want to have kids. That's quite a compliment. There doesn't seem to be any story or protagonist they can't sell to thankful throngs of supporters, as evidenced by Ed Asner's elderly widower and his thousands of helium balloons. Summertime viewers were moved to tears by his 'married life' montage that preceded his flight to the wilds of South America with an accidental Asian Boy Scout sidekick. Pixar predictably picked up their third straight Best Animated Feature Oscar, and there was simply no letting the air out of this awesome animated powerhouse as we hurled toward the 2010s("Toy Story 3" was 'up' next).
6. "Crazy Heart"(2009)
Jeff Bridges has long been one of the industry's most underrated actors. A Best Actor Oscar win won't allow us to fume about his lack of formal recognition anymore, but I'm still glad he won it for the wounded sensitivity he brought to aging country music star 'Bad' Blake. This hard-living legend finds redemption in the form of Maggie Gyllenhaal's sweet single mom. Old habits die hard, though. "Heart" hits all the right notes thanks to director Scott Cooper, and makes a nice companion piece with 1989's "The Fabulous Baker Boys" for those members of the Bridges brigade looking to drop 'The Dude' for awhile.
7. "The Blind Side"(2009)
Barack Obama was ALMOST as popular as Sandra Bullock at the beginning of his first term. We backed cinema's sexiest bus-driving girl next door for fifteen frequently turbulent years("Two If by Sea"?, "Speed 2"??, "ALL ABOUT STEVE"???) before she reached her critical and commercial zenith as Memphis matriarch Leigh Anne Tuohy in this fact-based, feel good drama. Gentle giant Michael Oher owes his NFL career to this Southern saint and her down-home hubby(Tim McGraw). A brassy Bullock's all-time high approval rating resulted in the Best Actress Oscar, and a knockout victory over the similarly rousing, previously unbeatable "Rocky" saga for the title of top-earning sports movie.
8. "Invictus"(2009)
Clint Eastwood is the best director of the decade(there, I said it). He got the last good performance out of Morgan Freeman, as if the double Oscar winner needed another classy distinction. This dynamic duo clearly works well together("Unforgiven", "Million Dollar Baby"), and Freeman is spot-on as South African President Nelson Mandela. The anti-apartheid revolutionary seeks to unite his divided country through the 1995 Rugby World Cup and it's tough team captain Francois Pienaar(an equally game Matt Damon). Is it just me, or is rugby more exciting and fast-paced than that overhyped Sunday spectacle known as American football? Another job well done, Clint.
9. "Precious"(2009)
Alright, enough of all this uplift. You think your life sucks? Meet Gabourey Sidibe's obese, illiterate Harlem teen. Her dark, impoverished existence isn't easy to digest, but where is it written that every movie has to be a dopey dopamine rush? Spike Lee must have been envious of director Lee Daniels' lucid delivery of her authentically bleak surroundings, right down to Mariah Carey's dowdy social worker. Mo'Nique mauled the competition for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Precious' monstrous mother, one of two wins this super indie scored out of six nominations(the other was for Best Adapted Screenplay).
10(tie). "Star Trek"(2009)
James T. Kirk, one of the most storied heroes in all of fiction, gets a facelift in this visually-arresting, action-packed prequel that you didn't have to be an aging Trekkie to appreciate. The 43 year old franchise was at it's absolute lowest point, before a crowd-pleasing genius named J.J. Abrams captained the Starship Enterprise, making this "Trek" faster and more fun than it ever was with William Shatner(with all due respect). Chris Pine impressively leads a youthful cast that includes Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Anton Yelchin. Winona Ryder and the late, great Leonard Nimoy make welcome appearances as well.
10(tie). "Public Enemies"(2009)
It's fitting that we wrap up this retrospective on the first decade of the 21st Century with it's biggest marquee name. They say that this superhero-soaked, franchise-friendly era rendered the traditional 'movie star' obsolete. Try telling that to Captain Jack. Johnny Depp should've drawn a bigger crowd as infamous 1930s gangster John Dillinger, whose Depression era exploits inspired the formation of the FBI(maybe we couldn't recognize him without his eyeliner). Christian Bale is the straight-arrow agent hot on his trail and Marion Cotillard is his 'blackbird' Billy Frechette in another exemplary effort from "Heat" helmsman Michael Mann.
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