Yet another Best and Worst-list
0 Comments Published by Steven Friedman on Saturday, January 03, 2009 at 3:44 PM.
Happy New Year everybody! Thanks to that nifty little invention we call the Gregorian calendar, these are the days we officially declare the twelve months past a year gone by and wipe our slates clean for twelve new and exciting months to come. Time for resolutions you know you probably won't stick to, for plans that are way easier to devise than to execute and for those silly little lists that sum up the best and worst you've seen / heard / eaten / smelled / whatever the previous year.
And hey, who am I not to indulge myself in that fine tradition? Even if nobody else cares (and I sincerely doubt that anyone does), it gives me the opportunity to personally wrap up the cinematic cycle that was 2008. Now I'm not really keen on top-10 lists, as I find it nearly impossible to rank films that are thematically, genre- and storywise so diverse in one single list (I mean, I wouldn't consider Slumdog Millionaire to be a better film than Wall-E, just different in its own brilliance). So, as a solution, I'll give you my personal favorites in various categories.
The films I consider 'eligible' for this list are simply the ones I've had the pleasure (or, in some cases, displeasure) of seeing in 2008. In Holland, abroad, at festivals, rented from the local videostore, at special screenings etc. Should you vehemently disagree with anything on my list, please feel free to write me an e-mail and I'll extend you the courtesy of not giving a sh*t. I mean, ultimately these are just films we're talking about. Right? Right?
Okay, so here goes:
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE:
THE DARK KNIGHT
I know, I know, this is a pretty broad category, but bear with me here. I honestly think that as far as 'classic Hollywood storytelling' goes, Chris and Jonathan Nolan went far above and beyond what was expected of them with THE DARK KNIGHT. They were to deliver a balls-to-the-wall second entry into their revamped Batman-franchise, but then they decided to do much more than just that. TDK is just as much a perfectly crafted crime-film as it is a superhero-movie. It's just as much a develishly clever character-study as it is a kick-ass action-flick. Studios everywhere, take note: this is what happens when you give the most talented of talented people out there the opportunity and freedom to create bigbudget-escapism according to their vision. This film is incredible.
BEST WRITING:
WALL-E
Ten, twenty years from now, WALL-E will be used in film schools everywhere as a textbook-example on how to effectively write emotionally engaging stories for film. Pixar-genii Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Jim Reardon wrote Wall-E like Apple designs computers. Not only is it a thing of beauty, it's concise, efficient and undeniably powerful in its simplicity. There's nothing in there that shouldn't be - and it shows in the final film. The first half of the film especially, where WALL-E bonds with EVE without any of them uttering a single word, is just mesmerizingly beautiful.
BEST MALE ACTING PERFORMANCE:
Heath Ledger as The Joker (THE DARK KNIGHT)
What can I say? Heath is an absolute force of nature in this film. Uncontrollably violent, yet devilishly intelligent. Gruesomely disgusting, yet suave and cunning. And it's the little subtleties that make Ledger's performance such a classic one. His intonation, the way he flicks his tongue, the maddening glimmer in his eyes -- this is an actor at the top of his game.
BEST FEMALE ACTING PERFORMANCE:
Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette (IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T'AIME)
I happened to see this film right after sitting through SEVEN POUNDS and felt this movie to be the cure for that Will Smith-vehicle. Now THIS is how you write a mystery-drama, making the 'secret' unfold brilliantly before our eyes. And Kristin Scott Thomas doesn't carry this film, she IS this film. Now I haven't seen Meryl Streep's performance in Doubt yet and ever since seeing Vicky Christina Barcelona I'm kind of in love with Rebecca Hall, but man, does Kristin deserve an Oscar for this performance.
FILM THAT REALLY SURPRISED ME:
THE VISITOR
This film was grossly overlooked by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and I sincerely hope it will get some much deserved recognition from the Academy -- you know, where it matters. I didn't know anything about this film going in. Hell, I didn't even know it was directed by Thomas McCarthy (whose STATION AGENT I loved) until the end credits rolled. So yeah, THE VISITOR really took me by surprise. Like THE STATION AGENT, this is a wonderful 'little' film about a man (played brilliantly by Richard Jenkins) learning about life and love while hitting the brick wall of bureaucracy, specifically the red tape surrounding illegal immigrants.
