Top 10 films viewed in 2008

[megladon8]

I wrote film reviews for a site for about two years, and each year all of the contributors would put together a top 10 list. It wasn't a top 10 list of the best films from that year, but rather a list of the best films you saw for the first time that year, regardless of the film's release date.

Of course some current releases made it to the lists - every year sees some great movies released.

But I find this a much more interesting way of looking at the year. It's much more personal - everyone's list will be completely different.

Last year I saw some truly wonderful movies. Joon-ho Bong's stylish and devastating Memories of Murder is perhaps the film that stands out most in my memory. Like a Korean Se7en, it looks at the morality inherent to the hunting down of a serial killer. But it's also a frightening look at how slowly Korean forensics have progressed - the film is based on the true story of Korea's first recorded serial killer, whose crimes were committed in the 1980s, and the police were unable to catch him due to poor investigation techniques and inadequate technology.

I'm surprised when looking at this year's list, as I see so many great horror films. More than half of my list consists of horror films from several different eras, countries and cultures.

I began the year with a huge "horror binge" on Amazon - I think I bought more than 20 horror DVDs through the first few months of the year. Many of them were totally awful, but to go through those and find rare diamonds of genre filmmaking makes all the hours of agonizing, eye-gougingly bad movies worthwhile.

So with this list, I will be chronicling my year of film watching. I will be doing it chronologically, beginning in January of 2008 and coming up to December. And after every few entries I will have "special editions", where I look at honorable mentions (great films that I remember fondly but just didn't make the cut) as well as some "Dubious Honors" (films that suck, and the degree of their suckitude must be recorded).

I will post the first entry tonight, and will keep posting them every day or so as time permits.

Please feel free to comment, make recommendations, or (even better) post your own lists and write-ups!

[megladon8]

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/176/mpil7.jpg


Mildred Pierce (1945 / Michael Curtiz)

Directed by Michael Curtiz - whose film Casablanca is one of the few I believe to be totally deserving of its "ultimate classic" status, being one of the greatest romances ever on film - I had no idea that I would so love Mildred Pierce when I bought WB's "Joan Crawford Collection" box set, which I actually got for The Women and The Damned Don't Cry. But it was Mildred Pierce that had me taking the set down from my shelf again and again.

While undoubtedly a film noir, it differs in many ways from the admittedly narrow idea of the genre (or rather, style) I had in my head. For one, rather than a tough-as-nails gumshoe, it features a female protagonist who is both tender and impressionable, and strong and independent. As a single mother, she manages to become quite a successful restauranteur, but always lives under the shadow of her spoiled, evil daughter, Veda.

And here is another great difference between what I perceived as being distinctly film noir, and what they can be. The antagonist of the film is not a dark criminal underground, a team of jewel thieves or a lone murderer - it is a young, attractive girl. Young Veda, whose acidic evil casts greater wounds than many other film villains could ever hope to. The abuse she inflicts on her mother and her life is so painful to watch and listen to, it easily ranks her among the most vile, putrid characters ever to grace the silver screen.


VEDA: You think just because you made a little money you can get a new hairdo and some expensive clothes and turn yourself into a lady. But you can't, because you'll never be anything but a common frump whose father lived over a grocery store and whose mother took in washing.

Joan Crawford's performance cannot go without mention. Simultaneously playing the mother (victim) and the woman (hero), her slightly coarse face adds to the illusion of her being an emotionally battered woman. And while her choice of wardrobe for the character was disputed by the director, who believed that Crawford's nice outfits glamorized her role of a working class woman, they actually provide more authenticity for the story. She cannot see her daughter's evil persona, and instead almost idolizes her, buying these expensive clothes and making herself look "higher" than she is in a desperate attempt to impress this horrible young woman.

Mildred Pierce was not only a wonderful film on its own, but it helped me broaden my understanding of an entire genre of filmmaking.

[Boner M]

YOU STOLE MY THREAD IDEA!!! I WAS ABOUT TO DO A BIG COUNTDOWN THREAD LIKE THIS TODAY!!! I HATE YOU!!!

In all seriousness, I could probably start another one. And, great minds yada yada. So, carry on meg.

[megladon8]

YOU STOLE MY THREAD IDEA!!! I WAS ABOUT TO DO A BIG COUNTDOWN THREAD LIKE THIS TODAY!!! I HATE YOU!!!

In all seriousness, I could probably start another one. And, great minds yada yada. So, carry on meg.


Sorry...:cry:

Well, as I said in my first post, people should add their own lists and write-ups.

This could just be like the official thread for everyone to post their lists.

[Boner M]

I know, I just felt like yelling at someone in all caps.

Sorry meg. Really, I mean you no disrespect. *pats meg*

[megladon8]

I know, I just felt like yelling at someone in all caps.

Sorry meg. Really, I mean you no disrespect. *pats meg*


I know, I didn't take it harshly.

Should we band together?

[Boner M]

I know, I didn't take it harshly.

