Television
Television Show:
It only started right at the very end of the year, but it’s Modern Family, it’s hands down one of the funniest, best ensemble casts I’ve ever seen in a show. Even without the rest of the cast I’d put this show as the best juts for Ty Burrell’s performance as Phil Dunphy which is comic gold. Every single member of the cast holds their own, even the young kids and there genuinely isn’t a character I don’t love. If you haven’t seen this yet, then do so, it’s brilliantly funny.
TV Actor:
It’s easy, it’s Ty Burrell from Modern Family. Every single episode I will laugh at him, his face, his actions, his character… genius. It’s amazing he stands out so much when the rest of the cast are so good too.
TV Actress:
I’m going to have to say Kaley Cuoco, she’s really grown into her character Penny on The Big Bang Theory, she’s a perfect example of quality character development. She’s funny, sexy and has great comic expressions and has turned into quite possibly my favourite character on the show.
Movies
Movie:
Slumdog Millionaire if we’re counting movies I saw in 2009 (although I did see it in 2008), but if we’re talking a film I originally saw in 2009, then I’ll say Avatar. I’ll go with the latter for the sake of argument. I’ll say Avatar because it’s a film I really didn’t think I’d like, I thought the CGI would look wrong and that the cast would look awkward acting against such large CGI creatures and I was proven wrong on every count. It delivered a great story, brilliant acting and, for the 2.5 hours it was on, I really couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It was a packed cinema, not a seat spare and not a single word was spoken by anyone, not even the kids. That’s the sign of a great movie.
Actor:
I’m surprised because it was the very first film I watched in 2009, but Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler really was rather fantastic. Everything about him fit in that role, the beaten up face and body, the voice, and watching him you genuinely believed that he’d been and lived that life and had gotten little return. He deserved his Oscar nod, but having not seen Milk, can’t say Sean Penn didn’t deserve it (as well as Sean Penn being one of my 3 favourite actors ever) but this really signaled the return of Mickey Rourke as a leading man.
Actress:
I’m in love with her anyway, but she was sensational in Julie and Julia, so I’m going to go with Amy Adams. I really hope she gets an Oscar nod for the role because she was brilliant, but all the press seems to go to, in fairness, probably the greatest actress to ever grace the big screen, Meryl Streep. It’s a great film which I absolutely adored, but for me, it’s really Amy Adams who was the star of the show.
Who should retire?:
Uwe Boll. Seriously, fuck off and stop giving the impression that video games don’t have quality stories that can be made into good movies. You’re single handedly limiting an entire side of the media!
Music
Album:
The best album of 2009 wasn’t actually released in 2009, it’s Amy MacDonald – This is the Life, I listened to this album at least once a week. I absolutely love every single on this album, there’s not a single track that gets skipped. It’s a musical masterpiece for me.
Single:
Amy MacDonaTrack 6, Let’s Start a Band. It just builds up into the most amazing ending and it just gets me smiling and moving around.
You really need to read Slumdog Millionaire if you thought the film was good. The film was downright terrible in comparison!