Films of the year

3. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
A controversial choice to pick CWCM as my favourite animation in the same year as such films as UP. What I think separates this film from UP is that it is consistently funny and is family friendly throughout the whole film. There are no sad intros such as in Wall-E or UP and the jokes work for both adults and children alike. The film never loses its way or core meaning as it does in Wall-E and there are very few references that only adults will appreciate which is a common problem in modern animations.



2. Moon
In a year that has released so many blockbuster/Hollywood films, it is good to see that the best films are now coming from independent studios. This will not stop the huge blockbusters from making millions of pounds or dollars, but hopefully independent studios will make enough money from their fantastic films that they can continue to create movies of this quality. Moon does not fall into the common sci-fi trap of explosions and robots, but keeps a proper story throughout. The acting is great as is the directing and story. The lead actor in particular (Sam Rockwell) does a great job considering that his role is tricky, as he has to act as two characters who interact and talk with each other. It is also great that this is the debut, feature length film released by Duncan Jones so we can expect more great movies from him.

1. District 9
Again a controversial choice in a year with such special effect extravaganzas such as Transformers and Avatar, but I stand by my decision that District 9 is the film of the year. The story is great, the characters are believable, the acting (coming from newcomer Sharlto Copley mainly) is great and the special effects are some of the most realistic I've ever seen. There are obvious reasons for why director Neill Blomkamp chose to shoot the film in Johannesburg but he never attempts to overpower the story with political messages. The cinematography, with a mix of documentary and cinematic camera work, is great and gives a great sense of what the director wants you to get from his film. Altogether I think that District 9 brings together the best elements of making films into a fantastic piece of work which thoroughly deserves the number one spot.