My top movies of 2009

1. Taken
In Taken Liam Neeson stars as Bryan, an ex-soldier who is forced to embark on a frantic quest to rescue his daughter (Maggie Grace) after she is abducted by slave traders.


2. Watchmen
Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the 'Doomsday Clock' - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight.


3. Drag me to hell
Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man trilogy, Evil Dead series) returns to the horror genre with Drag Me To Hell, an original tale of a young woman's desperate quest to break an evil curse.


4. Bruno
Sacha Baron Cohen and Borat director Larry Charles reunite to bring the brilliantly tasteless exploits of Bruno to the big screen! When Europe turns its back on Bruno, he crosses the ocean to find fame in the US, but how will the American public take to the outrageous Austrian.

5. The hurt locker
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break), The Hurt Locker follows a 3-man bomb team in Iraq as they go from one incredibly tense disposal to another. When reckless thrill-seeker with a death wish Sgt. James joins the team, protocol goes out the window in this explosive military movie.

6. Terminator Salvation
The year is 2018. Judgment Day has come and gone. At the behest of Skynet, an army of Terminators roams the wastelands killing or collecting humans. The only hope for the survival of humanity is Resistance fighter John Connor: a man whose destiny has always been intertwined with the fate of human existence. As the future of the world teeters on the brink of the future John has been warned about his whole life, something totally new shakes his belief that mankind stands a chance against the machines: the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a man from the past whose last memory is of being on death row before awakening in this post-apocalyptic nightmare. In the face of an ever-adapting Skynet, John must decide whether Marcus can be trusted as he prepares to face the enemy head-on.

7. The Hangover
"What happened in Vegas?" That's the question three friends must ask when they awake in their hotel room after a stag party to discover the groom is gone in this instant comedy classic from 'Starsky & Hutch' director Todd Phillips, incorporating everything from pet tigers to naked Chinese gangsters.

8. Crank 2: high voltage
Crank 2 is the follow up to Crank's electrifying success, keeping alive hitman Chev Chelios as he launches himself on an electrifying chase through Los Angeles in pursuit of the Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart.


9. Gamer
In the near future, convict Kable (Gerard Butler - '300') is forced into life as a mind-controlled puppet in real-life videogame 'Slayers', where players act out savage fantasies for a TV audience. Kable must fight to regain his family and his identity - both taken by the game's villainous designer.

10. Underworld 3: rise of the lycans
A prequel to the last two Underworld movies, this installment traces the beginnings of the blood-feud between the dominant Death Dealers and their former slaves, the Lycans. Led by the forceful Lucian, the Lycan uprising begins to take shape in order to escape the shackles of the evil Viktor, the vampire king who rules them.