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Top 10 Films of 2008| | Not sure anyone really cares, but every year, I try to make up a list of my favorite films of the year. If nothing else, it sort of gives me a guide to the consistency (or lack thereof, whatever the case may be) of my taste in movies. More and more, though, I find it hard to consider my list a “10 Best” list. First of all, I didn't see everything that came out last year, and secondly, you can appreciate a film for being aesthetically good without necessarily liking it better than another one that may be “less” good. And there will always be those that disagree with you, and that’s fine. Keep in mind that the following is only one person's opinion. 
Of course, the Oscar race for Best Picture is shaping up to be predictable as usual. Of the 5 nominees, only Frost/Nixon is on my list, because I found it to be genuinely engaging and thoughtful, despite being hampered by it’s “important” outer covering. Milk, I think, truly is an “important” film, but I had some issues with the overall construction of it. However, both it and Slumdog Millionaire are decent enough, and had I seen Slumdog a little earlier (before all the hype), I might have been more impressed with it. This, of course, leaves the downright awful The Reader, which plays like an Oscar Bait for Dummies instructional video, and the mediocre The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which plays like one of those star-studded TV miniseries events from the 80s, except without the 22-hour intermission).
This actually points to a growing trend I find interesting. I have, of course, always been more personally drawn to genre films in general, but this year’s crop seemed to genuinely have more life, personality, and attitude than most of the more “serious” end-of-the-year fare.
So here are the 10 films this year that I simply liked the best (followed by the 5 I liked the least). As usual, I’ve listed my favorite film of the year first, with the rest following alphabetically. The same pattern follows with my worst list, which shows that there are exceptions to every trend by being full of (what do you know?) genre films. And there are 5 instead of 10 because I just didn’t go to that many movies that I didn’t think I would like.
THE BEST:
WALL-E - Another year, another Pixar film on my top 10 list, but I suppose Wall-E is at the very top this year because, more than any other 2008 film, this is the one that most reminded of me of the sheer power of the moving image and more specifically, animation. It’s a film that understands and revels in, not the limitations, but the endless possibilities of the medium. What other film in the last decade, animated or otherwise, has woven such a broad assortment of ingredients (post-apocalyptic sci-fi, robot love, silent-comedy slapstick, genuinely sharp social satire, Hello Dolly!, Fred Willard, etc.) into such a cohesive whole?
THE REST:
THE DARK KNIGHT - The good in this movie so far outweighs the not-quite-as-good that my quibbles about Lee Smith’s cutting style and the score (not bad; just really ordinary) seem not to matter a whole lot. Heath Ledger was truly a force of nature who deserves whatever posthumous accolades he may receive, and the rest of the cast turns in stellar work, as well. Director Christopher Nolan keeps a sense of real gravitas throughout, and the movie walks a fine but satisfying line between superhero action flick and epic crime saga.
FROST/NIXON - Frank Langella doesn’t look a thing like Richard Nixon, even in makeup, but that’s okay. The movie’s not so much about recreating the events it chronicles precisely as they happened as it is about recreating the atmosphere of a society hamstrung by financial woes, frustrated by a former commander-in-chief‘s actions while in office, and desperately searching for a reason to be positive. Indeed. The brilliance of it, though, is that it never hammers this point home; it very straightforwardly tells a specific story and allows the audience to make whatever comparisons they choose. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to ascribe the words “quietly” and “terrific” to a Hans Zimmer score, and that’s pretty cool, too.
GRAN TORINO - Clint Eastwood knows his on-screen persona so well that, in the character of Walt Kowalski, he’s able to simultaneously spoof that image and remind us of the intensity it once had. While it’s certainly no Unforgiven, what that film was to Clint’s westerns, Gran Torino is, in some ways, to his urban crime thrillers: questioning their morality and attitude, but then not really apologizing for anything, either. The script is riddled with cliches and contrivances, but somehow Eastwood manages to turn all of that into an asset and keep a straight face about it the whole way through (while laughing on the inside, I’m sure).
