Best movies of 2009, so far

10 great movies from the first seven months of the year

By Geoff Berkshire and Matt Pais, Metromix

"The Hurt Locker"

After so many weak attempts at making a narrative film about Iraq, Hollywood finally strikes gold with Kathryn Bigelow's extraordinary and extraordinarily tense story of soldiers in 2004 Baghdad. Jeremy Renner gives a standout performance as an expert bomb diffuser; thoughtout the movie, your teeth may grind with such dread that you may as well set up a dentist appointment before you go to the theater. —MP