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ROB NELSON

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    The Best Films of 2009

    Johnny Depp in a scene from "Public Enemies."
    Universal PicturesJohnny Depp in a scene from "Public Enemies."


    For your consideration, as they say in the biz: Here is a list of 10 great movies released to theaters in 2009. All but a few are available for holiday season viewing without leaving your neighborhood.

    Feel free to rearrange the alphabetical 10 in order of your own preference; for the first time in two decades of list-making, I couldn't bring myself to put one new classic before another.

    No such ties for the title of Reissue of the Year: The clear winner is the Film Foundation's scrupulously restored print of "The Red Shoes" (1948), which just so happens to be playing through Sunday at the Trylon  microcinema in Minneapolis.

     

     

    (Note to completists: My longer list — including favorite performances, undistributed films, and films of the decade — can be found here.)

    Happy screening!

    "Beeswax"
    Twentysomething twin sisters, identical to a point, in the year's most genuine indie. DVD out 4/6/10.

    "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
    Writer-director Wes Anderson: crazy like that. Playing at area theaters.

    "The Hurt Locker"
    Now this is a mindblower: the quagmire as thrill ride. DVD and Blu-Ray out 1/12/10.

    "Munyurangabo"
    Aka "Liberation Day," a haunting parable of Rwandan healing. Available on DVD.

    "Ponyo"
    Fish-out-of-water tale, beautifully drawn (and drawn out) by Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Subtitled version available on DVD; dubbed version out 3/2/10.

    "Public Enemies"
    Depression Era violence, digital videography: Then is now. Available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

    "Thirst"
    South Korean surrealism; vampires, too! Available on DVD.

    "24 City"
    Progress comes to a Chinese factory town in the form of — what else? — a swanky new apartment complex. DVD out 1/12/10.

    "We Live in Public"
    Web guru Josh Harris went nuts in the '90s while trying to prove that the Internet would tangle us in its web. Was he wrong? British import DVD out 2/15/10.

    "Where the Wild Things Are"
    An intimate epic of the oddly ordinary, for kids of all ages (grown-ups included). Currently unavailable in the Twin Cities (but bound to hit second-run theaters before long).


    Rob Nelson
    Illustration by Hugh Bennewitz


    minnpost.com/robnelson



    Rob Nelson is a member of the National Society of Film Critics, an adjunct instructor at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the former film editor at City Pages. His writing also appears in Film Comment, Cinema Scope and the Boston Phoenix. He covers movies and related topics. He can be reached at rnelson [at] minnpost [dot] com. 

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