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My friend Justin once pointed out the amazingness that was the film year 1989:

Field of Dreams
Say Anything
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Dead Poets Society
Batman
Lethal Weapon 2
When Harry Met Sally
The Killer
Roger & Me
My Left Foot
Henry V
Do the Right Thing
Sex, Lies and Videotape
Cinema Paradiso

Later, I noticed a similar strength in 1999:

Rushmore
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Office Space
The Matrix
Election
The Blair Witch Project
The Iron Giant
The Sixth Sense
American Beauty
Three Kings
Fight Club
Boys Don’t Cry
Being John Malkovich
Dogma
Toy Story 2
Magnolia
Buena Vista Social Club

These are not just good films, per se, but films that, for the most part, became iconic. So, I have to wonder, (a) is there some end-of-the-decade tension that produces such great work and (b) will 2009 be nearly as interesting?

Here are a few films slated for release in 2009 with potential:

Youth in Revolt - Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl) directs Michael Cera in a coming of age story with Justin Long and Steve Buscemi.

Watchmen - Well, duh.

The Wolf Man - Benicio Del Toro as the hairy lead in a remake written by Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker.

Star Trek - I’ve liked just about everything else J.J. Abrams has done.

Up - Pixar. Natch.

Public Enemies - Michael Mann does his take on Mobsters with Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis (Ness to Dillinger’s Capone), Marion Cotillard as Billie Frechette (Dillinger’s squeeze) and Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover.

District 9 - Not much more than a viral marketing campaign at the moment, but Peter Jackson’s stamp of approval makes it a little more interesting.

Shutter Island - Scorsese does Lehane with DiCaprio.

Where the Wild Things Are - Two words: Spike Jonze

Cabin in the Woods - Two more words: Joss Whedon

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson joins forces with Noah Baumbach for this animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel.

Nottingham - Revisionist Robin Hood from Ridley Scott with his new BFF Russel Crowe as the sheriff.

The Surrogates - Interesting premise.

Avatar - Remember when James Cameron used to make movies?

The Princess and the Frog - Disney introduces a new princess, and she’s a sistah!

These are some of the more obvious contenders, but the fact of the matter is what made ‘89 and ‘99 great were the unexpected gems. Who could have seen Say Anything or The Sixth Sense coming?

Of course, nothing will top 1939.