Should we band together?
Actually, I tend to get lazy about these things, and I watch 10 movies a day, so my year isn't over yet.

Howzabout I post my countdown after yours?

[Mysterious Dude]

The four-star movies I saw in 2008.

1. The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
2. Menilmontant (1926)
3. The Color of Paradise (1999)
4. J'accuse! (1919)
5. Il Posto (1961)
6. The Spring River Flows East (1947)
7. The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
8. Warning Shadows (1923)
9. Carnival in Flanders (1935)
10. The Peach Girl (1931)
11. The Lineup (1958)
12. The Ascent (1977)
13. Wooden Crosses (1932)
14. Cria Cuervos (1976)
15. Culloden (1964)
16. Asphalt (1929)

[Weeping_Guitar]

Mine would probably be:

01. Late Spring (Ozu, 1949)
02. Mon Oncle (Tati, 1958)
03. Grand Illusion (Renoir, 1937)
04. No Country For Old Men (Coen, 2007)
05. Swing Time (Stevens, 1936)
06. Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961)
07. Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954)
08. Pygmalion (Howard & Asquith, 1938)
09. Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
10. Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964)

[number8]

I wish that I actually keep track of these things, but I honestly have no recollection when it is that I watched a certain movie (aside from the new releases, of course). Maybe it was 5 months ago, maybe it was last year.

[megladon8]

06. Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961)


This is a great one. I need to rewatch it.

I used to love love love Sanjuro, but re-watching it recently it wasn't as great as I remembered.

[Ezee E]

Other then this year, I dug through my Netflix, and saw these masterpieces for the first time:

The Virgin Spring
Something Wild
The Corner

[dreamdead]

Great thoughts here on MP, meg. I know that the one thing I've yearned for film noir to address was the portrayal of women in a different manner than the typical sexy but cold and hostile rendition. It's the one flaw in most noir, and it's what makes digging into the lesser-known noirs rather redundant. Don't know why Mildred Pierce has waited this long sight unseen, but I'm definitely interested now. Looking forward to this thread.

For myself, these are the older highlights of my 2008:

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
The Shop Around the Corner
Exiled
La Promesse
Cowards Bend the Knee
The Sacrifice
Stage Door
Brand Upon the Brain
Ordet
The Big Red One

[megladon8]

Great thoughts here on MP, meg. I know that the one thing I've yearned for film noir to address was the portrayal of women in a different manner than the typical sexy but cold and hostile rendition. It's the one flaw in most noir, and it's what makes digging into the lesser-known noirs rather redundant. Don't know why Mildred Pierce has waited this long sight unseen, but I'm definitely interested now. Looking forward to this thread.

For myself, these are the older highlights of my 2008:

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
The Shop Around the Corner
Exiled
La Promesse
Cowards Bend the Knee
The Sacrifice
Stage Door
Brand Upon the Brain
Ordet
The Big Red One


Thanks for the comments, dd!

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is truly a classic. Love that movie - one of the most rewatchable kung fu films ever.

Exiled I still haven't gotten around to, though it's on my shelf.

And Brand Upon the Brain is one I really want to check out, though I've been told it's not the best place to start for a Maddin-newbie (which I am).

For another great, lesser known film noir, you should check out this one called Force of Evil. Very good film, and I was surprised at how dark it was.

[Derek]

For another great, lesser known film noir, you should check out this one called Force of Evil. Very good film

Yup, great film.


and I was surprised at how dark it was.

You do know the definition of 'noir', right? ;)

[megladon8]

You do know the definition of 'noir', right? ;)

:P Smartass.

Seriously though, it seemed a lot more dreary than most other noirs I've seen. A lot of those old films, while obviously not condoning criminal activity, romanticize the subject, or make the criminal protagonists likeable chaps whom you want to see come out OK.

Force of Evil is not like this at all.

[baby doll]

The best movies I saw in a theatre were: Adoration (Atom Egoyan), Brick (Rian Johnson), Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick), I'm Not There. (Todd Haynes), Moonfleet (Fritz Lang), The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch), The Tarnished Angels (Douglas Sirk), The Terrorizers (Edward Yang), Tokyo Twilight (Yasujiro Ozu), and We Own the Night (James Gray).

[megladon8]

I would love to see a Malick film in the theatre.

*swoons*

Anything by him, anything at all. Just to see his images on a big screen.

[Ezee E]

I would love to see a Malick film in the theatre.

*swoons*

Anything by him, anything at all. Just to see his images on a big screen.
Yeah, seeing The New World on the big screen was amazing. It didn't seem nearly as good when I saw it again on TV.

[megladon8]

Yeah, seeing The New World on the big screen was amazing. It didn't seem nearly as good when I saw it again on TV.


Of his films I've only ever seen The Thin Red Line and it was many years ago. So anything would be amazing on the big screen.

[Ezee E]

Of his films I've only ever seen The Thin Red Line and it was many years ago. So anything would be amazing on the big screen.
You'll get your shot next year.

