The experts’ 3 Perfect movies of 2009

Here are the 3 best movies of 2009 that got our adrenaline pumping and the dynamite exploding. We love good movies and have seen hundreds in our time.

  • District 9. Overrated? Not at all. Neill Blomkamp’s first feature gave us something new: a sci-fi movie with brains, an action flick that spoke movingly against segregation while still thrilling us with exploding alien heads and oozing black goo. It’s no exaggeration to call District 9 movie brilliant — and we can only hope the sequel exhibits the same scrappy daring. Save Wikus!
  • Invictus. Clint Eastwood’s true-life tale of how newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela (a spot-on Morgan Freeman) teamed up with the captain of the nation’s rugby team (Matt Damon) to unite the apartheid-torn land with a run at the 1995 World Cup hits all the right notes. Invictus 720p is both an inspirational sports drama and a portrait of an inspired leader, with Oscar-caliber performances from its two leads and a heavy helping of that magical ingredient: feel-good.
  • The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Wes Anderson has never been wittier, funnier or more emotionally accessible than he is here … with a stop-motion animation movie about chicken-pilfering foxes and their animal brethren (featuring the inimitable voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Jason Schwartzman). Go figure. Fantastic mr Fox like ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ meets ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas.’ Which, of course, is a very, very good thing.