Just about everyone has an opinion about what movies were the best and which were the worse for the ending year. The list is so subjective, in fact, that we changed our own minds at least a half dozen times before we went to print. And when we look at it next week, we probably will wish we could rearrange the order or add or subtract a movie or two. But that's the problem with making "best" and :worst" lists. It depends a lot on the mood you're in when you make the list. Is it raining outside? Did you get up on the wrtong side of the bed this morning? Is your partner waiting on the tee at the golf course for you to finish up the day's work and head out for some {sic} well derved recreation? Well -- why try harder? We could easily have selected other movies, or changed one or two in the final line up; or even add or take away one of our choices. But when all is said and done, we feel pretty comfortable in offering up the following lists of OUR favorites for the year. Just a word about our selection criteria: We like movies that entertain. We like movies that offer some of the best value for the buck. Sure - we like special effects. And we like good acting. But the bottom line is this: when we walked out of theater after viewing these films, did they leave a lasting impression for one reason or another? We think these did... Enjoy. BEST OF 2009 #10  Up in the Air With three feature films now under his belt – 'Thank You for Smoking,' 'Juno' and now this instant classic -- there's little doubt that director Jason Reitman is one of Hollywood's best. In this topical flick, actor George Clooney becomes instantly likeable in spite of his terrible job of downsizing corporate America. Clooney's performance is above reproach while Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga are the two powerful women who change Clooney's life. You'll probably laugh and will probably want to cry in this silent blockbuster. If nothing else you will enjoy outstanding acting and high quality directing at its best. #9  Up Everyone knew Pixar's latest was going to be good. But what it turned out to be was great! We would get plenty of arguments if we said this may be Pixar's best movie yet. But in reality, it may well be. The movie is funny, tender, sad, heartbreaking, entertaining - and did we say funny? But more importantly, it's just plain a superb story told like no one but Pixar could tell it. This animated flick is perfect for kids of all ages - nd that means mom and dad and granma and grandpa! There's plenty of love in this movie - and there was plenty more that poured into it from the Pixar crew. From fantastic art animation to grand voice performances, 'Up" ranks well in the top ten best flicks of the year. #8  Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Harry Potter's all grown up. The latest visually stunning installment in the series raises the dramatic stakes to frightening, life-and-death levels, as the evil Voldemort makes headway against the forces of good. Danger abounds all around, but so does love, and the main trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have blossomed into mature actors who seem to handle it well. #7  Invictus Clint Eastwood's true-life tale of how newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela (a spot-on Morgan Freeman) teamed up with the captain of the nation's rugby team (Matt Damon) to unite the apartheid-torn land with a run at the 1995 World Cup hits all the right notes. It's both an inspirational sports drama and a portrait of an inspired leader, with Oscar-caliber performances from its two leads and a heavy helping of that magical ingredient: feel-good. #6  Twilight: New Moon This sequel was a bit of a disappointment and has suffered the heat s a result. Yet there is such a broad appeal to the series and the acting and special effects were good enough to make the movie a major box office smash. The first Twilight movie was a better movie while New Moon was a better story - perhaps. But you can’t argue with success and popularity. Thenew element to the sequel was, of course, the werewolves, and you must give ariters and producers credit for taking a movie about hero vampires and turning into a movie about hero werewolves. Sure, there is too much teenage girl love theme that underays the plot. But that little marketing effort has netted the movie an eternal place in teen-oriented thrillers. #5  Avatar There’s little doubt Avatar will be remembered as a spactacular visual presentation of on-screen art. The simulated rainforest environment of the aliend world where the movie takes place is something just short of remarkable. The animation is superior in both the 2D and 3D versions. The alien characters come to life on the screen and the action shots are also well done and with extreme visual flair. The movie has been criticized as being allegorical because of several references to things like “shock and awe” and subtle hints of a story that pits progress against the traditional roots of native peoples. The truth is, you