[megladon8]

You'll get your shot next year.


I can't wait to see footage from that one.

[soitgoes...]

Top 20 films I've seen for the first time over the past year. The Year of the Naruse. I saw 10 films from him, 3 of which found their way onto this list.

1. Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935)
2. A Touch of Zen (1969)
3. Yearning (1964)
4. The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
5. Dragon Inn (1966)
6. Great Expectations (1946)
7. You, the Living (2007)
8. The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
9. News from Home (1977)
10. Life, and Nothing More... (1991)
11. Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987)
12. Gimme Shelter (1970)
13. La Caza (1966)
14. Floating Clouds (1955)
15. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
16. Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
17. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
18. Children of Heaven (1997)
19. Leibelei (1933)
20. Napoléon (1927)

[Watashi]

I can't even remember what I saw last month.

[Boner M]

I've seen every Malick film in a theatre. :cool:

[baby doll]

I would love to see a Malick film in the theatre.

*swoons*

Anything by him, anything at all. Just to see his images on a big screen.Actually, the print was really dark. In the scene after Richard Gere kills the factory foreman, when he's talking to Brooke Adams, who's illuminated by a shaft of light from above, you couldn't see Gere at all. I guess some people would consider that a bonus.

[megladon8]

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/783/w73ma1.jpg


Winchester '73 (1950 / Anthony Mann)

Another film I waited much too long to see, Winchester '73 sat in both my Amazon and CnL "Remind Me" buckets for over two years before I made the purchase and saw it. It was one of those cases of seeing it somewhere for $14.99 and thinking "I'll get it cheaper somewhere else" but never actually buying it when I saw a sale. I kicked myself several times after seeing this, what is justly called one of the most underseen and underappreciated westerns.

Jimmy Stewart stars in only the second western role I've seen him in, the other being The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It's funny how I consider westerns a staple of my "film personality", yet there are so many areas I have not even begun to explore.

The story centers around - you guessed it - a Winchester '73 rifle as it floats around the west (metaphorically...it's not about a flying gun) and affects the lives of everyone who comes into contact with it. Similar to famous film objects like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction or even the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, director Anthony Mann creates this aura of power and mystery around the weapon, and its presence is felt throughout the story. Like a western version of "The Sword in the Stone", when good-guy Stewart brandishes the weapon in the film's final shootout, it feels like a matching of powers. A weapon whose place is in the hands of one who is truly good.


OPENING TITLE CARD: This is the story of the Winchester Rifle Model 1873, "The gun that won the West." To cowman, outlaw, peace officer or soldier, the Winchester '73 was a treasured possession. An Indian would sell his soul to own one.

Speaking of the final shootout, it is one for the books. Taking place in and around a rocky outcropping, the tricks of shadows and light and limitless places for hiding and ambushing each other adds a great tension to the beautifully photographed sequence (not to mention the emotional weight carried by both characters, which I won't go into due to spoilers).

It's a great thing to find a new western, and I want to keep searching through this era of Hollywood's star-driven westerns to find the gold.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Mildred Pierce is great, watch The Restless Moment, it's another film noir that is about a mother. Very different films, but I imagine you'd like it.

I haven't seen Winchester 73' yet, I generally need to see a lot more Anthony Mann.

[megladon8]

Mildred Pierce is great, watch The Restless Moment, it's another film noir that is about a mother. Very different films, but I imagine you'd like it.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendation!



I haven't seen Winchester 73' yet, I generally need to see a lot more Anthony Mann.

Me too. I swear I'd buy the Criterion of The Furies based on the gorgeous cover alone.

[Ezee E]

Best part about Winchester isn't the closing shootout, but the contest at the beginning.

[balmakboor]

I would love to see a Malick film in the theatre.

*swoons*

Anything by him, anything at all. Just to see his images on a big screen.

The only Malick I haven't seen on the big screen is Badlands. I saw Days of Heaven this past October.

*gloats*

[megladon8]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/850/autpaperyv1.jpg


As I mentioned in an earlier post, a lot of this year's film viewing was devoted to horrors, sci-fi's, and the crossroads in between. So of course, it's par for the course that I saw a lot of special effects, from CGI to animatronics, blood packs to stylized computerized blood spatters.

As the poorly photoshopped image above shows, this award goes to the film that I thought had the best implementation of low budget special effects. And the winner is...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/aut2.jpg

Automatons (2006 / James Felix McKenney)


Automatons is one I came about by chance. I was looking for new horrors and found this director named Larry Fessenden, who did a very polarizing film called Wendigo. It was out of stock at the time, so I chose to order this little sci-fi which featured him in a supporting role, because it was cheap and I loved the DVD cover art.

This film is about the politics and moral ambiguity of war, much of this message being communicated not-so-subtley through lengthy monologue sequences performed by Angus Scrimm of Phantasm fame.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/aut4.jpg

But of course this is an effects award, so let's move on to that area.

