2009: World Premieres 2009: U.S. Releases 2009: Still Left to See 2009: Cannes Festival 2009: Chicago Festival Looking Back Moving Ahead Browse Films by Title / Year / Reviews Home / Blog / E-Mail The Movies of 2009: U.S. Releases  By Grade // By Title, with Full Reviews Top Ten List 1.  The Hurt Locker Dir. Kathryn Bigelow. With Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie A– 2.  You, the Living Dir. Roy Andersson. With Elisabeth Halender, Jörgen Nohall A– 3.  Julia Dir. Erick Zonca. With Tilda Swinton, Aidan Gould, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo A– 4.  Anvil! The Story of Anvil Dir. Sacha Gervasi. Documentary about a heavy metal band A– 5.  Lorna's Silence Dirs. Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne. With Arta Dobroshi A– 6.  Beeswax Dir. Andrew Bujalski. With Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher, Alex KarpovskyA– 7.  Thirst Dir. Park Chan-wook. With Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin, Shin Ha-kyun B+ 8.  Bright Star Dir. Jane Campion. With Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider B+ 9.  The Limits of Control Dir. Jim Jarmusch. With Isaach de Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta B+ 10.  The Maid Dir. Sebastián Silva. With Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola B+ Remainder of Films Screened 35 Shots of Rum Dir. Claire Denis. With Mati Diop, Alex Descas, Nicole Dogue B+ La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet Dir. Frederick Wiseman. Documentary B+ Duplicity Dir. Tony Gilroy. With Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti, Denis O'Hare B+ Gomorrah Dir. Matteo Garrone. With Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abruzzese B+ In the Loop Dir. Armando Iannucci. With Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison B+ Mary and Max Dir. Adam Elliot. Animated. Voices of Barry Humphries, Toni Collette B+ Sin Nombre Dir. Cary Fukunaga. With Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristian Ferrer B+ Summer Hours Dir. Olivier Assayas. With Charles Berling, Juliette Binoche B+ The Sun Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov. With Issey Ogata, Robert Dawson, Shirô Sano B+ Whip It Dir. Drew Barrymore. With Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden B+ Adventureland Dir. Greg Mottola. With Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr B Coraline Dir. Henry Selick. Animated. Voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher B The Cove Dir. Louie Psihoyos. Documentary about activist work against dolphin slaughter B Crude Dir. Joe Berlinger. Documentary about oil-industrial practices in Ecuador B Drag Me to Hell Dir. Sam Raimi. With Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver B Everlasting Moments Dir. Jan Troell. With Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt B Funny People Dir. Judd Apatow. With Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana B Goodbye Solo Dir. Ramin Bahrani. With Souleymane Sy Savané, Red West B The Headless Woman Dir. Lucrecia Martel. With María Onetto, Claudia Cantero B The House of the Devil Dir. Ti West. Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Greta Gerwig B I Love You, Man Dir. John Hamburg. With Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones B Medicine for Melancholy Dir. Barry Jenkins. With Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins B The Messenger Dir. Oren Moverman. With Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson B Paranormal Activity Dir. Oren Peli. With Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Michael Bayouth B Police, Adjective Dir. Corneliu Porumboiu. With Dragos Bucur, Ion Stoica, Irina Saulescu B Precious Dir. Lee Daniels. With Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey B Revanche Dir. Götz Spielmann. With Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko, Ursula Strauss B The Road Dir. John Hillcoat. With Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron B Serbis Dir. Brillante Mendoza. With Jacklyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Mercedes Cabral B Silent Light Dir. Carlos Reygadas. With Cornelio Wall, María Pankratz, Miriam Toews B The Soloist Dir. Joe Wright. With Robert Downey, Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener B Sugar Dirs. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. With Algenis Pérez Soto, Rayniel Rufino B That Evening Sun Dir. Scott Teems. With Hal Holbrook, Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins B Treeless Mountain Dir. So Yong Kim. With Hee-yeon Kim, Song-hee Kim, Mi-hyang Kim B Up Dir. Pete Docter. Animated. With the voices of Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson B We Live in Public Dir. Ondi Timoner. Documentary about surveillance experiments B Where the Wild Things Are Dir. Spike Jonze. With Max Records B 12 Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov. With Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Makovetsky, Sergey Garmash B– (500) Days of Summer Dir. Marc Webb. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel B– Adoration Dir. Atom Egoyan. With Devon Bostick, Scott Speedman, Arsinée Khanjian B– The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call: New Orleans Dir. Werner Herzog B– Before Tomorrow Dirs. Marie-Hélène Cousineau & Madeline Ivalu. Cast: Madeline Ivalu B– Big Fan Dir. Robert Siegel. With Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz B– Brothers Dir. Jim Sheridan. With Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal B– Il Divo Dir. Paolo Sorrentino. With Toni Servillo, Giulio Bosetti, Carlo Buccirossi B– Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Documentary about corporate U.S. food production B– Grey Gardens Dir. TV Movie. Michael Sucsy. With Drew Barrymore, Jessica Lange B– Humpday Dir. Lynn Shelton. With Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore B– It's Complicated Dir. Nancy Meyers. With Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin B– Lake Tahoe Dir. Fernando Eimbcke. With Diego Cataño, Juan Carlos Lara II B– Lemon Tree Dir. Eran Riklis. With Hiam Abbass, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael B– Of Time and the City Dir. Terence Davies. Personal essay film about Liverpool B– The Princess and the Frog Dirs. John Musker and Ron Clements. Animated B– Public Enemies Dir. Michael Mann. With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard B– The September Issue Dir. R.J. Cutler. Documentary about U.S. Vogue Magazine B– State of Play Dir. Kevin