Film of the Year 2009

So here is my review of 2009. 2009 was not the best year for film. Most films, especially the highly awaited ones were very mediocre. 2009 provided only a handful of really good films and not all of those did well at the box office. January started well with the fantastic Frost/Nixon, the enjoyable Australia, with Slumdog Millionaire and Defiance worth a mention as great films. A definitely above average Oscar season. The post-Oscar season in February was drab as usual with Bolt being particularly disappointing, Franklyn was a highlight as a very well made film. One of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year was Watchmen. Unfortunately Zach Snyder decided to make it long and depressing rather than a watchable film experience. March was redeemed by the Damned United, a well made and enjoyable film and Duplicity which was enjoyable but just that small x-factor (not the tv show) short of achieving the same stylishness of Oceans 11. April saw 2 poor British films in The Boat that Rocked and In the Loop but 2 much better American films in State of Play and Monsters vs Aliens. May saw the Summer start well Coraline and Angels and Demons were both good films but were both overshadowed by Star Trek, the film that set the benchmark for this Summer's films. June saw Terminator: Salvation and Night at the Museum 2 entertain but not even get close to Star Trek. July saw the 2 big films Transformer 2 and Harry Potter 6 both live up to expectations and compete with Star Trek as great films. Michael Mann's Public Enemies was disappointing and Year One leads the race for the worst film of the year. August saw a host of mediocre films, Ice Age 3 had its moments but was not as good as its predecessors and The Hurt Locker is boring, not much happens and is not worth all the awards and nominations it is getting. September saw the rejected Oscar films and District 9. No one saw District 9 coming. It did so well mostly due to lack of competition but was well acted and compelling. The Soloist and Dorian Grey were ok but why they were out is September was understandable. Julie and Julia was the highlight of September, it was charming, funny, made you laugh and made you cry. Possibly a bit too nice for the Oscars but Meryl Streep and Amy Adams were superb. October half term was flooded with kids films of which 2 were outstanding, Up and the Fantastic Mr Fox. Up was a great film, it may suffer from not being quite up to the standard of Pixar's best but was the best animated film of the year. November was all about Twilight 2 which was better than the first, silly in places but was clearly still trying to be a good film and was therefore ultimately not. The Men Who Stare at Goats was entertaining while a Christmas Carol was terrible. December saw Glorious 39 be almost brilliant but not, The Informant and Where the Wild Things are disappoint and Avatar be exactly what we wanted.

After all that my shortlist for Film of 2009 is: Avatar, Up, The Fantastic Mr Fox, Julie and Julia, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Damned United, Monsters vs Aliens, State of Play and Star Trek.
Excluded due to Pete Award Nominations: Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and Defiance.

My film of 2009 is Julie and Julia, 2nd, Up and 3rd, Star Trek.