The Big Picture · Discussion · Draft

The 2009 Movie Draft

June 14, 2022/ 89 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan

Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan draft the movies of 2009: the year Avatar ate the box office and Inglourious Basterds went No. 1 overall. Chris also insists, unconvincingly, that he cried during Up.

50 films across 3 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Who were you in 2009?the pre-draft download

500 Days of Summer 2009

Bobby's first-ever date movie, age 13. Neither Sean nor Amanda can fully reconstruct the plot on the spot.

Crazy Heart 2009

Jeff Bridges' overdue Best Actor win, after years of also-ran nominations.

The Blind Side 2009

Sandra Bullock's Best Actress win, for a movie Sean says he doesn't think is very good.

Up in the Air 2009

Jason Reitman's film, expected Oscar fodder in an otherwise strange Best Picture lineup.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince poster

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 2009

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2009

The 2009 Movie Draft drafting 2009 movies

Amanda Dobbins

Drama

Lone Scherfig's coming-of-age drama, adapted by Nick Hornby. Carey Mulligan's breakout as a teenager courted by an older man (Peter Sarsgaard); Amanda singles out Rosamund Pike's underrated comic turn as the ditzy girlfriend.

Comedy

In the Loop 2009

Armando Iannucci's Thick of It spinoff. Amanda says it's the hardest she's ever laughed at a movie. Jamie MacDonald's (Paul Higgins) introduction is the scene she wants replayed on the pod.

Oscar Nominee

Inglourious Basterds 2009

Tarantino's WWII revenge fantasy, her favorite of his films. It's the pick she wanted most, and the No. 1 overall slot let her get it.

Action Horror Thriller

State of Play 2009

Kevin Macdonald's newsroom thriller with Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, and Helen Mirren, adapted from the BBC miniseries. A late pick in a category she hadn't prepped for; made $90 million domestic.

Blockbuster ($100M+)

It's Complicated 2009

Nancy Meyers' divorced-parents comedy with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. Her favorite Meyers movie, not the best one, mostly for the Santa Barbara kitchen. Made $110 million.

Wildcard

I Am Love 2009

Luca Guadagnino's Tilda Swinton drama, first in his loose Italian trilogy. A pick for her father, who calls it one of his favorite films of the year.

Chris Ryan

Drama

Adventureland 2009

The movie he's rewatched most this year outside of Basterds. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, plus a great Ryan Reynolds turn.

Comedy

The Hangover 2009

Todd Phillips' Vegas comedy; Chris admits it isn't as rewarding a rewatch as it was a theatrical experience, and singles out the closing-credits photo montage.

Oscar Nominee

The Hurt Locker 2009

Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq bomb-squad thriller, his target pick from the start. Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie; the Ralph Fiennes sequence gets a specific shoutout.

Action Horror Thriller

Zombieland 2009

Ruben Fleischer's Woody Harrelson/Jesse Eisenberg horror-comedy, written by that week's guests Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

Blockbuster ($100M+)

Up 2009

A surprise pick from someone who opened the episode claiming he'd blacked out most of 2009. He insists he cried in a theater during the opening montage; the other two don't fully buy it.

Wildcard

A Perfect Getaway 2009

David Twohy's Hawaii thriller with Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, and an early Chris Hemsworth.

Sean Fennessy

Drama

A Serious Man 2009

The Coens' Job riff, Sean's favorite of their filmography, earmarked before the draft even started.

Comedy

The Informant! 2009

Soderbergh's second movie of 2009 (with The Girlfriend Experience). A very funny Matt Damon performance as a lying ADM whistleblower, cast heavy with stand-up comedians.

Oscar Nominee

Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009

Wes Anderson's stop-motion Dahl adaptation, voiced by George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Sean says a rewatch alongside The French Dispatch made him like it even more.

Action Horror Thriller

Avatar 2009

His first pick overall. Cameron's motion-capture blockbuster dominated the year's box-office conversation the way Titanic did in '97. He saw it on the Lincoln Square IMAX.

Blockbuster ($100M+)

Taken 2009

Liam Neeson's action reinvention. Sean jokes it created a market inefficiency in Eastern European travel.

Wildcard

Ponyo 2009

Miyazaki's underwater riff on The Little Mermaid, watched this weekend with his daughter Alice.

What we left on the boardundrafted 2009 movies

Paranormal Activity 2009

Oren Peli's found-footage horror, made for under $250,000 and still argued to be one of the most profitable movies ever made by ROI. The franchise that built Blumhouse.

Duplicity 2009

Tony Gilroy's Clive Owen/Julia Roberts corporate-espionage caper. Sean calls it 'legitimately incomprehensible' on first viewing and would love the same cast and director for a do-over.

District 9 2009

Neill Blomkamp's apartheid-allegory blockbuster from a first-time filmmaker. A Best Picture nominee that looks, in hindsight, like a genre-movie anomaly the category doesn't allow anymore.

Where the Wild Things Are 2009

Spike Jonze's Maurice Sendak adaptation. Sean says it made him weep and is now a fixture of reading the book to his own kids.

A Single Man 2009

Tom Ford's directorial debut with Colin Firth. Amanda's takeaway is mostly the wardrobe ('beautiful gowns'), and she says it worked better for her than Ford's later Nocturnal Animals.

Orphan 2009

The twist-ending horror movie that became a running blog joke that year for how fast people spoiled the ending.

The House of the Devil 2009

Ti West's slow-burn homage to '80s babysitter slashers, with an early Greta Gerwig performance.

The Last Station 2009

Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, and James McAvoy in a Tolstoy drama Chris caught alone at an art-house matinee.

Public Enemies 2009

Michael Mann's Dillinger movie with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Multiple hosts call it their least favorite Mann film and say they've rewatched Blackhat more often.

Two Lovers 2009

James Gray's Joaquin Phoenix drama, a 2008 Cannes premiere with a 2009 U.S. release. Universally liked at the table.

Bright Star 2009

Jane Campion's Keats romance, a favorite of both Sean's and Amanda's, called 'so underrated.'

Julie & Julia 2009

Nora Ephron's dual Julia Child/Julie Powell biopic with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Amanda says the Streep half is great and the blogging half is 'whatever,' which is why she didn't draft it.