Earlier in the summer I began an ill-advised attempt at writing haiku (what’s the verb for composing a haiku?  Haikuing?  Haiku-tecturing? Haiku-grammising?) for the films that have intrigued me this year.  The experiment was abruptly ended by an outbreak of good taste, but as we roll into the fourth quarter of 2009, in anticipation of the awards season ‘quality’ epidemic that’s sure to colonise our screens over the next few months, I thought I’d return to reflecting on how intriguing a year this has been at the movies.

As the last three months of the year traditionally see the release of Oscar-bait, our vision of the best films of 2009 will inevitably be somewhat skewed toward films that haven’t been released yet.  I’ve mentioned before that Roger Ebert may have made the most sensible suggestion for renewing the Academy Awards in a fashion that would both help films released earlier in the year not to be forgotten, and allow audiences to expect decent movies from January to September.  In that spirit, let’s have a thought experiment: I’m going to attempt having two ‘best lists’ for this year; starting with this last week of the month, I’m going to post my treatment for the film of the year – a quixotic notional endeavour, in which the bits that made me feel happiest to be a film lover are cut together in a genre-bending masterpiece that exists only in my head, because that’s the only place it can exist.   You will have your own choices, and I’d love to hear about them here on the site – so please share your own imaginings in the comments section.

We’ll break it down into sections – today I’ve written about the premises that I enjoyed the most; I’ll post again on Wednesday with thoughts on the best intros and moments; Friday will see what seem to me to be the best endings and even closing credit sequences (trust me, there are a few) that I’ve seen.

And I promise to return to all of this when the year is done; some of these films will be forgotten in year-end lists, and part of the reason I’m writing this as a reminder to myself. Please forgive the indulgence if you’re not interested; but if you are, I’d love to have a conversation in the comments, starting today with your thoughts on the best premises and/or opening sequences you’ve seen this year.

THE BEST PREMISES OF 2009

Old guy saves the world through non-violence; gives a kid a car.

Middle-aged guy saves world through old movies; gives a guy a scar.

Old guy gets his world back by letting go of a balloon-powered house.

Depressed guy falls in love with both Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw; they love him back.  Kind of.

Depressed guy lives with an incredibly beautiful woman in Argentina but can’t write; learns to love his brother.

Mildly depressed old guy friends try to heal their boredom by failing to have sex with each other but film the foreplay.

Old guy talks about the pictures he took; one of which ended the War in Vietnam.

Old guy runs Italy into the ground.

Old guy and young guy drive around in a taxi.

Guy lives on the moon.

Old guy saves dolphins from amphibocide.

Middle-to-older aged guys play loud music; get big in Japan.

Young guy enjoys bomb disposal; can’t choose between cereals.