Another perspective on the best movies of 2009 from contributing writer Josh Miller.

This is not an objective list; rather than choosing films that are the best films of the year because of simple filmmaking aesthetic, I chose the ten films that I had some sort of resonance with personally. This list could potentially be updated in the near-future, but this is a pretty accurate reflection as it is…..

1. The Road – This adaptation of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy is a bleak look at a  father and son wandering around a post-apocalyptic world. Many films have covered this territory in the last few years, but The Road is the best of them and the best film of 2009. It’s a dark, gloomy film that portrays the animalistic nature of humans unflinchingly. It’s suspenseful, thought-provoking, and powerful.

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With two lingering wars and the economy in the tank, the nation didn’t exactly have a very happy 2009.
Fitting that many of the year’s best movies were fantasies, comedies and cartoons. Apparently, there’s nothing like a good distraction to help ease the pain of tough times.

1. Up

While this Pixar masterpiece boasts several visually arresting action sequences, the film’s most powerful moments are the quietest ones– particularly a dialogue-free sequence that documents the love and loss of a long, happy marriage.

From there, “Up” becomes a refreshingly funny buddy comedy, teaming an 80-year-old grouch with a young, upbeat wilderness explorer. It seems like all fun kid stuff, but “Up” is more a movie about grief and how some of the greatest adventures in life can also be the simplest.

People go on and on about the revolutionary computer effects in “Avatar,” but only Pixar has ever made me connect with computer images on a human level.

Consider the climactic scene of “Up,” when heartbroken Carl Fredericksen opens the last page of his wife’s photo journal. The scene has no explosions, quips or bright balloons. The essence and brilliance of “Up” is in an old man’s gaze.

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