All films mentioned in Film Comment's "Final Cut 2009" lists
Sphinx on the Seine by Paul Clipson, K-CoreaINC.K (section a) by Ryan Trecartin and Plato’s Atlantis by Alexander McQueen are not currently listed on IMDb. All three are at the time of writing freely available online to view.
The films mentioned here are from the "Editors' Choice" lists, these were mostly top 10s but some naughty people snuck some more in. There were 4 movies in the "20 Best Unreleased Films of 2009" list that weren't in any of the Editors' Choice list, I have appended these at the end of the list.
The individual ballots that made up the "20 Best Films of 2009" and "20 Best Unreleased Films of 2009" were unpublished. All those 40 movies are in this list. They were chosen by "100 North American colleagues" each asked for a top 20.
The films mentioned here are from the "Editors' Choice" lists, these were mostly top 10s but some naughty people snuck some more in. There were 4 movies in the "20 Best Unreleased Films of 2009" list that weren't in any of the Editors' Choice list, I have appended these at the end of the list.
The individual ballots that made up the "20 Best Films of 2009" and "20 Best Unreleased Films of 2009" were unpublished. All those 40 movies are in this list. They were chosen by "100 North American colleagues" each asked for a top 20.
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- DirectorGreg MottolaStarsJesse EisenbergKristen StewartRyan ReynoldsIn the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
- DirectorAdam CurtisStarsH. Rap BrownNikita KhrushchevRichard NixonThe story of America's rise to power starting with 1959; it uses archive footage and American pop music to highlight the consequences to the rest of the world and in the peoples' minds.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGeorge ClooneyMeryl StreepBill MurrayAn urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsRicardo TrêpaCatarina WallensteinDiogo DóriaA young man falls helplessly in love with a mysterious blonde woman who turns his life upside down.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsIsaach De BankoléAlex DescasJean-François StéveninThe story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsKim Hye-jaWon BinJin GooA mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
- DirectorDeborah StratmanA meditation on freedom and technological approaches to manifest destiny.
- DirectorJ.J. AbramsStarsChris PineZachary QuintoSimon PeggThe brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsabelle HuppertChristopher LambertIsaach De BankoléAmidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsAndré DussollierSabine AzémaAnne ConsignyA quirky woman who spends her free time as a pilot has her purse stolen; when a mysterious man finds her wallet, they embark on a peculiar romance.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSam WorthingtonZoe SaldanaSigourney WeaverA paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsAgnès VardaAndré LubranoBlaise FournierAgnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsDakota FanningTeri HatcherJohn HodgmanWandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, an 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsJulie SokolowskiKarl SarafidisYassine SalimeA young nun is expelled from a convent because of her extreme devoutness and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.
- DirectorHarun FarockiIn Comparison revisits issues explored in the director's 2007 two channel installation Comparison Via a Third. Spanning continents and cultures, the film focuses on the brick in its many contexts, from the collective efforts of a community building a clinic in Burkina Faso, through semi industrialized moldings in India, to industrial production lines in Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland. Through its notable structure and its captivating rhythms, In Comparison presents various methods of labor production, allowing for an assessment that changes with every layer and goes well beyond a simple binary divide.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsShirley HendersonAllison JanneyAlly SheedyFriends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos.
- DirectorCorneliu PorumboiuStarsDragos BucurVlad IvanovIon StoicaA police officer refuses to arrest a young man for offering drugs to his friends.
- DirectorJoão Pedro RodriguesStarsChandra MalatitchJohn Jesus RomãoIvo BarrosoA transgender woman tries to erase any past history of herself as a male. Struggling with a young male lover and a problematic son.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJeremy RennerAnthony MackieBrian GeraghtyDuring the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
- DirectorTom FordStarsColin FirthJulianne MooreMatthew GoodeAn English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsWillem DafoeCharlotte GainsbourgStorm Acheche SahlstrømA grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsPaulina GaitanMarco Antonio AguirreLeonardo AlonsoA young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
- DirectorConor McPhersonStarsCiarán HindsIben HjejleAidan QuinnIn a seaside Irish town, a widower sparks with a visiting horror novelist while he also begins to believe he is seeing ghosts.
- DirectorSebastián SilvaStarsCatalina SaavedraClaudia CeledónMariana LoyolaA drama centered on a maid trying to hold on to her position after having served a family for 23 years.
- DirectorKristian LevringStarsUlrich ThomsenPaprika SteenEmma Sehested HøegA man signs up for a test trial of a new anti-depressant as a way to change his life. When the trial is called off, he continues taking the medication with violent results.
- DirectorBent HamerStarsBaard OweEspen SkjønbergGhita NørbyA drama focused on a life-changing moment in 67-year-old train engineer Odd Horten's existence: the evening of his retirement.
- DirectorPablo TraperoStarsMartina GusmánGuadalupe RéboraFrancisco MarquezAn incarcerated woman struggles to raise her son from prison.
