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The Best Reviewed Films of 2009

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (23)

zombieland_phot.jpg

I suspect this will be the very last of posts devoted to the Best of 2009 (save for the Oscars, once nominations are announced). But, the Golden Tomatoes are a fairly reliable gauge for decent movies, as they reflect aggregated critic opinions (though, not those of Pajiba, which does not participate in the Tomatometer, because fuck you). There are no spectacular surprises here, as an aggregate reading tends to be conservative. I’d only have on bone to gnaw on in the choices, and that’s An Education, simply because I — like Drew — didn’t find it to be all that compelling. Well acted and well directed, by the actual narrative left a lot to be desired. I’m a little surprised that Star Trek beat out District 9, though I the RT percentage differences were small (4 percent) (same goes for Adventureland vs. (500) Days of Summer, where the was but a one percent difference). And Drag Me to Hell really didn’t have much competition in the horror category, save for The House of the Devil and Zombieland, while Where the Wild Things Are had zero competition, since animated films were not included in the Family Film category (the three runners-up where all in the 40th percentile range).

Point being: At this point in 2010, after seeing our Best Films of 2009 list, plus a host of others, you should probably have a fairly strong idea of what will be considered for the Oscars and the movies you might consider seeing, if you haven’t yet.

Up (Animation)

In the Loop (Comedy)

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Documentary)

An Education (Drama)

Afghan Star (Foreign)

Drag Me to Hell (Horror)

Where the Wild Things Are (Kids/Family)

Crazy Heart (Musical)

Adventureland (Romance)

Star Trek (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)

State of Play (Thriller)

Samson and Delilah (Best Reviewed Australian Film)

An Education (Best Reviewed UK Film)

There was also a user-reviewed category, which had Zombieland at number one, followed by Moon, Up, The Blind Side and Star Trek.









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Comments

Are you sure you don't participate? I found Pajiba by reading one of their reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Posted by: Coco Bravo at January 13, 2010 9:04 AM

Of course "Drag Me To Hell" and "Adventureland" were well reviewed. They had, umm, they were very, uhhh, when you think of them, ehhh . . .

Anyway, I thought the first line of movies was "Up (Abomination)". The Lasik surgery must be wearing off.

Quick question to finish up here:

LADIES, what you would you say if a man called your vagina a "Golden Tomato?" Sounds like a back-handed compliment, but it's better than him recoiling in horror, 'cuz then you know you brought home a gay.

Posted by: Kballs at January 13, 2010 9:26 AM

Wait, wasn't Where the Wild Things Are kind of a financial flop at the box office? Doesn't that mean that people didn't actually like it? Which in turn kinda implicates that it might not belong on the Top 10 of the year list? Unless the the year was actually that bad?

Posted by: Xtreme at January 13, 2010 9:28 AM

State of Play for Thriller? This was obviously a BAD year for thrillers. That movie was ok at best, and definitely not great.

Adventureland for Romance. No. They must have meant Away We Go. Adventureland was good, not great.

Posted by: TylerDFC at January 13, 2010 9:43 AM

This has nothing to do with this story but there was no place else to ask this: What happened to all of the commenters? I have to think that something heinous has happened when a Twilight post has only 77 comments; when Nathan "Bunkworthy" Fillion receives only 19 (?); when Michael Cera, CERA, only has 22!

Is everyone OK? Did I miss something?

Posted by: Shonda at January 13, 2010 9:43 AM

No District 9; busted-ass list, no care evar.

Posted by: the new transported man at January 13, 2010 9:47 AM

Adventureland was a bit of a chore to get through for me. I'm sick of seeing Jesse Whatsisface's...er...face.

Posted by: Carrie (aka Teabelly) at January 13, 2010 9:47 AM

Good call, TylerDFC. "Away We Go" was better than "Adventureland" in every way possible. Whoever disagrees with this statement has nothing in common with me.

*Thousands of Pajibans spontaneously weep with relief*

Well then.

Posted by: Kballs at January 13, 2010 9:53 AM

"I'm sick of seeing Jesse Whatsisface's...er...face."

Haha, what? He's been in three wide release movies. Three. One of which, The Squid and the Whale, came out five years ago. Good god does the internet backlash cycle move at light speed these days.

Posted by: TimK at January 13, 2010 10:07 AM

God is that all? Maybe it was just those two (the 'Land' ones) were out around the same time, he seemed to be everywhere.

Posted by: Carrie (aka Teabelly) at January 13, 2010 10:11 AM

How is Crazy Heart a musical? Now any movie with songs in it is a fucking musical? Chicago is a musical. Grease is a musical. Sweeney Todd, Moulin Rouge, etc, etc. Crazy Heart is a drama. Why don't they just make "an annoying trend that the emo kids can get into" category and nom Sparklefangs? Or "best movie in which it was filmed in South Africa and you know none of the cast" for D9? Too. Many. Categories.