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY - This will probably lessen my already shaky credibility among my film school friends, but I gotta be me. I love this movie; it’s energetic, furiously imaginative, and in a really weird way, sort of elegiac. Far superior to its decent but flawed predecessor, it gives its audience a fantastic world truly worth escaping into. Guillermo Del Toro has really established himself as a distinct genre talent, and I think action editors everywhere could learn a few things from Bernat Vilaplana’s rhythmic and precise cutting.
IN BRUGES - Alternately goofy and poignant, with a sharp script, flawless performances, and the good sense to end when it needs to, this is surprisingly one of the better gangster flicks I’ve seen in years. Its crisp 107 minutes are much more satisfying and interesting than the more “epic” American Gangster and The Departed put together (though I admit I've yet to catch Gomorrah).
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - A haunting, engrossing, and even poetic vampire love story. Try as I might not to bring up the other such movie that came out this year, the comparison is inevitable, and Twilight does not fare too well in the contest.
TROPIC THUNDER - Not only is this a great example of Hollywood giving itself a good-natured (but still pretty firm) poke in the ribs, but it has the audacity and creativity to feature a character in what is essentially blackface and get away with it. Robert Downey, Jr. would steal the whole movie with his turn as the ultimate Method actor, if not for Tom Cruise in a career-revitalizing performance as a balding, rancorous studio executive. (In a wise choice, the two don’t share any scenes).
WALTZ WITH BASHIR - An animated documentary about the 1982 Lebanon War that is not, as many assume, rotoscoped. It also doesn’t seem to have an overt political agenda, although I’m sure many more will assume that as well. What it does do is present a unique exploration of a man’s search to recover his forgotten memories, along with the realization of why he blocked them out to begin with. Another prime example of the range of the animated motion picture.
THE WRESTLER - This is another one of those films that really illustrates the old adage that the more specific your plot is, the more universal your story can become (or something like that). Put another way, I couldn’t care less about wrestling, but I cared about Randy “The Ram” Robinson while watching this movie. Mickey Rourke gives a fearless performance that almost legitimizes Oscar hype, and Darren Aronofsky pulls off a delicate balance from the director’s chair by appearing to just let things happen, while still keeping everything under control.
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THE WORST:
THE SPIRIT - Just as superhero movies are gaining true legitimacy, Frank Miller (one of the people who helped pave the way for that legitimacy) goes and does something like this. The movie is a complete train wreck that almost has to be seen to be believed (but believe me, you don’t want to). There are a couple of striking images, but they’re really in the wrong movie, and Samuel L. Jackson’s turn as the Octopus ranks right up there with Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons and Faye Dunaway in Supergirl as one of the worst performances ever by a good actor in a bad fantasy film.
EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY LESS BAD:
JUMPER - Who would have thought that an Anakin Skywalker/Mace Windu rematch would be even more awkward and stilted than the first go-around?
THE READER - I stand firm in my conviction that Harvey Weinstein has embarrassing photos of Academy members stashed somewhere handy; that’s the only way I can account for this mess getting a Best Picture nomination or, for that matter, one for Best Actress. Kate Winslet (whom I normally love) practically sleepwalks through her role, and the script is full of clipshow-ready platitudes that portend Something Important simmering beneath a flat, pretentious, and just plain boring surface.
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS - Despite all the shortcomings of the prequels, I never thought I’d see the day that a Star Wars movie made my worst list for the year. This theatrical pilot for the Cartoon Network series of the same name (which is a bit better, at least) regurgitates many of the most annoying elements of the prequels (wooden acting, grade-school-creative-writing-level dialogue, endless Battle Droid nonsense). Also on display are more of George Lucas’s head-bashingly strange decisions (like having Jabba the Hutt’s uncle sound like Truman Capote??!!), and it’s all topped off with what sounds like a junior high marching band arrangement of John Williams’ classic main theme.
TWILIGHT - Sorry folks, I just don’t get it. An amiable cast gives it their best shot, but it’s probably difficult to do too much with such uninteresting characters. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t speak to its quality, but in simple movie terms, this is one of the most bland screen love stories in recent memory, and as a Star Wars fan, I assure you that is saying something. | | | Posted 2/5/2009 5:57 AM - 4 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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