Time to do the list thing and bring you a list of what I thought were the best of the year- so far. As ever, living in Birmingham, some films haven’t quite made it our way just yet, so all you “The Lovely Bones,” “The Road,” and “Sin Nombre” fans, save your emails- I haven’t seen ‘em yet. What follows is a highly subjective list of movies that moved me, entertained me, or made me think deeply on a subject in a way only movies can. Or, at the very least, they just blew stuff up real good.

10. Up in the Air/ The Girlfriend Experience- In my first tie, I decided to put these two together, as they represent the flip sides of the same coin. No films quite captured the angst, frustration, and intensity of living in a down economy quite like these two films. When they look for films that defined the era we’re currently living in, you could do a lot worse than these two. “Up in the Air” ostensibly deals with the upheaval of thousands of middle class, white-collar workers from their jobs, and those who have to do the dirty work of firing them. “The Girlfriend Experience” is about the upper class and how the stock market crash sent them scrambling to make ends meet and maintain the lives they were used to. However, both are also about how people avoid the realities of their surroundings by seeking out someone to find solace with- or at least relieve them from their suffering for a brief, shining moment. The results are imperfect, but fascinating nonetheless.

9. Drag Me to Hell/ Antichrist- In my other tie, we have two horror films with a difference: they weren’t remakes, sequels, or thinly-veiled rehashings of the latest trends in horror. “Drag Me to Hell” marked the return of maverick filmmaker Sam Raimi to his horror roots, with a slam-bang thrill ride that rarely let the viewer up for air, and proved that, yes Virginia, PG-13 movies could be scary, too. Meanwhile, “Antichrist” explored the dark side of marriage, especially when tragedy befalls. Filmmaker Lars Von Trier is notorious for polarizing audiences, to the point where calling this his first horror movie is like saying it’s the first film in which he didn’t even try and hide that he was pushing people’s buttons. Still, to say that I was caught off guard by this one is putting it mildly. Any film which starts out with an arty, black & white juxtaposition of washing clothes, full- on penetration, and a child falling to his death is clearly not going to be pulling punches at any point. The ending delves into torture porn territory, but it does so in a way that few of its ilk (maybe “Martyrs”) has managed, by making it count for something. Say what you will about Trier- his films have bite and they get people talking. Last I checked, that was what great movies did- or are supposed to.

8. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans- Speaking of which, there are few filmmakers more polarizing than the legendary Werner Herzog, who has a fascination with what drives some people to go above and beyond what normal people would, into the realm of near- if not full on- dementia. On paper, this remake-cum-sequel of equally polarizing filmmaker Abel Ferrara’s 1992 nihilistic classic seemed utterly and completely unnecessary and completely beneath a filmmaker of Herzog’s stature. Yet, damned if it didn’t end up being one of his best, and easily the best thing Nicholas Cage has done since he won an Oscar way back in 1995 (with apologies to “Adaptation” fans). As a crazed cop for whom catching the bad guy is secondary to his gambling, the safety of his prostitute girlfriend, and scoring his next fix of drugs, Cage is on fire here and Herzog is fanning the flames. It may be relatively mainstream by Herzog’s standards, but any film with a hallucinatory sequence involving an iguana’s POV can’t be all bad.

7. Surveillance- Another eye-opener, this film marks the return of blackballed director Jennifer Lynch, who went up against the machine and lost when actress Kim Basinger dropped out of her last film, the disturbing “Boxing Helena.” Fifteen later, she knocks one out of the park with this film, which features an ending so screwed up even her father called her “one sick bitch.” When that father happens to be revolutionary director David Lynch, you know you’re doing something right. Sure, the big twists may be somewhat hard to swallow if you stare too closely, but that doesn’t change the fact that its one hell of a ride while it lasts. Riveting, demented, darkly humorous- this is what a cult film should be. Here’s hoping it’s not another fifteen years until Lynch’s next one.

6. Avatar- Leave it to James Cameron to have people second-guessing and doubting him, even after the massive worldwide success of his last film, “Titanic.” Let’s face it, the guy is what Steven Spielberg used to be back in his heyday- a filmmaker who knows how to show people a good time at the movies. Sure, his films are crazy expensive, but every last bit of that money shows up on the screen. What’s more, each successive film he’s made has upped the ante of what popular entertainment can be with a wealth of imagination and drive…and a seemingly bottomless bank account. If he didn’t deliver the goods, he wouldn’t make the big bucks. Cameron will almost certainly stumble eventually- but not this year. Even more remarkable is how Cameron manages to wow and be subtle at the same time, even in the 3-D version. Rather than flinging things at you non-stop, he instead takes the time to establish a bonafide world unto itself, to the point where it’s the “real” world that starts to seem fake. Granted, some of his pro-environment pimping is a little tiring at times, causing some wags to dub this the million-dollar remake of “Ferngully,” but what’s wrong with being opinionated? Better that than a filmmaker afraid to take a stand on anything. “Avatar” is classic Cameron, warts and all. In fact, it’s precisely those imperfections that make it so fascinating. Next time, Hollywood, do yourself a favor and just give this guy a blank check and tell him to run with it.