- DirectorMaren AdeStarsLars EidingerBirgit MinichmayrHans-Jochen WagnerWhile on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsMichael StuhlbargRichard KindSari LennickLarry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsTahar RahimNiels ArestrupAdel BencherifA delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorYesim UstaogluStarsTsilla CheltonDerya AlaboraOnur ÜnsalWhen an aging matriarch starts showing signs of dementia, her dysfunctional family in Istanbul must navigate a minefield of unresolved issues to care for her.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsZinedine SoualemSonia RollandMireille MetellusA look at the final moments of a ruler in Haiti as a violent revolution erupts around him.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsChristian BaleJohnny DeppChristian StolteThe Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsYeong-ho KimHwang Soo-JungPark Eun-hyeIn the summer of 2007 a painter in his forties travels to Paris to escape arrest for smoking marijuana, leaving his wife behind in Korea. While there he meets an ex-girlfriend and is introduced to a small community of Korean artists.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsAlex DescasMati DiopNicole DoguéThe relationship between a father and daughter is complicated by the arrival of a handsome young man.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsJianbin ChenJoan ChenLiping LüWhen a factory is being torn down in Chengdu, China, workers reflect on their experiences and the importance of the factory in their lives.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreWilliam BlackJimmy CarterAn examination of the social costs of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense of the public good.
- DirectorLisandro AlonsoStarsJuan FernándezNieves CabreraGiselle IrrazabalA merchant sailor returns to his home in Tierra del Fuego after spending most of his life at sea.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsArta DobroshiJérémie RenierFabrizio RongioneLorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her lover Sokol. In order to do so, she has become involved in a scam conducted by Fabio, a gangster.
- DirectorPedro CostaStarsJeanne BalibarRodolphe BurgerHervé LoosIntimate portrait of the French actress/singer Jeanne Balibar.
- DirectorLarry CharlesStarsSacha Baron CohenGustaf HammarstenClifford BañagaleFlamboyant, gay Austrian Brüno looks for new fame in America.
- DirectorGustav DeutschFragments of several (mostly) silent films are shown. They're guided by quotes from, among others, Plato and Sappho and a soundtrack.
- DirectorSergei DvortsevoyStarsAskhat KuchinchirekovTolepbergen BaisakalovSamal YeslyamovaOn the steppes of Kazakhstan, Asa lives in a yurt with his sister Samal, her husband Ondas, and their three children. Ondas is a herdsman, tough and strong. It's dry, dusty, and windy; too many lambs are stillborn. Against this backdrop, Asa, a dreamer who's slight of build and recently finished with a stint in the Russian Navy, tries to establish a life on the steppes. He, his friend Boni, and Ondas call on Tulpan, the only single girl in the area. The men talk to her parents while she listens out of sight. Her answer and Asa's later trips to talk to her form an arc of hope against the harsh land. Is this the place of Asa's dreams? What about the other lambs?
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsGérard DepardieuClovis CornillacJacques GamblinA well known Parisian inspector becomes involved in an investigation while on holiday.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittCate BlanchettTilda SwintonTells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsLouis-Do de LencquesaingChiara CaselliAlice de LencquesaingA film producer struggles with suicidal despair.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsTeruyuki KagawaKyôko KoizumiYû KoyanagiAn ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.
- DirectorCharlie KaufmanStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanSamantha MortonMichelle WilliamsA theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodBee VangChristopher CarleyAfter a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsMahnaz AfsharPegah AhangaraniTaraneh AlidoostiWomen's expressions are captured as they watch Khosrow and Shirin, a 12th-century Persian play staged by Kiarostami, revealing their reactions to the unseen narrative.
- DirectorArmando IannucciStarsTom HollanderPeter CapaldiJames GandolfiniA political satire about a group of skeptical American and British operatives attempting to prevent a war between two countries.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsCate BlanchettMatt DamonLiam NeesonA five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
- DirectorJosé Mojica MarinsStarsJosé Mojica MarinsJece ValadãoAdriano StuartThe gravedigger Zé do Caixão continues his search for the perfect woman to bear his son.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsJonathan D. MellorManuela VelascoÓscar ZafraIn order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.
- DirectorTi WestStarsJocelin DonahueTom NoonanMary WoronovIn 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsAlison LohmanJustin LongRuth LivierA loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.
- DirectorOren PeliStarsKatie FeatherstonMicah SloatMark FredrichsAfter moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMaría OnettoClaudia CanteroCésar BordónAfter hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.
- DirectorJames TobackStarsMike TysonMills LaneTrevor BerbickA mixture of original interviews, archival footage, and photographs sheds light on the life experiences of Mike Tyson.
- DirectorBenny SafdieJosh SafdieStarsRonald BronsteinAlex GreenblattSage RanaldoA father juggling his kids with the rest of his responsibilities is ultimately faced with the choice of being their father or their friend.
- DirectorPeter von BaghStarsSiiri AngerkoskiRitva ArveloSusanna HaavistoHistory and the spirit of XXth century Helsinki through the cinema, documentary footage, architecture, art and politics.
- DirectorJessica OreckUntangling the web of cultural and historical ties underlying Japan's deep fascination with insects.
