Since Lost is pretty much the only show I watch regularly that seems to be airing right now thanks to the Olympics and various other hiatuses, I've had a chance to catch up on movies. I've watched all the films that are nominated for Best Picture except for The Blind Side which, despite folks saying it actually is good, is going to be a tough one for me to actually watch. Don't get me wrong, I like football and I like stuff similar to this, I just can't get over the Sandra Bullock factor. I know I need to just suck it up, put my prejudices aside, and watch it, but it's going to take a little bit of time for me.

So who do I think should win Best Picture? Well, my top ten for 2009 is a bit different than the Academy's but that is to be expected. If there were a BrendoMan awards, I would give the bespectacled, bearded statue to Where the Wild Things Are much to the dismay of many folks and I wouldn't care. I loved that movie. But as far as the films nominated for Best Picture, I think a case can be made for several of the nominees. As a technical achievement and as a huge multi-year undertaking, many would make the case for Avatar. As pure awesome, well made flicks, many would make the case for Inglorious Basterds and District 9. And so on. My pick is The Hurt Locker. I was blown away by this movie, especially since going into it I had no idea what to expect, especially since I haven't enjoyed most of the previous movies about the war in Iraq. I was captivated from start to finish and I believed in those characters. Not to mention the film itself looked incredible.

2009 was a great year for films. I could easily come up with a list of 20 movies I enjoyed, something I've had trouble doing in some years past. There were lots of small quirky films and many of the larger event pictures paid off as well. There were many great animated movies, which always makes me happy. All the flicks were enough to get me really excited about movies again after I'd gotten a little apathetic. So nice job with that, folks. Hopefully 2010 will keep the momentum going.