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I'm brand new to this forum so even though it's a little late in the game for this I thought I'd post my top 10 from 2008 to give people a sense of my taste.
2008 was one of the best movie years I can ever remember. It was so good that it's taken me this long to see almost all of the highly acclaimed films and assemble a top-10 list. Feel free to comment on my list and add your own.
NOTE: I have not seen the following movies which should be required viewing for any top 10 list in 2008. These movies are Tell No One, The Class, Waltz with Bashir and (4 months 3 weeks and 2 days). I have seen a ton of movies this year though and feel that I've waited long enough to make a list like this.
I will be adjusting this list accordingly if I see 2008 films that deserve a spot on this list:
10. Man on Wire
A fascinating documentary about the artistic crime of the century - a french high wire performer who sets out to conquer the ultimate challenge of the World Trade Center towers. It's a thrilling story that most people still aren't familiar with. While there is no mention of 9/11 in the film it's impossible not to see the images of the towers and not feel nostalgic.
9. Frost / Nixon
Like a lot of my top 10 films this year, this is also based on real history. The interview between Frost and Nixon has become an infamous historical record of the post-watergate era.
This movie continually builds suspense as the movie rolls along and the performances help carry this picture. David Frost finds himself in the unlikely position of having to hold Richard Nixon's feet to the fire - the British talk show host has no real jouranlism credentials and appears unable to stop the formidable Nixon from controlling the dialogue. While most people are familiar with what happens, the movie unfolds with suspense as it builds toward the inevitable climax.
8. Milk
The story of the first openly gay man elected to office in the U.S. - Sean Penn gives one of the best performances this year in his portrayal of Harvey Milk. It's an almost complete transformation and the movie is worth watching just for the performance.
I know a lot of people will probably shy away fromt his movie because of the heavy gay content / theme. That would be unfortunate because it's a very well done movie about an inspiring American hero. While Harvey Milk was never as powerful an influence as the greatest civil rights heroes in American history (Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King etc.) he embodied the same kind of moral courage and principals as those other great figures. If you don't already know the story, this is a worthy historical tribute.
7. The Counterfeiters
I typically don't give WW2 / Holocaust themed films much inherent interest these days. I feel like they've all been done nearly to death even though it's obviously a worthy subject for a film. After about the 100th holocaust movie it's possible to get fatigue from all the similarity and obvious moral lessons. Not true here.
The Counterfeiters is an edge-of-your-seat thriller based on a true story. During the war the Nazis rounded up expert counterfeiters and thieves to produce fraudulent notes of the British Pound, the American Dollar etc. in an attempt to overthrow the economies of their enemies. It's actually morally COMPLEX and you have to imagine what you would do in a similar situation. The acting is well above average, the script and direction are just must-see cinema. Very good stuff.
It should also go without saying that this movie is subtitled since it's taking place in 1940s Germany.
6. Gran Torino
If this is indeed Clint Eastwood's last movie (which all signs seem to indicate) I can't think of a better way for him to go out than with "Gran Torino".
To say why would give away some major plot elements, so I'm not going to do that. But whats surprising about this movie is how truly funny it is. When I saw it in the theaters the whole audience was laughing loudly and often. Eastwood's character, Mr. Kawalski, is a bitter and racist old man who finds himself as the last white resident in a once all-white neighborhoud. He finds himself confronted with hard choices when an Asian gang starts terrorizing his neighbors and tries to steal his car.
If you haven't already seen this movie - I highly reccomend it. I don't want to give much away because the strength of this movie is in it's surprises.
5. WALL-E
In my opinion this is one of those kids movies that's really not a movie for kids. While I'm sure any kid would enjoy it the premise is simply too dark and it's philosophical themes are going to go way over the heads of most people under the age of 15.
The film takes place in the desolate future where Earth has become an uninhabitable, over-polluted mess on which no organic life can grow. Humanity sends out the occasional Eve robot to search for signs of life but without any success for hundreds of years. Humanity is confined to a handful of giant space ships in the middle of the Milky Way galaxy. The inhabitants of which float around in lounge chairs staring at computer monitors without any sense of personal self or philosophical introspection. The two most 'human' characters are robots - Wall-E and Eve.
See this movie on Blu-Ray if you can. The image quality is fantastic and you'd almost have to be dead not be emotionally touched by this movie. Pixar's best movie by far.
4. The Wrestler
The Wrestler is not an easy movie. But good art is often difficult viewing and this is no exception. This movie has often been compared to "Rocky" and other conventional narratives - I don't think that's a fair comparison.
