Seeing stars

Hi all,

Since there are only about eight weeks left in the year (and I'll be overseas for four of them and won't be reviewing much during that time), I thought I'd post a round-up of the 2009 films I've given four stars to. Just look at how many Australian movies are in there!

The Wrestler: "Rourke's performance in the The Wrestler got past all my defenses, and I wound up caring for this flawed, steroid-injecting professional wrestler much more than I thought I would."

Doubt: "John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, an adaptation of his own stage play, is brilliantly ambiguous."

Revolutionary Road: "The final scenes of Revolutionary Road serve as a warning, I feel. To understand a relationship between yourself and another person, it is vital to first understand your own hopes and dreams, the things about life you can change, those you cannot, and to have the wisdom to tell the difference. "

The Combination: "The Combination regularly reaches a level of power that surprised me, and it explores such delicate subject matter without ever resorting to didactism or self-righteousness."

Watchmen: "Watchmen is a masterpiece. It joins The Dark Knight (which it could not differ more from in style and tone), and Iron Man in resurging the 'comic book' movie, imbuing it with real ideas and sophistication in a way that we have never seen before."

Entre Les Murs (The Class): "The Class is one of the best exponents of ensemble acting that I have seen in a long time."

Mary and Max: "Mary and Max is magical. No other way to describe it."

Synecdoche, New York: "(Synecdoche, New York) is a difficult review to write, because it was not really created for discussion -- more for experiencing."

Samson and Delilah: "It may not be palatable subject matter for those of us who prefer to see Australia as 'the lucky country', and while it is not a wholly uplifting experience, Samson and Delilah is a powerful masterpiece."

Last Ride: "(Glendyn Ivin's) debut is deeply powerful, fascinating and, in the end, quite heartbreaking."

Inglourious Basterds: "A cinematic funhouse... my favourite movie of the year so far."

Up: "Once more, Pixar has proven that they are in touch with how people, young and old, like to watch movies."

The Hurt Locker: "One of the most riveting, spellbinding and best films of the year."

**

Wish me luck in whittling these down to a list of just ten of the year's best. And we've only just gotten into good movie season!

Jonathan