5. The Hurt Locker- Coincidentally, this film was directed by Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, an action pioneer in her own right. Her resume may be spottier than her ex’s, but then it’s not as easy for the ladies in Hollywood to do their own thing. Bigelow managed to do just that with this film, which was somewhat overlooked in the whole “no one wants to see a movie about Iraq” kerfuffle. It’s a low-budget examination of what drives people to do a thankless job that could get you killed in an instant. In a way, the war is beside the point, much like another underrated war flick, “Jarhead.” Instead of scenes of combat, we mostly get determined men doing their best to defuse bombs without getting blown to bits. The tension is near-unbearable, and brings to mind Hitchcock’s old parable about how if you show an audience the bomb, but not the characters, it makes the situation that much harder to take. Bigelow shows us and the characters the bomb, and lets the audience sweat it out for themselves right along with them, where every second counts- and could well be your last. Much as I love Cameron, it’s his wife that deserves the Oscar nod this year, for showing you don’t need a big budget to get the job done.

4. Watchmen- Or do you? “Watchmen” was a long time coming for comic book…er, graphic novel fans, and proved to be worth the wait. True, the film, not unlike the first “Harry Potter” or “Twilight” films, was almost too faithful to the source material, especially in the extended director’s cut version, but the theatrical version got the job done just fine and in less time. This is not your mama’s comic book movie, with a pitch black tone, and superheroes that aren’t entirely that super. They have faults and shortcomings, just like the rest of us, which is what sets this film apart from the rest of the comic crews. Most superhero flicks are serviceable enough- they get the job done but little else. This one, like “The Dark Knight” before it, raises the stakes for any other future endeavors, and visually, is a feast for the eyes in a way few other films were, “Avatar” notwithstanding. Some people hated it, but I found it spellbinding and endlessly intriguing, just like the source material. It might not be the best superhero flick ever, but it’s damn close.

3. (500) Days of Summer- I’m probably gonna get some grief for charting this one so high, but so be it. When you review movies for a living, you see a lot of dross amongst the winners, and in no genre is that more true than the romantic comedy. “Summer” handily reinvents the genre for a new generation, rebuffing the old clichés and the current “bromance” trends altogether. You know going in that things aren’t going to end well, and yet, you find yourself falling in love with not only the main couple and rooting for them, but embracing their failures as people as well- just like in real life. Imagine that! Add in a wonderful soundtrack and the most unexpected and smile-inducing musical sequence this side of “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” or “Clerks 2” and you have yourself a romantic comedy for the ages. It’s not just the best rom-com this year- it‘s one of the best I’ve ever seen, period, with a clever structure that makes everything old feel new again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film that made me fall in love with the idea of being in love again, but this one managed to do just that.

2. Where the Wild Things Are- If “Summer” brought me back to what it was like to fall in love again, then this film took me back to what it was like to be a kid again. I honestly can’t think of a film that so perfectly captures the alienation, frustration, anger, and sadness of being a child with a troubled background as well as this one. As one who had one myself, I perfectly related to Max as he uses imagination to work through issues that most of us continue to struggle with as adults. As with a lot of films on my list, this one polarized a lot of audiences, with some parents hating that Jonze took their beloved children’s classic and transformed it into a psychiatric session, but author Sendak gave it the thumbs up, and so am I. This isn’t just the best children’s film of the year, it’s one of the best, period, because it does what the best kid’s movies do: makes you think as well as inspiring a bit of awe. This, of course, makes it hardly just a kid’s movie, but instead, a movie for everyone. Your children may have a lot of questions afterward, but isn’t that the point of a good movie?

1. Inglourious Basterds- This was a tough one, as I’ve given Tarantino the top spot before and was hesitant to do it again. Yet no other film quite captured the joy of filmmaking itself quite like this one. Sure, all of Tarantino’s films celebrate movies to a certain extent by pilfering a little bit from here, a little bit from there, which is what causes some critics to write him off. Yet, despite the occasional oddball sequence here and there (i.e. the “Stiglitz” bit), this is a film that shows us a different side of Tarantino that we’ve never quite seen before. One that’s not afraid to open a film with an extended fifteen minute sequence that takes the time to play out in its own time, not with flashy edits and fonts. One that thinks nothing of an extended sequence about the nature of film itself- as in the actual film stock, not the movies themselves. And one that’s not afraid to rewrite history, just for the hell of it. No other filmmaker in in love with film as an art form quite like Tarantino, and that feeling is contagious. And if a film that makes you fall in love with film all over again doesn’t deserve the top spot, what does?