Ryan McNeilUnreal.
I have only two more entries to go in my Decade series, and the next one will be summing up the year at hand. Where does the time go??
Looking back at the cinematic yearbook from just one year ago, I can’t help but feel slightly saddened – because 2008 was such a brilliant year at the movies, and by comparison, the twelve months we’ve just endured…well…sucked.
While I once again get to lean on an older blog entry, I must admit that the original post was tweaked. One choice from my original five has dropped out, and been replaced by something I didn’t see the first time around. As such, I present you with an interesting five – the only one so far that doesn’t include ANY nominees for the Best Picture Oscar.
So come with me back to a time when the two words on everyone’s lips were “Hope” and “Change”. Here I give you…
#5. MILK… It’s the mark of a great film that can move you deeply, even when you know where the story is headed. That was MILK for me. Perfectly performed by Sean Penn, and beautifully captured by director Gus Van Sant. And not like it needed the help, but world events turned it into a pointed commentary. Here’s hoping its message can soon be understood.
Favorite Moment: The end, and if you haven’t seen it, I’m not telling.
#4. THE WRESTLER… What are you supposed to do when the world is done with you? What happens when you’re only good at one thing, and you can’t do that one thing anymore? THE WRESTLER attempts to tell us, through the tender story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson. Darren Aranofsky dials back the weird this time around, and directs Mickey Rourke to the performance of a lifetime. The kid in me who spent his childhood cheering for WWF idols was heartbroken by this story.
Favorite Moment: Robinson’s soul-searching attempt at re-connecting with his daughter. It’ll cut right through ya.
#3. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN… Here’s the party crasher – the one that got past me and made me feel truly out of the loop for having missed. It’s the Anti-Twilight, and I’m still in awe of the touching performances by the two young actors who play the leads in the film. Both of them played their parts with a fragility that young North American actors often lack. All the more mind-blowing, it was the feature film debut for both actors. You gotta respect talent like that, likewise for director Tomas Alfredson for guiding them to such brilliance.
Favorite Scene: That lyrically vicious moment in the swimming pool.
#2. THE DARK KNIGHT… Yes, a year and a half later, I still believe in THE DARK KNIGHT. What can be said about this blockbuster that hasn’t already been said. Maybe this – to all Hollywood suits wanting to cash in on big budget blow-’em-ups, let this be a lesson: Plot does matter. Hire a good director, and actors that bring more than just looking good in tights, and the audience will thank you for it – in abundance. The only question remaining about this franchise is where it can go from here?
Favorite Scene: I could watch Gordon/Batman’s interrogation of The Joker on an endless loop.
#1. WALL-E… By *this* much. No seriously – any of these five films could have landed on top of the list, but WALL-E eeks out top spot because of the sublime charm it unspools. Time will be the judge, but I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that it may well stand up as one of the best animated movies ever made. For the important message about mass consumerism, for how well it built on important movies that came before, and for how darned charming that little guy is, WALL-E is my call for the best movie I saw all year.
Favorite Moment: It’s hard to pick one, but I still get a smile when thinking about WALL-E trying to impress EVE by doing what he does best, and finishing with a “Ta-Dah!” that’s never been said so proudly about a cube of garbage.
Others on my shortlist for 2007 include MAN ON WIRE, IN BRUGES, THE VISITOR, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, DOUBT, SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK, ROCKNROLLA, FROST/NIXON, BLINDNESS, IRON MAN, and FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
Check in on December 29th for the next installment, my top five films of 2009.
Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments with your own favorite movies from 2008, along with suggestions for the next top five.
Solid top 5, not sure if I could argue any film being there. I know Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, In Bruges, Let the Right One In, and The Wrestler would be in my top 5, in what order I'm not entirely sure now but each has gotten better on multiple views.
I'd describe your list as immaculately chosen (that means I agree with it!) except for Wall-E, and that's because of a peculiar personal tic: I hate feature-length animation. But otherwise, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes! I notice that, for you, acting chops are right up there–maybe more important–than plot.
By the way, I heard (on the radio) a strange criticism of Sean Penn's Harvey Milk by someone who'd known Milk. The man said Penn played him TOO gay–that the actual Milk had been far less stereotypical. So far I haven't gotten back to that Milk documentary so I can study actual footage and compare shades of gayness! But in any case, I think Penn got Milk's warmth, gentleness and dedication absolutely right, and those are the important things.
The Dark Knight was this year? It feels like it was ages ago…
Very good choices though. I have yet to see Let the Right one in…its next on my netflix list.
@ Univarn… (note to self – turn on spell check). SLUMDOG was originally on my five, but got usurped for RIGHT ONE. IN BRUGES made the short list…probably woulda landed around number seven.