Both mimicking the style of '50s invasion films as well as using its own low budget to its advantage, Automatons features purposely low-tech effects. It adds both a charm to the aesthetic, and a cynicism to the film's message - war is so stupid, we all look pretty silly (like, say, guys wearing cardboard robot suits) when it's taking place.

Indoor and outdoor shots were done differently in the film. For anything indoors, the robots are men wearing cardboard, insulation, metal tubing - stuff you may expect to see on a robot costume in your neighbourhood on Halloween night.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/aut3.jpg

Outdoor shots are done in erratic stop motion using mini figurines, such as LEGO and action figures that have been painted or given the same cardboard-and-tubing treatment as the actors on indoor shots.

Explosions are done with cherry bombs and mini fireworks, laser fire is done with tricks of light and limited post-production CGI work, and you'll often see the same robot filmed from several different angles to give the illusion of a massive army.

The film itself is certainly not everyone's bag. It's ambitious and original, but may have been better suited to a short-film style as it tends to get a little dry at times while running at a mere 83 minutes. But it's one of those films that shows what you can really do if you sit down and plot out something original with the materials you have access to.

It runs on novelty, but it's entertaining and fun for the most part. It's an effects show in the same way that George Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy was, but it has more soul.

[Boner M]

Awesome, thanks for the recommendation!
Psst, Rouge actually means The Reckless Moment, which narrowly missed my upcoming top 10 first viewings list.

[megladon8]

How were you able to see it? It seems to be unavailable...

[Boner M]

How were you able to see it? It seems to be unavailable...
R2 DVD.

[baby doll]

How were you able to see it? It seems to be unavailable...I'm presently torrenting it (mininova, as I got booted off karagarga), but the quality doesn't appear to be all that great.

[Watashi]

Best movie I saw in all of 2008 was Winter Light.

[megladon8]

Best movie I saw in all of 2008 was Winter Light.


Have you seen much else by Bergman? Where would you rank it against the others you've seen?

[Derek]

Excluding '08 releases and rewatches, these are the 4-star newbies I saw this year:

1. El Sur (Victor Erice, 1983)
2. Scattered Clouds (Mikio Naruse, 1967)
3. Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956)
4. History is Made at Night (Frank Borzage, 1937)
5. Le Trou (Jacques Becker, 1960)
6. A Swedish Love Story (Roy Andersson, 1970)
7. None Shall Escape (Andre De Toth, 1944)
8. Je t'aime, je t'aime (Alain Resnais, 68)
9. Come & See (Elim Klimov, 1985)
10. The Reckless Moment (Max Ophuls, 1949)
11. High School (Frederick Wiseman, 1968)
12. The Seventh Victim (Robson, 1943)
13. Blue (Derek Jarman, 1993)
14. Twenty-four Eyes (Kinoshita, 1954)

[megladon8]

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6176/04sa2.jpg


Isolation (2005 / Billy O'Brien)

I was originally considering this film as an Honorable Mention, in the category of "most genuinely effective use of a hilariously absurd concept", but ended up choosing to include it in my actual top 10. Why? Well, two reasons...a) it keeps up the whole horror theme I've had going this year, and b) it's just that good.

Harkening back to the days of Alien, this film is a deliberately paced creature feature that delivers similar thrills and disturbing kills to what we were given with Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece. But while many films have boasted these superficial similarities, very few have succeeded so well because Isolation (like Alien) centers around characters who feel real.

The banter between Brett and Parker in Alien, and the sexual undertones between Ripley and Dallas added so much personality to the story, as well as making each person sympathetic and relatable. The same is done in Isolation, as an Irish cattle farmer is dealing with vagrants on his property, a failed relationship with the woman who inspects his livestock, and a shady deal with some government-led corporation working on his land.

Dialogue is simple and flows naturally, due in part to the great actors who feel comfortable with this thin script.

As I mentioned, the film's premise is laughable on paper to the point where you'd expect a film along the lines of Black Sheep - a group of people are killed one-by-one by a mutated cow fetus. When I read the synopsis I thought "this sounds like a Troma movie...awesome!" And that "awesome" part was right, but not the part about it being like a Troma feature.

This film is 100% horror.

The greatest issues I've heard regarding the film are with its monster, which is never really shown clearly, nor does it seem like the greatest design. Basically, it's a calf with its skeleton on the outside of its body, and is covered in gelatinous muck. But like Alien, a lot of the fear comes from the tension created with the very strong filmmaking that surrounds the monster. Personally, I had no issue with it, but I thought I'd mention it as a warning to anyone going into the movie hoping for an amazing Giger design - you're not going to get it.

I would certainly include this in a list of the best horror films of the new millennium.

[megladon8]

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/338/day3dl7.jpg


The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 / Robert Wise)

I don't think I was even aware of the remake yet when I decided it was finally time for me to see the original sci-fi classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Directed by Robert Wise (whom I believe to be one of the most underappreciated American directors of, well, ever) its message is possibly even more potent today than it was at its original release.

