Up in the Air... and Top Ten Films of the Year

There are still plenty of films I want to see before I my top ten is truly complete, but this is what I have so far:

10. Bruno
I'm perfectly comfortable knowing that I'm one of the few who believes this film is better than Borat. Just to be clear, both are spectacularly funny, abrasive comedies, but in my opinion Bruno reaches nearly unprecedented heights of subversive comedy. This Sascha Baron Cohen vehicle satirizes America's homophobic, celebrity-obsessed culture more saliently and bracingly than any other film in recent memory.

9. Up in the Air
This may be Jason Reitman's most self-conscious effort to date. The film, following a corporate job termination specialist's assiduously disconnected lifestyle, doles out heavy-handed lessons on the importance of family. Despite its maudlin predictability and occasional triteness, Jason Reitman's third film is at times deeply moving and always exceptionally well-crafted. In particular, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick are wonderful.

8. Zombieland
While this film doesn't utterly reinvent the zombie movie, it does add a refreshingly spirited and full-fisted spin. Anchored by muscular direction , a surprisingly perceptive script, and great performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, it's one of the most fun films of the year.

7. Adventureland
Greg Mottolla's follow-up to Superbad is a funny, moving, cringingly honest portrayl of confused youth.

6. Moon
Sam Rockwell delivers a bravura performance in this tale of a Moon miner awaiting relocation back to Earth.

5. District 9
Much has been made of this film as an allegory for South African apartheid, but with it's narrative of a multi-national's domination over an "alien community" this film is truly an indictment of the post-modern marginalization of the third world by international corporatism.

4. (500) Days of Summer
Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordan Levitt both shine in this rich, innovative romantic comedy.

3. Observe and Report
Many found this film to be uncomfortably perverse... I agree with them, but that's what this film is: a portrait of a somewhat disturbed, alienated individual, Ronnie. I consider it a great tribute to Jody Hill and Seth Rogen that I found the treatment of Ronnie to be so vulnerable, disturbing, and hilarious.

2. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson's most recent film is also one of his best. Not only is it staggeringly beautiful, but is also one of the funniest films in recent memory.

1. Der Baader Meinhof Complex
Uli Edel's rivetting examination of Germany's radical 1970s group the Red Army Faction is one of the most powerful and incisive studies of terrorism.