As for BUTTON, I found that to be a brilliant film that got muddled into an "okay" film. I went in wanting to love it, and couldn't believe how underwhelmed I was by it when the credits finally rolled.
@ Margaret… Thanks for the compliment! Never been one for feature length animation huh? Mind if I ask why?
Sean played Harvey too gay?? Wow – that's an interesting note. I kinda want to track down a bit more reaction from those who knew him now. There's almost no way an actor is gonna totally nail the role of a real person, right? I can let such things slide…the message of his performance is what was most important.
@ Vanessa… Seems like ages ago, doesn't it? If RIGHT ONE is your next film up, you're in for a treat. Can't wait to read what you have to say about it.
Which reminds me – thanks for commenting, I'd lost the link to your blog and wanted to read more of your stuff.
Solid list, and not sure if you've seen it, but this documentary that came out last year called Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father was at the best of '08 imo. Check it out.
Man, I need to give In Bruges another shot…
Well, this is not that surprising. None of my top 5 is in yours…ha ha.
Benjamin, Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Changeling [don't ask me why], and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. My list does look very safe in retrospect.
Generally I appreciate/understand your list, The Dark Knight just was not my thing I guess, Milk was fine, The Wrestler was good but it felt discordant to me…and I never got into WALL-E. I guess I really don't have a heart 🙂 I need to see Let the Right One In, though.
I am soooooooo happy that "Dark Knight" merited a top spot on your list. It was shamefully ignored come Oscar time because it was a "blockbuster," but it's such an amazing film in its own right — visually stunning, brilliantly acted, tragic, poetic, epic.
Also, kudos for including "Milk." This film contains Sean Penn's greatest performance, and that's saying something — I mean, this is SEAN PENN.
I'd say my Top Five would include:
*"Slumdog Millionaire"
*"Doubt"
*"Milk"
*"The Dark Knight"
* "WALL-E"
@ Aiden… No I haven't seen that doc, which saddens me since I was in Doc-mania for a few years there. I'll add it to the list.
Do give BRUGES another watch. I'm still amused at how Colin Farrel can garner so many laughs just by uttering the words "In Bruges?" time after time.
@ Andrew… I was quite impressed by a lot of the films you mentioned, these five just had that little bit more.
You're the second person today to mention BENJAMIN BUTTON…I'm not sure if I thought it was only "OK", or if I was blinded by my own high expectations.
@ M.Carter… Wouldn't have had it any other way. DARK KNIGHT raised the bar for what a genre movie should be, and hans't lost any lustre in the year and a half since.
I mentioned in my review for MILK that it's a surefire sign that a movie works when you know how it's going to end, but that ending still moves you deeply.
(Mental note – Buy a copy of MILK on DVD)
I have MILK on the DVR, ready to watch finally.
Thanks for giving it up for Wall-E. Absolutely amazing movie. Probably my second favorite in the Pixar world, and certainly one of the best in the last ten years. I would include both it and The Dark Knight in my top five.
I might include Slumdog Millionaire or Burn After Reading in mine.
My Top 10 is slanted to some festival films I saw, but hey, it is what it is:
Still Walking (Hirokazu Kore-eda – just lovely)
Country Wedding (somewhat like an Icelandic Dogme 95 film done by Christopher Guest – it's playing tomorrow night here in Toronto at the NFB Mediatheque – I may try to catch it again)
Synecdoche, New York (this bowled me over when I saw it)
Man On Wire
Let The Right One In
Wall-E
C'est Pas Moi Je Le Jure
4bia (a scary and funny Thai horror film from Toronto After Dark – this would do well if released here, but sadly…)
Anvil! The Story Of Anvil (I guess many people will see this as a 2009 film – whatever, it's fantastic)
Soul Power
A few others that I thought were great:
White Night Wedding
Plages D'Agnes
Not Quite Hollywood
Daytime Drinking
Rough Cut
Chocolate
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Idiots And Angels
In Bruges
Role Models
All Around Us
As for Slumdog…Boy, I just don't get the love for it. Sorry, I know you loved it when you saw it at TIFF Hatter. I saw it much later on DVD, so I think I may have suffered overexposure, but it never came together around the game show like I expected and the flashbacks were frankly a mess in my opinion. But I know I'm in a minority.
I agree with a lot here. The Dark Knight and The Wrestler were my top two of 2008 in that order and Let the Right One In made my top ten as well. All of your favorite scenes for those three films are the same as mine.
I didn't, however, connect as much to Milk and Wall-E as I expected. I liked Milk much better because of the performances, but neither film much for me emotionally.
@ Heather… Cue MILK up…watch…write. Can't wait to hear what you think of it.
