A few weeks ago I read an interesting article that drew comparisons between who was in power in the White House and the quality of films being made. No better was this exemplified than during the 1970s, which produced films like The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and American Graffiti, and with it ushered in the New Hollywood generation.
The 2000s is also comparable under the Bush Administration – with the War on Terrorism, economic bailouts and other socio-economic issues ongoing. Documentaries have proven to be commercial hits, and computer-generated imagery has changed the way we look at movies.
While I will say that 2008 is no 2007 in terms of dramas like No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood, the year has been a great one for mainstream films that weren’t void of intellectual value.
Scouring through my list of all the releases I’ve seen this year I present to you the ten that are my personal best of 2008.
10. Iron Man
Robert Downey, Jr. Hmmm, he doesn’t seem like the superhero type. But the casting choice was brilliant. Not only does he fit the bill, Downey is the only excuse you need to see Iron Man. Oh sure, the special effects are cool and seeing the superhero doing loop de loops is fun, but this is clearly a case where the character comes first and foremost. Downey owns every scene as the flamboyant millionaire/womanizer Tony Stark who, while borrowing from his own personal experiences, sees the error of his ways and becomes a man of gold-titanium alloy – Iron Man for short.
Check out my full review here.
9. Man on Wire
Unlike some critics I don’t have a separate listing for documentary film. If it is good enough to appear on a year-end top ten list, it should have a spot. Man on Wire, a documentary by James Marsh, chronicles Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center. I don’t know if it was nostalgia at seeing vintage photographs of the still-standing towers and Petit tightrope-walking his way across it, or the recounting of how the feat was done, but this was a film where I sat at the edge of my seat wanting to see more know about this French high wire artist.
8. The Bank Job
Three years ago Roger Donaldson directed one of my favorite gems of the year, The World’s Fastest Indian. This year he has made one of the best heist films in ages. After the forgettable Ocean’s Twelve and Thirteen, the genre needed a boost. Based on the 1971 Baker Street robbery in London, this is a fictional account about petty criminal-gone-straight Terry Leather (Jason Statham), who gets the chance to make more than ends meat by staging a bank robbery. Statham totally plays against type, as he isn’t showing off his high-lifting leg kicks to face. It’s less showy than the Ocean capers, but it echoes the grit of the seventies. An excellent throwback.
7. Tropic Thunder
Like the late Gene Siskel who would include films like Kingpin and Wayne’s World as part of his top 10, I don’t overlook the value of a good laugh. And 2008 was a fine year to laugh inside of darkened auditoriums. I had plenty to choose from. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Harold & Kumar 2, Role Models, and Sex Drive, among others. But the film that made me laugh the hardest was one that zeroed in on the Hollywood industry. Now I’m a sucker for parody when done properly. I couldn’t stomach the trash Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg passed off as spoofs (Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie), yet have enjoyed Edgar Wright’s British-produced spoofs of zombies features (Shawn of the Dead) and action movies (Hot Fuzz). Ben Stiller’s latest directorial effort thankfully falls alongside the work of Wright. With a star-studded lineup that includes Robert Downey, Jr. in blackface and Tom Cruise as a balding, fat studio honcho, Tropic Thunder is a comedic romp of how not to make a war film.
Check out my full review here.
6. In Bruges
When In Bruges had a limited release in February of this year I wrote that it wasn’t a “polished thriller-comedy,” but that writer/director Martin McDonaugh was able to present us a film of “violence and bloodshed and comedy to boot.” I hold true to that comment. It’s a great little dark comedy about two hit men, in which one of them has botched his first hit and must come to terms with his guilt. On a lighter note, there are some great verbal exchanges between Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, two hit men who are vacationing in Bruges, Belgium (reluctantly).
Ken (Gleeson): Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray (Farrell): Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn’t, so it doesn’t.
And I can’t forget Ralph Fiennes, who has about as much fun with a phone as Russell Crowe in front of hotel concierge.
Check out my full review here.
5. The Visitor
Richard Jenkins, who has been a supporting character actor for much of his career, gives a career-defining performance as Walter Vale, a Connecticut College economics professor who befriends a couple of squatters in his New York apartment. In NYC because of an academic conference, Vale later discovers that the unmarried couple – the man is from Syria, the woman is from Senegal – is in the States illegally. What could have easily been a strong polemic about immigration reform, Thomas McCarthy’s (The Station Agent) sophomore effort is more about rewarding relationships spurred by simple acts of generosity.
