Love them or leave them, here are my picks for the top movies in 2009. And for those who beg to disagree, let the e-mails begin. See you @ The Movies in 2010.

10. "The Hurt Locker" Iraq war-themed films generally hit the wall with moviegoers, maybe since the war is part of the everyday news cycle and people want to think about something else when they go to the movies. But "The Hurt Locker" isn't so much about the Iraq war as it is the obsession of a bomb specialist (Jeremy Renner) who is willing to risk everything -- including his fellow soldiers' lives -- to feed the adrenaline that fuels his very existence.

Written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" excels because it steers clear of any politicizing and personalizes a soldier's story. As a result, it puts the moviegoer in the demolition gear of a man who could literally explode at any minute.

9. "Nine" True, it doesn't come close to realizing the brilliance of "Chicago," but the Oscar-winning musical's director, Rob Marshall, still manages to turn the Broadway-turned-movie musical "Nine" into an entertaining spectacle. Inspired by Federico Fellini's "8 1/2," "Nine" stars Daniel Day-Lewis in yet another brilliant performance, as he becomes Guido Contini, a famous Italian film director who unravels as the dalliances with the women both in his personal and professional lives come back to haunt him.

Like "Chicago," Marshall stages dazzling juxtapositions between reality and the musical numbers for a visually stunning and toe-tapping narrative. And it doesn't hurt that he has another talented cast, including Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Fergie and the always-stunning Sophia Loren.

8. "Invictus" Clint Eastwood delivers big once again, this time staying behind the camera to tell the inspiring (and amazingly, little known) true tale of how South African President Nelson Mandela united his countrymen through rugby during the volatile post-apartheid climate in the mid-1990s.

"Invictus" picks up after Mandela (Morgan Freeman) was elected president after spending 27 years behind bars for his fight against apartheid. Confident that he can find the balance between the aspirations of blacks and fears of whites to create a rainbow nation, Mandela enlists the help of white soccer player Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to help him strive toward the goal. Channeling Mandela as he cites the leader's inspiring true-life dialogue, Hollywood couldn't have written a better script or found a better actor in Freeman to play him.

7. "District 9" Under the auspices of producer Peter Jackson, writer-director Neill Blomkamp wows with a stunning new breed of an alien tale with "District 9," a sci-fi themed action movie with a social conscience. The setting is South Africa, where an alien mothership has broken down and stranded hordes of its species.

But instead of assimilating the alien race, the South Africans confine the aliens to slums, a decision that becomes a major crisis for the country when the population booms. The film's wicked turn, though, comes when a government agent (Sharlto Copley) is exposed to the aliens' biotechnology and slowly starts to become a creature himself – forcing his country to turn its back on him and spread vicious lies in order to justify their persecution.

6. "Up in the Air" It's a bitter pill to swallow, but the recession-themed "Up in the Air" is a masterfully written and directed dramedy that mixes in real-life testimonials from the nation's unemployed. George Clooney's Ryan Bingham is a loner who flies around the country to fire employees for assorted corporations, and then help them transition into unemployment and examine new career paths. The irony is, he soon finds his own job in peril -- and that's a double-whammy since he's met a fellow frequent flier (Vera Farmiga) who for the first time has him thinking commitment.

Clooney flies high in perhaps his best performance to date, which is matched by the brilliance of Anna Kendrick as corporate up-and-comer who threatens his way of life. The real star of the movie though, is filmmaker Jason Reitman, who puts a human face on the characters in the film's narrative and the people in the heartbreaking documentary footage.

5. "Star Trek" Set your phasers and prepare to be stunned by director J.J. Abrams origins movie about the early days of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. "Star Trek" keys in on the young Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), but it also gives ample time for other crew members – including Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Bones (Karl Urban) and Scotty (Simon Pegg, in a scene-stealing performance) to develop.

The cast has perfect chemistry in this maiden voyage of the new "Trek," which works in the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in a tale about a Romulan renegade (Eric Bana) seeking revenge against the Vulcans. Fresh and funny, yet faithful to the "Star Trek" canon, this updated version of the classic 1960s sci-fi television series would have made late creator Gene Roddenberry proud.

4. "Precious" When you see the provocative family drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" be prepared for the brutal, heartbreaking story to follow you around for a while. The film features two acting revelations: Gabourey Sidibe as Precious -- an overweight, illiterate Harlem teen victimized by incest -- and Mo'Nique as her violently abusive mother. Pregnant with her second child with no hope for the future, Precious' life begins to turn around when she enrolls in an alternative school that begins to rebuild her self-esteem and gives her a sense of purpose.

While inspirational, director Lee Daniels doesn't try to completely steer away from the cold, hard reality, as the story takes a hard right turn in film's bittersweet third act. Despite its coarse language and sensitive subject matter, the film's a must-see for all adults -- and is a shocking but necessary dose of reality for high school viewers.

3. "Avatar" Bigger truly is better for "Titanic" Oscar-winner James Cameron, who delivers big on story and groundbreaking visual effects. Set 150 years in the future, "Avatar" pits a government agency's mining colony on Pandora (a distant, Earthlike planet that contains a rare mineral that holds the key to solving Earth's energy crisis) against a group of blue-skinned, 10-foot-tall humanoids known as the Na'vi -- who stand to lose everything over their invader's greed.

The key to the film's success comes with the stunning visuals that bring the tribe to life. Cameron masterfully captures the audiences' imaginations and suspends disbelief, as the film's protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), channels his thoughts into an "Avatar" -- a remote controlled body of a Na'vi warrior -- in order to get close to the tribe. The action is engaging, the characters are believable and the narrative is thought-provoking.

2. "Inglourious Basterds" Writer-director Quentin Tarantino pulls out all the stops for "Inglourious Basterds," a revisionist, World War II revenge fantasy that is easily his best work since 1994's "Pulp Fiction." At the center of Tarantino's impressive ensemble cast is Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, a foul-mouthed, hard-living Army troop leader who trains Jewish-American soldiers in Apache warfare to brutalize Nazis to instill fear in the Third Reich.

The slow-burning pace of the film is intense, the dialogue is smart but unpretentious and above all, the plot is completely original. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz blazes out of nowhere to ignite the film as Nazi Col. Hans Landa -- a sadistic SOB who is pivotal to the film as dueling plot lines converge for the film's explosive third act.

1. "Up" While it's loaded with laughs and visual wonders, "Up" is elevated to the top of the list this year because of its emotional narrative. A coming-of-old-age story about how a 78-year-old balloon salesman, Carl, comes to terms with the loss of his wife, Ellie, by embarking on the trip of a lifetime, is a grand adventure that that takes many unexpected, but welcome, detours along the way.

There's a four-minute scene called "Married Life" early on in Disney-Pixar's latest gem that shows all the happiness and heartbreak Carl (the voice of Ed Asner) and Ellie through in their long lifetime together, which ends with the sad realization that the couple will never achieve their ultimate dream together. It's the best sequence put on film this year -- and one of the many big breaths of fresh air that sets director Pete Docter's highly imaginative and inspirational film apart from everything else in 2009.

Honorable Mentions: "The Hangover," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "9," "The Blind Side," "Drag Me to Hell," "Watchmen," "The Lovely Bones" and "The Stoning of Soraya M."