• The Hurt Locker
• The Class (Entre Les Murs)
  
• Antichrist
• Anvil! The Story of Anvil
• (500) Days of Summer
• Up
• In the Loop
• The House of the Devil
• Coraline
• Zombieland

(Caveat: I’ve seen neither Avatar nor The Road yet, but plan to see both soon.)

Unlike last year, where Let the Right One In simply ran away with it, I could probably reorder the top 9 endlessly and still worry I didn’t get it right. The Hurt Locker is definitely top 3 material, no matter how the rest shake out. As is Antichrist, which has the distinction of being the movie that burrowed a hole into my head and refused to leave.

In what’s become an annual tradition, the last spot was highly contended. And could easily have gone to Moon, The Informant or Up in the Air, all on the basis of their strong performances. But Zombieland gets the nod for being way more fun than it had the right to be, and for having the cameo of the year.

And even though it didn’t make my top 10 (or top 15 for that matter), I was glad that Watchmen finally, finally happened this year, and satisfied with the result despite some pretty notable flaws.

What were your favorites in 2009?