- DirectorJean-Stéphane SauvaireStarsChristophe MinieDaisy Victoria VandyJoseph DuoA cast of unknown performers are used in this drama about child soldiers fighting a war in the West African Country Liberia.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsSasha GreyChris SantosPhilip EytanA drama set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, and centered on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsRachel KorineBrian KotzurTravis NicholsonFollows the lives of a small group of sociopathic elderly people in Nashville, Tennessee.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsRainRick YuneNaomie HarrisA young ninja turns his back on the orphanage that raised him, leading to a confrontation with a fellow ninja from the clan.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsMorgan FreemanMatt DamonTony KgorogeNelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsGeorge ClooneyVera FarmigaAnna KendrickRyan's job is to travel around the country firing off people. When his boss hires Natalie, who proposes firing people via video conference, he tries to convince her that her method is a mistake.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsJuliette BinocheCharles BerlingJérémie RenierTwo brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.
- DirectorLee Isaac ChungStarsJeff RutagengwaEric NdorunkundiyeJean Marie Vianney NkurikiyinkaFrom opposing ethnicities, Ngabo and Sangwa are tested when old-timers warn, "Hutus and Tutsis should not be friends." An intense and inspiring portrait of youth in Rwanda, 'Munyurangabo' features Poet Laureate Edouard Uwayo delivering a moving poem about his healing country. Rwanda. Kinyarwanda with English subtitles.
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsViggo MortensenCharlize TheronKodi Smit-McPheeIn a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorSo Yong KimStarsChae Gil ByoungJung Gil JaShin Hyun JeIn Seoul, Korea, two sisters must look after each other when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.
- DirectorRebecca MillerStarsRobin WrightAlan ArkinMike BinderAfter her much older husband forces a move to a suburban retirement community, Pippa Lee engages in a period of reflection and finds herself heading toward a quiet nervous breakdown.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicolas CageEva MendesRussell M. HaeuserTerence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoKim Ok-binChoi Hee-jinThrough a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
- DirectorSteve JacobsStarsJohn MalkovichNatalie BeckerJessica HainesAfter having an affair with a student, a Cape Town professor moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsAngelina JolieColm FeoreAmy RyanAfter Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsRicardo TrêpaLeonor BaldaqueManoel de OliveiraA true story of a doctor and his wife who went on a journey in order to prove that discoverer Christopher Columbus was in fact Portuguese.
- DirectorAtsushi FunahashiStarsRyôhei AbeKatsuhiro KatôYuki Nomura
- DirectorTony ScottStarsDenzel WashingtonJohn TravoltaLuis GuzmánArmed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
- DirectorHippolyte GirardotNobuhiro SuwaStarsNoë SampyArielle MoutelTsuyu ShimizuYuki and Nina try in order to get her parents back together; however, after failed attempts running away seems like the only solution.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsRobert VaapCécile ZervudackiAleksandr AbdulovInspired by Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Sokurov's Save and Protect recalls the most crucial events of Emma's decline and fall, including affairs with an aristocratic and a student. Focusing on passion from a woman's perspective and downplaying plot, Sokurov explores his subject in exquisite detail, capturing not only the heat of passion but also the quiet moments before and after and the innocent sensuousness of the body. ( Original Title - Spasi i sokhrani)This movie was reissued in 2009, it is "inspired by Madame Bovary". The critic here, Shigehiko Hasumi refers to it as Madame Bovary and says "Alexandr Sokurov's new 127-minute version is entirely different from his 1988 original, in format and running time."
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsMichael FassbenderLiam CunninghamStuart GrahamIrish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.
- DirectorGerardo NaranjoStarsJuan Pablo de SantiagoMaria DeschampsMartha Claudia MorenoTale of a young couple who throw caution to the wind and set out in search of their true fate. Román is the son of a contemptible, right-leaning congressman. Recently enrolled in a new high school, the rebellious teen clumsily attempts to hang himself on-stage at the big talent show. Maru is the sole member of the audience to applaud, earning both students a day of detention. After bonding during the course of their punishment, Román and Maru grab daddy's gun, steal a Volkswagen, and hit the road bound for nowhere.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangThe first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).
- DirectorThomas HeiseStory created from fragments in motion of observations from theatre and everyday life.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsIssei OgataRobert DawsonKaori MomoiThird part in Aleksandr Sokurov's quadrilogy of Power, following Moloch (1999) and Taurus (2001), focuses on Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Japan's defeat in World War II when he is finally confronted by General Douglas MacArthur who offers him to accept a diplomatic defeat for survival.
- DirectorHenrik HellströmFredrik WenzelStarsSebastian EklundJörgen SvenssonHannes SandahlAn eleven-year-old boy observes his neighborhood as its surface orderliness rots away.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Tae-wooUhm Ji-wonGo Hyun-jungDelightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director.
- DirectorSophie BarthesStarsPaul GiamattiEmily WatsonDina KorzunPaul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.
- DirectorGrant HeslovStarsEwan McGregorGeorge ClooneyKevin SpaceyA reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
- DirectorAndreas DresenStarsUrsula WernerHorst RehbergHorst WestphalThe groundbreaking story of a 67-year-old married woman who rediscovers her passion and sexuality when she falls in love with a 76-year-old man.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsMax RecordsCatherine O'HaraForest WhitakerYearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.