2008: Top 10

These end of the year lists are both a blessing and a curse. It's fun to reflect back on the year in cinema and remember the best the year had to offer. Sometimes you get a year like 2007 where you have an abundance of riches to choose from. And then there are years like 2008. 2008 was not a great year for movies. I know last year I said I should refrain from making that kind of sweeping generalization as it will come back to bite me. That said, it's undeniable that my top 10 this year did not excite me the way my top 10 did last year. That is not meant to be an insult to the films listed below - far from it. I've been spoiled the last two years by having a number one film that I was in love with. That didn't happen this year. I love my number one, but that's not quite the same thing. I think having the kind of anchor in my top 10 list that both Once and Children of Men provided in the past would help me to feel more comfortable with the rest of my list.

A few notes before we get things started. I tried to see everything I could, but a few films got past me. Timecrimes, Dear Zachary, Che, The Reader, Valkyrie, and City of Ember are films I hope to catch in the near future. The first two in particular are unfortunate in that they really sound like my kind of films. I also want to point out how frustrating the release system was this year. I felt like I was scrambling to see far too many movies at the very end of the year. It's really disappointing that studios feel the need to hold so much back until December. Not only does this mean some films won't make my list because I didn't see them, but others don't have the proper time to sit with me. I saw Benjamin Button only this morning, and while it probably wouldn't make my top 10, I feel like it's too big to digest this quickly. Some films in my top 10 are likely to fluctuate big time in the coming month as I get time to think about them, namely The Wrestler, which could rise even higher if given the time. In short, this is a top 10 in flux. Not as complete as last year's, but with about 60 films screened it's a pretty good approximation of what I liked about 2008.

10. The Visitor

As film after film fell by the wayside in the last month, I began to look back on some of the smaller films of 2008 to fill out this list. The Visitor, from writer/director Thomas McCarthy, proved to be the true keeper. I loved his last film, The Station Agent, and here he touches on many of the same themes - namely loneliness and how people discover themselves through their relationships with others. It's delightful to see Richard Jenkins get such a great lead role for once, and he does a perfect job with the part. Really, the whole cast is a delight, working well off of each other to give you a warm feeling, even as things don't go so well for the characters. You know that in spite of what happens to them, everyone will be better off for having known each other.

9. Pineapple Express

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting much from this film after the opening scene. Stoner comedies are among the least funny films out there. They always go for the easiest jokes, and this starts off doing just that. Thankfully, this rose above that to deliver both a very funny film and a great examination of friendships. That last scene where the three heroes are reminiscing about what they'd just been through is perhaps the highlight of the whole thing. These guys are like kids who just had a fun adventure, and they even get a ride home with one character's grandmother. Brilliant. Special notice should go to James Franco, who gives such a fully realized performance that goes beyond just being funny. Oscars, please take note.

8. Frost/Nixon

I'm surprised Ron Howard had such a strong film in him. Usually he's content to go the bland, easy route (The Da Vinci Code), but here he takes two great actors and a strong script and lets that carry the film. Both Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost give career best performances, which should be no surprise given that they've had time to perfect them on stage. Perhaps the most unexpected delight of this film is how funny it is. It could easily have been a quiet drama, but the writing allows for some very funny moments. Nixon's reaction to having to film a segment called Nixon: The Man is hilarious. This is the kind of movie that I could see myself watching any time it pops on TV, which goes a long way when you really think about it.

7. Rachel Getting Married

This is, to me, the biggest surprise of the year. Everything else in my top 10 had something going for it prior to watching it. This was a film I was dragged to against my will, and indeed, resisted for half the run time. But slowly I allowed it to wash over me, and I found such a warm, wondrous delight of a film inhabited by so many great characters. The key to this film is that it's presented as simply a fly on the wall look at this wedding. No pretense, no narrative, just a family getting together to celebrate one daughter's wedding. The performances are great across the board, but the one person who has been overlooked this year is Bill Irwin. His performance really made me think hard about whether or not Heath Ledger is the best supporting actor of 2008. He felt so real to me, so honest, that I felt his every emotion. His reaction to learning he is going to be a grandparent is a moment to cherish in 2008.

6. The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky is really proving to be a versatile director. Who'd have guessed he could turn out a film like this just two years after The Fountain? Mickey Rourke is the heart of this story, and you you come to feel for him in ways you wouldn't expect. I wouldn't have thought a film about wrestling could ever provide such depth, but these are people with a fascinating and largely untold story. Seeing the way they plan out their fights before hand, the genuine camaraderie between fighters, and the way they turn out washed up and alone at the end of their careers is unexpectedly riveting stuff.

