IFC: The Year's Most Cinematic Games

Throughout 2009, the intersection of video games and films has been a seething hot spot, both culturally and for business. And though this marriage is fraught with plenty of potential hazards -- best seen in the unkillable and still usually awful game-to-film adaptation -- there's no denying that's plenty of room for both mediums to share and grow.

Games tend to be more successful when they focus on their essentials, and films usually thrive when they don't try to hard to duplicate their interactive competitors, but there are no hard-and-fast rules for this developing relationship. And there's no reason to believe that, as films and games continue along semi-parallel tracks, they won't become even better at synthesizing their unique elements.