The top 10 films of 2009, according to AP Movie Writer David Germain:

1. "The Hurt Locker" _ The first great Iraq war film proves so universal that it can stand among the classics from past wars. Director Kathryn Bigelow drops viewers in at ground zero for a disturbingly close and claustrophobic look at the stresses and strains of disabling bombs for a living. Ably supported by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, Jeremy Renner is fierce, frightening and fearless as a sergeant so addicted to the adrenaline rush of defusing explosives that he can no longer conceive of another way of life.

2. "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire" _ An HIV-positive, illiterate Harlem teen impregnated by her father, twice, and relentlessly abused by her abominable mother. Out of this nightmare, director Lee Daniels crafts a magnificent story of resilience about a girl who discovers there really are decent people out there _ lots of them. Gabourey Sidibe bursts forth with a masterful screen debut in the title role, while Mo'Nique makes up for a career of lowbrow comedy, performing like a woman possessed as the hateful mom.

3. "The White Ribbon" _ Director Michael Haneke's masterpiece, a grim yet glorious study of guilt, distrust and malice as unexplained violence and other mishaps befall a pre-World War I German town. A portent of things to come, the mystery seems rooted in the town's children, a generation destined to unleash savagery such as the world had never known. Yet Haneke points a finger at everyone, his closing image in the film's gorgeous black-and-white palate an unforgettable tableau of reproach and incrimination.

4. "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" _ Some films are just a hoot, and this is one of them. Filmmaker Werner Herzog takes the notion of a corrupt cop from 1992's "Bad Lieutenant" and twists it into one of the most blackly humorous crime tales ever. Nicolas Cage does his best work in years as a maniacal, drug-gorging detective racing through a murder investigation in a hallucinatory haze, playing every angle, dodging every impediment and spouting such wicked gems as, "Shoot him again. ... His soul's still dancing."

5. "Up" _ By now, saying "the latest from Pixar Animation" should be enough to justify a movie's top-10 status. Director Pete Docter and his Pixar pals beguiled young and old with this story of a bitter widower who renews his sense of adventure by airlifting his house via helium balloons on a romp to South America. Voice star Ed Asner conjures up the patron saint of lovable grouches, and a segment encapsulating the lost decades with the love of his life is one of the sweetest, saddest montages in film history.