5. Slumdog Millionaire

The great achievement of this film is how is really takes us right into the world of Indian slums. It opened my eyes to a people I knew little about. It's also a fun, inventive, and charming film. It's going to be interesting to see if this really can take Best Picture this year, and right now I suspect it will. Kudos to Danny Boyle for taking what could have been a schmaltzy story and injecting it with real emotion, jubilation, struggles, and hardships. And that final dance number really hits home how uplifting the story ultimately is.

4. In Bruges

Martin McDonagh made his first feature length film here, and it is an unexpected emotional roller coaster. In Bruges is both darkly hilarious and quietly sobering. I won't give away its secrets, but the film takes some dark and surprising turns as it tells its story. I love films that can make you laugh out loud at one moment, then have you get a bit teary eyed the next. Colin Farrell gives easily his best performance as a hitman who made one horrible mistake. Watching him cope with his grief is unexpectedly moving. The film's real secret, though, is Brendan Gleeson as Farrell's partner. Faced with a moral crisis of his own, he drives this great film home.

3. WALL·E

I knew this was going to be something special when I first heard about it, and sure enough, it stands high atop a mountain of Pixar films to be their best yet. I love that Pixar is willing to take such risks with their films, not going for the easy sell. Who else would have the guts to make an animated kids' film that has no real dialogue to speak of for most of the run time? The animation is truly stunning, leaps and bounds beyond what anyone else is doing these days. It's going to be hard for Pixar to top this one, but if anyone can do it, it's these guys.

2. Let The Right One In

This came so close to number one that I may still switch it. Time will tell. I mentioned earlier that there are films I am in love with and films I love. My number one film is not an easy one to be in love with, but this one is. Which is kind of weird considering this is a Swedish film about a child vampire forging a relationship with a school recluse. But it's so damn moving. The child performances are spot on, especially Lina Leandersson as the vampire. I know not many people have seen this one yet, nor will they considering what it is. But if you ever come across this one, please give it a shot. You've never seen something quite like this, and it has the most unexpectedly satisfying, thrilling, and deeply moving ending for any film this year.

1. The Dark Knight

After 4 viewings, I simply can't deny this is the strongest film of the year. The Dark Knight was my most anticipated film of the year, and miraculously it lived up to and exceeded those expectations. Batman has long been my favorite comic book character, and it has been a delight to see him get such a fine treatment in cinema. I never in my life would have dreamed that people would be talking about a Batman film being a serious contender for a Best Picture Oscar, but here we are. Obviously, at the center of this epic masterpiece is Heath Ledger. That final line of his, "I think we're destined to do this forever," just hits so painfully hard knowing that we'll never see him do this again. Far too long we've seen comic book characters treated in a jokey manor (Sam Raimi, I'm looking at you). It feels validating to see someone treat these kinds of stories seriously for a change and reap such huge rewards as a result.

Catching Up: Mini Reviews

So many movies, so little time to review them. I saw a number of movies over the last month and some of them took some real time to wrap my head around. While some may deserve more analysis, for now this will have to do - many more movies are quickly approaching on the horizon. The next two months are the most exciting for movies, and I look forward to sinking my teeth into the fall season's offerings. For now, though, reviews.


Happy-Go-Lucky

I recognize I'm in the minority on this one, but dear lord was this film a pain to sit through at times. Director Mike Leigh presents us with Poppy, one of the most grating characters of the year. Cheerful to the point of derangement, Poppy refuses to let anyone not be affected by her chipper attitude. There's no real plot to speak of, just a series of moments in her life and the characters she meets along the way. I was unable to believe that this character could or would exist in the world, or that anyone would do some of the things she does. The one truly shining element here is Eddie Marsan as her polar opposite driving instructor. Perhaps it says more about me than the film itself that I often preferred his volatile character to Poppy, but he was riveting. These are two people that should not have met, but because they have it rushes inevitably to a shocking and powerful confrontation that almost single-handedly redeemed this movie. As unimpressed as I was by this film, I would be happy to see Marsan get some recognition during the awards season.




Let the Right One In

If you've had your ear to the ground, you've probably heard rumblings about this one. Believe the hype - it's a masterpiece. It's unique visions like this that make me love watching movies. Classified as a horror film, I feel that is incorrect. It has a young girl who is a vampire, and there are certainly scenes of shocking violence, but at it's heart it is a beautiful love story between two kids trying to come to terms with who they are and what place they occupy in the world. I haven't been this affected by a movie in a long while, and can't recommend this highly enough. The nature of the characters make it hard to accept some of their actions, but at the same time you can't help but love the two kids in spite of those actions. The end especially had me literally cheer out loud for the characters. Trust me, you haven't seen a film quite like this before, this is one of the best you'll probably find all year.




