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Well, it's that time of year to run down the best films of the year: the end of January. Okay, so I'm a bit late on the whole "the best film of the year!" hyperbole, but I see it as me purposely missing the boat so I can capture your attention all the more. You were inundated with hundreds of top-ten lists back in December, and now you'll be inundated with just the one. Last week, of course, the A-List discussed the bottom half of my top-ten list and a bevy of honorable mentions. This week, it's all about the top five of 2009. So, read on, and we'll discuss how wrong and/or right I am about my picks, depending on how you roll.

First off, for those of you picking up on the A-List in part 2...well, why aren't you checking out part 1 of my list? I mean, I'm not offended, but I have to wonder why you're curious enough to read this list, but not the preceding one. Ah, well, if you're going to be stubborn about it, hypothetical reader, I'll give you a quick rundown, in descending order, of my picks for the bottom half of the top ten movies of 2009: Public Enemies, Star Trek, Moon, District 9, and Avatar. Yes, as it turns out, 2009 was the year of the great science-fiction film. Four of those movies range from being thought-provoking to being all-out action movies that have no shame about being just fun; Star Trek, I'm looking in your direction.

What, then, distinguished the five best movies of 2009 from the other five I've named? It's hard to say what makes Avatar better than District 9, to be honest. What made these five movies stick out more comes down to a few factors: there's rewatchability, there's being memorable, and there's being moving. In some ways, all five of these movies have those qualities (though some were more moving than others, as we'll soon see). The one thing about 2009 that I'm glad about is that, unlike last year, it seems like the Academy Awards and my opinions are aligning once again. I realize that it's really not important if a group of people agree with me, but it's nice to know that my favorites movies of 2009 might match with the Oscars. Or not. Let's see.

5. Inglourious Basterds

I have, I believe, mentioned in the past that the past decade was not kind to Quentin Tarantino, in my opinion. Everyone loves Kill Bill, unless you include me. I see two overlong movies with no plot and hackneyed, contrived dialogue. Some people love Grindhouse, and all I see is a movie with no discernible structure, obnoxious lead characters, and a thrilling supporting performance from Kurt Russell that's ruined by the final shot. So I was considerably wary about Inglourious Basterds, a movie that, from its title, reeks of being too goofy to be taken seriously, and too easily forgettable. Could a movie that so gleefully decides to live in an alternate history, that portrays a majority of its characters as cartoonish caricatures be any good? Could the movie be anything less than Tarantino's arrogance ruining his creativity?

I'm very glad to be wrong, as Inglourious Basterds was not only quite good, but it was fun, exciting and, along with another pick on this week's list, one of the most suspenseful films of the year. Tarantino is a director I associate with dialogue, snappy or otherwise, and with memorable imagery, but rarely suspense. In various lengthy sequences set in farmhouses and taverns, Tarantino lets scenes play out patiently, as characters talk their way around killing each other. The plot isn't so clear cut as Brad Pitt leading Jewish-American soldiers into Germany to kill Nazis; in fact, Pitt and his friends are only in about 40 minutes of the movie; the dominant force is Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa of the SS, a truly evil yet altogether mild-mannered and friendly character, a fully formed and lively man who's made creepier by being so nice. Inglourious Basterds is many things, but I'm glad that it wasn't overrated.

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