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It’s absolutely true that 2009 was a great year for movies, but I’m not altogether sure that 2009 was a year for great movies. The difference, some might argue, is negligible, since there probably shouldn’t be any sort of division between smarter and more substantive fare and populist entertainment. In a year like, say, 2008, that might have been true, at least where its biggest blockbuster, The Dark Knight](Movie Reviews, Trailers, Interviews, Wikis & Posters for Movies - IGN), was concerned. But in '09, it seemed like about five people saw the “serious” movies, while everyone else was watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen](Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) - Full cast & crew - IMDb).
That said, the value of being entertained isn’t necessarily less than that of being enlightened or inspired, and box office success isn’t automatically antithetical to quality. (*(http://www.cinematical.com/2009/06/22/review-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/), after all.) Ultimately, however, making a Top Ten list for 2009 has seemed like a more ambiguously-defined process than in previous years, because I realize that many of the movies I enjoyed were not the most meaningful or deep, and ones I admired or respected were not always the ones that readily thrilled or excited. As such, here’s a list of my top ten favorite films of the year, arranged in deliberate but basically arbitrary order. By all means discuss, debate, and disagree, but I’d love it if I could get folks to see even one or two of these that they haven’t already, even if it’s to fortify their arguments why I’m wrong.