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GHcool 
"Forever a curious character."
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 Posted - 12/29/2008 : 20:26:16
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My annual list of favorite films:
1. Slumdog Millionaire ("Mumbai orphan given lifeline." - Rockgolf) - The film was produced for $15 million and has greater production values than almost any other film made this year. Danny Boyle has made some excellent films in the past, but this is his best.
2. WALL E ("Meet WALL-E's sparks." - Alan Smithee) - The screenplay by Pixar's Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor manages to be visionary science fiction and a great love story at the same time. The animation and sound design is as good as any film ever made.
3. Man on Wire ("Hi-Wi." - Chris C) An inspiring story about following your dream. My favorite documentary of the year.
4. The Dark Knight ("Insane clown's posse." - Gentleman Ghost) - Was there a more talked about performance this year than Heath Ledger's Joker? Christopher Nolan and his cinematographer, Wally Pfister, create a chaotic, exciting, noir world that fits the material perfectly.
5. Wanted ("Gang couldn't shoot straight." - MisterBadIdea) - The stylized production values are very high with the kind of time-defying visual effects experimented with in The Matrix built upon and used for comedic effect. James McAvoy performance as a corporate drone turned superhero is actually quite complex and brings this silly material to a level where we almost buy it.
6. Waltz With Bashir - My favorite foreign language film of the year. Its another film that proves that you can sometimes do more with animation than you can with live action in a "less is more" kind of way.
7. Leatherheads ("John Krasinski: The Offence." - Yukon) - Everyone seems to like to bash Renee Zellweger these days for one reason or another. I happen to think she's one of the best actresses of her generation and this is just one of the films that prove it. The screenplay, which took more than 10 years to finally make it to the screen, is smart and tight and, as far as I can tell, fairly accurate to the history of sports in the United States.
8. The Incredible Hulk ("Norton here's a Hulk." - Sludge) - The film stays pretty close to the standard three act screenplay structure, but there are times when the structure works well. The effects are very good; much better than the effects in Iron Man.
9. Burn After Reading ("Coenfidential." - MM0rkeleb) - Frances McDormand is a master at finding that fine line between creating a realistic character and making an over the top comic caricature. The rest of the all star cast is equally impressive as neurotics who get into espionage and adultery way over their heads.
10. Frost/Nixen ("Nixon taped!" - BaftaBabe) - Although Frank Langella looks nothing like the real Nixen, he embodies him completely and by the 10th minute of the film, you are completely convinced. The screenplay by Peter Morgan is suspenseful and digs deep into the historical context of the interviews.
Honorable mentions: Kung Fu Panda, The Reader
I haven't yet seen Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Grand Torino, The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, or Defiance, but if and when I do, I may update the above lists. |
Edited by - GHcool on 01/06/2009 19:35:16 |
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Salopian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/29/2008 : 20:32:46
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| Wow, some extraordinary choices there! |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 12/29/2008 : 21:35:56
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My ten, alphabetically:
CHANGELING
DARK KNIGHT
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
FROZEN RIVER
HAMLET 2
IRON MAN
MAN ON WIRE
UP THE YANGTZE
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
WALL-E
EDIT: Must admit I haven't yet seen FROST/NIXON [tho I did on stage, with the same two actors, so I'll wait and rent], WRESTLER [missed it at NYFF!!], W., and others. I reserve the right to amend this list if I can cram anybody else in in 2008. I did see BUTTON.
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Edited by - randall on 12/30/2008 22:28:53 |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 12/30/2008 : 01:01:55
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I was wondering when someone was going to do a Best of 2008 thread... I was gearing up for it myself! So. Here's my list, alphabetically; it's of the best films I saw in the cinema this year, not necessarily films that were released this year - hence there's a few from 2007 that were released in the UK early 2008.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Gomorra
Into the Wild
Iron Man
Man On Wire
No Country For Old Men
The Orphanage
There Will Be Blood
Wall-E
Waltz with Bashir
Honorable mentions go to I Am Legend, Sweeney Todd, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I'm a Cyborg But That's OK, The Wave, Kung Fu Panda, I've Loved You So Long and Changeling.