BEST HORROR-FILM:
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in)
Sure, I'm a gore-hound and I really enjoyed the virulent viciousness of A L'INTERIEUR and FRONTIERS, but LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is one of those horror-gems that only comes along every decade or so. Brilliantly written by John Ajvide Lindqvist (from his own novel) and superbly acted by youngsters Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson, this is a vampire-tale unlike anything you've ever seen. Truth be told, I was afraid of seeing yet another 'Little Vampire'-film going in, but boy was I wrong. This is as adult as horror-storytelling goes and I can't wait to see it again soon.
BEST SCIFI-FILM:
IRON MAN
I put up this category just to give IRON MAN a mention, really. As far as summer blockbusters go, I think Jon Favreau made one of the most entertaining pieces of superhero asskickery in recent memory. It's fast, funny, irreverent and features Robert Downey Jr. as probably the most unlikely (while at the same time most likeable) superhero in cinematic history.
BEST COMEDY:
TROPIC THUNDER
If I had to measure a comedy's quality solely by the amount of instances it made me laugh, than TROPIC THUNDER would win hands down. But this is much more than just a laugh-till-your-ass-falls-off experience. It's an engaging film about male bonding, about the cruelties of war, about... ah, who am I kidding, it's just a laugh-till-your-ass-falls-off experience. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
CINEMA-EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR:
CLOVERFIELD
Yeah, this film loses much of its impact when viewed on the small screen (even watching it in high def on my 50" plasma), but good Lord, did I enjoy watching this opening night in a packed theatre. CLOVERFIELD is as much about the experience as it is about the film itself. Right from the moment the first teaser for this film hit the net (you know, the one with the Statue of Liberty's head bouncing through the street), this immediately was the MUSTSEE-film for film geeks everywhere. Like me. And it all just came together on opening night: the hype, the crazyness, the story. Everything.
STINKER OF THE YEAR:
MEET THE SPARTANS
I could spitefully tell you to illegally download this film, but in all honesty, that would be a waste of precious bandwidth. Seriously, this thing has no redeeming value whatsoever. In fact, it's not even a film. It's just a collection of laugh-or-I'll-shoot 'film-jokes' with C-actors. Trust me, if you make it halfway through this crap, you'll wish they'd shoot you. And as far as Regency goes: yeah sure, this thing did 40 million domestically, but guess what? You actually spent 30 million on a project you could just as easily have made by downloading clips off of YouTube and stringing them together. Your profit-margin would have been much, much higher.
FILM I FEEL MOST SORRY FOR:
THE HAPPENING
Oh, M Night Shyamalan, what happened to you? After Sixth Sense and Unbreakable you immediately landed a spot on my I-don't-care-what-you-make-I'll-go-see-it-list of directors. Right alongside the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Scorsese and Miyazaki. Seriously, what happened? Because I'm pretty sure THE HAPPENING wasn't made by the same director I put on that list. It couldn't have been. Wooden acting by otherwise pretty amazing actors, cheap-looking visual and gore effects and - worst of all - sloppy writing. By M Night Shyamalan! Can you believe that? I certainly can't.
FILM I HATED THAT EVERYBODY ELSE LIKED:
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
A 7.5 score in IMDB, 68% on Rotten Tomatoes... I must be crazy for really, really not liking this film. I don't know. I just didn't get it, I guess. The first time I saw this, I walked out after 40 minutes or so. With all the talent involved (especially director David Gordon Green), I thought it deserved a second chance. But again, it didn't do anything for me. Maybe it's because smoking weed isn't such a big issue here in Holland, maybe it's just because the jokes aren't funny. Again, I don't know. I just honestly didn't get it.
FILM I LIKED THAT EVERYBODY ELSE HATED:
ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM
Yeah sure, call me an idiot and question my taste in films for eternity, but let me tell you how I watched AVPR at home: I had the remote in my hand the entire time, expecting to push the fastforward button from the very first minutes of the film -- and then 100 minutes had passed. I actually found myself enjoying this. Sorry. At least it was a hellofalot better than Paul W. Anderson's AVP-abomination and I think Colin and Greg Strause managed to deliver a balls-to-the-wall, dark (literally) and deliciously gory entry into the Aliens / Predator-franchise.
