TIME‘s Richard Corliss is the first major critic out of the gate with his Top 10, preempting any suspicion that he might have cribbed off somebody else’s list. He needn’t have worried that anyone else will have such a top-heavy animated slant. Interesting choices, all the same. I can forgive a lot of eccentricity in exchange for his inclusion of A Single Man.
Animation is thought of as a cash cow for the studios and a niche category for the Oscars. Yet a straight-faced argument could be made — and is, here — that 2009 boasted a richer crop of animated features than of live-action movies. We acknowledge the cartoonucopia with our top three selections, each in a different format.
1 ) The Princess and the Frog
2 ) Up
3 ) Fantastic Mr. Fox
4 ) The Hurt Locker
5 ) Up in the Air
6 ) The White Ribbon
7 ) A Single Man
8 ) Of Time and the City
9 ) District 9
10 ) Thirst
Probably more Oscar prescient, Corliss chooses his Top 10 Movie Performances:
1. Mo’nique as Mary Jones in Precious
2. Carey Mulligan as Jenny in An Education
3. Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones
4. Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia
5. Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini in Nine
1. Colin Firth as George in A Single Man
2. Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James in The Hurt Locker
3. George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air
4. Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds
5. Michael Jackson as Michael Jackson in Michael Jackson’s This Is ItFirth infuses George with his familiar warmth and delicacy, and an undercurrent of desperation that is all the more powerful for being so subtly expressed. As the camera keeps its close watch on Firth’s gorgeous, grieving face; the impact is as thrilling as any megamovie special effect.
(Thanks to Hisham)
