The Best of 2009

Alas, yet another year has come and gone, and with it came a plethora of movies both good and bad. Some were instant classics that deserved Oscar-worthy praise, and some were so bad that you wanted to shit yourself. Here's what I considered to be the best (and worst) of the year 2009.

BEST MALE PERFORMANCES OF 2009

1. Christoph Waltz as "Col. Hans Landa" in Inglourious Basterds
2. Jeff Bridges as "Bad Blake" in Crazy Heart
3. George Clooney as "Ryan Bingham" in Up in the Air
4. Jeremy Renner as "Sgt. William James" in The Hurt Locker
5. Sharlto Copley as "Wikus van de Merwe" in District 9
6. Nicolas Cage as "Sgt. Terrence McDonagh" in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
7. Morgan Freeman as "Nelson Mandela" in Invictus
8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as "Tom Hansen" in (500) Days of Summer
9. Tobey Maguire as "Lt. Sam Cahill" in Brothers
10. Robin Williams as "Lance Clayton" in World's Greatest Dad

(Honorable mentions: Zach Galifianakis as "Alan" in The Hangover; Max Records as "Max" in Where the Wild Things Are; Jackie Earle Haley as "Rorschach" in Watchmen)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCES OF 2009

1. Mo'Nique as "Mary Jones" in Precious
2. Meryl Streep as "Julia Child" in Julie and Julia
3. Sandra Bullock as "Leigh Anne Tuohy" in The Blind Side
4. Gabourey Sidibe as "Precious Jones" in Precious
5. Zooey Deschanel as "Summer Finn" in (500) Days of Summer
6. Anna Kendrick as "Natalie Keener" in Up in the Air
7. Vera Farmiga as "Alex Goran" in Up in the Air
8. Bailee Madison as "Isabel Cahill" in Brothers
9. Zoe Saldana as "Neytiri" in Avatar
10. Melanie Laurent as "Shoshanna Dreyfus" in Inglourious Basterds

(Honorable mentions: Carey Mulligan as "Jenny Miller" in An Education; Lorna Raver as "Sylvia Ganush" in Drag Me To Hell; Natalie Portman as "Grace Cahill" in Brothers)

WORST PERFORMANCES OF 2009

1. Jack Black as "Zed" in Year One
2. Megan Fox as "Mikaela Banes" in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3. Will Ferrell as "Rick Marshall" in Land of the Lost
4. Channing Tatum as "Duke" in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
5. Michael Cera as "Oh" in Year One
6. Marlon Wayans as "Ripcord" in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
7. Taylor Kitsch as "Gambit" in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
8. Dennis Quaid as "Hawk" in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
9. Malin Akerman as "Silk Spectre" in Watchmen
10. Sandra Bullock as "Mary Horowitz" in All About Steve

(Honorable mentions: Kevin James as "Paul Blart" in Paul Blart: Mall Cop; Matthew Goode as "Ozymandias" in Watchmen; Jeremy Piven as "Don Ready" in The Goods)

FUNNIEST PERFORMANCES OF 2009

1. Zach Galfianakis as "Alan" in The Hangover
2. Ed Helms as "Stu" in The Hangover
3. Brad Pitt as "Lt. Aldo Raine" in Inglourious Basterds
4. Matt Damon as "Mark Whitacre" in The Informant!
5. Karl Urban as "Leonard McCoy" in Star Trek
6. Paul Rudd as "Peter Klaven" in I Love You, Man
7. Seth Rogen as "Ronnie Barnhardt" in Observe and Report
8. Robert Downey, Jr. as "Sherlock Holmes" in Sherlock Holmes
9. Woody Harrelson as "Tallahassee" in Zombieland
10. Sacha Baron Cohen as "Bruno" in Bruno

(Honorable mentions: Bradley Cooper as "Phil" in The Hangover; Seth Rogen as "B.O.B." in Monsters vs. Aliens; Ryan Reynolds as "Wade Wilson" in X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

BEST CAMEOS OF 2009

1. Leonard Nimoy as "Spock Prime" in Star Trek
2. Bill Murray as "Bill Murray" in Zombieland
3. Ryan Reynolds as "Wade Wilson" in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (come on, he was only in the damn movie for five minutes)
4. Ron Paul as "Ron Paul" in Bruno
5. Mike Myers as "Gen. Ed Fenech" in Inglourious Basterds
6. Rob Riggle as "Officer Franklin" in The Hangover
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger as "T-800" in Terminator Salvation
8. Eminem as "Eminem" in Funny People
9. Rainn Wilson as "Professor Colan" in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
10. Mike Tyson as "Mike Tyson" in The Hangover


BEST ENSEMBLE CAST OF 2009

Inglourious Basterds (Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, B.J. Novak, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Gedeon Burkhard, Michael Fassbender, Jacky Ido, Julie Dreyfus, Martin Wuttke, Mike Myers)

BREAKOUT STARS OF 2009

1. Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
2. Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
3. Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)
4. Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Up in the Air)
5. Chris Pine (Star Trek)
6. Sharlto Copley (District 9)
7. Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Avatar)
8. Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are)
9. Carey Mulligan (An Education, Brothers, Public Enemies)
10. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland)

(Honorable mentions: Zachary Quinto, Star Trek; Ed Helms, The Hangover; Lorna Raver, Drag Me To Hell)

BEST DIRECTORS OF 2009

1. Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
2. Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
3. Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)
4. Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are)
5. Lee Daniels (Precious)
6. Werner Herzog (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans)
7. Clint Eastwood (Invictus)
8. J.J. Abrams (Star Trek)
9. Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
10. Bobcat Goldthwait (World's Greatest Dad)

(Honorable mentions: James Cameron, Avatar; Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox; Sam Raimi, Drag Me To Hell)

BEST ACTION SEQUENCES OF 2009

1. The Final Battle (Avatar)
2. Destruction of the Theater (Inglourious Basterds)
3. Kirk and Sulu vs. Romulans/Drill Battle (Star Trek)
4. Taming of the Banshee (Avatar)
5. The Enterprise vs. The Narada (Star Trek)
6. Guggenheim Gunfight (The International)
7. Graveyard Mud-Fight (Drag Me To Hell)
8. Wikus and Christopher infiltrate MNU (District 9)
9. Dumbledore vs. Inferi (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
10. Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra)

(Honorable mentions: Wikus and the Battlesuit (District 9); Wade vs. Nigerian mercenaries, X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Battle on Tower Bridge, Sherlock Holmes)


WORST MOVIES OF 2009

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. Old Dogs
3. All About Steve
4. Year One
5. Amelia
6. Land of the Lost
7. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
8. The Ugly Truth
9. Halloween II
10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

MOST "MEH" MOVIES OF 2009 (Not good or bad, but just... meh)

1. Extract
2. Bruno
3. The International
4. Funny People
5. Angels and Demons
6. Monsters vs. Aliens
7. Race to Witch Mountain
8. Terminator Salvation
9. Jennifer's Body
10. Taking Woodstock


BEST MOVIES OF 2009

1. Star Trek
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up in the Air
4. District 9
5. Where the Wild Things Are
6. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
7. The Hurt Locker
8. Drag Me To Hell
9. The Hangover
10. (500) Days of Summer

(Honorable mentions: Up; Invictus; Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans)