2008 is obviously still on the brain and at will be at least for the next week if not longer. Here’s ten films we thought were grossly underrated. We were going to title this the 10 Most Underrated Films of 2008, but someone would have surely balked, only because we haven’t posted our top 20 list yet. These were definitely under-appreciated in our book though.
“In Bruges“
Colin Farell and Brendan Gleeson starred as contract killers sent to the medieval Belgian city of Bruges after a botched hit at the behest of their loose cannon boss Ralph Fiennes. Yes, it did start to get a lot of late-season appreciation, particularly by the Golden Globes in the comedy section, but between the time of its release and the ensuing year, it was mostly ignored and vastly under-appreciated. A extremely well-written and crafted, hitman story, part comedy, part vulnerable drama and part light-on-its-feet fairytale. We’ve been saying that director Martin McDonagh was going to be a star ever since we saw “The Pillowman” on Broadway years ago and this is just the beginning for him. It’s also Colin Farrell’s best work since he decided to stop being a celebrity prick with a drug habit and get back to serious acting.
“Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed in the Mountains”
You had to be inhuman to not be incredibly moved by this documentary made thirty years after the fact. In 1972, 45 people on a flight from Uruguay to Chile, many of them members of a young ruby team scheduled to play a match in Santiago, Chile crashed in the Andes mountains. 16 people lived and for the first time ever the survivors told, in their own words, their harrowing story of survival which included resorting to cannibalism of their fallen comrades. They survived 72 days in one of the coldest, most brutal climates on earth. Profound and moving.
“Mister Foe”
David McKEnzie’s adaptation of the Peter Jinks’ “Catcher In The Rye”-ish novel is at times disturbing but genuine in its depiction of a heartbroken 17 year old boy. What helps balance the taboo subjects of Foe’s Oedipus complex and voyeuristic tendencies are the compelling performances by Jamie Bell, as the endearing peeping tom, and rising talent Sophia Myles as the object of his obsession. Carried along by an expressive contemporary indie pop soundtrack (one of the year’s best for this type of musical genre, frankly) and lush cinematography “Mister Foe” is a very stylish sexy drama that is definitely worth viewing.
“A Girl Cut In Two” – The New York Times called this remarkable French film by Claude Chabrol, “a rich, textured divertissement by Claude Chabrol, a sinister master of the art, who, after a series of vague if invariably entertaining cinematic sketches, has returned to elegant tight form with an erotically charged, beautifully directed story of a woman preyed upon by different men and her own warring desires.”
“You Don’t Mess With Zohan”
What? Yup, no joke. One of the most underrated comedies of 2008 was definitely the extremely silly, but fun Adam Sandler film. Heebs loved the Israeli macho dude send-up all the more. We’ll take this with extra hummus. We laughed and laughed and hey, even the New York Times’ A.O. Scott loved it, so don’t look at us like we’re crazy. John Tuturro played a hilarious Palestine and it was probably the most enjoyable Sandler film since the mid ’90s.
“Step-Brothers”
No other film dared to be as spectacularly moronic and retarded this year. This film was off the charts in its absurdism and we died laughing at the audacity, the outrageousness, the calculated stupidity of it all. The “ending” was as if Will Ferrell, director Adam Mckay and John C. Reilly tore up the script, threw it in the air and said, “fuck it, let’s go for broke.” If you have no taste for nonsensical humor or mentally-challenged, juvenile potty comedy that forget it, but mark our words, for this genre, silly ridiculousness was raised to an art form.
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall“
A jilted ex (Jason Segel) tries to forget his famous celebrity ex and heartbreak by escaping to Hawaii only to find this ex gf, Sarah Marshall (played by “Veronica Mars”‘ Kristen Bell) there as well with her new boyfriend to boot (British comedian and TV personality Russell Brand). Bittersweet, charming and funny. To boot, it was the best project Judd Apatow was associated with in 2008 and yes, we mean that over the disappointing “Pineapple Express.”
“The Go-Getter“
This road trip flick of personal discovery inspired by a parent’s death that starred Lou Taylor Pucci (the breakout star of “Thumbsucker”), Zooey Deschanel and indie-enthusiast Jena Malone was nowhere as “quirky” or twee as some suggested, though hardly anyone at all ever saw it at the time (now it has 20-some Rotten Tomatoes reviews, but at the time of it’s super-limited release there were maybe four reviews total). The film had some gorgeous, sun-stroked cinematography, some sharp, “hit the party late, leave early” writing and some charming dialogue and characters. Vastly underrated and we’d go toe-to-toe with it against any other supposed “indie-rock” films that are too precious for their own good.
“Joy Division“
Grant Gee’s (Radiohead’s “Meeting People Is Easy”) endlessly compelling and well-crafted documentary take on the Joy Division story should be all the more rewarded because it’s a tragedy that most music fans know backwards and forewards, but there was never a dull moment.
“A Secret”
A complex and tragic tale about the dangers of family secrets, Claude Miller’s drama is gorgeously crafted and while well reviewed (84% RT rating), mainstream audiences and even indie ones have probably barely even heard of it, which is a shame. The New York Times called it “haunting” and suffused with a “exquisite humanity.” We couldn’t agree more.
If there were two films we regret not reviewing this year due to time constraints, “A Secret” and “A Girl Cut In Two” would be the ones. Honorable mention: Oliver Assayas’ sexy noir, “Boarding Gate” with the always watchable Asia Argento.
We’re probably forgetting something…, but like we said, stay tuned for our Top 20 list with honorable mentions too.