Freelance critic Mike Russell's Top 10 of '09

MIKE RUSSELL

If I had to sum up 2009 in a single sentence, I'd say it was a great year for "What If?" movies --for science fiction ("Star Trek," "Moon," "District 9," the problematic but incredible-looking "Avatar"); for horror ("Drag Me to Hell," "House of the Devil"); and for movies dwelling in their own alternate universes ("Inglourious Basterds," "The Brothers Bloom"). Here's a breakdown of my 10 favorites.

1. "In the Loop" This brutal satire concerns British and American hawks and spin doctors using secret committees and outright bullying to force the weak, careerist and foolish into a war. Co-writer/director Armando Iannucci (spinning off his own TV series, "The Thick of It") slaps back-door Western politics on a steel table and guts it like a fish, while employing some of the most scabrous, foul-mouthed insult comedy I've ever heard on-screen. Hilarious and a little terrifying.

2. "A Serious Man" This Coen brothers masterpiece is structured like a joke setup: "A troubled man goes to see three rabbis. . . ." The punch line might be the brothers' bleakest reflection yet on the complete unknowability of anything. Michael Stuhlbarg is incredible as the befuddled professor who's either the unluckiest man in an indifferent universe or the subject of the same wager God and Satan had over Job.

3. "Star Trek" An insanely watchable pop blockbuster, it pulls off something I wouldn't have thought possible until I saw the movie: It injects all the fun, comedy, sex appeal and optimism back into "Star Trek," while rebooting the series' history and recasting all its iconic roles.

4. "Whip It" Director Drew Barrymore (!) made her own "Breaking Away" with this joyful, funny and deeply humane '70s-style comedy about a young alterna-dork (Ellen Page) finding herself through roller derby. Like the greatest sports flicks, it's as much about failure and humanity as it is about The Big Game.

5. "Drag Me to Hell" Sam Raimi makes a glorious return to his "Evil Dead"-era stylings as he tells the story of a home loan banker cursed by a foreclosed Gypsy. Brilliantly staged Looney Tunes set pieces and splatterific housing crisis and eating disorder commentaries: This, my friends, is how you make a low-budget horror flick.

6. "Moon" Sam Rockwell pulled off the year's cleverest acting stunt in this intimate bit of thoughtful science fiction from co-writer/director Duncan Jones. Rockwell would get an Oscar nomination in any sane universe for his performance(s) as a lonely lunar miner who learns some alarming things about himself. He carries the entire movie on his shoulders, with only himself and Kevin Spacey's voice as backup.

7. "District 9" The year's other, better, more psychologically and thematically complex sci-fi movie, about humans oppressing aliens while a conflicted hero turns into one of the creatures he's supposed to be exploiting. I even thought this movie's mech suit was cooler than "Avatar's," and I could have watched that space rifle pop people like balloons for hours and hours.

8. "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" This movie might have made my list solely on the strength of Nicolas Cage's off-the-rails performance as a drugged-out cop trying to solve a murder while lugging the baggage of various personal corruptions. He hasn't been this much fun to watch in years. But director Werner Herzog also builds a surprisingly big-hearted addiction dramedy around Cage as the actor drives off the cliff.

9. "Observe and Report" Jody Hill ("The Foot Fist Way," "Eastbound & Down") offers up another brilliant dark comedy about a deluded striver. Seth Rogen's performance as a mentally ill mall cop strays well outside the boundaries of a safe Hollywood laff fest. The film failed at the box office, but I suspect a cult of fans will be praising its "Taxi Driver" fearlessness --and its take-no-prisoners comic stylings and its empathetic core --for years to come.

10. "The Brothers Bloom" Writer/director Rian Johnson ("Brick") manages another tricky cinematic mashup: taking an Old Hollywood screwball comedy story and somehow making it fly with melancholic undercurrents and naturalistic performances.

Movies that might have made my Top 10 list if I'd had something different for breakfast: "Adventureland," "Extract," "Up," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "An Education," "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," "Coraline," "The Messenger," "The Hurt Locker" and "Karamazovs."

Movies I'd recommend seeing (ranging from "really, really liked" to "had problems with but admired the ambition/lunacy/lead performance/handful of choice moments"): "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Land of the Lost," "Taken," "Zombieland," "Outlander," "Duplicity," "Bruno," "Public Enemies," "Sherlock Holmes," "Avatar," "A Perfect Getaway," "Ong Bak 2: The Beginning," "Surrogates," "Inglourious Basterds," "Jennifer's Body," "The Road," "Funny People," "House of the Devil," "Trick 'r Treat," "Last Chance Harvey," "Watchmen" and "Gran Torino."

Movies I really wish I could have watched before writing this: Whatever you think should be listed above that isn't. (I've written most of them down at www.CulturePulp.com if you're curious.)

The worst movies I saw in 2009: "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," "Fanboys," the "Friday the 13th" remake, "He's Just Not That Into You," "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "Love Happens," "Old Dogs," "Splinterheads," "The Informers," "The Proposal," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Year One," "Terminator Salvation" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

1. "In the Loop"

2. "A Serious Man"

3. "Star Trek"

4. "Whip It"

5. "Drag Me to Hell"

6. "Moon"

7. "District 9"

8. "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"

9. "Observe and Report"

10. "The Brothers Bloom"

Mike Russell is a Portland freelance writer; culturepulp@gmail.com