It’s that time of year again. Remember the tried and true formula: experience + resonance= fantastic film. As we all know art is not made within the confines of a calendar year and release dates are arbitrary, or at least monetarily driven, but that said, here’s what we have for the last 12 months of the year that was 2008.
A terrible year for movies? For American mainstream films, mostly, it was sub par overall. But if you open up to the world around you, it’s fairly easy to see it’s been an incredible rich year for cinema globally and frankly, I never make the distinction between movies and “foreign films,” and am always baffled by those that do (Yes, we’re going with the first person for our Top 10 lists for once). This is why there should be an international Oscars, but I digress cause that’s another post (Cannes is different and more like the Olympics).
The year for me, personally? Going to the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film festival is where I saw the meat of all the year’s greatest films so I look back and am extremely happy with my decision to self-finance my trip to TIFF. It was well worth it, just from a cinephile’s point of view. I only now wish I would have gone to Cannes in May as many of the year’s best films came from that incredible international festival. You’ve probably already heard my thoughts on how Sundance ’08 turned out over all: very underwhelming for the most part. What else, the economy? Like me, you’d probably rather read about this topic on the Wall Street Journal, not a film blog, but I will say that the shuttering of specialty film houses like Paramount Vantage was disconcerting and we surely won’t be feeling the full effects of these great studio indies closing until 2009 and 2010 when the Hollywood slate gets more and more populist and dismal – great for movie goers and escapist geek bloggers, but not so hot for the rest of us. Let’s hope places like Fox Searchlight keep at it, they had another great year too. Thank god IFC Films is still rocking at full force, they get the spirit award for keeping the independent flag flying and have done a fantastic job this year. Thank god for Film Forum in Manhattan and BAM in Brooklyn too. One final footnote: “Che” could have easily been #1, but we felt that seemed like more of a statement (in the way Jeff Wells or Dave Poland did) rather than a genuine pick, but on any given day either of the top two picks could be #1. We almost forgot to give props to the New York Film Festival, which in North America, was probably the most tastefully curated small-scale festival even if it was just a select selection of Cannes picks (not everybody goes to France).
Here’s the Best Films I saw in 2008, some of them don’t technically come out until 2009.
01. “Reprise” – Norway – Miramax
A vibrantly alive and magnetic ode to youth, a passionate chronicle of friendship and the manic energy of a restless mind. It struck a chord and never left.
02. “Che” – U.S./South America – IFC
A bold, daring and stunning achievement in cinema that was uncompromisingly singular in vision for better or worse (better in our minds). Obdurate, sprawling, ambitious and challenging to the last breath, this rebellion in narrative fully earned the title of epic.
03.”I’ve Loved You So Long” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
Just thinking of this movie makes us want to cry. An arresting performance by Kristin Scott Thomas made this the most emotionally devastating film about family made this year.
04. “The Headless Woman” – Argentina (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
An eerie and intentionally disorienting experience about a woman and the frightening after affects of a random car accident, Lucrecia Martel enigmatically places you in a claustrophobic mental crawlspace that blurs the lines between reality and depth perception autism. Perhaps the first film that frighteningly (and subtly) makes you feel like you’re taking on the first symptoms of schizophrenia.
05. “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days” – Romania – IFC
An unflinching and haunting abortion story set during 1980s Romania where such procedures are then highly illegal, the chronicle becomes potent by being told through the eyes of the friend trying to assist the matter who pays her own heavy psychic toll. It’s brutal in spots, but super powerful.
06. “Happy-Go-Lucky” – U.K. – Miramax
To write off this films as aggressively ebullient is deeply shortsighted. Mike Leigh’s greatest work in years is bolstered by two of the best performances of the year in Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan.
07. “Silent Light” – Mexico – Palisades Pictures
A transcendent and slow-moving tale of adultery set amongst deeply religious Mennonites faced with a personally fractured morality that is luminously shot and practically a religious experience in itself. Utterly radiant.
08. “Slumdog Millionaire” – U.K./India – Fox Searchlight.
A kinetic and celebratory fairytale of love set in the Mumbai slums to the thrilling camera and joyful tone of winning director Danny Boyle who finally get his proper due as a modern day auteur.
09. “The Edge Of Heaven“ – Turk/German – Strand
A profoundly moving tale of kismet and chance occurrence. Three seemingly disparate Turkish and German families intercede through fate in this Kieslowski-esque- drama by noted director Fatih Akin.
10. “Man On Wire” – U.S. – Magnolia
How does a documentary about a man who dared to wire walk across the world trade center become poetry; a spectacle of beauty and an awe-inspiring vision of one of the greatest heists/works of art of the 20th Century? Because of a fascinating, unique individual and powerhouse filmmaking that leaves you joyously windswept and crestfallen.
11. “Tokyo Sonata” – Japan (March *2009, Regent Films)
A family drama like none other done by former J-horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation). This is an internal terror of another kind: disquietude that haunts as it defies categorization veering into absurdism, comedy and other inexplicable areas, finally settling on a graceful, quivering and jaw-dropping solemnity.
12. “Doubt” – U.S. – Miramax
High grade acting sparks and fireworks go off when a cold, stringent, but principled nun (an amazing Meryl Streep) accuses a priest (an equally incredible Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting a young black boy. An astonishing Viola Davis makes her indelible mark in one unforgettable 12 minute scene and Amy Adams hold her own in this gripping tale of moral ambiguity.
13. “Voy A Explotar” – Mexico (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
The Bonnie and Clyde story as told by the urgency of the French New Wave via a Mexican spirit of emo-adolescent rebellion. A super passionate love on the run, road tale infused with immediacy and sonically youthful velocity.