Damp squibs go to Love in the Time of Cholera, Indiana Jones and the blah of the blah blah blah, Quantum of Solace, Vantage Point and The Happening; easily the worst film I saw in the cinema all year.
I want to mention overhype of the year too - a resounding trumpeting anticlimax to The Dark Hype, er.. Knight. How could any film live up to all that fuss? And no matter what the hysteria around his passing produced I still say Heath gave a far better performance in "Brokeback Mountain". And I still think Michael Keaton was the best Batman. 
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Salopian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/30/2008 : 05:28:56
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Did you really see Into the Wild at the cinema this year? It feels much longer ago to me than everything else listed here.
I think I agree with your choices a bit more overall more than GHcool's. However, I would rather cut my own head off than sit through The Assassination... or especially There Will Be Blood again. 
I'll add my list when 2008 is actually over.  |
Edited by - Salopian on 01/05/2009 15:10:50 |
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 01/04/2009 : 18:22:16
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I haven't seen enough of the big Oscar contenders to give my Top Ten yet, but the general consensus is that this is a pretty damn weak Awards season. "Doubt," "Milk," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," all pretty much getting mixed-to-positive reviews. It's interesting to me that while the rapturous buzz last year was being handed over to "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," two very dark, dense and challenging arthouse movies, the rapturous buzz this year is for "The Dark Knight" and "WALL-E," crowd-pleasers that came out in the summer. And for good reason, obviously; they're going to be undoubtedly two of my top three movies of the year. (The other spot is currently for "Synecdoche, New York.")
I just saw "Slumdog Millionaire," one of the few whose buzz rivals that of the other two. I'm kind of surprised. It's a very simple, simplistic movie; certainly "WALL-E" and "The Dark Knight" are more challenging in every possible way. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 00:09:11
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
I haven't seen enough of the big Oscar contenders to give my Top Ten yet, but the general consensus is that this is a pretty damn weak Awards season. "Doubt," "Milk," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," all pretty much getting mixed-to-positive reviews. It's interesting to me that while the rapturous buzz last year was being handed over to "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," two very dark, dense and challenging arthouse movies, the rapturous buzz this year is for "The Dark Knight" and "WALL-E," crowd-pleasers that came out in the summer. And for good reason, obviously; they're going to be undoubtedly two of my top three movies of the year. (The other spot is currently for "Synecdoche, New York.")
I just saw "Slumdog Millionaire," one of the few whose buzz rivals that of the other two. I'm kind of surprised. It's a very simple, simplistic movie; certainly "WALL-E" and "The Dark Knight" are more challenging in every possible way.
The consensus I've followed judges this a fairly strong awards season. You just haven't seen most of the pix. The studios have rushed them out in an end-of-year bunch b/c they think increasingly doddering Academy members have ever shorter memories, and they just may be right.
The three you highlighted have been getting mixed to rave reviews -- as usual among Oscar contenders at this point, when, generally speaking, only pro critics have had a look. I've seen only one of those three, and no, it didn't make my ten-best list, but I have actually seen it.
You want "dark, dense and challenging"? Try INLAND EMPIRE. Hmmm...I didn't think you did. But that's the fun of these ten-best lists: everyone's is different and everyone's just as valid. I just went through the latest ish of FILM COMMENT, the annual best-of number. You get a collective 20-best, then 20-best so far unreleased [festivals and such], then 10-best from maybe three dozen professional critics out of maybe 100 surveyed. The range is astonishing, as it is every single year. Different people like different movies -- fancy that!
The point is, watch out when you dismiss anything outright. [Especially if you're judging movies from reviews instead of your own eyes.] That's your privilege as a critic, but it's your opinion only. I'm 99% certain there will be somebody else out there who disagrees. And that opinion's just as valid as your own. |
Edited by - randall on 01/05/2009 02:28:39 |
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chazbo 
"Outta This Fuckin' Place"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 03:33:30
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I don't have much time to watch movies anymore, so there are still many "contenders" that I haven't seen. Probably tops on my to-see list is Aronofsky's The Wrestler.