Check out my full review here.
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Quentin Tarantino has Uma Thurman. Tim Burton has Johnny Depp. David Fincher has Brad Pitt. Three different directors, each with their own muses. Having collaborated on Seven and Fight Club together Fincher and Pitt became synonymous. Their latest may be their most ambitious project to date: a loose adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s (The Great Gatsby) short story of the same name. The story is simple to follow. Benjamin Button is born old and grows younger with each passing year. Yes, Brad Pitt doesn’t quite nail the accent of a New Orleans man. Yes, some of what occurs depends on fate and circumstance – chalk that up to Eric Roth who also penned Forrest Gump. But the visual effects, seeing Brad Pitt age from an old man to his younger, pre-Thelma & Louise days, is an amazing feat. It also helps that the story – taking us from 1918 to 2006 – flies by. Besides Pitt, we get some stellar work by Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow) and Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. The film may borrow a little from Gump, some might think too much, but what worked in 1994 can work in 2008, right?
Check out my full review here.
3. WALL-E
The Charlie Chaplin of trash compactors. That’s how I summarized WALL-E upon seeing it this summer. Last year, I raved about Pixar’s Ratatouille, thinking I could never be ecstatic about a rodent that had a passion for fine foods and cooking up a storm. Again, Pixar has exceeded my expectations. In a daring exercise of audience patience, the first thirty minutes have no words of spoken language. Just the computerized inflections of a robot named WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), done by sound designer Ben Burtt (who also did R2-D2). Once the story gets going it becomes an intergalactic love story. Some may see this as just an animated film. I see it as a film that can stand beside the best work, be it live-action, computer-generated or hand-drawn. An enthralling achievement in filmmaking, the strong visuals and science-fiction narrative help to cement WALL-E’s case as the most ambitious film of 2008. It may not answer the question “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” but it proves that robots need love too.
2. The Dark Knight
It was the perfect storm of marketing and execution. Okay, and Christopher Nolan’s direction is otherworldly. Heath Ledger’s untimely passing spurred an interest, but up until his amazing turn in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain he wasn’t wowing audiences or the box office. But there was just something about The Dark Knight. On the surface it is a comic-book movie. Underneath it has a deeper resonance. Inspired by films like Michael Mann’s Heat, Nolan crafts a gritty crime drama in a city that is inhabited by superheroes and villains. The Joker, one of the most identifiable characters of Batman’s rouge’s gallery and in pop culture, is played to wicked perfection by Ledger, who seems destined to be the first posthumous Oscar award winner since Peter Finch in 1976. The Dark Knight is an exercise in defying what is expected of comic-book films and summer films in general. It’s a film that could and probably will be taught in any number of classes. Film studies. Psychology. Truly one of the best of the year, if not the decade. And for those dissenters I have only one question to ask: “Do you want to see a magic trick?”
Check out my reviews here and here.
1. Slumdog Millionaire
My number one selection surprised me. More so than I thought it would. Since The Dark Knight opened in July it has resided as my number one of the year. Then I see this little film at a screening, after it had generated an industry buzz at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The mantra was, “You have to see this film.” See it I did, and I can honestly say that it was one of the best film-going experiences I’ve had this year. There are those that have a tongue-in-cheek appeal (like Rambo or Wanted), but for a film that doesn’t have any stars to speak of, everything hinged on the storytelling. Danny Boyle who dusted off the cobwebs of the zombie horror genre (28 Days Later), dabbled with family fare (Millions) and science fiction (Sunshine), has again created an amazing film that shows the country of India on the brink of change. A storybook romance with moments that will make you laugh, wince and cheer, Slumdog Millionaire exudes so much human emotion that it’s hard to resist.
I have to give props to Fox Searchlight, the studio that I’ve labeled the “New Miramax.” Searchlight took off in the late 1990s with films like The Full Monty, the studio’s first filtration with the Best Picture Oscar. It’s interesting that eleven years after that comedy the film’s screenwriter would pen this Danny Boyle picture. And now that I think about it, Fox Searchlight has dominated many of my Top 10 lists over the years with such films as Juno, Thank You for Smoking, and Little Miss Sunshine.
Check out my full review here.
