American Film Institute picks 10 best films of 2009

The American Film Institute picks the 10 best films of the year each year, and the 2009 list isn't that surprising: acclaimed dramas "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air" and "Precious" all made the cut.

In my book, there is one surprise though: "Coraline." The AFI also picked "Up," but it looks like they weren't that impressed with Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which I clearly preferred to "Coraline."

Also, you won't see James Cameron's "Avatar" on this list. Instead, the selection includes "The Hangover" (which I adored as well), "The Messenger," "Sugar," "A Serious Man" and "A Single Man."

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Saturday film news web roundup: Johnny Depp 'shocked' by Cook's exit; Three more join 'Priest'

Here is a list of recent film news and posts I either missed or simply didn't have time to cover earlier:

• On Friday, Dick Cook suddenly resigned as chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and one guy deeply saddened by the news was Johnny Depp, who told the Los Angeles Times he was "shocked and very sad" by Cook's departure. (More here)

• Madchen Amick, Christopher Plummer and Brad Dourif have joined Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Maggie Q and Cam Gigandet in Scott Stewart's upcoming thriller "Priest." (via MTV)

• The great Paul Giamatti has boarded Jonathan English's "Ironclad." Giamatti will be playing King John, who along with his army faced a Knights Templar (Jamed Purefoy) and his "Magnificent Seven" in 13th century England. (Variety)

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59th Berlin International Film Festival Awards

Claudia Llosa's Peruvian drama "The Milk of Sorrow" (La teta asustada) won the Golden Bear for best film at the 59th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.

The Silver Bear went ex aequo to Maren Ade's "Everyone Else" (Alle Anderen) and Adrián Biniez's "Gigante." Asghar Farhadi took home the Silver Bear for best director for "About Elly" (Darbareye Elly).

Birgit Minichmayr was named best actress for her role in "Everyone Else," while Sotigui Kouyate won best actor for his performance in Rachid Bouchareb's "London River."

The Silver Bear for best script went to Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon for "The Messenger." Alfred Bauer Prize went ex aequo to Biniez for "Gigante" and Andrzej Wajda for "Sweet Rush" (Tatarak).

The International Jury of the 2009 Berlinale was presided by Tilda Swinton and included Isabel Coixet, Gaston Kaboré, Henning Mankell, Christoph Schlingensief, Wayne Wang and Alice Waters.

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