Ahead of the Oscars, this feels like something to do.

As of today (March 7th), I’ve seen 59 movies that were released in the U.S. in 2009 (The complete list is at the end of this post). One drawback of living in a small town is the lack of movie theaters. We have one multiplex here in Manhattan, Kansas. So Netlfix is my main supplier of movies. Even that is problematic sometimes, especially with popular new releases. For example, The Hurt Locker was on the top of my queue for weeks and weeks before I received it. I read that Netflix has struck a deal with IFC to have more films available for streaming, so that’s good news indeed.

When pro film critics make those best films of the year lists, I somewhat trust that they’ve seen most, if not all, of the films that were released that year. (Still, a disclosure of all the movies they’ve actually watched would be nice). On the other hand, “best films lists” made by non-pros (like this one) are essentially valueless if we have no idea what films are being omitted from consideration. But we love to make lists! Making lists is a lot of fun. Making lists lets us delude ourselves into thinking our opinions are important. It’s sad, yes. So, here is my list:

Top 10 Films in 2009

1. The Damned United – Tom Hooper (director) and Peter Morgan (screenwriter) have done the impossible – they’ve made a good football (soccer) movie. It takes a football fan to truly appreciate the feat.
2. District 9
3. El Secreto de sus ojos (aka The Secret in Their Eyes)
4. Precious Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Up in the Air
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. In the Loop
9. A Serious Man
10. (500) Days of Summer

Just for fun, a few Oscars predictions:

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’nique (Precious)

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarrantino (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)

Best Animated Feature Film: Up

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

A complete list of the 59 films I saw:

1. (500) Days of Summer
2. Adventureland
3. Avatar
4. Away We Go
5. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
6. The Blind Side
7. The Brothers Bloom
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic
9. Coraline
10. Crazy Heart
11. The Damned United
12. District 9
13. An Education
14. Extract
15. Fantastic Mr. Fox
16. The Girlfriend Experience
17. The Hangover
18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
19. He’s Just Not That Into You
20. The Hurt Locker
21. I Love You, Man
22. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
23. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
24. In the Loop
25. Inglourious Basterds
26. Inkheart
27. The International
28. The Invention of Lying
29. Invictus
30. It’s Complicated
31. Julie & Julia
32. Land of the Lost
33. Management
34. The Messenger
35. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
36. Nine
37. Observe and Report
38. Paul Blart: Mall Cop
39. Precious Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
40. The Princess and the Frog
41. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
42. The Proposal
43. El Secreto de sus ojos (aka The Secret in Their Eyes)
44. A Serious Man
45. Sherlock Holmes
46. Star Trek
47. Sunshine Cleaning
48. Surrogates
49. Thirst
50. Tokyo!
51. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
52. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
53. Up
54. Up in the Air
55. Whatever Works
56. Where the Wild Things Are
57. Whip It
58. The Young Victoria
59. Zombieland