And on that note, State of Play falls into the "best movie with a fat fucking Russell Crowe". I'd tell Mr. Crowe to eat shit, but I'm afraid he would, especially if it was deep fried. Lord knows motherfucker already ate everything else.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at January 13, 2010 10:33 AM

TimK, I assume the three you mean are The Squid and the Whale, Poopland, and Zombieland? You can't forget Curse just because you want to. And was S&tW wide release? It always had that "poor, depressing art-house" feel to it for me.

Posted by: Mikey Likes It at January 13, 2010 10:41 AM

I suspect this will be the very last of posts devoted to the Best of 2009
---
So you really really AREN'T going to do a best docs list. Seems a rather glaring omission for a site devoted to, you know, movies.

Posted by: , at January 13, 2010 10:48 AM

Dustin? Are you okay? The first paragraph is pretty much freaking riddled with nonsense.

"I’d only have on one bone to gnaw on in the choices, and that’s An Education, simply because I — like Drew — didn’t find it to be all that compelling. Well acted and well directed, by but the actual narrative left a lot to be desired. I’m a little surprised that Star Trek beat out District 9, though I what is "I" doing here? the RT percentage differences were small (4 percent) (same goes for Adventureland vs. (500) Days of Summer, where the was but a one percent difference)."

And before anyone mocks me for my lack of life, you should know 1) the only reason I noticed was because it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what "on bone to gnaw" even meant, and 2) you are totally right, I have no life.

Posted by: dsbs at January 13, 2010 10:55 AM

I never judge a movie by their tomato meter rating. This list only affirms that. 2009 was not this bland. Was it?

Posted by: Peanut_Butter_And_James at January 13, 2010 12:24 PM

I think we're all fine, Shonda. Our various addictions, including the stern mistress that is teh Facebook, take up a lot of time. But we're all alive, I think.

Posted by: Smokin at January 13, 2010 12:54 PM

Dustin, why did you leave out 2 categories that belong to my favorite movie this year?

“THE HURT LOCKER” (Action/Adventure)

“THE HURT LOCKER” (Best Limited Release Film)

You reported on every other category except these 2. Why? Did you not like the movie? I feel like you should have included them since the movie has an extremely good chance of winning Best Film at this year´s Oscars and has won just about every other major award for best film. Seems strange to only leave out these 2 categories from the Golden Tomatoes list when you published all the others.

Posted by: Tallsonofagun at January 13, 2010 1:07 PM

"Away We Go" was better than "Adventureland" in every way possible.

Amen!

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at January 13, 2010 1:48 PM

Just want to say because hardly anyone on this site will have seen it- Samson and Delilah was fucking magnificent and worth your seeking out. Managed to tackle difficult subject matter without ever seeming maudlin. Don't have much of an issue with the rest, though would sub D9 for Star Trek and am generally meh when it comes to thrillers.

Here's to an end to the 2009/noughties lists.

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at January 13, 2010 4:38 PM

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Posted by: Celia at January 14, 2010 1:41 AM

The Hurt Locker I wouldn't classify as an Action/Adventure movie, because the genre itself has Indiana Jones undertones, which The Hurt Locker(thankfully) does not. Haven't seen Adventureland to tell you if it was better than Away We Go, but Away We Go I must say worked well overall. It was far from perfect, but it actually moved me by the end credits.
Up, on the other hand, deserves golden Tomatoes in giant buckets, because that was by far one of the best of the year, tied with Up in the Air and A Serious Man, in my book. And not just because I wept into snotty, ratty old tissues for like, a third of the movie, but that's probably the case.

Posted by: Kamikaze Feminist at January 14, 2010 6:38 AM

I wouldn´t classify "The Hurt Locker" as an Action/Adventure movie either, but that´s the way they classified it. I´d say it´s as much of a Drama as "An Education" and it has a higher percentage on their site. Either way, it deserves to be listed with all the other categories above. Seems so strange that the only 2 Dustin left off the list were the ones won by "The Hurt Locker". Wish he´d fix it since it´s my favorite film of the year. It irks me.

Posted by: Tallsonofagun at January 14, 2010 2:03 PM

Wait..."best-reviewed"?

Ummm...wouldn't that mean that that the critics did a great job of reviewing the films, and not the that the films were any good?

It's like "best-loved holiday classics"...

"Yo, silent Night fans...you bettah reprahZENT, cuz we lovin' us tha SHIT outta some O Holy Night in this muthafuckah ovah heyah!"

Posted by: laredo at January 14, 2010 4:32 PM