The Sandspur

Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: MCT Campus OSCAR NIGHT: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin (pictured from left to right) are hosting this years Academy Awards on March 7.

With Oscar night nearly upon us, the annual anointing of the year's Ten Best Pictures has emerged from critics and Academy Producers alike. Unlike most lists, which seem to reflect the changing shifts in momentum and popularity for any given film, my list simply reflects what I humbly believe to be the greatest films that I have watched over the past year. They are listed below, beginning at number ten and counting down to number one, the film that was my favorite of 2009.

10. "Shall We Kiss?"
Technically, this wonderful bonbon of a film was released in France at the end of 2007 and will thus not be considered in any categories in this year's Academy Awards. However, I have included it at number ten because it first debuted stateside at the 2009 Florida Film Festival and to leave it out would be to exclude what is an absolutely great French comedy. A story of love and desire inside a story of love and desire, this charming film analyzes the impact a simple kiss can have - and that a film can have on us.

9. "Nine"
Appropriately enough, "Nine" claims the ninth spot on the list. Let it be noted that I refer here to the Broadway adapted musical "Nine" and not the atrocious animated "9." This "Nine," Directed by Rob Marshall, surpasses the director's Oscar winning "Chicago" and is a show-stopping homage to Italian Director Federico Fellini's source material, "8 ½." A real pity this film has not received more recognition.

8. "The White Ribbon"
"The White Ribbon," on the other hand, has received plenty of recognition since winning the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or, the Cannes equivalent of Best Picture, last May. As subtle as it is suspenseful, this beautifully photographed film stays with you long after the scoreless credits have rolled off the screen.

7. "A Single Man"
Colin Firth is the heart and soul of this remarkable film about a gay, 1960's era Los Angeles professor who has lost his lover and is struggling to rediscover the joy in living once again. Director Tom Ford fills every shot with such longing and anguish that one cannot help but be moved - however contradictory their personal feelings on the topic might have been going in.

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