I think this past year was an especially strong one for documentaries. The three listed above, Up the Yangtze, Encounters at the End of the World, and Man on Wire are all good films, even if that last one owes a lot to the documentaries of Errol Morris (whose Standard Operating Procedure came out in 2008). Another well-done documentary in my opinion is Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson. I also recently watched The King of Kong, which I though was pretty good, but it might be too old for a 2008 list.
I recently saw the new Batman film, and I enjoyed it much more than the first one Nolan did. But I must say that, like Demonic, I still have a special place in my heart for Burton's version and Keaton's Batman.
Now I'm off to watch Burn after Reading, which is probably up for some award or other.
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Edited by - chazbo on 01/05/2009 03:34:35 |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 05:03:45
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"The point is, watch out when you dismiss anything outright. "
I wasn't trying to dismiss those movies that I haven't seen -- and maybe it's just my neck of the critical circle, but "Button," "Doubt," "Milk," "Rachel," while earning their fair share of praise, etc. don't seem to be drawing the same kind of universal and euphoric buzz that "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "The Dark Knight" or "Wall-E" are getting. Although granted, though I read a lot of critics, there are only a few whose opinions I really respect.
There are a few that are coming close to "Dark Knight" though ("Slumdog Millionaire" is one of them). Still on the need-to-see list for me this year: "The Wrestler," "Milk," "Frost/Nixon," "Happy Go Lucky," "Let the Right One In" (that last one much more than the others).
And yeah, I hated "Inland Empire" but I loved "Synecdoche, New York," so make of that what you will.
As a final note: Can someone please for the love of God tell me what is so impressive about "Kung Fu Panda"?? I mean, it's not a horrible movie, but it's just so damn generic, and it has a highly highly questionable moral. Remember, kids, you too can become a kung fu panda with just a quick training montage as long as you "believe in yourself." Gag. It's a very banal movie, very much the anti-"Incredibles." Pretty though. |
Edited by - MisterBadIdea on 01/05/2009 05:04:14 |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 05:30:39
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
As a final note: Can someone please for the love of God tell me what is so impressive about "Kung Fu Panda"?? I mean, it's not a horrible movie, but it's just so damn generic, and it has a highly highly questionable moral. Remember, kids, you too can become a kung fu panda with just a quick training montage as long as you "believe in yourself." Gag. It's a very banal movie, very much the anti-"Incredibles." Pretty though.
Hmm. Well, I thought it was really funny. That's about it really.
It was absolutely dispensible, but appealed to me in a very childish way; fat, useless animal doing very hard physical activity... comedy.
But I thought Slumdog was truly banal in its own way. And it wasn't funny. Or pretty. Just Danny Boyle stumbling about with a camera again, not bothering to cover up his numbingly stupid plot holes or 2D characters. Diff'rent strokes... |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 05:42:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
Did you really see Into the Wild at the cinema this year? It feels much longer ago to me than everything else listed here.[quote]
It's possible it came out in 2007 in the UK. I caught it in Switzerland while I was on the road, so it may have been a late release there.
[quote]However, I would rather cut my own head off than sit through The Assassanation... or especially There Will Be Blood again.
This really surprises me for someone who watches a lot of films and can probably see the difference in quality. Two of the most artistically beautiful films of the year... "Jesse James" is the film that has stuck with me pretty much the most. It utterly wowed me; all the peformances in it were first rate, not just the career best performances from Pitt and Affleck (both gripping and frightening in their own ways), but Deakins stunning cinematography was justly Oscar nodded, Nick Cave's soundtrack was great too. And it was a fantastic screenplay - I loved the deconstruction of the heroic myth; fame for the psychotic criminal, infamy for the hero worshipper turned assassin. The pursuit of fame; the disappointments of real life... it's all there.
