It is indeed that time of year when everyone and his brother writes a “best movies of the year” article.  We here at Heretical Ideas have decided to take that literally, with Alex and Brian Knapp having spent exhausting hours, perhaps even days, locked in a room arguing about which movies are the best of the year. And by “hours, perhaps even days” we mean minutes. And by locked in a room, we mean over email. And by arguing, we mean they came up with individual lists and figured out how to put them together, then decided who was going to write about each one, with the tiebreaker going to the brother who actually saw the film in question.

Without further ado (although we suppose there was not much ado to start with) here are the best movies of 2009, as determined by arbitrary email consensus between two demographically similar people with largely similar taste in film.

10. Taken

I reviewed this movie earlier in the year here.  In that review, I said:

Taken is a very predictable and formulaic movie that still sort of kicks ass. It does not make a statement and even if it did, it would collapse for a lack of substance.

That said, I still liked it and am likely to watch it again and again and again. It is pure fantasy and hey, that’s what the movies are for, right? With even slightly less quality acting, directing, and photography, there wouldn’t be much to distinguish this from The Art of War 2. But, the execution is good, even if the writing is a little lame at times. Liam Neeson is a favorite of mine and has had a string of great, if underappreciated performances lately in: Batman Begins, Seraphim Falls, and Kinsey

My thoughts on the movie haven’t really changed much.  The only difference is that in no uncertain terms, the movie field this year was a little weak.  So, even though Taken is a solid action film, which is always an impressive feat, it didn’t quite have the competition to keep it out of our top ten. That seems a bit like damning with faint praise, but hey, it’s got Liam Neeson killing sex traffickers. It would have made the top twenty any given year.

– Brian Knapp

9.  Watchmen

Like Taken, Watchmen was reviewed by myself here earlier in the year.  Unlike Taken, Watchmen had a little more depth and warranted some more extensive comments.

Without giving too much away the whole story cumilnates to the point that the story attempts to make: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  Or, Who watches the watchmen?  In this sense, this is less a theoretical pondering and more a deeply profound political philosophical question.  Consider that our free society resembles in large part a platonic republic.  If the Watchmen are not the bastion of virtue that they purport to be and they are regarded as heroes, or even in the case of Dr. Manhattan, as super heroes, and they are not just capable of horrible acts of indecency, immorality, and illegality, but predisposed to them, then what can we hope for with the actual Guardians?

Who watches the watchmen? is not about the super heroes at all.  It is about us.  Can our self governance actually work?  Has it worked?  Does it work?  Alan Moore visited the idea of anarchy before in the fantastic V for Vendetta, but makes a stronger case here, I think.  Snyder was faithful enough to the source material for this question to come through, even if he didn’t understand it.

Watchmen was most certainly a cinematic feat in its visual display and a true contribution to pop culture.

– Brian Knapp

8.  Up in the Air

Up In the Air is one of those rare, indie character dramas that actually drew me in and engaged me in their story. It is a story about a man (George Clooney) who thinks that he has it all figured out because he lives a life without grounding or connection. Then he comes to realize that his life’s philosophy is wrong. Then he comes to realize the consequence of his life’s philosophy. It is a terrific story and it features some very stellar acting by George Clooney. This is a must-see film.

– Alex Knapp

7.  Gamer

Gamer was reviewed by me here.

Gamer is a movie that plays perfectly to the mainstream cyber-punk cinematic traditions as seen in Blade Runner, Hackers, and The Matrix.  Its closest cousin is obviously The Running Man, which is likewise awesome.  Gerard Butler kicks all sorts of ass in this fast-paced cyber thrill ride.  The film won’t win any awards, is not that novel, but is definitely worth seeing.  There are smatterings of mind/body philosophy, but nothing that is explored unnecessarily.

Gamer is one of the rare gems that ended as I expected: under the radar and without making much money.  It is a shame that with a lackluster movie year, a wonderful action movie such as Gamer could go virtually unnoticed.  Oh well.  Well, it’s noticed now!