And hey, who am I not to indulge myself in that fine tradition? Even if nobody else cares (and I sincerely doubt that anyone does), it gives me the opportunity to personally wrap up the cinematic cycle that was 2008. Now I'm not really keen on top-10 lists, as I find it nearly impossible to rank films that are thematically, genre- and storywise so diverse in one single list (I mean, I wouldn't consider Slumdog Millionaire to be a better film than Wall-E, just different in its own brilliance). So, as a solution, I'll give you my personal favorites in various categories.
The films I consider 'eligible' for this list are simply the ones I've had the pleasure (or, in some cases, displeasure) of seeing in 2008. In Holland, abroad, at festivals, rented from the local videostore, at special screenings etc. Should you vehemently disagree with anything on my list, please feel free to write me an e-mail and I'll extend you the courtesy of not giving a sh*t. I mean, ultimately these are just films we're talking about. Right? Right?
Okay, so here goes:
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE:
THE DARK KNIGHT
I know, I know, this is a pretty broad category, but bear with me here. I honestly think that as far as 'classic Hollywood storytelling' goes, Chris and Jonathan Nolan went far above and beyond what was expected of them with THE DARK KNIGHT. They were to deliver a balls-to-the-wall second entry into their revamped Batman-franchise, but then they decided to do much more than just that. TDK is just as much a perfectly crafted crime-film as it is a superhero-movie. It's just as much a develishly clever character-study as it is a kick-ass action-flick. Studios everywhere, take note: this is what happens when you give the most talented of talented people out there the opportunity and freedom to create bigbudget-escapism according to their vision. This film is incredible.
BEST WRITING:
WALL-E
Ten, twenty years from now, WALL-E will be used in film schools everywhere as a textbook-example on how to effectively write emotionally engaging stories for film. Pixar-genii Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Jim Reardon wrote Wall-E like Apple designs computers. Not only is it a thing of beauty, it's concise, efficient and undeniably powerful in its simplicity. There's nothing in there that shouldn't be - and it shows in the final film. The first half of the film especially, where WALL-E bonds with EVE without any of them uttering a single word, is just mesmerizingly beautiful.
BEST MALE ACTING PERFORMANCE:
Heath Ledger as The Joker (THE DARK KNIGHT)
What can I say? Heath is an absolute force of nature in this film. Uncontrollably violent, yet devilishly intelligent. Gruesomely disgusting, yet suave and cunning. And it's the little subtleties that make Ledger's performance such a classic one. His intonation, the way he flicks his tongue, the maddening glimmer in his eyes -- this is an actor at the top of his game.
BEST FEMALE ACTING PERFORMANCE:
Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette (IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T'AIME)
I happened to see this film right after sitting through SEVEN POUNDS and felt this movie to be the cure for that Will Smith-vehicle. Now THIS is how you write a mystery-drama, making the 'secret' unfold brilliantly before our eyes. And Kristin Scott Thomas doesn't carry this film, she IS this film. Now I haven't seen Meryl Streep's performance in Doubt yet and ever since seeing Vicky Christina Barcelona I'm kind of in love with Rebecca Hall, but man, does Kristin deserve an Oscar for this performance.
FILM THAT REALLY SURPRISED ME:
THE VISITOR
This film was grossly overlooked by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and I sincerely hope it will get some much deserved recognition from the Academy -- you know, where it matters. I didn't know anything about this film going in. Hell, I didn't even know it was directed by Thomas McCarthy (whose STATION AGENT I loved) until the end credits rolled. So yeah, THE VISITOR really took me by surprise. Like THE STATION AGENT, this is a wonderful 'little' film about a man (played brilliantly by Richard Jenkins) learning about life and love while hitting the brick wall of bureaucracy, specifically the red tape surrounding illegal immigrants.
