As a blogger, I’m contractually obliged to produce and publish annual lists of things. It’s one of those tedious tasks you try to put off until the last moment and always bitterly resent, like getting your car serviced, completing a tax return or flossing.  If I don’t do it  bad things might happen. I could lose my weblog licence, get a nasty email from Technorati or even end up with a terrible gum disease.

So what follows are my favourite films of 2009 at this particular moment in time. These are movies that were released in the UK between 1st January and 31st December 2009 that I watched during this period, and it doesn’t include any films that were released during this period that I watched last night with Clare. Which is a shame, really, because otherwise Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell might have been a contender.

Just like last year, each entry comes complete with a lovingly hand-crafted piece of bad haiku.

Don’t say I never treat you.

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10. Public Enemies

Mann’s gangster epic

Is a fedora-clad ‘Heat’

(The film, not the mag)

9. Avatar

J.C. rose again

With pulp sci-fi eye-popper

Tangled up in blue

8. The Wrestler

Rourke drifts to glory

With tale of aging fighter

Who’s your (Big) Daddy?

7. In The Loop

Big-screen Thick of It:

In this sharp, sweary satire

‘Fog of war’ turns blue

6. Gran Torino

It’s flawed, but who cares?

Clint’s in front of the camera

And that makes our day

5. Inglourious Basterds

Don’t burn cinemas

Unless there’s Nazis inside

In which case, it’s OK

4. Fantastic Mr Fox

Roald Dahl kid classic

Goes stop-motion to Wes World

(It’s no cluster-cuss!)

3. Star Trek

Lapsed Trekkers rejoice

As Abrams’ restores their faith

Final frontier fun!

2. Where The Wild Things Are

Spike’s grown-up kids’ film

That’s perfect in every way

A beautiful freak

1. Let The Right One In

Swedish vampire tale

Is no flat-pack Drakea

More Bergman with bite