14. “The Counterfeiters“ – Germany – Sony Pictures Classics (yes, an Foreign Oscar 2008 winner, but only released Stateside in the winter). Colluding Jewish Holocaust prisoners try and outwit the Germans forcing them to create counterfeit money to collapse the Allied economy in a devious, longtale subterfuge. Wonderful.
15. “Anvil! The Story Of Anvil“ (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
Uplifting, but never corny documentary about the under-appreciated and underachieving Canadian heavy metal icons, Anvil, a real-life Spinal Tap-esque band. The story of these lovable buffoons will make you pump devils horns in the sky, cringe with embarrassment, laugh and weep in celebration.
16. “The Wrestler” – U.S. – Fox Searchlight
A very soulful, human and unexpectedly funny drama by normally high-concept head-swirler Darren Aronofsky, signaling a new and brave direction in his filmmaking. Raw, modest and austere, Mickey Rourke’s naked performance puts it all over the top like a powerslam.
17. “My Winnipeg” – Canada – IFC
Guy Maddin’s “docu-fantasia” about his Winnipeg hometown is part propaganda piece, part civics history lesson and part imagined fabrication, the film is infused with his trademark wintry aesthetics, a drunken sleepwalking milieu and dysfunctional autobiographical elements that are eroticized and creatively embellished.
18. “Wendy & Lucy” – U.S. – Oscilloscope
Microscopically modest, Kelly Reichardt’s superb sophomore effort tracks a women besieged by poverty living on the fringes who loses her beloved dog. The emotional stakes are devastating as Wendy struggles to survive on a few hundred dollars and her last shreds of dignity. A whispering and ravaged performance by Michelle Williams is heartbreaking.
19. “The Class” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
The improvised-feeling, documentary-like picture about a French gradeschool classroom and its prickly, but compassionate teacher, crackles with spark and vim. Tackling issues of race, gender, social status, economic class within the confines of the school room, the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes this year fortunately never feels like a didactic lesson.
20. “Ballast“- U.S. – Self Distributed
Lance Hammer’s self-distributed this stark, rough-hewn, deeply rich and emotional tale of a fragmented African American family in a poverty-stricken Memphis delta. Michael Smith Sr. plays a twin quietly devastated by the suicide of his brother and the fractured poetry of the film is viscerally gut-wrenching.
Here’s a list of solely 2008-Released Films for those picky bastards that will complain. We’ve removed the four 2009 picks from above and added four more.
01. “Reprise” – Norway – Miramax
02. “Che” – U.S./South America – IFC
03.”I’ve Loved You So Long” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
04.“4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days“ – Romania – IFC
05. “Happy-Go-Lucky” – U.K. – Miramax
06. “Silent Light” – Mexico – Palisades Pictures
07. “Slumdog Millionaire” – U.K./India – Fox Searchlight.
08. “The Edge Of Heaven“ – Turk/German – Strand
09. “Man On Wire” – U.S. – Magnolia
10. “Doubt” – U.S. – Miramax
11. “The Counterfeiters“ Germany – Sony Pictures Classics
12. “My Winnipeg“ – Canada – IFC
13. The Wrestler” – U.S. – Fox Searchlight
14. “Wendy & Lucy” – U.S. – Oscillioscope
15. “The Class” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
16. “Ballast” – U.S. – Self Distributed
17. “Secret Of The Grain” – France – IFC
Forget the fraudulent “Rachel At The Wedding,” the true family drama via roving cinema verite cameras is the wonderful portrait by French Tunisian director Abdel Kechiches. Characterized by intense logorrhea and scenes that linger far beyond most filmmaker’s patience, the films fish cous cous restaurant narrative might not develop until far deep into the picture, but the director is more interested in the humanity of intimate observation.
18. “Revolutionary Road” – U.S. – Paramount Vantage
Ocean-liner sized drama within the pint-sized and incarcerating confines of the dreaded suburbs. Leonardo DiCaprio has never been better (or believable) and Kate Winslet is impeccable once again. Sam Mendes helms this ship with theater-like poise and grace.
19. “A Christmas Tale” (“Un conte de Noël”) – France – IFC
We once called this film mildly infuriating, yet here it is, because the benefits outweigh some of the sometimes, jarring, dyslexic filmmaking and irritating characters. The important part is that it stayed with us forever and bore a hole in our head. Plus let’s face it, it’s about a difficult French family, so some characters are rightly prickly and challenging. Arnaud Desplechin’s home for the holidays picture is honest and brutal like no other and joins the pantheon of great Christmas films. Just don’t ever watch it with loved ones.
20. “A Girl Cut In Two” – France – IFC
At times Claude Chabrol’s elusive drama about a woman (the comely Ludivine Sagnier) figuratively pulled apart by two men almost seems unintentionally comedic, but the wry cruelty, patheticness and pettiness of all the characters was purposefully crafted and unforgettable with shades of the “Dangerous Liason” character’s despicableness.
Honorable Mention:
“The Dark Knight,” “The Visitor,” “Hunger” (though most audiences didn’t get to see it until 2009), “Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane That Crashed in the Mountains,” “Tell No One,” “A Secret” “Mister Foe,” “The Go-Getter,” “Let The Right One In,” “Waltz With Bashir,” “Mister Lonely“
These are my personal picks. Some of the other Playlist members will post their picks in due time. Not all of them live in New York and Los Angeles and some are still trying to catch up on all the films of the year (give ’em a break). One last footnote: We wanted to wait til we saw Jia Zhang Ke’s “Still Life,” cause it ended up on many critics lists, but a) life is too short, b) we wanted to move on and c), we really didn’t care for Zhang Ke’s “24 City.” [ed. note: Saw “Still Life” a few weeks later and while it was good, it would not crack our top 20.]