TIME'S Top 10 Movies of 2009

Top 10 Movies

  1. The Princess and the Frog
  2. Up
  3. Fantastic Mr. Fox
  4. The Hurt Locker
  5. Up in the Air
  6. The White Ribbon
  7. A Single Man
  8. Of Time and the City
  9. District 9
  10. Thirst

Official post here, time.com/time/specials/packa … 79,00.html but be wary reading the info on films you haven’t seen. I’ve heard it’s spoily.

…I’m torn here. I have reason to trust TIME’s judgment (WALL-E was #1 last year and this year you’ve got 3 solid animated films at the top) but… if PATF wows me more than Up did I will be very surprised. I guess I gotta keep an open mind till I see it.

But anyways, second place ain’t bad at all! 8D

I’m so awful, I read this news last night and my immediate reaction was “NOOOOOOOO!” I’m going to PATF tomorrow, I expect to enjoy it, but “Up” is my Big Obsessive Movie Experience for this year, and I want it to be #1 for everything. Yeah, I do get overly emotional about this stuff. :unamused:

On the other hand, it’s great to see all the love for animation this year.

I hear ya karly! Although, I think TPatF’s appeal lies elsewhere, besides the absolutely golden emotive storytelling and incredible characters that Up has to offer. Not saying TPatF will fail in those areas, but Up just excels far too much in that regard for me to believe that it will surpass it. I’ll have to wait and see, but in any case, Up is a special film for me personally, so I don’t think anything in this lifetime will top it for me. :slight_smile:

In any case, the fact that the top 3 films are animated puts a huge smile on my face, and at least Up is really high on the list. I still don’t see TPatF topping it though. No way. I’m really glad it’s getting a lot of praise though, that’s really good for the medium.

WOW! Good year for animation!

I guess the #1 position for TPAF is also a bit of a statement, a statement that they are very happy with the return of traditional animation… I have yet to see it, but most of the reviews are really positive. I’m eager to see it, to see what all the fuzz is about :smiley: .

But yeah, for me Up should be #1. Nothing can top that movie!

I’m not even vaguely interested in The Princess and the Frog, so to see that above Up is very shocking to me. But, then again, despite a lot of rather negative reviews as far as I know, Fantastic Mr. Fox has managed to get a high position and the only other movie I’ve even heard of on that list is District 9. I’m pleased to see how well animation is doing though! Just goes to show that animated films can quite easily compete on the same level as live-action films, and hopefully this will be reflected in the next Oscar’s.

Apparently guys, (honestly saying. Remind you that I’m an Up fan. You know it very well, aren’t you) The Princess and The Frog deserves the top spot as #1 and leaving Up behind. TPaTF isn’t much a fairy tale you read or watch (though they’re some cliche), but I can assure you it’s worth to watch. Though it didn’t have touchable scene like Up, TPaTF will take you hilarious twisted-tale movie and all that jazz, you know what I mean?

It kinda bugs me that I said TPaTF is better than Up, but after watching it, I gotta say, it is the best animation movie of the year. Perhaps I watch Up too much. I dunno, but this is the best Disney (Pixar still tops it) animation ever made. :smiley:

Up is the #1 film for me this year. Period. End of story. The very end. Over and out.
It is really a bit strange to have PatF take the #1 spot, but however you prefer it, 2009 was a great year for animation, that’s for sure.
The sky is the limit for [spoil]fireflies in love[/spoil]* and “geriaction heroes” alike. :smiley:

  • tiny bit of a hint at the most touching scene from PatF, thus marked as spoiler

TIME has historically been supportive of animation - I remember they had Aladdin as the #1 movie in its year.

I do think some of their love for PATF has to do with Disney proving it can still do the classic fairy tale musical - I remember how “Little Mermaid” kicked off a whole new Disney renaissance, and I think there’s some of that same feeling this time. Maybe there’s a little sense that, “We all know Pixar is brilliant, we expect them to make a fantastic movie, but finding out that Disney can still work the old magic is a pleasant surprise.”

Two reasons I love Up so much though: I really, genuinely like and care about all the significant characters, and I find I can watch the movie multiple times without wanting to reach for the fast forward button. It just seems so “tight” to me, and goes so quickly, because everything works and pulls together.

Thankfully I don’t get lists like these get too me too much; I enjoy seeing some of my favorite films of the year getting the recognition they so heavily deserve; particularly in the animation genre.

Though admittedly I’m split between “TPatF” and “UP” though, it’s really odd.

What, no Coraline? Ah, perhaps it was too dark for the kiddies.

Well, I’m satisfied with the list, since I’m a fan of both PTAF and Up, so I’m okay with either getting top spot. Glad to see District 9 on the list, and I really want to watch Hurt Locker. Surprised to not see Star Trek, Coraline, Inglorious Basterds or Precious there, but I guess you can’t please everyone. :slight_smile:

I love Up so much, and I love how it’s at number two.

Cool to see animated films taking the lead too. I haven’t seen TPATF, so I can’t judge…

I don’t remember what Richard Corliss (Time’s critic, whose top 10 this is) thought of Coraline, but I think poor Coraline is starting to suffer from having been released so early in a year full of well-reviewed animated films. I still think it’s a sure bet for a nomination in the animated feature category, but Fantastic Mr Fox has kind of taken over the “quirky edgy stop motion” slot, in addition to being this year’s “animation for cool grown-ups who hate animation.”

I’m glad that Up & District 9 made it on the list. I haven’t seen TPATF yet, so I can’t tell if it’s better than Up, and, I know this might sound silly, but what about The Lovely Bones & Avatar. I know that these movies will probably not be Oscar material, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t just think that these movies are released in 2010 'cause they are being released on the last few weeks of December (OK. maybe, the Lovely Bones is being released in January, but I believe it’s limited release begins Christmas day).

Then again, I guess that if TIME publishes these lists in their magazine, they would have to do it before the middle of December to make a deadline, I guess. :unamused:

I love this list, it shows that animated films are being taken more seriously, which makes me happy! I love both PATF and Up, so I’m cool with it! And I need to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it! And Cars made it on the list in 2006 as well. And WALL-E totally deserved to be number one in 2008. I would be happy if WALL-E was just nominated for best picture that year, I liked it better than the other movies in 2008.

Five out of those Time Top 10 movies actually made the Academy’s list too. I would have to agree with many here that PATF was not of the same caliber as Pete Docter’s invention. Up was a completely original story. Another ‘Princess’ movie just can’t be original. Disney’s movie was excellent, but Pixar’s was extraordinary, and its extremely competent crafting becomes more and more obvious with each viewing. (I actually was getting sick and tired of all the ‘Princess’ advertising, and all the princess clothing at Disney stores and princess books at the toy stores. Thank goodness they didn’t make it a musical.)

Now how the Fox movie got so high up there, well perhaps that’s because one reviewer made up that list, not sure there. I had actually not even heard of 3 of those movies, they must be mostly ‘artsy’ fare, like Single Man, which I couldn’t even complete watching on dvd.

Nice to see Avatar not on there, that would of been propaganda if it wa on there, 2nds okay i guess for a movie as good as ‘Up’, could of easily been first though, as the majority (except Up <3!) of them that came out that year were garbage (same wii this year really :frowning:)