Macdonald. With Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck B– Tetro Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. With Alden Ehrenreich, Vincent Gallo, Maribel Verdú B– Valentino: The Last Emperor Dir. Matt Tyrnauer. Documentary about the designer B– The White Ribbon Dir. Michael Haneke. With Christian Friedel, Burghart Klaußner B– A Woman in Berlin Dir. Max Färberböck. With Nina Hoss, Yevgeni Sidikhin B– Amreeka Dir. Cherien Dabis. With Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass C+ Ask Not Dir. Johnny Symons. Documentary about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy C+ Away We Go Dir. Sam Mendes. With Maya Rudolph, John Krasinski, Catherine O'Hara C+ Bronson Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn. With Tom Hardy, Matt King, Amanda Burton C+ District 9 Dir. Neill Blomkamp. With Sharlto Copley, David James, Louis Minnaar C+ Fantastic Mr. Fox Dir. Wes Anderson. Animated. Voice of George Clooney C+ The Girlfriend Experience Dir. Steven Soderbergh. With Sasha Grey, Chris Santos C+ Jerichow Dir. Christian Petzold. With Benno Fürmann, Hilmi Sözer, Nina Hoss C+ Julie & Julia Dir. Nora Ephron. With Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci C+ Moon Dir. Duncan Jones. With Sam Rockwell, voice of Kevin Spacey C+ Orphan Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra. With Isabelle Fuhrman, Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard C+ Outrage Dir. Kirby Dick. Documentary about U.S. politicians who obstruct LGBT rights C+ Ponyo Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Animated. Voices of Frankie Jonas, Noah Cyrus, Tina Fey C+ Three Monkeys Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan. With Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifar Şungar C+ Tyson Dir. James Toback. Documentary about the former heavyweight boxing champ C+ World's Greatest Dad Dir. Bobcat Goldthwait. With Robin Williams, Alexie Gilmore C+ Avatar Dir. James Cameron. With Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Sigourney Weaver C Broken Embraces Dir. Pedro Almodóvar. With Lluís Homar, Penélope Cruz, Tamar Novas C The Brothers Bloom Dir. Rian Johnson. With Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz C Coco Before Chanel Dir. Anne Fontaine. With Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde C Crazy Heart Dir. Scott Cooper. With Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall C An Education Dir. Lone Scherfig. With Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina C Good Hair Dir. Jeff Stilson. Documentary about black women and their hair C He's Just Not That Into You Dir. Ken Kwapis. With Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long C The International Dir. Tom Tykwer. With Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl C Invictus Dir. Clint Eastwood. With Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Adjoa Andoh C Karl Rove, I Love You Dirs. Dan Butler and Phil Leirness. With Dan Butler, Julia Miranda C Notorious Dir. George Tillman, Jr. With Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Angela Bassett C The Proposal Dir. Anne Fletcher. With Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen C Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story Dir. Jeffrey Schwarz. Documentary C Taking Woodstock Dir. Ang Lee. With Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman C Two Lovers Dir. James Gray. With Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw C Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself Dir. Tyler Perry. With Taraji P. Henson C The Young Victoria Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée. With Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany C Brüno Dir. Larry Charles. With Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten C– Give Me Your Hand Dir. Pascal-Alex Vincent. With Alexandre Carril, Victor Carril C– Gospel Hill Dir. Giancarlo Esposito. With Taylor Kitsch, Danny Glover, Angela Bassett C– The Informant! Dir. Steven Soderbergh. With Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale C– Inglourious Basterds Dir. Quentin Tarantino. With Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent C– A Serious Man Dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen. With Michael Stuhlbarg, Ken Melamed C– Skin Dir. Anthony Fabian. With Sophie Okonedo, Alice Krige, Sam Neill, Tony Kgoroge C– Star Trek Dir. J.J. Abrams. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Eric Bana C– Sunshine Cleaning Dir. Christine Jeffs. With Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Jason Spevack C– Tokyo! Dirs. Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho. With Ayako Fujitani C– Up in the Air Dir. Jason Reitman. With George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick C– American Violet Dir. Tim Disney. With Nicole Beharie, Will Patton, Alfre Woodard D+ The Blind Side Dir. John Lee Hancock. With Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock D+ The Burning Plain Dir. Guillermo Arriaga. With Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence D+ Chéri Dir. Stephen Frears. With Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates D+ Life Is Hot in Cracktown Dir. Buddy Giovinazzo. With Evan Ross, Victor Rasuk D+ Me and Orson Welles Dir. Richard Linklater. With Zac Efron, Christian McKay D+ Nine Dir. Rob Marshall. With Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench D+ A Single Man Dir. Tom Ford. With Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult D+ Spread Dir. David Mackenzie. With Ashton Kutcher, Margarita Levieva, Anne Heche D+ Watchmen Dir. Zack Snyder. With Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman D+ Antichrist Dir. Lars von Trier. With Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg D Blind Date Dir. Stanley Tucci. With Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thijs Römer D Disgrace Dir. Steve Jacobs. With John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Eriq Ebouaney D Gamer Dirs. Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor. Gerard Butler, Logan Lerman, Michael C. Hall D The Hangover Dir. Todd Phillips. With Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper D The Last Station Dir. Michael Hoffman. With James McAvoy, Helen Mirren D Lost in New Mexico: The Strange Case of Susan Hero Dir. Jason Rosette D The Lovely Bones Dir. Peter Jackson. With Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg D– Sherlock Holmes Dir. Guy Ritchie. With Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams F