The Directors Guild of America announced the nominations for its 62nd annual awards today with Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, James Cameron for Avatar, Lee Daniels for Precious, Jason Reitman for Up in the Air and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds all as nominees for its top feature directing award.

The DGA will reveal the winner Jan. 30 at an awards gala at the Century Plaza Hotel based on voting by its 14,000 members. Cameron won the DGA trophy in 1997 for Titanic and Tarantino was nominated in 1994 for Pulp Fiction. Bigelow, Daniels and Reitman are first-time nominees.

The DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has matched the Best Director Academy Award in all but six years since 1948 including last year when Danny Boyle won both trophies for Slumdog Millionaire.

2009 was a great year for films in general, particularly if you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre. The year also saw the return of a beloved franchise to the big screen as well as the latest film by one of our best modern directors. And even with the current condition of the country and the economy, audiences still managed to fill theaters and the movies enjoyed record breaking successes that hopefully will continue on into the new year.

Even with all the great movies in 2009, there were also some not so great ones. Sadly, there will always be some real bombs, but that’s to be expected. Fortunately, there were also quite a few standouts that helped keep us entertained, enthralled and excited about going to the movies in 2009.

As usual with lists of this type, I need to disclaim and say this is my list of what I felt were the best films of 2009. Nobody can see everything and opinions vary. Your list may be different.

Differing opinions and the freedom to express them are one of the things that make this country great. There’s always something new and different to see and do and we all get to choose what’s best for us. What movies we watch and enjoy is no exception.

That said, here then is my list, in no particular order, of the films I feel were the best of 2009.

Inglourious Basterds — 2009 saw the return of director Quentin Tarantino and the release of this amazing film. Some might consider it overlong or self-indulgent, but it showcases Tarantino’s filmmmaking skills at their finest and serves as an example of one filmmaker’s singular vision and immense storytelling craft.

This film provides the audience with something they never got from real life: closure. To finally see the Nazis, and in particular Hitler, get the ending they deserve is a testament to the power of this film and to its creator.

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Rather than tell you what I think I should, I decided to come clean on this list. For instance, I am aware that A Serious Man might technically and artistically be a cut above some of these, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much. I’ll also preface this by saying since I was covering most of the main-stream movies this year, there were a lot of independent movies I didn’t see, so they may not appear on the list. The film title links to a review when applicable.

Up In The Air – Buoyed by a trio of fantastic actors, I found this movie to be utterly charming. Directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno), the movie is touching, prescient, original, and funny. Vera Farmiga, George Clooney and Anna Kendrick all received Golden Globe acting nominations.  George Clooney’s depiction of a traveling man who keeps any type of human interaction at arm’s length is effortless, and is a joy to watch.

A Single Man – This film is still in limited release, so many people have not seen it, but I was absolutely blown away by designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut. He brings an artistic eye to the story of a gay man in 1962 who has recently lost a live-in companion. Heavy stuff, and Colin Firth gives a truly amazing performance that will break your heart.

Julianne is a stunning aging beauty who longs to have a relationship with the emotionally unavailable George. Universally relatable to anyone who has ever been in love, or experienced unrequited love. Seamlessly shifting from sepia, black and white, and color, the film is gorgeous. Beautifully scored by Abel Korzeniowsky as well.

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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HAFTA) announced its 2009 nominees for the Golden Globes this morning. The Golden Globes are considered a harbinger of the Oscar season, even though they  generally throw a few wacky choices into their slate.

For those keeping track, Up in the Air nabbed six nominations, followed by Avatar with four.  Sandra Bullock continues to enjoy a stellar year, as she was nominated for The Blind Side as well as The Proposal. Other double nominees include Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia, It’s Complicated), and Matt Damon (Invictus, The Informant!).  Directors Quentin Tarantino and Jason Reitman each got a nod for directing and screenplay as well.

The Golden Globes ceremony will take place on January 17th, 2010, and will air on NBC.

Here is a list of the nominees in major film categories:

Best Picture, Drama

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

Up in the Air

Best Picture, Musical/Comedy

500 Days of Summer

The Hangover

It’s Complicated

Julie and Julia

Nine

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Now in its 25th year, The Independent Spirit Awards honor excellence in independent film. Films must cost less than $20 Million to be eligible for nominations. Nominees were announced on Tuesday. The Last Station (5), Precious (5), and The Messenger (4) received the most nominations.

Of note:  Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Food, Inc. are both up for best documentary. 500 Days of Summer got nods for Best Movie, Best Screenplay and Best Male Lead (Joseph Gordon-Levitt.) Precious received nominations for Best Female Lead (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Female (Mo’nique), Best Movie, and Best Director. Adventureland was nominated in the Best Screenplay category.

Ethan and Joel Coen’s A Serious Man will receive The Robert Altman Award for directing, casting and ensemble acting. Paramount’s Paranormal Activity received a nomination for Best First Feature.

The awards ceremony will take place in Santa Monica on March 5th, 2010. A complete list of nominees and other notable news may be found on the official Independent Spirit Awards website.

Meanwhile, The Gotham Awards, which is a New York based award ceremony, gave out their awards yesterday. Notably absent was Precious, which didn’t even garner a nomination.

Director Kathryn Bigelow took home Best Movie for The Hurt Locker, which also won Best Ensemble Cast. Food, Inc. won Best Documentary.  Kathryn Bigelow and Natalie Portman also received special tributes.  A complete list of the winners can be found on the IFP website.

As casting news about the upcoming Thor film continues to heat up there’s a little film called The Avengers we’re all really interested in too. The comic book mega-film will bring together some of the biggest Marvel heroes ever.  So, it comes with some excitement to be reporting on potential casting news for The Avengers.

Word is Jeremy Renner, star of war drama The Hurt Locker, may be set to play bow and arrow hero, Hawkeye.  When asked about the role, Renner said:

“Hawkeye could be interesting. They’re going to send me some stuff on it, see what it is. But I think they’re pretty awesome, trying to make superhero movies almost plausible and not just some fantasy thing.”

The simple fact that Renner is being sent “stuff” bodes well for his inclusion in the film.  Another advantage is that Renner has a cameo in Thor which means he’s already on the Marvel bandwagon.  While I can’t imagine Hawkeye having a huge role in The Avengers it’s great to find out Marvel recruiting top talent to fill the hero roster.

The Avengers is set to hit theaters on May 4, 2012.

The gang at Film School Rejects are the first out of the gate with the new poster for director Kathryn Bigelow’s (aka the ex Mrs. Jim Cameron) film The Hurt Locker. The new poster is big, bad, features helicopters and explosions and looks pretty darn cool. If you like the poster, also keep in mind the movie has been nominated for several awards at festivals and according to many critics, is a very good film.

In case you’re not familiar with The Hurt Locker, it follows an elite team of explosive ordinance disposal experts during the final months of their tour in the Iraq war. Things don’t go quite as expected, of course, as the team deals with new challenges, new conflicts and a new leader, in the form of the excellent Jeremy Renner. The film also features Ralph Fiennes, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

From what I’ve seen so far, this film looks impressive. The performances seems solid and Bigelow, who’s previous credits include Point Break, K19: The Widowmaker and one of my favorite vampire movies of all time, Near Dark, certainly knows her way around action. Put all that together and you’ve potentially got a very, ah, explosive mix which could result in quite a good film.

The Hurt Locker hits theaters on June 26, 2009 in limited markets. You can bet I’ll be there.

Check out the much bigger and more impressive poster after the break. Also, because I care about you, I’ve also included the trailer for the film as well.

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