The first landing and attempt at communication, where the American military fires at Klaatu, is so telling of human nature. It would be both condescending and erroneous to state that it's simply an American policy that is being jabbed at here - it is in our nature as humans to react with fear and hate to people who are different from us.


REPORTER: I suppose you are just as scared as the rest of us.

KLAATU: In a different way, perhaps. I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.

The acting is stellar from everyone except Hugh Marlowe, who (after seeing him play a similar role in another '50s alien invasion film titled Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) I'm convinced just wasn't a very good actor. But Michael Rennie's Klaatu is a wonderful variation on the humanoid alien. A warm and curious character, who feels rightly strange and out of place but without the cold, calculating feel that I got from the peeks at Keanu Reeves in the trailers for the remake.

There's not much to say about this film that hasn't already been said. Its effects are dated but nonetheless effective, and its message will remain strong until humans clean up their act. Made during an era where the aliens in the movies were the Russians but with scaly green skin, having a helpful, non-violent alien race is still a great change of pace even after E.T., and shows us how petty our Earthly squabbles really are.

[megladon8]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/fc.jpg


Shortly after re-discovering Heat and remembering how satisfying a gritty crime drama can be, I decided it was about time to visit what is widely considered to be one of the greatest crime films ever made. Starring one of my favorite actors (Gene Hackman) and directed by William Friedkin whose other films I'd seen had been (for the most part) phenomenal, I was certain there was no way to be disappointed.

Unfortunately, that disappointment hit, and hit hard. What I saw was a dull, lifeless film whose plot was uninteresting, characters unlikeable and unsympathetic, and when the final ambiguous scene occurs I didn't even care enough to think over what had really happened in that other room. The French Connection didn't engage me on any level, and that is why it is this year's Biggest Disappointment for me.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/fc1.jpg


The French Connection (1971 / William Friedkin)

Something I was greatly looking forward to with The French Connection was its legendary car chase. In the same way that the overall film is considered one of the all-time greats, the car chase is still said to be among the best of the best. Again, I was supremely let down.

Having previously seen To Live and Die in L.A. (which isn't brilliant, but I would certainly put it head-and-shoulders above this film) I found the car chase there - going up and around an aquaduct's walls - to be much better. It's a shame because I found the location of The French Connection (the gritty, dirty world of 1970s New York City) to be much more interesting than the sunny Los Angeles, and this could have led to a really interesting and tense car chase, especially taking into account the larger number of predestrians and other obstacles one would encounter on the streets and back alleys of NYC.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went so wrong with The French Connection to make me feel so coldly towards it.

Perhaps I'll come to appreciate it when my tastes mature.

[transmogrifier]

The best film I saw last year for the first time was Laputa: Castle in the Sky (84)

The worst was Crimewave (19)

[Boner M]

Time to wrap this shit up.

1. Sátántangó (Tarr, 1994)
2. A Nos Amours (Pialat, 1983)
3. La Vie de Jésus (Dumont, 1997)
4. Le Trou (Becker, 1960)
5. Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964)
6. Mauvais sang (Carax, 1986)
7. Titicut Follies (Wiseman, 1967)
8. L'Enfance Nue (Pialat, 1968)
9. Charley Varrick (Siegel, 1973)
10. Wanda (Loden, 1971)

Just missed: Daisy Kenyon (Preminger, 1947), Que la bête meure (Chabrol, 1969), Cure (Kurosawa, 1997), Late Spring (Ozu, 1949), Regular Lovers (Garrel, 2005)

Also very strong: The Woman in the Window (Lang, 1944), The Beguiled (Siegel, 1971), Night and the City (Dassin, 1950), The Reckless Moment (Ophuls, 1949), Ace in the Hole (Wilder, 1951), Just Before Nightfall (Chabrol, 1971), Van Gogh (Pialat, 1991), Little Odessa (Gray, 1994), The Day I Became a Woman (Makhmalbaf, 2000), Moi, Pierre Rivière… (Allio, 1976), The Gravy Train (Starett, 1974), The Last Detail (Ashby, 1973), Mother and Son (Sokurov, 1997), I Am Cuba (Kalatozov, 1964), The Phenix City Story (Karlson, 1955), Seven Men From Now (Boetticher, 1956), The River (Tsai, 1997)

Top 10 revisits:

1. Buffalo '66 (Gallo, 1998)
2. Exotica (Egoyan, 1994)
3. McCabe and Mrs Miller (Altman, 1971)
4. Friday Night (Denis, 2002)
5. Jaws (Spielberg, 1975)
6. The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)
7. Head-On (Akin, 2004)
8. Distant (Ceylan, 2002)
9. Opening Night (Cassavetes, 1977)
10. The War Zone (Roth, 1999)

[megladon8]

Night and the City is such a wonderful movie, Boner.

It nearly made my list last year, but lost out to After the Thin Man.