This otherwise good movie is made great not just by Mickey Rourke's performance (easily one of the best I've seen in years) but also by Marisa Tomei's terrific acting job. This is the portrait of a man's life both for Rourke as a person and for the character he plays, Randy "The Ram". This movie moved me as much as any film I saw this year.
3. The Dark Knight
This movie was really ****ing good. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you don't like "The Dark Knight" you simply aren't a movie person. Does it have it's flaws? Of course, it's a comic book movie. But this is about as good a Batman film as anyone could hope to dream up.
Heath Ledger's performance is the best performance of any actor in 2008. It's a shame they didn't just remove the two-face plotline altogether and just make this entirely Batman and The Joker. If they had I might even put this #2 or #1.
The best superhero movie ever. The Dark Knight accomplishes all you could hope for, and then it surpasses it, and then it continues to surprise.
2. Slumdog Millionaire
This is Danny Boyle's best film yet - and I was a big fan of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. He's a very talented director and I can only hope he keeps making movies for decades.
All of his films are entirely unique, nothing like anything that preceded them. In this latest film a slumdog from Mumbai, India who is orphaned by religious tribal warfare finds himself on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?". He quickly advances through the early round of questions only to find himself landed in jail. His captors torture him under the assumption that he has cheated.
One question away from the 20 milllion rupee grand prize, Jamal must convince his captors that he wasn't cheating by retelling the story of his life. Each chapter of his story holds a clue to the answers and a chance at reuniting him with Latika, the girl he loved and lost.
1. Let The Right One In
In my opinion this is the best film of the year. It's hard to not have the utmost respect for a movie like this that defies genre labels and does so much with so many little things. Yes, it's entirely in Swedish with subtitles. No, that shouldn't stop you from renting this film for a moment.
To say that it's "the best vampire movie ever made" doesn't do this film justice. This is one of the most creative and haunting films I've seen in years. It's a poetic, dark fairy tale set in the Winter of 1981 Sweden - it features two lead actors who are 12 years old, each a pariah of the community in their own way.
I almost don't know what to say about this film that wouldn't give away important information. All I'll say is that if you don't have some bias against subtitled movies or insanely high standards you need to see this film. It's a beautiful and nuanced fable that you'll never forget.
Oh - and an American studio just bought the rights to this movie and are probably well under way thinking of how they're going to ruin this nearly flawless Swedish version with a 2010 remake. See the real thing before that happens if you can.
2008 was one of the best movie years I can ever remember. It was so good that it's taken me this long to see almost all of the highly acclaimed films and assemble a top-10 list. Feel free to comment on my list and add your own.
NOTE: I have not seen the following movies which should be required viewing for any top 10 list in 2008. These movies are Tell No One, The Class, Waltz with Bashir and (4 months 3 weeks and 2 days). I have seen a ton of movies this year though and feel that I've waited long enough to make a list like this.
I will be adjusting this list accordingly if I see 2008 films that deserve a spot on this list:
10. Man on Wire
A fascinating documentary about the artistic crime of the century - a french high wire performer who sets out to conquer the ultimate challenge of the World Trade Center towers. It's a thrilling story that most people still aren't familiar with. While there is no mention of 9/11 in the film it's impossible not to see the images of the towers and not feel nostalgic.
9. Frost / Nixon
Like a lot of my top 10 films this year, this is also based on real history. The interview between Frost and Nixon has become an infamous historical record of the post-watergate era.
This movie continually builds suspense as the movie rolls along and the performances help carry this picture. David Frost finds himself in the unlikely position of having to hold Richard Nixon's feet to the fire - the British talk show host has no real jouranlism credentials and appears unable to stop the formidable Nixon from controlling the dialogue. While most people are familiar with what happens, the movie unfolds with suspense as it builds toward the inevitable climax.
8. Milk
The story of the first openly gay man elected to office in the U.S. - Sean Penn gives one of the best performances this year in his portrayal of Harvey Milk. It's an almost complete transformation and the movie is worth watching just for the performance.
I know a lot of people will probably shy away fromt his movie because of the heavy gay content / theme. That would be unfortunate because it's a very well done movie about an inspiring American hero. While Harvey Milk was never as powerful an influence as the greatest civil rights heroes in American history (Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King etc.) he embodied the same kind of moral courage and principals as those other great figures. If you don't already know the story, this is a worthy historical tribute.
7. The Counterfeiters
I typically don't give WW2 / Holocaust themed films much inherent interest these days. I feel like they've all been done nearly to death even though it's obviously a worthy subject for a film. After about the 100th holocaust movie it's possible to get fatigue from all the similarity and obvious moral lessons. Not true here.