Yes, yes, it was long... just about the dullest criticism of a film there is... but when film making is this pain-stakingly well made I could happily sit for as long as it takes. Same goes for P.T. Anderson. |
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bife
"Winners never quit ... fwfr ... "
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 06:33:57
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With Sal on this one - artistic beauty may have something to recommend it, but if a film is boring no amount of beauty and no depth of meaning/investigation of humanity will rescue it (perhaps Angelina Jolie naked might do the trick, but let's not go there ...).
Assassination and There Will be Blood were both SOOOOOO hard to get through the first time , the thought of going for a second round with either is too much to bear.
Now I don't see 300 films per year, I thought Fargo was vastly overrated and Bill & Ted is in my Top 10 all time favourites - so you might very well feel inclined to disregard my opinion entirely  |
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Salopian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 15:22:00
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Pretty much what bife said (though not about Fargo!). I just had very little interest in what was going on in those films. I just wanted the characters to fuck off out of my life! And I have a very, very high boredom threshold.
I wouldn't rule out enjoying a film just for its beauty*, but it's very unlikely to be the beauty of landscapes -- not because I don't find them especially beautiful, but because I do. They always look worse on film than in reality, and the filmed versions are relatively similar to each other compared to their likeness to the real thing, so I don't feel much impressed by seeing another when I've seen some of the same sort of terrain before. (I know demonic may have meant other kinds of beauty too, but there wasn't that for me in those films.)
Only an occasional amazing soundtrack makes much impression on me. I'm just not a very aural person.
*Actually, a film I saw yesterday falls into that category -- The Spirit. I was not much grabbed by the plot or characters, but it looks just amazing. |
Edited by - Salopian on 01/05/2009 18:04:47 |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 15:40:43
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I have a very high boredom threshhold too. There are long stretches of "Assassination" that really stretched it though; I'll readily admit that, and I thought it was a four-star classic. "Into the Wild" is a good film (though not as good as "Assassination"), but it stretched my patience too.
"There Will Be Blood" enthralled me from beginning to end.
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 01/05/2009 : 23:51:32
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I haven't seen enough 2008 flix to make a worthwhile list (I see movies 6 months after most, on DVD). I've been through everyone's lists and netflixed most of them though. Thanks!
My two cents on "...Jesse James..." and "Into the Wild":- both great movies and not even remotely boring, I never looked at the clock once. They're also substantially superior to "The Dark Knight". |
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Salopian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/06/2009 : 02:24:16
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I've roughly ordered every film that I saw at the cinema last year and gave 6/5 or 5/5. Some of them are very close together though and it just depends upon mood. To see which films I gave lower scores, see here.
6/5
Dostana (2008): My second favourite film of all time, in which two of the very top Indian actors (in my own preference and by consensus) give hilarious performances as straight men pretending to be a gay couple. It's an important step forward for Bollywood. I wouldn't expect others here to like it as much as me, but I'd recommend if you've never seen a Bollywood film and fancy doing so. The leading actress is absolutely stunning too.
Pulp Fiction (1994): I first saw this in Kathmandu in 1995 and it's still as great as ever.
Juno (2007): I know some people didn't like it at all, but their main complaint is that Juno is not a typical teenager. I'll hang around on any street corner or back seat of a bus if I want to see those.
Persepolis (2007): I was blown away by the concept of an animated autobiography and the execution is just as good, as is the story and most importantly Satrapi's ability to give a balanced view of herself.
5/5
Man on Wire (2008): Audacious and refreshing as a stunt and a documentary.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008): Again, I know some people weren't much taken with this (especially if they'd read the book, which I haven't), but it left me shaking with sobs and so that's all I can say about that.
WALL�E (2008): Totally touching. Amazing animation.
Lars and the Real Girl (2007): Very moving and, in that it is able to convince one, excellently done.
Iron Man (2008): Downey is just as good as ever.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies (2006): Hilarious. I laughed and laughed and laughed.
Jodhaa Akbar (2008): Leaving aside suggestions of historical accuracy that I cannot judge for myself, this is a great epic with two excellent central performances. Beautifully shot too.
