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.

The Dark Knight

I grew up at a time when it was nearly impossible not to be a Batman fan. While Tim Burton's first Bat-film barely escaped my radar upon release, I still remember the hoopla around Returns in 1992. I was there when they launched the Animated Series, faithfully watching every day after school. I was in line opening day for both Forever and Robin. While other comic book characters were certainly prevalent at the time, none ingrained themselves into my psyche quite as much as Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego. So when the whole franchise came to a sudden and unexpected halt in 1997, I was disheartened. It seemed as though I may have to move on, find a new superhero to satiate my comic book needs. But as the comic book renaissance began at the turn of the decade, I found myself unimpressed by what was being offered. It became apparent that no other character would be able to take over the mantle from Batman, and I would just have to patiently wait for someone to revive the dormant franchise.

Christopher Nolan's 2005 take on the series was a breath of fresh air. It took itself and its characters seriously, aiming to be more than simply a fun time at the movies (though it was that, too). Nolan and company decided to make a hero for a real world, eschewing superpowers and freakish villains. In retrospect, that first offering did have its faults - notably the final act - but all in all, it succeeded where so many other comic book films have failed. Now, three years later, Nolan has set out to top his already stellar first film. To say he does is an understatement. This is a magnum opus for the genre, a film that is alive with ideas, characters, action, dialog, and emotion. Like only a select few sequels, it builds upon its predecessor to expand the world its characters live in while not ignoring what made the first one so successful.

If I have one complaint, it is that Batman is relegated back to second fiddle, much like he was in the first series of films. It would have been nice to focus a bit more on how he was dealing with the events in the film, especially a major choice he has to make about halfway into the film. Begins was the first film to truly explore the character in more than a superficial way, but they've regressed a bit on that front here. His arc was the most difficult to appreciate, simply because not enough time was spent on it. Although in a two and a half hour movie, that may be asking for too much. Especially when every single new character is so damn fascinating.

The scariest villains in film history are ones we don't know anything about. Michale Meyers, Leatherface, Anton Chigurh, Hannibal Lecter (although someone got the bright idea to explain him to no end in a series of sequels) - all work because their actions are unpredictable, seeming to make no sense. The Joker, perhaps one of the most iconic villains in any medium, follows in this fine tradition, and as a result he is both terrifying and riveting. The Joker appears to explain what made him into such a monster, only to later reveal that he was just messing with us. It's like he knows people are trying to analyze him, to figure out what turned him into such a monster, and he is having fun screwing with people's expectations. Was it his dad? A former lover? Something far more mundane? We never get an honest answer, nor do we need one. As a result, Joker is so unpredictable that we are left constantly on the edge of our seats wondering where he is going to take us next.

Heath Ledger makes the role of the Joker his own, proving all the naysayers (myself included) wrong. And while he is so convincing as a man utterly nuts, it is his scene in the interrogation room with Batman that really shows just how great a performance it is we are witnessing. Reminiscent of the diner scene in Heat (in fact, much of the film is an homage to that classic), these two opponents stop the movement of the story for a few minutes to simply talk to each other. While the scene quickly turns out to be an integral part of the plot, for a moment or two this scene just pops with energy as two sides of a coin meet face to face. If Ledger really does get an Oscar nomination, it will be this scene that is showcased on award night.

The ads have led us to believe that this is Heath Ledger's film, but that actually isn't the case. I am fairly certain that the most screen time is allotted to Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. If that isn't accurate, it simply felt that way because it was his performance that stood out to me the most. We've already gotten Batman's story, and the Joker has no story, so this film ends up being about Dent's arc. And what an arc it is. I suppose it could be considered a spoiler what he ultimately goes through, but if you have any familiarity with the Batman mythos, it should be obvious where he is heading by film's end. Eckhart absolutely sells the character as someone who has strong morals, but is losing his grasp on the idea of how to go about enforcing those morals. He is fighting for the same thing as Batman, but unlike Batman he is forced to obey the law in order to bring about justice. This is an arc that could have felt unbelievable if not handled right, but I bought into Dent's third act transformation. Eckhart is, in my mind, the real centerpiece of the film.

I hope that everyone involved will be back for one more Batman outing. They've hit on some really great themes here that need to be wrapped up in a third film (or, more likely, not wrapped up as much as further expounded upon. Nolan isn't interested in giving us simple black and white morals here). The idea of Batman being not a hero, but a figure of vigilante justice is an interesting one that rarely gets acknowledged in these kinds of films. People in comic book films love Spider-man and Superman in a way they don't with Batman. He takes everything into his own hands, plays by his own rules. He is the Dirty Harry of superheroes. When he essentially wiretaps every phone in Gotham, we are forced to question if he really has our best interests at heart. While he seems to think so, not everyone else does.

Nolan's Batman series has really spoiled the comic book movie for me. I just can't sit back and mindlessly enjoy something like Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk when there is something far more mature and complex out there in the same genre. Sure, those films are fun, but fun is passive, fleeting. To aspire to be something more than just fun, as Nolan is doing here, is to achieve a lasting impact on our culture that will be discussed and analyzed for years to come. And that appears to be what The Dark Knight has achieved.