That’s a great idea and something that I was already thinking about doing this year. I don’t know where to start though as there are several films I’ve seen so many times that I’ve lost count!

Keep reading and I’ll see what I can come up with. It may be a few weeks (or even months) until I get around to it but I will do it.

Cheers
Thomas

Thanks for dropping by and you will certainly be doing yourself a favour if you check out Rachel Getting Married.

I love the Pixar films too and they are actually now a subsidiary company of Disney. If you like the old Disney films then try to catch The Princess and the Frog. It’s a return to old-school 2D hand drawn animation and watching it reminded me of how I used to feel as a kid seeing the old Disney films.

Cheers
Thomas

I think you may be right about Bronson too – Melbourne audiences might have missed out in the end which is a shame. Really looking forward to seeing that again on DVD.

Antichrist and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus are probably the two films on my list that I should include a disclaimer for as they very much appeal to particular sensibilities that I have so they won’t be for everybody. However, I would still encourage people to see Parnassus as it is such a glorious dive into Terry Gilliam’s surreal and chaotic imagination.

When I interviewed Nicolas Winding Refn he announced that Bronson was getting an Australian release but I don’t remember it showing up in Melbourne so it may have only ended up making it to Sydney. It’s a shame as it is an excellent film that I think more Australian audiences would have enjoyed. It could have easily been promoted as England’s Chopper!

The big absence from my list is Inglourious Basterds and that is because I really didn’t think it was that good. I enjoyed it and recommend people see it but found it to basically be a series of incredible moments that don’t hang together as a whole. Too many great characters exited the narrative too soon and often without getting to do much. However, I did see it during an exhausting week while I was on a break from film reviewing so perhaps I need to give it a second go. But to be honest I’d rather watch The Dirty Dozen or Cross of Iron again!

Cheers
Thomas

I really liked Rachel Getting Married too but somehow left it out of my top 20. It’s so far ahead of anything else Anne Hathaway has ever done that it’s not funny. Loved the raw honesty of the film and her performance.

Haven’t seen the Gilliam yet but you’re the first person I’ve seen list that one so I’m curious now to see how it pans out. The ones I’ve seen I pretty much concur with except for Antichrist which I wasn’t crazy about and will have to see again to know how I really feel about it.

Bronson was near the top for me. Didn’t it get a short run at the Nova or somewhere else a month or so after MIFF? Or maybe just in Sydney?

I watched Moon for the second time the other night and loved it even more! Would possibly raise it another notch or two if I was into further revision! I already had nasty thoughts of sneaking Bright Star in after being blown away by it last weekend!

It’s so hard to catch everything by the end of the year. I’m still trying to find time to watch Inglourious Basterds! :(

If I allowed myself to list 10 or 20 more highlights from 2009 then I would have included Away We Go as I did really like it. If I’d seen it in another year then it may have even made my top 10.