The Top 10 Films of 2009: Kyle's Picks

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Antichrist (dir. Lars von Trier)

A Prophet (dir. Jacques Audiard)

Visually ravishing -- at least until you have to start watching it behind your fingers -- and emotionally punishing in every sense of the word, Lars von Trier's Antichrist also provided some of 2009's most shocking laughs, due in no small part to Charlotte Gainsbourg's central, bemused performance. (OK, the talking fox probably helped a little too.) Von Trier's obsession with misogyny becomes a very literal text in Antichrist, but Gainsbourg taunts Willem Dafoe in much the same way the actress must have tweaked the director. You want her to do what? OK, but don't blame her if she makes a mess. French director Jacques Audiard has indulged in some darkly comedic endeavors before (see his rude 2001 noir Read My Lips -- no seriously, see it) but it all felt like prelude to A Prophet, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year. Initially a claustrophobic prison tale, it opens up at the same time the world of budding gangster Malik (Tahar Rahim) begins to expand. A Prophet tells a familiar story, but the performances are crackerjack and the direction is kinetic. Audiard may be the most fluid shooter in film today.

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Comments

  • HwoodHills says:

    Someone needs to make a comedy list.
    These year end "Top 10" lists rarely contain commercially successful comedies.
    The Hangover was really funny, Mr. Buchanan, and did monster business with a bunch of "unknowns." That, in and of itself, means something.
    Funny People wasn't, and Humpday wasn't "written" as much as improvised so I'm not sure that counts, technically.
    But then again, maybe it wasn't a banner year for Comedies.

  • stolidog says:

    Up.

  • Chris Schoonover says:

    I just saw Imaginarium, and I treasured it, but now that I look at your list, I can see how it couldn't possibly have made your Top Ten. Bravo! I stand by the flicks you picked: some Oscar-worthy, some indie. And I'm happy you aren't drinking Cameron's Kool-Aid.

  • Best comedy of the year was Black Dynamite. Hands down.
    DY-NO-MITE!

  • SunnydaZe says:

    The discussions about "Antichrist" over at IMDB are really fascinating.
    Unfortunately, it is the sorta film I will NEVER WATCH. I am no cinema Masochist and it is pretty obvious that Lars von Trier is a cinema Sadist; giving literal meaning to the phrase "torture porn".
    My own opinion is that art is to symbolize pain and suffering, not shove it in our face so that we are truly traumatized. In that respect, the film becomes the very evil it is trying to explore.
    I love the films "The Shining" and "Marebito" (see it if you haven't!) so I am not against horror/suspense but there are somethings I don't want to see since I will never be able to unsee them.
    On the meaning of the title>
    My guess is that Christ = Good and Antichrist = Evil. From reading about the film it seems there is a play of opposites going on> The difference between the way we believe things should be and the way they sometimes are. Wife/Mother as nurturer; Husband as loving; Nature as beautiful; Lovemaking giving life; Couples adoring each others sexual organs; No actual sex in mainstream films; Cut aways during the violent parts; All of this is made opposite. Thus, ANTI.
    It all works in theory, but I still will NEVER see this film.
    I am going to send Lars a copy of the entire series of "Arrested Development" and see if that doesn't cheer him up...

  • Michael Eckley says:

    I agree with 'sunnydaze' There is enough of this stuff in real life, who the hell wants to be 'entertained' by it??? Not me.

  • Kyle Buchanan says:

    Humpday may have been improvised but it was certainly still a comedy. I do agree that comedy is an under-respected genre, especially at this time of year, but hey, I had two!