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Monday, December 07, 2009

Movie Viewing, 2009: Top Ten


Here's the list of the top ten movies seen this year:
1) Happy Together (1997) [directed by: Wong Kar-wai]
2) Revolutionary Road (2008) [directed by: Sam Mendes]
3) The Ice Storm (1997) [directed by: Ang Lee]
4) Cinema Paradiso (1988) [directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore]
5) 13 Tzameti (2005) [directed by: Géla Babluani]
6) 500 Days of Summer (2009) [directed by: Marc Webb]
7) Dev. D (2009) [directed by: Anurag Kashyap]
8) Match Point (2005) [directed by: Woody Allen]
9) Wake Up Sid (2009) [directed by: Ayan Mukherjee]
10) Alpha Dog (2006) [directed by: Nick Cassavetes]










As the above list contains only the ten most favorite films of mine, from more than 250 films that I have seen this year, I now name some of the other odd films that stand out among the rest, though they do not make it to the top ten listing. Here they are - some old films, some new; some classy, some popular entertainers; some international films, some Indian; many languages, but all immensely enjoyable - for whatever reason:
Jamón Jamón, Chéri, Brüno, Paths of Glory, Burn After Reading, Invictus, Shine, Lady in the Water, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, December, The President is Coming, 10 Items or Less, Romulus - My Father, Luck by Chance, 3 Idiots, Quills, Holy Smoke, Milk, The Reader, Mansfield Park, Rachel Getting Married, The Wrestler, Frozen Days, Frozen River, Frost/Nixon, Little Zizou, Barah Aana, Running Sacred, The Hunting Party, Ask the Dust, The Passion of Ayn Rand, Firaaq, Gulaal, Hunger, Doubt, Mighty Aphrodite, City of God, Tsotsi, About Schmidt, Paradise Now, Crossed Tracks, Rosewood, Enemy of the State, Good Night and Good Luck, Taking Chance, Mad About Mambo, The Counterfeiters, She's the Man, Hangover, Shelter, Broken Sky, To Kill a Mockingbird, ChungKing Express, Shi Mian Mai Fu, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, Volver, Kinsey, Holes, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Australia, The Nanny Diaries, 8 Crazy
Nights, Corpse Bride, Public Enemies, The Great Raid, Inglourious Basterds, The Black Balloon, The Transporter, Irreversible, Perfume - The Story of a Murderer, The Greatest Game Ever Played, 13th Floor, La Zona, AntiChrist, Buying the Cow, Summer with Monika, Hey Goodlooking, Funny People, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Whatever Works, Fireflies in the Garden, The Duchess, Boiler Room, Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year, Get Real, Moon, Snatch, The Narrows, Avatar - 3D, Life Support, The Paranoids, Magique, Divided We Fall, The Householder, It's a Boy Girl Thing, Twilight, The Safety of Objects, Valkyrie, and De Griezelbus.

8 comments:

Krishh said...

Awesome!!!!!!!

I wish more of this year's releases found their place on this list. Is it because you did not get to see as many current flicks, or is it because the cult-classics like 'Happy Together' & 'Cinema Paradiso' floored you completely?
Both the films mentioned above are my favorites, but I also loved this year's much toasted movies like 'Hangover', 'AntiChrist' and 'Up' - diverse genres, diverse flavors indeed!

Imran said...

Phew! What an eclectic collection, it would serve me as a cool recommendation, coming from you.....
I have been lucky to catch only four of the listed movies! So, I have much to catch up on.

Arpita said...

Good to see World Movies feature in your list in a big way this year, and, not one but two Hindi films too!

abhishek said...

'Happy Together', though vintage, is an absolutely wonderful film. It seems more so significant because nothing compares to the intensity as shown in it, if one takes into account others films in the LGBT genre.
I love 'Cinema Paradiso' too. 'MatchPoint' & 'Dev. D' are equally wacky & full of dark humor, though one from the master filmmaker Woody Allen and the other from the Indian version of Tarantino (I hope it's not taken as a slur)- Anurag Kashyap! I liked 'Wake Up Sid' too, for its youthful exuberance that struck a chord with a million young people.

Unknown said...

A nice collection. I am overjoyed to see as many as six of my favorite movies in the list: I too discovered the magic of 13 Tzameti this year!!!! Thanks to the UTV World Movies channel. And I too am absolutely in awe of Cinema Paradiso, MatchPoint, AlphaDog, Wake Up S!d, and Dev. D!

pallavi said...

Kudos!
Barring 'Alpha Dog', am glad to have seen 'em all. And I can't agree more with your choice. I just love 'Wake Up Sid' so much that I wouldn't have minded had you placed it a little higher on the list!:)

Arunima said...

Am glad that u came up with this post as that will be some kind of "ultimate recommendation" for me :-)
Also happy that wake up sid has got a place...

Unknown said...

Splendid selections.
Half of the movies listed, not necessarily the ones in the top ten, are my favorites too!