– Brian Knapp

6.  Up

Up is Pixar’s latest and is a beautiful, lyrical film about life, adventure, loss and love. Also, it has dogs that talk. And those dogs think like dogs, which is one of the best parts about it. Ed Asner’s performance as the gruff, sweet Carl Frederickson deserves an Oscar–but of course there’s no category for voice acting. The visuals for this movie are incredible, but the story it serves is even better.

– Alex Knapp

5.  Star Trek

It’s a tough thing, trying to reboot a franchise. Especially a franchise as far-reaching as the Star Trek universe with as many fans. Especially a franchise as creatively moribund as the Star Trek universe, which had grown pretty creatively lifeless. There’s a fine line to walk between honoring the old stories but moving forward with more energy. Star Trek walks this line amazingly well, with a solid storyline, plenty of kinetic action, and selling good old-fashioned values like heroism and intelligence. Every role was perfectly cast and the series was rebooted with a bang. I can’t wait until the next one.

– Alex Knapp

4.  The Invention of Lying

Ricky Gervais is a genius and I explain how here:

The best part is that the movie highlights quite effectively the epistemological arguement.  That is, when explaining that he knows about the great place that people go to after death, he speaks of the “big man in the sky” who controls everything and who made such a place.  An intrigued crowd reacts innocently, but shrewdly.  In doing so, one person asks simply, “how do you know about these things?”  Bellison replies easily that the big man in the sky speaks to him directly. And only him.

Epistemology is the study of how we “know” things.  Clearly, we obtain information by light, sound, touch, and chemical reactions in our noses and mouths.  In the world where there are no lies, this is taken for granted.  Gervais makes the argument, as many have done before him, that taking information that is completely unverifiable or unknowable by means that cannot be observed or repeated is as ludicrous as the events in his movie.

A true Heretic, Ricky Gervais, we salute you!

– Brian Knapp

3.  Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino is a fascinating and frustrating filmmaker. His particular talent is in juxtaposing different film languages and integrating them in the service of a story. His particular flaw is in juxtaposing different film languages and creating a discordant tone that takes you out of the story. It’s clear the man knows film. he knows film history. He knows how to frame a shot, how to play with time, etc. He’s also a terrific writer of dialog. However, sometimes these very things get in the way of the story he’s trying to tell. This is why, for example, Kill Bill 2 is such a monumental failure and why all of his movies have varying flaws.

It was a pleasure, then, to watch Inglourious Basterds because it is a flawless Tarantino film. And make no mistake–this is a Tarantino film. Probably his masterpiece. All of the pieces we’ve seen in earlier films, pop culture, long takes (the average cut here is once every 4-1/2 minutes) and dialog-driven suspense come into full fruition here, in this tale of various people on a roaring rampage of revenge against the Third Reich. It is wonderfully filmed and richly layered, and rewards repeat viewings.

– Alex Knapp

2.  The Road

The Road stars Viggo Mortensen as a man whose purpose in life is to protect his son in an inexplicably post-apocalyptic world.  The unexplained state of the world is one of the little charms of this dark, dark film.  Most post-apocalyptic movies spend unnecessary time framing the context of the newly barren world.  The Road did no such thing, because, to those trying to survive under those circumstances, it wouldn’t much matter.

Viggo gives another powerful performance in what easily could be one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen.  Seriously, it haunted me for days after.  Watch it and you will figure out why.  It also features very short, but enjoyable cameos by Robert Duval, Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce.

– Brian Knapp

1.  The Brothers Bloom

There’s nothing arbitrary about our consensus for this, the best film of 2009. Rian Johnson follows up on his astonishing debut in Brick to both write and direct this excellent film. The Brothers Bloom is about two con artist brothers, played by Adrian Brody and Mark Ruffalo, and their silent, explosives-loving sidekick played by Rinko Kikuchi. The film is, naturally, their last con, as one of the partners wants out of the game completely. As in all great con movies, there are layers of deception here, and the real story of who’s conning who leads to the great, bittersweet ending.

Rian Johnson succeeds in this film in transplanting us to another world, one where two brothers can make a living as gentlemen thieves, reclusive hermits look like Rachel Weisz (who deserves an Oscar for this role), and you can travel the world by steamer ship. It is joyous, smart, melancholy, well acted, surreal and realistic, all at the same time. It’s without a doubt the best film that 2009 had to offer.

– Alex Knapp