@ Bob… Look at that – two films in common! Whodathunk??? MAN ON WIRE was *this* close to making the cut, but the five films listed here all moved me just that little bit more. regardless, it's a brilliant flick, and would probably end up as number six.
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is an interesting inclusion…but just a tad too avant garde for me. It felt like installation art…like a pile of Brill-O Pad boxes in an art gallery to be circled slowly and considered.
unfortunately, after I got over my amusement, shock, and confusion, I was left a little cold.
It was a great film experience, but not the sort of flick that has the legs to top a year-end-list.
@ Danny… Interesting that WALL-E and MILK didn;t do it for ya. The obvious question then is…what would be your other two films in your Five Best of '08 list??
Here's my entire top ten:
http://thekingbulletin.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-top-ten-movies-of-2008.html
The other two films were Gran Torino and Slumdog Millionaire. I was also surprised about Milk and WALL-E, but more so about the latter. With Milk, I kind of knew what to expect and I felt I got that, nothing more, nothing less. On the other hand, I just didn't really get WALL-E at all.
I agree that this year has been rather shit but then I haven't been able to get to the cinema as much as I would like so I might have missed a few good 'uns.
Wall-E is topping a lot of lists and I've still not seen it. I really must add it to my rental list
aw Hatter, i love your decade lists, i love em…
your five is pretty solid, particularly how hard i imagine it was getting it down to that many.
Milk was great, really enjoyed it, and im not a sean penn fan. the wrestler was also great but at the end of it i felt like id stepped into a room with mickey rourke for two hours. and he'd beaten me up.
walle is just a beautiful beautiful film and the dark knight still holds up – watched it the other week. yes, it tails off a little toward the end and Harvey Dent flips his stupid coin about 1,700 times but it still sends a shiver down the spine.
my favourites i guess were WallE, The Dark Knight, Gran Torino, Milk and Hellboy 2 (a real thrillride of a movie which surprised me, mainly cos i thought the first one was a pile of crap)
Very interesting that you say what a great year 2008 was and 2009 has “sucked”. Three of the films on your list came out this year in the UK and therefore could be on my 2009 top ten, however Milk and The Wrestler don’t make it. Both good films with great acting but not great films. The other one does feature in my top ten. All will be revealed in about a months time! As previously mentioned I am not into animation so haven’t seen Wall E. I must say I’m surprised that its top of your list. If you remember my “My Oscars” post you said you would have given The Dark Knight the best picture Oscar last year.
My top 5 (based on your shortlist not UK releases):
5 – In Bruges,
4 – Rachel Getting Married
3 – Slumdog Millionaire
2 – Let The Right One In
1 – The Dark Knight
@ Danny… That's a solid ten (I especially enjoy your comments as to why you've chosen each one). truth be told, SLUMDOG was sitting in the number three spot when I first posted it. I was so blown away by RIGHT ONE though, that something had to give.
WALL-E's charm is really all about that opening twenty five minutes. Watch at least that bit again, and think of Charlie Chaplin when you do.
@ Ross… HELLBOY 2!! Wowsers dude, I was starting to think that I was the only person who liked that movie!!! I was so taken by the visuals in it, and instantly got antsy to see what del Toro would do with THE HOBBIT.
Great call Ross! I think I'll have to watch that one again tonight 🙂
@ fandango… I remember mentioning that I'd have given TDK best picture. Know what's funny? I'd forgotten that I'd tapped WALL-E as number one until I revisited the original post for this entry.
Makes sense though. i remember when the Oscar announced their nominees, I was just as bummed that WALL-E was left out of the Best Picture nominees as I was that DARK KNIGHT was.
Can't wait to see your list!
I liked Hellboy 2 as well. I saw it in America about a month before it came out at home and went around telling everyone it was great, then they all went to see it and told me it was crap and they hated it. Still since I’ve being blogging one thing I can count on Ross agrees with everything I say!
I’m really looking forward to the end of the year so I publish my top 10 and see what everyone else comes up with as well. I’ve had mine drafted since the summer then just change it when something new comes out. I haven’t been making many changes in the last couple of months!
Let the Right One In was also my last addition as well. I saw it just before I finalized my list and I knew right away that it deserved a spot.
I do plan on giving WALL-E another shot sometime soon and thanks for the kind words.
@ Fandango… Yay! More Hellboy fans!! I seriously don't know what people wouldn't like about it, though maybe they found Krauss too cartoonish.
That makes three in the Golden Army. Anyone else love Hellboy 2 and want to declare it on this loftiest of rooftops?
@ Danny… I called RIGHT ONE IN the goal that got past me. I'd heard it mentioned so freakin' often, but didn't see it until this past summer.
It be's that way sometimes.
You're welcome for the thoughts, I've actually even added your blog to my sidebar. Enjoy the traffic increase you get from my dozen readers.