could write a lot into the movie if you are so inlined, but the bottom line is that the film is original, visually pleasing, and has a great musical score. Well worth the investment of a theatre ticket. #4  Inglorious Basterds Aldo Raine wasn't lying in 'Inglorious Basterds' when he stated his crew's lone goal: "Killin' Nazis." What he didn't explain is just how awesome and entertaining their Hitler-hunting journey would be, thanks to Quentin Tarantino's unparalleled storytelling abilities and dialogue matched by stellar acting. There's action, there's film-geek fodder, and yes, there's someone named Bear Jew turning Nazi skulls into pudding with a baseball bat. It's tongue-in-cheek revenge that only someone as twisted -- and talented -- as QT could pull off. #3  Sherlock Holmes What if Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth were just as adept with his fists as with his brain? He'd be Robert Downey Jr.'s bare-knuckle-boxing Holmes in this slick reinvention of the Brit detective. The dialogue snaps, the action comes fast and furious, and Downey and Jude Law (as his loyal but frustrated sidekick Watson) have better chemistry than most rom-com couples. Yes, the game truly is afoot. #2  The Blind Side It's easy to see why America has fallen head over heels for this true-life story of Leigh Anne Toughy (Sandra Bullock), a well-to-do white Memphis woman, and Michael Oher, the black teen (Quintin Aaron) she adopts off the streets and nurtures into a star athlete. It's irresistible, charming, reliably inspirational and it comes with a fairy-tale ending we know actually happened. Of course, it's also got football -- and is truly the greatest tale of a left tackle ever produced. #1  Star Trek (So what if we're trekkies?) After so much speculation, it didn't seem as though J.J. Abrams' reinvention of 'Star Trek' could possibly deliver. But deliver it did, with a terrific ensemble cast (including a snarky new Kirk in Chris Pine), rousing action sequences, and a storyline that sort of almost made sense. It was everything a summer movie should be, and kudos to Abrams for being bold enough to reboot the franchise -- may it live long and prosper. This revision by Abrams and Damon Lindelof was something that marveled in terms of entertainment mixed with classic Trek. Pine’s portrayal of the classic Kirk was great but the idea of giving the classic crewmates something more to do throughout the film was wonderful. Zachary Quinto benefited from Leonard Nimoy’s tutelage for Spock and the dramatic score by Michael Giacchino packages the film as an entertaining space opera that has revamped the timeless franchise for another 40 years. WORST OF 2009 # 1 THE BATTLE FOR TERRA This movie should have probably been number 1 but the disappointment of Wolverine bumped it to 2. Lionsgate’s attempt at bringing a sophisticated animated film this year was met with a boring tale of a preachy storyline and no interesting characters at all. The film was boring, the animation poor and the concept weak. The voice acting of Justin Long, Luke Wilson and others had promise but it wasn’t enough to save this reverse Independence Day from being a crapfest. # 2 FRIDAY THE 13TH This is a remake that I thought would be good and while its tension is better than the original the impact of the original was much better for the time. Call it desensitization to horror and violence but this movie sucked. I mean kids in horror movies are so stupid, you could kill them by strangling them with a cordless phone. This is a movie that had an opportunity to be off formula like Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween, instead it had the same teen characters, same sex scenes, same gruesome stuff. # 3 DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION Arguably the worst film of the year by far but certain things didn’t bother me. Justin Chatwick picked a bad role but he made the most of it. James Marsters had nothing to do and Emmy Rossum was just awful. Ultimately the promise of live action Dragonball is there it just needs to right artist to bring it to light. # 4 PUBLIC ENEMIES Only recently released, this movie fits the disappointing theme in this list with Johnny Depp teaming up with Michael Mann, how could this movie be bad? Well 2 hours and 40 minutes of long drawn out dialogues and uninteresting character development or lack thereof made this movie such a waste of a good story and a good character. Seemingly 2 tales put together it was convoluted and confusing. # 5 WATCHMEN A travesty of a film in my opinion I couldn’t help but wonder after seeing it what the big deal was with the graphic novel. Zack Snyder proved once again he could make a pretty film but all the gruesome violence and sex just annoyed me rather than made me interested in its mature themes. I am sure the novel is better but really Patrick Wilson was the only actor besides Jackie Earle Haley who showed any range in the movie. For such a hugely buzzed film this movie should be up there with Wolverine for biggest disappointment.