The 3 Good Movies of the Decade
Here are the 3 best movies of 2009 that got our adrenaline pumping and the dynamite exploding. We love good movies and have seen hundreds in our time.
- The Messenger. You know that gut-wrenching moment in any war-related film where a mother or father or wife opens the door to find two military men on the doorstep, and their presence alone signifies that inconceivable tragedy? Oren Moverman’s powerful debut is full of them — making this drama starring Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson (in career-best performances) one of the year’s hardest films to watch. But The Messenger download also one of the most rewarding, an insightful character study that’ll leave you moved.
- The Cove. Widespread love for dolphins dates back to the days of ‘Flipper,’ and comes full circle with this expose of their mass slaughter occurring in Japan (some 23,000 are killed a year), The Cove the best documentary of the year. Louie Psihoyos’ doc is equal parts thrilling and heartbreaking — he crafts a mission to uncover the slaughter as a full-on caper; the film then climaxes with one of the most devastating (and disturbing) scenes ever committed to non-fiction filmmaking.
- The Hurt Locker. Director Kathryn Bigelow allows little breathing room in this suspense-filled war drama about a special unit (including Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie) tasked to defuse bombs in Iraq. The Hurt Locker online tightly-shot, almost documentary feel, captures military conflict in ways that other films this decade have failed, and may go down as one of the best war movies ever made. For now, at least, it’s one of the very best of ‘09.