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.

Rachel Getting Married

Some films aim to create great drama, others thrive on intricate plot points, while still more exist to overload our senses. That's the beauty of the medium - there's just so many ways a film can connect with and entertain its audience. Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married goes a route not often taken, striving to create an ultra real version of a weekend wedding. Shot on handheld cameras, it embodies the essence of a home video one might make of their own wedding. In doing so, Demme has achieved a level of honesty and realism that elevates this film to the ranks of the very best of the year.

I can't lie, finding an entry point into this film is no easy task, especially if you aren't going in with a very open mind. Imagine, if you will, being dragged along by a friend to a wedding for someone you've never met, nor do you know any of the guests or family members. You might hear fondly told stories about events you never experienced. Perhaps you'll notice the way people speak with a certain tone about someone who is in attendance, or how they try not to speak of someone who is glaringly absent. And you'll certainly be audience to the many squabbles that inevitably come up with the gathering of such a large group of family members. That's a wedding, and that's Rachel Getting Married. For a good while I had trouble appreciating these characters because they didn't try to explain themselves to the audience. They had a past everyone in the film knew about that I in the audience had to discern through observation over this long weekend. And it pays off.

This isn't about a plot, as there is no running storyline, nor does it end with any real resolution. What we have is simply a group of people and their interactions. Central to it all is Kym (Anne Hathaway), free from rehab for the weekend for the first time in a long time. We don't know the details of why she ended up there, but we can figure it out as the film progresses. She is attending Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding, being presided over by father Paul (Bill Irwin). Mom Abby (Debra Winger), divorced from Paul for reasons we don't know (but slowly begin to understand if we think about it) is absent more often than she is present, much to the disappointment of her two children. The rest of those in attendance include groom Sidney, best man and recovering addict Kieran, Rachel's best friend Emma, Paul's new wife Carol, and the many family members on either side. It is a true ensemble and they all get their great moments. Particularly wonderful is how multicultural the whole affair is. Let's be honest for a second - if this were a big Hollywood production, it would have been an all white cast, or an all black cast. What we get instead is a melting pot of ethnicities, and that multicultural aspect adds vibrancy to the proceedings.

The performance you've probably already heard about is that of Anne Hathaway. Yes, she really is quite good. She can be frustrating when called upon, but she has a lot going on under her prickly exterior, and she let's it all out in a couple of key scenes. But her performance wouldn't work without the help of her costars. DeWitt is pitch perfect as Rachel, a woman torn between her future and her past. This weekend is about her, but her sister comes in like a storm, wreaking havoc and calling attention away from the wedding. The balancing act she plays between frustration and love for her sister is great. And then there's Bill Irwin as Paul, the father. This film simply couldn't work without his performance, simply my favorite of the film. He conveys so much with his character and he quickly becomes the heart of the film. When one character makes a happy announcement halfway through the film, his reaction is just wonderful and honest. His competition with Sidney, the soon to be son-in-law, over the dishes is lively and fun. And there is one event that happened many years ago that is hinted at for much of the film, which when finally laid bare for us in the audience, it is Paul's reactions to it that hits home most of all. Irwin's performance here is something to be treasured.

Demme made a smart choice with the handheld approach. Had he gone simply for staged melodrama it would have fallen flat, akin to the insidious Margot at the Wedding from last year. Demme allows you to be enveloped by the weekend celebration we are watching, and by the end we reach a catharsis. Sure, some parts go on too long and others make little sense to us upon initial viewing, but that's how we're supposed to feel at a wedding such as this. And the wedding itself, as well as the reception, just looks like so much fun. When it's all over we feel like we've really been a part of a special event, filled with ups and downs. I did not expect to like this film much, and I was resistant to it for the longest time while watching. But as it progressed it charmed me, wowed me, and made me cheer the little victories and moments some of the characters have. Rachel Getting Married may no be your idea of cinematic, but there's no denying that it is something special.