The experts’ 3 Best 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.

  • Crazy Heart. At age 60, Jeff Bridges proves he’s still got it in this quiet but crowd-pleasing adaptation of Thomas Cobb’s novel. Here, he plays Bad Blake, a boozing country singer who quite literally lives up to his name. It’s a big performance in a Crazy Heart full movie that is sure to earn Bridges an illustrious fifth Oscar nomination — and quite possibly his first win (yep, he’s that good).
  • The Princess and the Frog. While much of the pre-release hype surrounded the significance of Disney’s first African-American princess (a long-overdue accomplishment not to be dismissed), it proved only one reason to celebrate this triumph. In a year ruled by 3D, stop-motion animation, motion-capture technology, etc, Disney went back to its roots and crafted a charming, toe-tapping and timeless tale in that good ol’ classic hand-drawn style The Princess and the Frog 720p movie.
  • Inglourious Basterds. Aldo Raine wasn’t lying in Inglourious Basterds movie when he stated his crew’s lone goal: “Killin’ Nazis.” What he didn’t explain is just how awesome and entertaining their Hitler-hunting journey would be, thanks to Quentin Tarantino’s unparalleled storytelling abilities and dialogue matched by stellar acting (see: Christoph Waltz). There’s action, there’s film-geek fodder, and yes, there’s someone named Bear Jew turning Nazi skulls into pudding with a baseball bat. It’s tongue-in-cheek revenge that only someone as twisted — and talented — as QT could pull off.