Synecdoche, New York

I still haven't totally come to grips with the implications of this film after nearly a month of contemplation. Suffice it to say, Charlie Kaufman is one of our most original minds working today, and while this doesn't deliver quite on the level of his greatest work, it is still at times fascinating and moving. It follows a playwright named Caden (Philip Seymour Hoffman) as he tries to make the most important work of art ever conceived. Right off the bat you should not expect narrative sense from this film - think David Lynch lite. Time passes these characters by with almost no notice, physical space becomes undefinable, and real and imagined begin to merge into one. Caden attempts to recreate his life on a gigantic sound stage, but as he does it all begins to fold in on itself. He starts telling the story of how he's telling the story of how he's telling the story, etc. Hoffman is great, as are all the women in his life - Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Diane Weist and more. It seems to falter at the end when it becomes less clear what is happening anymore, and the film seems to lack a coherent ending - but then again, so does life. I would recommend Kaufman's own Adaptation over this as it hits on many of the same themes, but this is a solid film with moments of brilliance. I think had Kaufman found a director instead of directing it himself, it could have been a masterpiece.





Trick 'r Treat

Here's a film with a story. Filmed in 2007 and set for an October release last year, it suddenly disappeared from the schedule. Presumed to be released this October, it once again was MIA. One would assume this means bad things, but quite the opposite is true, in fact. Trick 'r Treat is one of the best Halloween films in many years. It tells a number of intertwining stories all set on Halloween, each evoking different aspects of the holiday. It is clever, fun, scary, and very darkly hilarious. And Sam, the central... not villain, but let's call him an antagonist - is one fascinating and creepy horror film character. Dylan Baker shines as a man with a dark secret, and Brian Cox evokes the image of John Carpenter in his storyline, perhaps the most frightening of the movie. This is a film to be seen with a big audience, and it demands to be seen as close to Halloween as possible. It has been screened a number of times recently in hopes of getting the word out, and I think it's working - I have heard absolutely no negative feedback from those who've seen it. Who knows when or if this film will ever get released, but if the opportunity to see it ever does come up, take it. This is a new Halloween cult classic waiting to be discovered.





W.

Oliver Stone can be so hit or miss. His two past "president" movies were both masterpieces, but many of his other films fall completely flat, like World Trade Center. His latest falls somewhere in between. The film puts up a great argument for the need to tell Bush's story on film, but the timing is still too soon. It feels as though so much more could have been explored had we had some hindsight. Still, what Stone does tackle is often fascinating, especially W's relationship with his father. Josh Brolin embodies the man eerily well, but the rest of the cast is hit or miss. James Cromwell doesn't particularly evoke Bush Sr, but he gives a well rounded performance regardless. Jeffrey Wright makes you feel sympathy for Colin Powell, who was clearly misled by those he trusted. But Thandie Newton gives a Razzie-worthy performance as Condoleezza Rice. It's like she's never seen Rice before in her life and just did some sort of bizarre caricature of a dimwitted yes man politician. It's absurd. I was surprised to find myself understanding our president in new ways because of this film. While Stone's film doesn't forgive him for his mistakes, it does put them into an interesting perspective.





Zach and Miri Make a Porno

Oh, Kevin Smith. I'm an unapologetic Smith fan, so my bias will be showing whenever I talk about him. I recognize he isn't a great director, and his dialogue can be on the verbose side, but I enjoy everything he's done. And while I also enjoyed this film, I felt it was on the lower tier of his work. The laughs are undeniably there, and the actors are almost uniformly perfectly cast, but the story itself feels off. In many ways it feels like Chasing Amy-lite. The relationship between Zack and Miri feels forced oftentimes, and the ending feels incredibly rushed. As just a comedy, it works well, but I kept hoping for it to rise above comedy and be something more. I have to give a special mention to Jason Mewes, who has really pulled himself together in recent years. He showed in Clerks II and especially here that he is a born performer, exuding more charm and charisma than anyone else in the film. He turns Lester the Molester (not a porn name, by the way) into a lovable guy, no easy feat. I can't help but kind of hope Smith would move onto something new and put films like this behind him. He's starting to run out of things to say in this genre, and I think he has such talent that if he ever did decide to do a drama (or even his long rumored horror film) it could be a revelation.