It's a toss up for me. District 9 and Inglorious Basterds are my favorite two of the year. Up was way, way up there (damn you puns!), and Avatar was amazing except I feel it will diminish greatly between viewings and certainly once it no longer is projected in IMax and 3D.

I voted for Basterds because I think it's slightly a better movie than D9. But only slightly.

I have not seen Hurt Locker, but I'm not sure it's a movie I would be ecstatic about.

Avatar was very, very pretty. Best VFX for sure, but it's not that great a film. Seeing it on the small screen diminishes the experience quite a lot. Was great in the theater in a "big summer movie" kinda way

Up was a very sweet movie and it would be way up there, except in the end it goes a little too far with the action packed old guy jumping around on an airship. It was a great movie still though, don't get me wrong.

Inglorious Basterds was a great movie in a campy sorta way. There was more comedy in it than I had expected; the basterds were more fun than gruesome, although some of the scenes were a bit icky. It was also much more of a talkie than was let on, but well, we know Quintin Tarentino... they're all talkies. Very good movie, I thought, but the french sub/main plot was a bit weaker I thought.

District 9 was a fantastic movie. It used its mane effects shots better than Avatar by keeping them so understated and bound to our own world. I also loved that they weren't afraid to blow some people up.. good stuff. And Wikus was a good anti-hero; a real person, flawed and all. So, District 9 gets my tip of the hat.

I went for Avatar. For me, it's all about the cinema experience. Sure, it hasn't got the strongest story, but action films rarely do. But you have to look at the whole package. The entertainment value, the thrills, the rollercoaster ride... Avatar delivered.

I did see Hurt Locker, and it was a great film. But overall, I came out from Avatar feeling like I'd witnessed a 10/10 entertainment experience, and that's important. It was something fresh.

I honestly could not stand the shaky cam in hurt locker. I realize it was some pseudo documentary but the camera made itself a character in the film and I found that very annoying. Unpopular view I'm sure. If it were just shaking when there was action or other events on screen it would be one thing, but when people are just standing still and the camera is all over the place it just takes me out of the movie and reminds it's being filmed.

Avatar was great. Lived up to exactly the kind of film I thought it would be. Fantastically beautiful and entertaining.
Ditrict 9 was good but in a way felt like nothing more than a vehicle for a sequel. In some ways the original short was better.
Up was wonderful. I loved it. But in the end, avatar will probably be the movie I wind up watching again .. so there's my vote.

almost forgot ... Inglorious Basterds. Some of the most intense individual scenes in any movie I've ever seen. A few of them were posted here, and they were amazing, but the movie as a whole just did not gel for me. I might have been expecting too much.

I haven't seen Inglorious Basterds or Hurt Locker. Avatar is my pick of the other three, but that's because I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, not because I think it's some height of artistic expression.

Haven't seen Hurt locker, but of the remaining 4 I'd go Bastards. I thought Avatar was a good time at the movie theater, but not among the best of the year.

Moon.

http://www.aqfl.net/?q=node/7940 for which movie should had gotten the best picture for 82nd Academy Awards.

seems we all agree Avatar was fantastic, but at the same time not an award worthy movie. Hurt locker is also a solid movie, but i think not a very memorable one, at least from a viewpoint of a non-american viewer. District 9 is good, but i'm always a bit dissapointed with sci-fi movies, could have made it much better, imo. the basterds i'm still very ambivalent towards, it has its moments of genius and some totaly redundant parts. haven't seen Up yet.
I saw Un Prophete today, the french crime drama that was nominated for best foreign language film - it's awesome, i really recommend it. it's more than 2 hours long and keeps you glued to the screen till the very end, fantastic script and great acting! also, i think carey mulligan should have won the oscar for An Education

Dammit! I really should have included Moon in there. I loved it! And I was scratching my head over what movie to list 5th (went with Up). Oh well.

Seems to be a pretty close race to far...

I went with Avatar.

District 9 was amazing, but at the end didn't feel like a complete film. Inglourious Basterds was great, but felt like it should have been named "The incredible adventures of Col. Hans Landa". The Hurt Locker left no lasting impression on me, but actually reminded me a lot of Beaufort, an Israeli war movie. The opening scene (with Guy Pierce) was very similar to the opening of that movie. Other than that, I can't really say I connected with the war experience.

Avatar's plot was predictable from the first trailer, but the execution was incredible and made me watch it 3 times in the theater, something I haven't done since The Matrix.

Voting for this poll ended in a tie between Avatar and Inglorious Basterds.