[Melville]

I was thoroughly unimpressed by the French Connection (though I saw it when my taste was pretty immature). The car chase felt way too constrained; restricting the geometry to the path of the train removes a lot of the free-willing spontaneity of the best car chases.



1. Sátántangó (Tarr, 1994)
> or < than Werckmeister?


4. Le Trou (Becker, 1960)
5. Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964)

1. Buffalo '66 (Gallo, 1998)
2. Exotica (Egoyan, 1994)
4. Friday Night (Denis, 2002)
6. The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)
Awesome.


10. The War Zone (Roth, 1999)
Am I alone in thinking that the steely-grey atmosphere of the film, along with the lingering on the sister's nude body, aestheticized and/or eroticized away much of the film's ethical impact?

[Boner M]

Am I alone in thinking that the steely-grey atmosphere of the film, along with the lingering on the sister's nude body, aestheticized and/or eroticized away much of the film's ethical impact?
I thought it deepened it more than anything. I think the fact that the younger brother finds out about his father and sister's secret at the time where he's (presumably) starting to recognise her sexuality makes his predicament a lot more complex and troubling. The overall aesthetic and the element of eroticism you mention felt very much in tune with the boy's point of view. Apparently the novel infers that brother and his sister begin an incestuous relationship at the end, so I suppose the aspects you mention are things that have carried over into the film, albeit left more ambiguous by Roth.

[Boner M]

Also, S > WH, although I need to see the latter again on account of poor viewing conditions the first time around.

[Raiders]

I just saw the best film I have seen in the past 365 days, though I guess since it is January 2nd, I can't include it in this thread.

[Boner M]

I just found out None Shall Escape is on TV here tomorrow night. Can't wait for it after seeing it on a few lists here.

[Melville]

The overall aesthetic and the element of eroticism you mention felt very much in tune with the boy's point of view.
Oh, for sure. But I thought the film lost a lot of the ethical nuance (i.e. the horror) of the situation by doing so. I felt like the brother's subjective ethical struggle and sexuality should have been balanced by the victim's, rather than relegating her to the position of an object about which her brother struggles and for which he longs.

[Yxklyx]

The best films I saw for the first time in 2008 in chronological order:

Faces (1968, John Cassavetes)
Monsieur Hire (1989, Patrice Leconte)
Trust (1990, Hal Hartley)
Sex and Lucia (2001, Julio Medem)
Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998, Julio Medem)
Daisy Kenyon (1947, Otto Preminger)
Velvet Goldmine (1998, Todd Haynes)
The President's Analyst (1967, Theodore J. Flicker)
Little Murders (1971, Alan Arkin)
My Kid Could Paint That (2007, Amir Bar-Lev)
Sicko (2007, Michael Moore)

[Boner M]

Oh, for sure. But I thought the film lost a lot of the ethical nuance (i.e. the horror) of the situation by doing so. I felt like the brother's subjective ethical struggle and sexuality should have been balanced by the victim's, rather than relegating her to the position of an object about which her brother struggles and for which he longs.
Ahh, gotcha. I saw it at the very beginning of the year as well (aka 10,000 movies ago), so I can only argue about the generalities and not the specifics, and it's placement on my list says more about a dearth of repeat viewings in 2008 than anything. I suppose I can agree with you on that, although I think the flaws of sustained single point of view goes hand-in-hand with a greater insight into his own predicament than perhaps had a broader focus been used.

[Melville]

I suppose I can agree with you on that, although I think the flaws of sustained single point of view goes hand-in-hand with a greater insight into his own predicament than perhaps had a broader focus been used.
Yeah, I might just be demanding too much. But I think that sexual abuse and objectification of women are sufficiently loaded topics that the film was almost obligated to take a broader view of its narrative. Also, even though the aesthetic did work well to evoke a subjective point of view, I think that subjectivity is more complex, more variegated, than the film's monotone, constant aesthetic allowed. Even within the single subjective view, there could have been many viewpoints, and corresponding gradations in aestheticism and eroticism, as the brother's reaction to the abuse shifted about. But again, maybe I'm just demanding too much.

[megladon8]

The best films I saw for the first time in 2008 in chronological order:

Little Murders (1971, Alan Arkin)



I'd never heard of this one before. It sounds great. :)

[megladon8]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/fessenden.jpg

So back in my Automatons entry, I mentioned this man, pictured above. His name is Larry Fessenden, and after this past year, I can say he's one of my favorite new(ish) voices in American horror.

I saw two of his films this year, and I loved them both so much that this is going to be a double entry. In fact, they go really well together, as they share similar themes while also being hugely different. They would make a great double feature if you're into the slower, more methodical type of horror.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/lww.jpg


Wendigo & The Last Winter (2001 & 2006 / Larry Fessenden)

Both of these horror films deal with the idea of nature interfering in the world of man, and both are slightly ambiguous when it comes to whether or not the monsters (both films are, in the end, monster movies) are good or evil. Or whether or not "good" and "evil" even apply to the rules of nature. Perhaps these beasts are creatures of universal justice; spirits who attempt to balance the power of man as we oppose and detract from the powers of the natural world.

