Best Films of 2009

After the impossible task of making a list limited to ten of the best films from the past decade, assembling a list of the best films to screen in Columbus during 2009 is a much simpler prospect. Here are some of the personal cinematic highlights of 2009 from some of the Wexner Center Media Arts department's employees. That only one of the films that appeared on Dave Filipi's and Chris Stults's “best of the decade” top ten lists appears on the lists below (Jennifer Reeves' When It Was Blue) indicates that 2009 wasn't a watershed year for contemporary cinema. But the bounty of films listed below shows that a lot of remarkable films still managed to appear on Columbus movie screens. What were some of the best films that you saw in 2009 and what are you looking forward to in 2010? Let us know in the comments section.

Dave Filipi, Film/Video Curator

Top 10:
1. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
2. Lorna's Silence (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
3. Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
4. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)
5. Hunger (Steve McQueen)
6. Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley)
7. In the Loop (Armando Iannucci)
8. Gommorah (Matteo Garrone)
9. The Betrayal (Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath)
10. A Town Called Panic (Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar)

Experimental/Personal Visions
1. Ryan Trecartin's installation at the Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia: K-Corea INC. K; Sibling Topics; Re'Search Wait'S
2. Jennifer Reeves's When it Was Blue
3. Philip Widmann's Destination Finale

Re-Releases
1. Leon Morin, Priest (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961)
2. Brighton Rock (John Boulting, 1947)
3. Made in the U.S.A. (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)

Mike Olenick, Art & Tech Studio Editor

In alphabetical order:
35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, 2008)
Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)
The Box (Richard Kelly, 2009)
The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
Love Songs (Christophe Honoré, 2007)
Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2007)
Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008)
A Town Called Panic (Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, 2009)
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)

Chris Stults, Film/Video Assistant Curator

1. When It Was Blue (Jennifer Reeves)
2. Pitcher of Colored Light (Robert Beavers)
3. In the City of Sylvia (Jose Luis Guerin)
4. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
5. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
6. Lorna's Silence (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
7. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
8. Duplicity (Tony Gilroy)
9. The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch)
10. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)
11. Hunger (Steve McQueen)
12. Angel (François Ozon)
13. The Secret of the Grain (Abdellatif Kechiche)
14. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)
15. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
16. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog)
17. In the Loop (Armando Iannucci)
18. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)
19. The Betrayal (Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath)
20. Adventureland (Greg Mottola)
 
Two notable films that only appeared in Columbus through Video on Demand channels: Pontypool (Bruce McDonald) and Passing Strange (Spike Lee).
 
A roiling, memorable multi-projector film performance: The Black and the White Gods (Ben Russell).

Four re-release revelations: AMOR (Robert Beavers, 1980), Cairo Station (Youssef Chahine), Léon Morin, Priest (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961) and Pleasures of the Flesh (Nagisa Oshima, 1965).