It’s been a strange year.  I’ve seen some gems on cinema and at home, discovered the splendor of Blu-ray, and found myself enjoying smaller-scale, character driven movies a lot more than big-budget effects-filled spectacles.  The joy of a human story like Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino or Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire left a much bigger impression on me than say, Terminator Salvation or Watchmen despite their obvious merits.  On a different scale, a movie as emotionally disturbing and shocking as French chiller Martyrs remained imbedded in my subconscious for totally different reasons. 

Looking back I think it’s also been a year where the summer blockbuster has failed to really shine in comparison to previous years, and the long wait for James Cameron’s Avatar seems a final, throw it all at the screen push for real Hollywood spectacle, something the brainlessness Transformers:  Rise Of The Fallen could not deliver.  It’s also sad to see the horror movie get dumbed down with the Twilight franchise and it’s hysterical following, but at least we can fall back on foreign works such as Let The Right One In, which thankfully kept its heart within the bloodshed.  The overall disappointment of Quentin Tarantino’s return with Inglorious Basterds left a bitter after taste also.

So my forthcoming end of year Top Ten has been a difficult list to compile due to such varied styles up for nomination.  So many I want to include but in what order has been a matter of considerable deliberation.  Look out for the final list on 30 December 2009.