Complex’s Best of 2009 (So Far): The Top 10 Movies

A best-of list at the year’s halfway point? Hell yeah, but ain’t a damn thing about it done halfway.

Blow the whistle—it’s halftime in 2009! All week long we’ve been listing our favorite things that floated into the Complex universe in the past six months. We already gave you our picks for the best sneakers, albums, style essentials, and video games; now, we close the week out with The Top 10 Movies. Fortunately movies haven’t sucked like rap has, so we had to really think about what deserved a spot and how it measured up to the rest. What we were left with is a legit list of must-see, worth-the-price-of-admission flicks (or at least the time it takes to download them illegally). Action, comedy, drama, romance, horror, sci-fi, sports, animation, documentary, blockbuster, indie—we’ve got it all. Find out which flick took the top spot and why as we count it down. As always, let us know if you have bad taste and disagree.


#10: Observe and Report

DIRECTOR: Jody Hill

STARS: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Peña, Jesse Plemons

PLOT: Bipolar and professionally impotent mall cop Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) competes with real police to catch a flasher who’s throwing his junk around the shopping center parking lot.

THE COMPLEX CO-SIGN: After playing several harmless, well-intentioned slackers, Rogen goes to the comedic dark side like Travis Bickle with the jokey-jokes. Date rape has never been so funny! (Hey, we didn’t make it #1.)

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#9: Sugar

DIRECTORS: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

STARS: Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino

PLOT: Recruited to play in the U.S. minor leagues, Dominican pitching phenom Miguel “Sugar” Santos (Perez Soto) struggles with culture shock, competition, and his own drive as he attempts to go pro and pull his family out of poverty.

THE COMPLEX CO-SIGN: With all the baseball movies out there, this is the first we’ve seen that explores the plight of players trying to make it out of developing-world slums. On-field performance aside, do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to find a chick in Iowa who can cook arroz con frijoles y pollo and dance merengue? Fuck a curveball—Sugar hurls heat at your head!

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#8: Adventureland

DIRECTOR: Greg Mottola

STARS: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader

PLOT: High school grad James Brennan (Eisenberg) learns about life and love while reluctantly working at a rundown amusement park to help pay for college.

THE COMPLEX CO-SIGN: We haven’t experienced a theme park coming of age this good since we got dome on a carousel for the first time.

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#7: I Love You, Man

DIRECTOR: John Hamburg

STARS: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jaime Pressley, Jon Favreau, Andy Samberg

PLOT: Peter Klaven (Rudd), a man so disturbingly pussy-whipped that he never took time out to develop male friendships, goes on a series of man-dates to find a Best Man for his wedding.

THE COMPLEX CO-SIGN: Rudd and Segel are two halves of the best bromance ever that doesn’t involve Brody Jenner and/or anal penetration in a tent on a mountain.

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#6: Tyson

DIRECTOR: James Toback

STARS: Mike Tyson

PLOT: Tyson talks about his wild life experiences, from first-round knockouts and fortune to ear-biting and face tats, as each memorable moment is revisited in archival footage and photographs.

THE COMPLEX CO-SIGN: Iron Mike is the only person who knows what the hell is going on inside his head. You may still not fully understand even after he speaks on it, but it’s without a doubt his most convincing knockout in years.

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