The 20 Best Films of 2009

1.Up in the Air (2009)
   
With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him. (109 mins.)
Director: Jason Reitman
Stars: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman


2.(500) Days of Summer (2009)
  
An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her. (95 mins.)
Director: Marc Webb
Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend, Chloë Grace Moretz

3.Inglourious Basterds (2009)
   
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same. (153 mins.)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent

4.The Cove (2009 Documentary)
  
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health. (92 mins.)
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones, Michael Illiff

5.The Hurt Locker (2008)
   
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb. (131 mins.)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce

6.Broken Embraces (2009)
     
Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie. (127 mins.)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Stars: Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez

7.Crazy Heart (2009)
   
A faded country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him. (112 mins.)
Director: Scott Cooper
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, James Keane

8.Brothers (2009)
    
A young man comforts his older brother's wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. (105 mins.)
Director: Jim Sheridan
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Sam Shepard

9.Invictus (2009)
  
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. (134 mins.)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng

10.Precious (2009)
    
In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction. (110 mins.)
Director: Lee Daniels
Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey

11.Up (2009)
   
By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years younger, inadvertently becomes a stowaway. (96 mins.)
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer

12.An Education (2009)
   
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age. (100 mins.)
Director: Lone Scherfig
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams


13.Whip It (2009)
   
In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. (111 mins.)
Director: Drew Barrymore
Stars: Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, Sarah Habel

14.Avatar (2009)
 
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. (162 mins.)
Director: James Cameron
Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez

15.A Single Man (2009)
   
An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles. (99 mins.)
Director: Tom Ford
Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult

16.The Blind Side (2009)

The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. (129 mins.)
Director: John Lee Hancock
Stars: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head

17.Adventureland (2009)
   
In the summer of 1987, a college grad takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world. (107 mins.)
Director: Greg Mottola
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Kelsey Ford

18.Public Enemies (2009)
   
The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s. (140 mins.)
Director: Michael Mann
Stars: Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, James Russo, David Wenham

19.Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
 
An adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world--a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler. (101 mins.)
Director: Spike Jonze
Stars: Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Pepita Emmerichs

20.It's Complicated (2009)
     
When attending their son's college graduation, a couple reignite the spark in their relationship...but the complicated fact is they're divorced and he's remarried. (120 mins.)
Director: Nancy Meyers
Stars: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski