Top Ten of 2009

This list was made in early 2010, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2010.

1. Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) dir. Michael Haneke

2. The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow

3. Up in the Air dir. Jason Reitman

4. Precious dir. Lee Daniels

5. Bright Star dir. Jane Campion

6. Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson

7. Up dir. Pete Docter

8. An Education dir. Lone Scherfig

9. A Serious Man dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

10. The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips

All feature films seen from 2009 (based on US commercial release dates)

* Full length review available on this site
+ from my collection
^ no United States theatrical release

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

2012 dir. Roland Emmerich [USA]
+*(500) Days of Summer dir. Marc Webb [USA]
^*About Elly (Darbareye Elly) dir. Asghar Farhadi [Iran]
Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) dir. Pedro Almodóvar [Spain]
Adventureland dir. Greg Mottola [USA]
Amelia dir. Mira Nair [USA]
*Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier [Denmark]
Avatar dir. James Cameron [USA]
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog [USA]
The Blind Side dir. John Lee Hancock [USA]
*The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio) dir. Richard Curtis [UK]
+*Bright Star dir. Jane Campion [UK, Australia]
Brothers dir. Jim Sheridan [USA]
The Brothers Bloom dir. Rian Johnson [USA]
Brüno dir. Larry Charles [USA]
The Burning Plain dir. Guillermo Arriaga [USA, Argentina]
^Celda 211 dir. Daniel Monzón [Spain]
Chéri dir. Stephen Frears [UK]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller [USA]
Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel) dir. Anne Fontaine [France]
Coraline dir. Henry Selick [USA]
The Cove dir. Louie Psihoyos [USA]
Crazy Heart dir. Scott Cooper [USA]
The Damned United dir. Tom Hooper [UK]
District 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp [USA, New Zealand]
Il Divo dir. Paolo Sorrentino [Italy]
Drag Me to Hell dir. Sam Raimi [USA]
An Education dir. Lone Scherfig [UK, USA]
Everybody's Fine dir. Kirk Jones [USA]
Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson [USA]
Fifty Dead Men Walking dir. Kari Skogland [UK]
Food, Inc. dir. Robert Kenner [USA]
Funny People dir. Judd Apatow [USA]
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra dir. Stephen Sommers [USA]
Gigante dir. Adrián Biniez [Uruguay]
The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips [USA]
*Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince dir. David Yates [USA]
The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow [USA]
I Love You, Man dir. John Hamburg [USA]
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus dir. Terry Gilliam [USA]
In the Loop dir. Armando Iannucci [UK]
The Informant! dir. Steven Soderberg [USA]
Inglourious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino [USA]
Invictus dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
It Might Get Loud dir. Davis Guggenheim [USA]
It's Complicated dir. Nancy Meyers [USA]
Julie & Julia dir. Nora Ephron [USA]
^The Last Pulcinella (L'ultimo Pulcinella) dir. Maurizio Scaparro [Italy]
*The Last Station dir. Michael Hoffman [UK]
The Lovely Bones dir. Peter Jackson [USA]
*Mammoth dir. Lukas Moodysson [Sweden]
Map of the Sounds of Tokyo dir. Isabel Coixet [Spain]
The Men Who Stare at Goats dir. Grant Heslov [USA]
The Messenger dir. Oren Moverman [USA]
*Moon dir. Duncan Jones [USA]
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian dir. Shawn Levy [USA]
Nine dir. Rob Marshall [USA]
Paris 36 (Faubourg 36) dir. Christophe Barratier [France]
Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo) dir. Hayao Miyazaki [Japan]
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire dir. Lee Daniels [USA]
The Princess and the Frog dir. Ron Clements and John Musker [USA]
Public Enemies dir. Michael Mannl [USA]
Revanche dir. Goetz Spielmann [Austria]
The Road dir. John Hillcoat [USA]
The Secret of Kells dir. Tomm Moore [Ireland]
+A Serious Man dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen [USA]
Sherlock Holmes dir. Guy Ritchie [USA]
*Sin Nombre dir. Cary Fukunaga [Mexico, USA]
A Single Man dir. Tom Ford [USA]
Star Trek dir. J.J. Abrams [USA]
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 dir. Tony Scott [USA]
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dir. Michael Bay [USA]
Triage dir. Danis Tanovic [Ireland, Spain]
Trucker dir. James Mottern [USA]
Two Lovers dir. James Gray [USA]
+*Up dir. Pete Docter [USA]
+Up in the Air dir. Jason Reitman [USA]
Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder [USA]
+Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) dir. Michael Haneke [Austria]
*Whatever Works dir. Woody Allen [USA]
Where the Wild Things Are dir. Spike Jonze [USA]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine dir. Gavin Hood [USA]
The Young Victoria dir. Jean-Marc Vallée [UK, USA]
*Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer [USA]