But these films are also diametrically different. Wendigo is a deeply spiritual tale, looking at the way stories can affect and change our world view. As a little boy comes to learn of the legend of the Wendigo, the possibility arises that this legend becomes his way of coping with a tragic event which occurs later in the film. Fessenden does put a lot of his own personal beliefs into the film, and this makes it deeply interesting, especially since I consider myself a spiritual-but-non-religious person.

The Last Winter is like The Happening if it were good. A team of researchers and drillers in the cold, remote area of Northern Alaska encounter what may or may not be some paranormal activity, which seems to be stemming from a pipeline left by a team who was there previously. As the story progresses, the paranormal becomes reality as we learn that Nature is making its last stand to protect itself and its last secret kept from mankind.

Fessenden has proven himself capable of brilliant storytelling and character work (both films having been written by him as well as directed), and both films (The Last Winter in particular) feature some chilling imagery.

I'm eagerly looking forward to whatever Fessenden does next, because these rich, beautiful horror films are a great breath of life into a genre that is so often copy-and-pasted.

[soitgoes...]

I just saw the best film I have seen in the past 365 days, though I guess since it is January 2nd, I can't include it in this thread.I want to check that one out. Have you seen Crime Wave yet? I don't seem to be as ga-ga over De Toth as you, but it was a pretty good crime drama.

[Raiders]

I want to check that one out. Have you seen Crime Wave yet? I don't seem to be as ga-ga over De Toth as you, but it was a pretty good crime drama.

Not yet. I don't know about me being "ga ga" since I believe the two I have seen are supposed to be just about his two best films. I'm certain it is all downhill from here. In fact, it literally has to be.

[megladon8]

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3735/tdkev5.jpg


The Dark Knight (2008 / Christopher Nolan)

You all knew it was coming. Predictable? Yes. Deserving? Also yes.

What Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and to a much lesser degree David Goyer (*shudder*) have done with the Batman universe in the past three years has been monumentally successful. As people have been saying for the last few months, The Dark Knight is one of those rare, once-a-decade phenomenons that achieves accolades from both fans and critics, and becomes such a huge hit that it etches its place into pop culture history.

And while Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker has been the focus of everyone in the world (and deservedly so, it's an incredible force that he brings about) I was surprised by how much I loved Aaron Eckhart's turn as Harvey Dent and eventually Two-Face. Being an admitted non-fan of Eckhart, I was a little worried when I heard he'd been cast - I would have much preferred one of the other contenders for the role, particularly Liev Schreiber whose name was thrown around for a while. But Eckhart gave a very powerful performance as Gotham's White Knight, my favorite scene of his being when he wakes up in a hospital bed, sees his coin which reminds him of his last time seeing Rachel, and he rips his bandages off in a scream of rage. All is done without the sound of his voice, just a shrill build in the musical score signifying his character being scarred by the presence of The Joker.

The Dark Knight has hopefully converted a few more people to the belief that superheroes (and not to mention comic books in general) are a respectable form of storytelling. It features some profound ideas and characters representing distinct ideologies, giving their physical clashes added weight. It also has a final line of dialogue that may very well rank among my favorites...


JAMES GORDON JR.: Why's he running, Dad?

COMM. GORDON: Because we have to chase him.

JAMES GORDON JR.: He didn't do anything wrong.

COMM. GORDON: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. The dark knight.

Some of you may be surprised to know that I was, myself, surprised by how much I loved this movie. Having adored Batman Begins, I didn't think there was any way a sequel could best it. And when confirmed haters of that first film said they loved this film, I was certainly worried. What if they changed the stuff I loved? What if they turned it into a "let's see how much money we can make" venture with no heart or soul?

I'm so glad that the Nolan's did what they did with this film, because it's one that I feel is a great representation of a character and lore that has meant so much to me ever since I was a little boy.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

The best movie I saw in 2008 was Mikhail Kalatozov's The Letter Never Sent.

http://www.thelmagazine.com/lmag_blog/files/Images/Letter.jpg

Other gems included Radio On, Cria Cuervos, All the Presidents Men, L'Amour Existe, The Cameraman (with a homemade Do Make Say Think soundtrack), Mauvais Sang and a annual re-watching of my favorite film, Nights of Cabiria.

The worst pieces of crap I had to sit through in 2008 included The Dark Knight, The White of the Eye, Southland Tales, The Crossing Guard, Ecstasy of the Angels, and The Simpsons Movie.

[SirNewt]

Meg, would you mind if I joined you? My list will be pretty conventional classic stuff but if you don't mind I'll post my stuff.

[megladon8]

Meg, would you mind if I joined you? My list will be pretty conventional classic stuff but if you don't mind I'll post my stuff.


Yeah of course, go ahead. Like I said in my first post, I want people to contribute.

Kinda disappointed by how dead this thread is. So yeah, please do.

