Top 10 Films of 2009

With the Academy Awards ceremony just two days away, I thought now would be a good time (and probably my last chance) to unveil my picks for the top 10 films of 2009.

There’s still a few movies from the year I’d like to see, but if I wait any longer, I won’t even be able to pretend my list is relevant. And I do so love pretending things that I write are relevant.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the best 2009 had to offer at the movies:

10. “Avatar” — For technical achievements, James Cameron’s epic stands head and shoulders above the pack and is worthy of acclaim. But it’s kept from true greatness by a story that is, not bad, just mundane. You’ve seen it a thousand times, but it’s never looked this good.

9. “The Invention of Lying” — Set in a world where people only tell the truth, Ricky Gervais stars as a man who develops the ability to lie. Aside from being funny, this film makes you think a little about the concept of truth. There are lies, sure, but then there are the impulses we resist rather than acting on our first impressions. I disagree with the film’s theological premise (that there is no God), but even that aspect of it can get you thinking, at least about how people react to religion.

8. “The Blind Side” — This was the year we remembered (just in case we forgot) why we loved Sandra Bullock. Exhibit A is this based-on-a-true-story account of a wealthy white family adopting a young black man whose size and unstable upbringing left many people wary of him. Bullock stars as the kind of take-no-crap heroine you love, mixed with a dash of humility and humanity.

7. “(500) Days of Summer” — Lots of movies can capture at least a fleeting feeling of romance, but this one takes the less traveled route of showing what happens when those warm, fuzzy feelings aren’t entirely mutual. Joseph Gordon Leavitt continues to intrigue with his roles, and Zooey Deschanel is captivating, as usual.

6. “Sherlock Holmes” — The Robert Downey Jr. Renaissance goes on as he steps into the role of the famous sleuth, albeit a bit more flawed than we’re used to imagining him. Pairing Downey with Jude Law as Dr. Watson, this film sets up a franchise that promises a healthy mix of substance and style, if subsequent films live up to this one.

5. “State of Play” — A mystery that focuses more on brains, emotions and ethics than plot twists, psychoses and violence, this adaptation of a BBC miniseries stars Russell Crowe as a veteran Washington, D.C., reporter delving into the story of a lifetime with a good friend at the center and an up-and-coming reporter on his heels. It’s a topical film with an excellent story, rather than a simple plot stretched around a “ripped-from-the-headlines” subject.

4. “Paranormal Activity” — Ten years after the “Blair Witch Project” comes another low-budget, first-person camera thriller that makes you hesitate to turn out the lights. With supernatural phenomena so subtle and believable, this movie chills more than the most hideous, CGI-assisted blood-and-gore fest out there.

3. “The Hurt Locker” — Tense and riveting, this film about an elite bomb disposal unit in Iraq feels very un-Hollywood. There’s no bomb-making mastermind squaring off against our heroic soldiers. Their foes are insidious explosives surreptitiously planted in the environment around them, making trust a very precious commodity. They’ve got their own demons too in this look at ordinary men trying to do extraordinary things.

2. “Up” — Pixar’s best offering since “Finding Nemo,” “Up” is an emotional, exhilarating tale whose well-crafted main characters believably ground the film’s more fantastic elements. Perhaps nowhere is this dichotomy more clearly expressed than in Dug, the talking dog. Dogs talking? Crazy. Dug’s dialogue? Completely believable.

1. “District 9” — If any movie with eye-catching effects and the plight of aliens as an allegory to real-world troubles should win Best Picture, it’s this one. Writer/director Neill Blomkamp delivers this masterpiece about a group of aliens mysteriously marooned in South Africa and treated as second-class citizens. Sharlto Copley should have received a Best Actor nomination for his humorous and moving portrayal of a bureaucrat suddenly having a much-too-close encounter. What starts out as “The Office” with aliens quickly turns into the most gripping film of 2009