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This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

This year was a difficult one for me in film. I felt let down by Hollywood, whose offerings were underwhelming, and pushed back release dates, and last minute changes were more distracting than the films themselves. However, this forced moviegoers to look harder, and in places we're not used to, which actually provided some great film experiences, so I can't find myself complaining too much. Here are my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2009.

A Single Man

A Single Man weaves its story with a slow, but confident pace. The emphasis is not simply on a plot arc, but is an examination of a tortured man. Using the word ‘tortured’ brings to mind cliches and worn out devices. I promise, this is not the case here. First time director Tom Ford shows a remarkable amount of promise. His well placed instincts are served best by his cast, of whom he gets the most.

[Just when you thought the onslaught of Year End lists had come to an end here comes another.  We welcome Mitch Davis - head of International Programming at Montreal's Fantasia Festival and a very good friend to this site - with his year end wrap up.]

Ignore the grumpy naysayers who groan that 2009 was a weak year for world cinema. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Below are my top 11 picks, personal favourites among favourites (a top 30 list would have been unwieldy!). It bears mentioning that at the time of this writing, I've not yet seen The White Ribbon, Mother, Il Divo, Symbol, Vermillion Souls or Accident, to name but a few. In other words, this list, like all lists, is an incomplete snapshot.

11. In The Loop

If there was a funnier film this year, I must have missed it. Subversive, acerbic and gut-wrenchingly hilarious, like Dr Strangelove meets The Office. Incredible.

10. Drag Me To Hell

Sam Raimi's volume-eleven return to the genre is everything much of us had been hoping for: a grossout EC-comic rollercoaster that combines Grand Guignol horror, loopy wide-eyed humour and extreme physical trauma to make an epic of morbidly...

U.S. Dramatic Competition

This year's 16 films were selected from 1,026 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

Adam (Director-screenwriter: Max Mayer)

A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams. Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison.

Amreeka (Director-screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)

When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges. Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat.

Big Fan (Director-screenwriter: Robert Siegel)

The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants' biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player. Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (Director-screenwriter: John Krasinski)

When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation,...

It looks like the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival is borrowing the late Harvey Milk's famous line: You gotta give 'em hope.

Despite the war-weary, economically ravaged state of the nation and the industry, the Sundance Institute eagerly announced the 2009 competition lineup Wednesday. And while it certainly maintains a somber quotient, the festival roster includes enough fresh takes on old genres (think romance, sci-fi and politics) to satisfy moviegoers and industry players looking for some warmth during the snowy 11-day event.

At least that's how fest organizers Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance's longtime director, and John Cooper, its programming director, choose to see it.

"What you might have expected is that the festival would be really reflective right now of a very dark time, and it's not really true," said Gilmore, in his 19th year overseeing the fest. "We haven't seen the numbers drop, we haven't seen productions severely impacted yet by these factors,...