Damn there were a lot of movies this year! Even between the three of us we didn’t manage to see enough films. Plus half of the films we all saw were total crap, (turns out New Moon still sucks on the 3rd and 4th viewings). But 2009 had some standouts, and before all the bullshit award shows start happening, here’s our picks for some of the best this year.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Director: Wes Anderson

Jakebe says: Hands down the best furry movie of the year (and this was a pretty good year for us). Quirky and whimsical enough to engage children, this movie still had an undeniably mature sensibility. It’s one of those rare movies that you can grow up with; it becomes a slightly different movie every time you see it. Fortunately for us, George Clooney as a self-possessed trickster is pretty damned hot in all of them.

Up
Directors: Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson

Jakebe says: Pixar’s latest is notable for a whole host of reasons — it’s the highest grossing 3D movie of all time, if you had a heart at all, you cried in the first fifteen minutes (before our protagonist even said a word) and it gave us Dug, one adorable talking dog. Still, the story is what resonates most; the old crotchety man setting out on one last adventure to fulfill his wife’s lifelong dream and finding himself, his life and a dysfunctional family in the process. Way to go Pixar — you’ve proven for another year that you can do no wrong.

The Hangover
Director: Todd Phillips

Malin says: How hard is it to reinvent the stupid buddy comedy? It’s a tried and true formula, but “The Hangover” takes it to another level, giving us stupid buddies we care about, a mystery with delightful and sometimes side-splitting surprises at every turn, and heartfelt acting performances. To make Vegas more surreal and funny than it already is hasn’t been done this well since “Swingers.”

The Princess and the Frog
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker

Jakebe says: Disney’s triumphant return to traditional animation was everything it needed to be — a crowd-pleasing musical in the finest Disney tradition, a bold, surprising movie that proved the company could do something modern, and a love letter to the spirit and character of New Orleans. It’s most stunning achievement, however, is Louis, who might finally dispel the memory of that horrible big-lipped alligator in All Dogs Go to Heaven.

Where the Wild Things Are
Director: Spike Jonze

Jakebe says: It’s hard to deny the craftsmanship in the look (a trippy and effective combination of puppety and CG) or the story (a deft, mature meditation of the complex emotional landscape of childhood), but this Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s classic was a little inert for me. Fascinating as an intellectual exercise, I can’t say it worked as entertainment — it was more whimpering than wild. Still, this scored deeply with quite a lot of you, and who wouldn’t want to romp around in the woods with a bunch of giant monsters?

Sherlock Holmes
Director: Guy Ritchie

Lovejoy says: I was pleasantly surprised with how enjoyable Sherlock Holmes was. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective, and while the film’s plot wasn’t a stellar mystery, it was entertaining and had a lot of the twists and set ups that Doyle uses in his novels. Just as important, Robert Downey Jr is amazing and embodied Holmes with the wit and narcissism I love him for. He carries the film, though he is supported by the charming likes of Jude Law.

Coraline
Director: Henry Selick

Jakebe says: This charming stop-motion animation is being ignored in a lot of year-end lists, and that’s a shame. It’s another movie that immerses you in its very unique world, and the story — adapted from the master of modern fantasy, Neil Gaiman — is a wonderful coming-of-age fable that has something for kids and adult alike. And, in a completely overlooked performance, Keith David totally rocks it as The Cat.

Watchmen
Director: Zack Snyder

Jakebe says: Despite the tweaks to this highly-anticipated adaptation, it was quite possibly the most faithful reworking you could get of Alan Moore’s complicated 1987 graphic novel. The action and effects were top-notch, but so were the story and acting — Watchmen is quite possibly the only movie that we wish Moore had given his blessing to. But hey, we understand; it’s an outrage to see Dr. Manhattan’s giant, blue, glowing penis to be treated so casually.

Up in the Air
Director: Jason Reitman

Malin says: Up In The Air is a film that really shines. It’s a tight, enjoyable movie, wonderfully acted and directed, with a story that is perfectly suited to our times and a message that resonates long after the final credits. It has everything: humor, surprises, emotion, drama, George Clooney, and Jason Bateman. No other movie this year has been as complete or as perfectly executed.

Star Trek
Director: JJ Abrams

Jakebe says: After the premature flame-out of Star Trek: Enterprise and the disappointing box office for Nemesis, folks were beginning to wonder if it was time to put the Federation on ice for a while. Then came JJ Abrams, who guided James T. Kirk and company back to cultural relevance with a cool, sweet sci-fi blockbuster. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto make a better Kirk and Spock than Shatner and Nimoy did, and that’s saying something. Abrams continues to show a remarkable knack for spinning perfect pop-culture confections.

District 9
Director: Neil Blomkamp

Jakebe says: When I saw the roll-out for this movie’s ubiquitous advertising campaign (“This bus is for humans only!”), I knew it would be something special. Thankfully, I was right: District 9 taught Hollywood that it could make a great, gritty, instant-cult-favorite on a limited budget without any big name stars and effects that create a believable, down-to-earth world that still holds up under the weight of its heavy concept. I’m already looking forward to the return of CJ for Neil Blomkamp’s inevitable sequel.

(500) Days of Summer
Director: Marc Webb

Lovejoy says: I hesitate to call this film a romantic comedy, and I flat out refuse to use the stupid term “dramady”. I think I’ll make up a new terrible compound word, “melanchomedy”. Though there are some hilarious moments in here. Ultimately, 500 Days is a heartfelt, emotional film carried by the stars. I’ve never seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel so great, but I can’t wait to see more.

Zombieland
Director: Ruben Fleischer

Jakebe says: I expected good things from this, and joy of joys the movie turned out to be even better than I imagined. This along with 2012 put Woody Harrelson back on the map, and Jesse Eisenberg’s baby-faced hero establishes him as something much more than a poor man’s Michael Cera. Oh, and the little sister to Emma Stone’s bad-ass Wichita? None other than “Little Miss Sunshine” herself, Abigail Breslin. Perfectly cast and wickedly funny, this earns its place atop a genre that’s gotten incredibly crowded in recent years.

Avatar
Director: James Cameron

Jakebe says: It’s impossible to overstate Avatar‘s importance as the pop-culture fantasy event of the year. James Cameron’s return to the big screen met with the astonishing success we’ve come to expect from him, and it couldn’t have come at a better moment. In a year where Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen takes the box-office crown, we sorely needed someone to show Michael Bay how you roll with eye-popping special effects.

Inglourious Basterds
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Malin says: There are certain things we take for granted as hallmarks of a Tarantino movie: snappy, layered dialogue; brilliant, striking visuals; almost cartoonishly exaggerated violence. Inglourious Basterds does not disappoint on any of those fronts. Tarantino is also a director who knows how to get terrific performances from his actors: Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz steal the show, but there’s not a false note in the cast. And yet, the story seems less developed than usual. Ranked against his other full-length features, Basterds would be near the bottom–which still leaves it ahead of most of the rest of Hollywood.

So there you have it. There were more films we wanted to put in here. Jakebe loves Taken more than anyone reasonably should. And none of even saw The Hurt Locker, but we hear good things. We’re sure you’ve got your favorites, so go ahead and leave us a comment ranting about how we snubbed The Proposal.