BEST HORROR-FILM:
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in)
Sure, I'm a gore-hound and I really enjoyed the virulent viciousness of A L'INTERIEUR and FRONTIERS, but LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is one of those horror-gems that only comes along every decade or so. Brilliantly written by John Ajvide Lindqvist (from his own novel) and superbly acted by youngsters Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson, this is a vampire-tale unlike anything you've ever seen. Truth be told, I was afraid of seeing yet another 'Little Vampire'-film going in, but boy was I wrong. This is as adult as horror-storytelling goes and I can't wait to see it again soon.
BEST SCIFI-FILM:
IRON MAN
I put up this category just to give IRON MAN a mention, really. As far as summer blockbusters go, I think Jon Favreau made one of the most entertaining pieces of superhero asskickery in recent memory. It's fast, funny, irreverent and features Robert Downey Jr. as probably the most unlikely (while at the same time most likeable) superhero in cinematic history.
BEST COMEDY:
TROPIC THUNDER
If I had to measure a comedy's quality solely by the amount of instances it made me laugh, than TROPIC THUNDER would win hands down. But this is much more than just a laugh-till-your-ass-falls-off experience. It's an engaging film about male bonding, about the cruelties of war, about... ah, who am I kidding, it's just a laugh-till-your-ass-falls-off experience. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
CINEMA-EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR:
CLOVERFIELD
Yeah, this film loses much of its impact when viewed on the small screen (even watching it in high def on my 50" plasma), but good Lord, did I enjoy watching this opening night in a packed theatre. CLOVERFIELD is as much about the experience as it is about the film itself. Right from the moment the first teaser for this film hit the net (you know, the one with the Statue of Liberty's head bouncing through the street), this immediately was the MUSTSEE-film for film geeks everywhere. Like me. And it all just came together on opening night: the hype, the crazyness, the story. Everything.
STINKER OF THE YEAR:
MEET THE SPARTANS
I could spitefully tell you to illegally download this film, but in all honesty, that would be a waste of precious bandwidth. Seriously, this thing has no redeeming value whatsoever. In fact, it's not even a film. It's just a collection of laugh-or-I'll-shoot 'film-jokes' with C-actors. Trust me, if you make it halfway through this crap, you'll wish they'd shoot you. And as far as Regency goes: yeah sure, this thing did 40 million domestically, but guess what? You actually spent 30 million on a project you could just as easily have made by downloading clips off of YouTube and stringing them together. Your profit-margin would have been much, much higher.
FILM I FEEL MOST SORRY FOR:
THE HAPPENING
Oh, M Night Shyamalan, what happened to you? After Sixth Sense and Unbreakable you immediately landed a spot on my I-don't-care-what-you-make-I'll-go-see-it-list of directors. Right alongside the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Scorsese and Miyazaki. Seriously, what happened? Because I'm pretty sure THE HAPPENING wasn't made by the same director I put on that list. It couldn't have been. Wooden acting by otherwise pretty amazing actors, cheap-looking visual and gore effects and - worst of all - sloppy writing. By M Night Shyamalan! Can you believe that? I certainly can't.
FILM I HATED THAT EVERYBODY ELSE LIKED:
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
A 7.5 score in IMDB, 68% on Rotten Tomatoes... I must be crazy for really, really not liking this film. I don't know. I just didn't get it, I guess. The first time I saw this, I walked out after 40 minutes or so. With all the talent involved (especially director David Gordon Green), I thought it deserved a second chance. But again, it didn't do anything for me. Maybe it's because smoking weed isn't such a big issue here in Holland, maybe it's just because the jokes aren't funny. Again, I don't know. I just honestly didn't get it.
FILM I LIKED THAT EVERYBODY ELSE HATED:
ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM
Yeah sure, call me an idiot and question my taste in films for eternity, but let me tell you how I watched AVPR at home: I had the remote in my hand the entire time, expecting to push the fastforward button from the very first minutes of the film -- and then 100 minutes had passed. I actually found myself enjoying this. Sorry. At least it was a hellofalot better than Paul W. Anderson's AVP-abomination and I think Colin and Greg Strause managed to deliver a balls-to-the-wall, dark (literally) and deliciously gory entry into the Aliens / Predator-franchise.