The Counterfeiters is an edge-of-your-seat thriller based on a true story. During the war the Nazis rounded up expert counterfeiters and thieves to produce fraudulent notes of the British Pound, the American Dollar etc. in an attempt to overthrow the economies of their enemies. It's actually morally COMPLEX and you have to imagine what you would do in a similar situation. The acting is well above average, the script and direction are just must-see cinema. Very good stuff.
It should also go without saying that this movie is subtitled since it's taking place in 1940s Germany.
6. Gran Torino
If this is indeed Clint Eastwood's last movie (which all signs seem to indicate) I can't think of a better way for him to go out than with "Gran Torino".
To say why would give away some major plot elements, so I'm not going to do that. But whats surprising about this movie is how truly funny it is. When I saw it in the theaters the whole audience was laughing loudly and often. Eastwood's character, Mr. Kawalski, is a bitter and racist old man who finds himself as the last white resident in a once all-white neighborhoud. He finds himself confronted with hard choices when an Asian gang starts terrorizing his neighbors and tries to steal his car.
If you haven't already seen this movie - I highly reccomend it. I don't want to give much away because the strength of this movie is in it's surprises.
5. WALL-E
In my opinion this is one of those kids movies that's really not a movie for kids. While I'm sure any kid would enjoy it the premise is simply too dark and it's philosophical themes are going to go way over the heads of most people under the age of 15.
The film takes place in the desolate future where Earth has become an uninhabitable, over-polluted mess on which no organic life can grow. Humanity sends out the occasional Eve robot to search for signs of life but without any success for hundreds of years. Humanity is confined to a handful of giant space ships in the middle of the Milky Way galaxy. The inhabitants of which float around in lounge chairs staring at computer monitors without any sense of personal self or philosophical introspection. The two most 'human' characters are robots - Wall-E and Eve.
See this movie on Blu-Ray if you can. The image quality is fantastic and you'd almost have to be dead not be emotionally touched by this movie. Pixar's best movie by far.
4. The Wrestler
The Wrestler is not an easy movie. But good art is often difficult viewing and this is no exception. This movie has often been compared to "Rocky" and other conventional narratives - I don't think that's a fair comparison.
This otherwise good movie is made great not just by Mickey Rourke's performance (easily one of the best I've seen in years) but also by Marisa Tomei's terrific acting job. This is the portrait of a man's life both for Rourke as a person and for the character he plays, Randy "The Ram". This movie moved me as much as any film I saw this year.
3. The Dark Knight
This movie was really ****ing good. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you don't like "The Dark Knight" you simply aren't a movie person. Does it have it's flaws? Of course, it's a comic book movie. But this is about as good a Batman film as anyone could hope to dream up.
Heath Ledger's performance is the best performance of any actor in 2008. It's a shame they didn't just remove the two-face plotline altogether and just make this entirely Batman and The Joker. If they had I might even put this #2 or #1.
The best superhero movie ever. The Dark Knight accomplishes all you could hope for, and then it surpasses it, and then it continues to surprise.
2. Slumdog Millionaire
This is Danny Boyle's best film yet - and I was a big fan of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. He's a very talented director and I can only hope he keeps making movies for decades.
All of his films are entirely unique, nothing like anything that preceded them. In this latest film a slumdog from Mumbai, India who is orphaned by religious tribal warfare finds himself on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?". He quickly advances through the early round of questions only to find himself landed in jail. His captors torture him under the assumption that he has cheated.
One question away from the 20 milllion rupee grand prize, Jamal must convince his captors that he wasn't cheating by retelling the story of his life. Each chapter of his story holds a clue to the answers and a chance at reuniting him with Latika, the girl he loved and lost.
1. Let The Right One In
In my opinion this is the best film of the year. It's hard to not have the utmost respect for a movie like this that defies genre labels and does so much with so many little things. Yes, it's entirely in Swedish with subtitles. No, that shouldn't stop you from renting this film for a moment.
To say that it's "the best vampire movie ever made" doesn't do this film justice. This is one of the most creative and haunting films I've seen in years. It's a poetic, dark fairy tale set in the Winter of 1981 Sweden - it features two lead actors who are 12 years old, each a pariah of the community in their own way.
I almost don't know what to say about this film that wouldn't give away important information. All I'll say is that if you don't have some bias against subtitled movies or insanely high standards you need to see this film. It's a beautiful and nuanced fable that you'll never forget.
Oh - and an American studio just bought the rights to this movie and are probably well under way thinking of how they're going to ruin this nearly flawless Swedish version with a 2010 remake. See the real thing before that happens if you can.
Last edited by Birdman; 03-22-09 at 06:47 PM.