Waltz with Bashir (2008): Might've been a 6/5 but perhaps seeing Persepolis first somewhat affected my judgment. Still very powerful and important.
Son of Rambow (2007): Brilliant for a British person who grew up in the 1980s.
Somers Town (2008): A snapshot of modern Britain without being morose or flippant.
Changeling (2008): How annoying that Jolie is a great actress on top of everything else she has.
I'm Not There (2007): Amazing to have so many strong leads in such overlapping territory. And such a bold concept.
The Fall (2006): Just charming, without being at all twee.
The Pope's Toilet (2007): Good to see something of South America outside the big cities of Brazil. A very well made portrait of the poor's struggle, without any foolish idealisation.
Ghostbusters (1984): Ageing very well.
Fine, Totally Fine (2008): A side of Japan not typically shown.
[Rec] (2007): A gripping film pointlessly remade as Quarantine within months.
The Big Lebowski (1998): The definitive treatment of getting caught up in someone else's business, and struggling to get out of it only making things worse.
No Country for Old Men (2007): Rightful winner of the Best Picture Oscar (of the nominees).
XXY (2007): Sensitive but not wishy-washy look at being intersex.
The Apartment (1960): I didn't really know anything about this beforehand. Great central performances and tightly done.
In Bruges (2008): Maybe not a lot to it, but everyone is so engaging and some of the lines are very funny.
Kidulthood (2006): I see what all the fuss was about. Here are enough typical teenagers to make there no need to be any in Juno.
Burn After Reading (2008): Again, not a lot to it, but everyone is great and the absurdity is at just the right level.
Crawford (2008): A little taste of W.'s impact on the United States, plus some comedy characters that could be from a Jack Daniel's advert.
The Visitor (2007): A good treatment of social and cultural collision.
Import/Export (2007): Another good treatment of social and cultural collision.
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (2007): Insight into how the Romanian orphanage misery came about.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007): He didn't deserve his Oscar, but Hoffman is a good actor.
Little Ashes (2008): An interesting story that I didn't know about before.
The Edge of Heaven (2007): I really like threads developed in parallel, almost touching but not quite, and this a nice example of that structure.
Cassandra's Dream (2007): Good to see McGregor in a small film again and Farrell is always a bonus.
Obituary for Escobar (2008): I really enjoyed this at the time, but I've admittedly got more of a flavour of it now than a lot of detail.
The Conformist (1970): Hadn't heard of this before. Stark and uncompromising.
Taxi to the Dark Side (2007): One of many war-in-Afghanistan/Iraq-is-bad films but I happily buy into all of them.
Female Agents (2008) I'm also always a sucker for little-known aspects of the War.
Gardens of the Night (2007): Some weird holes, but still a thoughtful account of how teenagers may end up on the streets.
The Orphanage (2007): Genuinely scary.
In the Valley of Elah (2007): Another war-in-Afghanistan/Iraq-is-bad film. Tommy Lee Jones is excellent.
Drona (2008): This wasn't very well received but I thought it was lots of fun and Abhishek Bachchan looks great as a fantasy hero.
Leatherheads (2008) American football must surely be boring even to Americans, so the fact that this films keeps up a lot of interest is impressive.
Margot at the Wedding (2007): Family disharmony etc. etc., but I thought the balance of tensions was well done.
Mr. Right (the date on the I.M.D.B. and thus here is given as 2006 but I know that it only eventually premiered in 2008): I don't think others here would think much of it, but there are very few gay ensemble films so I appreciated it a lot.
Funny Games (2007): I didn't know this was a remake when I watched it. I imagine that seeing the original will bring the score down on this one, and I may lower it even otherwise, but for now I'll stick with what I scored it at the time.
Earth (2007): I cannot actually remember a lot of detail from this now but am happy to leave it on 5/5 because of the message.
By the way, this thread is in the wrong section. Again. |
Edited by - Salopian on 01/18/2009 00:19:23 |
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Favorite Films of the Year (2008)
