The 3 Best Movies of 2009

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.

  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter’s all grown up. The latest visually stunning installment in the series raises the dramatic stakes to frightening, life-and-death levels, as the evil Voldemort makes headway against the forces of good. Danger abounds all around, but so does love (there’s snogging everywhere!), and the main trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have blossomed into mature actors who can handle it all in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie.
  • Nine. None of the songs from Rob Marshall’s musical — based on the stage musical, which was based on Fellini’s ‘8 1/2′ — are what you’d call hummable. But that’s a forgivable flaw when you have such fine acting from Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard (who deserves a second Oscar) and Judi Dench (who deserves our eternal awe). It won’t revolutionize the genre, but it’s stylish, attractive, sexy, and entertaining … yup, we’ll take Nine 2009.
  • Star Trek. After so much speculation, it didn’t seem as though J.J. Abrams’ reinvention of Star Trek the movie could possibly deliver. But deliver it did, with a terrific ensemble cast (including a snarky new Kirk in Chris Pine), rousing action sequences, and a storyline that sort of almost made sense. It was everything a summer movie should be, and kudos to Abrams for being bold enough to reboot the franchise — may it live long and prosper.