10 Best Films of 2009 by Kyle Kernan 1-5

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The stop-motion rendering of the Fox’s lush golden world is so meticulously realized that it not only captures the essence of Dahl’s story it heightens it. Anderson’s knack for zaniness, humor, and a zipping soundtrack is just pure icing on an already delicious cake.

Believe it or not but the most human characters this year came from stop-motion animals. There’s something about the human like tendencies of the animals that makes you appreciate life and survival. Mr. Fox and a Badger for example could be having a formal, civilized argument, but then it quickly turns into a stand off of menacing growls and clawing. Mr. Fox is a family man who has responsibilities; however he can’t abandon stealing chickens because, he’s a wild animal. Anderson constantly bounces between the human and animal like tendencies of his characters whether it’s out of absurdity or solidifying a tender moment.

I was tickled by Anderson’s wonderful sense for humanity and Dahl’s story: there are so many genuine, subtle moments between two characters that stand to be more real, poignant, caring, and tender than anything I saw on film this year. This film is beyond wonderful; it’s the magic that only great films and filmmakers can capture. Fantastic Mr. Fox is like a dream that you don’t ever want to end. When the credits come up you’re left there wanting to have a life like the Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Memorable scene: When Ash shows Kylie his train set.

2. A Serious Man
A Coen Brothers film captures intimate but unsettling portraits of people in the most peculiar and darkest of situations. And what makes their films unsettling is because these people are like us. This is perhaps the Coen’s most real and captivating slice of existentialism.

The film’s prologue stands to be an insightful glimpse into the minds of the Coens. A Jewish couple in the 18th Century leading a minimalist existence is visited by a strange guest who the wife knows has been dead for three years, from this knowledge she believes this man to Satan coming to curse them. With the husband’s disbelief and reluctance the wife stabs the guest, regardless of who or what he is. This scene sets the stage for the elongated Biblical like parable that is to come.

College professor Larry Gopnik bears the weight of the world on his shoulders as his kids disrespect him, his brother is taking advantage of him, his tenure is being threatened, one of his students is blackmailing him, and his wife wants a divorce, his ass out of the house, while the guy she’s sleeping with wants to move in all the while Gopnik is obsessed in finding the right solution. Throughout the film the Coen’s disrupt your comfort in Gopnik’s struggle as much as they do for Gopnik in the story. The film is deeply thought-provoking as simple situations or mysterious problems loom as deeply contemplative issues, which propel characters to find solutions. But in life there are no simple solutions. This is the irony. Although there are no simple solutions, in a hectic, unforgiving world things are much easier to be met simply rather than seriously.

“A Serious Man,” will make you rethink your existence: it’s fleeting, pointless and the only thing that matters maybe is one’s own pursuit for freedom and pleasure

Memorable scene: When Larry stands on the roof of his home, he has his first moment of freedom as he spies on his attractive neighbor, nude sunbathing.

3. Avatar
There were so many great films this year but Avatar was probably the most exciting. Avatar is a classic story given a modern touch. I’ve never experienced a film in which completely absorbed me in its world. Cameron imagined Pandora from everything between its funnel shaped plants to its enormous rhinos. The final battle is one of the most spectacular ever crafted for the big-screen.

There is a theme of connection here that stands above it’s suggestions of climate change and environmental destruction. This movie is a film about connection on all levels, especially spiritual. This theme of connection seems to be popular this year in film. Maybe through the passing into a new age everyone is starting to question the genuineness of human connection and what’s real or illusion. Here though the world of the Na’vi has this beautiful dynamic with each other that’s about being emotionally connected through being physically connected as well. Survival is determined by one’s bind with something else, which makes for such a stirring message. All of Na’vi have braids in which intertwine with many other living things. It seems to draw a distinction between the ways the Na’vi naturally connects as everything the humans bind with to survive is artificial. For example a Na’vi can bind with a flying creature and direct it where to go, as a human can bind with a super weapon contraption. These distinctions tell us how distant human beings become from spirituality when their connections are artificial and not natural. With the constant progression of humanity we’re losing sight of what makes us human: simply being connected. Our own progression leaves us selfish and always wanting more.

4. District 9
No film this year was more unrelentingly suspenseful than District 9. Scene after scene I was on the edge of my seat. Sharlto Copley gives the surprise performance of the year as Wikus Van De Merwe, who after being exposed to an alien biotechnology begins to transform into an alien himself. There are so many great things working for this film I don’t even know where to begin. The alien presence depicted in Johannesburg South Africa is surreal. Their own survival in the slums of the decrepit city point to our own feuding struggles with racism and South Africa’s own apartheid. The stranded aliens all give so much potential for human selfishness: their technology, weapons, and their own flesh and blood give way to pagan rituals. But the film’s central storyline is Wikus. After his transformation he becomes the most sought after person on the planet. His own struggle to survive is so intense real that it’s staggering to watch. Its heart wrenching when his organs are about to be harvested and this man whose a human being is seen to be some type of medical asset. This is the dehumanization of the society. His own perseverance on screen to survive shows the lengths a human being or any creature can endure. His strength is really unparalleled; however his own survival is compromised when he has to choose to help an alien in a direr situation than himself. Wikus seems like such an unlikely candidate to be in such a situation, which makes this movie all the more awesome.

Memorable scene:
When Wikus pulls his fingernails, and when he starts firing up mother fuckers with the alien technology.


5. Up in the Air
This is one of the most moving and intelligent films of the year. Jason Reitman’s latest chronicles the separated, isolated life of Ryan Bingham, played with a humble dexterity of George Clooney. His job is quite disheartening in a time of economic instability: he flies around the country firing people, but offers proactive solutions for their future. Clooney’s character is like a response to the professor in A Serious Man.

Here, you have a man who sees human connection as arbitrary: it’s suppressing and weighs as much as airline luggage.

I originally felt this film’s premise was a little gimmicky, I mean the previews made it look like a Clooney star-vehicle, with a heartwarming, feel-good premise.

One of the films prime messages is how society has changed since technology’s rapid expansion: it makes life efficient; however it makes human connection dehumanizing and an illusion. Although Clooney leads a fleeting existence while sparking short flings and relationships; he still lives for the ephemeral nature of never settling down and being always on the move. In Up in the Air we see technology’s benefits and detriments: through an airline we can be so many places at once but still never be grounded to make those connections last. Thus when the company decides to ground his firm and conduct the firing via a camera phone, it totally destabilizes his job and his illusion of being connected.
Memorable scene: When Ryan falls for another traveling counterpart, played by Vera Farminga, he decides to maybe take a step to commit to her. So he hastily goes to her home in Chicago to find that their relationship was as fleeting and as illusory as his lifestyle: he finds that she’s married.