[megladon8]

The best movie I saw in 2008 was Mikhail Kalatozov's The Letter Never Sent.

http://www.thelmagazine.com/lmag_blog/files/Images/Letter.jpg

Other gems included Radio On, Cria Cuervos, All the Presidents Men, L'Amour Existe, The Cameraman (with a homemade Do Make Say Think soundtrack), Mauvais Sang and a annual re-watching of my favorite film, Nights of Cabiria.

The worst pieces of crap I had to sit through in 2008 included The Dark Knight, The White of the Eye, Southland Tales, The Crossing Guard, Ecstasy of the Angels, and The Simpsons Movie.


:lol:

Subtle.

[SirNewt]

:lol:

Subtle.

Yeah, isn't 'Southland Tales' some kind of holy relic round here.

[megladon8]

Yeah, isn't 'Southland Tales' some kind of holy relic round here.


No I was more looking at how the first movie he mentioned as "The worst pieces of crap he had to sit through" was The Dark Knight...right after I made my post on The Dark Knight.

[megladon8]

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2576/heiressol8.jpg


The Heiress (1949 / William Wyler)

The Heiress is one that I have our fellow MatchCutter Kurosawa Fan to thank for. Actually for the past three or four years I have included films in my year-end lists recommended to me by KF, last year's being Le Samourai.

I had just recently seen Detective Story, and there was a discussion in the FDT about William Wyler's films. I asked for some recommendations, and KF - who had recently seen The Heiress - made the recommendation. This also marked the first time I'd ventured into this classic romance/melodrama genre, and it's certainly sparked my interest.

As with the other classics to appear on my list this year, I fear I don't have much to say about The Heiress that hasn't already been said many times. Both the leads are wonderful, De Havilland being particularly impressive as we see her emotional ups and downs take subtle, physical tolls.

A great film, this one.

[Boner M]

Other gems included... L'Amour Existe
Ooh, nice... this is on the L'Enfance Nue DVD but I haven't watched it yet.

[Melville]

Kinda disappointed by how dead this thread is.
I would come up with a list, but I'm not sure which movies I saw in 2008. So here's an alternative list:

All the movies I gave at least a 9 out of 10 since seeing There Will Be Blood:

Diary of a Country Priest
There Will Be Blood
Bigger than Life
Synecdoche, NY
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Carnival of Souls
Pierrot le fou
The Ascent
The Servant
Flaming Creatures
Kiss Me Deadly
Top Hat
The Man with a Movie Camera
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Street of Crocodiles
Eaux d'artifice


Man, I've been watching so few movies lately that I forgot how many great ones I saw earlier in the year.

[Yxklyx]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/fessenden.jpg

So back in my Automatons entry, I mentioned this man, pictured above. His name is Larry Fessenden, and after this past year, I can say he's one of my favorite new(ish) voices in American horror..

Yep, I saw his film Habit earlier this year which was very good and different. It's from '97 though.

[megladon8]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
[/list]

Man, I've been watching so few movies lately that I forgot how many great ones I saw earlier in the year.


That's one of the BluRays I have to watch. Still haven't seen the movie. I hope it makes my list for this year :)

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Ooh, nice... this is on the L'Enfance Nue DVD but I haven't watched it yet.

if you dig any of Resnais' early shorts, it's basically in the same vein, plus it has a beautiful little score by Georges Delerue.

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/affpitt.jpg


The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

What separates 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' from all the films made about James up to this point is not its historical accuracy or how authentic it is but what it gives to the James myth. The film pulls the story out of the paperback and puts it on the stage. It gives the story drama.

The film takes a story, usually played for its epic characters and fable like events and turns it inside. Instead of the bold strokes of Robin Hood shot down by Judas Iscariot we're give sketches of unsure, frightened, tired men. Even the crime itself doesn't appear suddenly or with excitement. The film plods to the moment and each man is awkward, like he's dancing a dance for the first time

And when it comes time for Robert Ford to die, strangely, the murder seems lower than the murder of James. Ford's death is a true assassination, by a man who he had never met, who knew nothing about him. In comparison, oddly, James' murder is like something that passed between friends.

By the film's end even the title (taken from the book on which the film is based) feels purposely shallow. As if the storytellers are mocking the reductive eyes with which people have been viewing the story for so long. I don't know if Robert Ford really needed much of an excuse to shoot Jesse James. I don't know if Jesse was committing ritual suicide when he stepped up onto that chair. I don't know if what Bob did was any less savage than what O'kelley did. I don't really care. The James myth has existed in it's former state for some time now and I like the new one. It stretches the James myth into the unsure 21st century.

-9-

[megladon8]

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7083/zombiespb7.jpg

Zombie movies are a dime a dozen. Most are terrible. The chances of any given zombie movie being good are about the same chances you have of a direct-to-video movie being good. There are certainly gems, and they can be fun when they get that very rare "so good it's bad" thing going on, but for the most part zombie movies tend to end up disappointing across the board.

But those gems are oh, so very good.

This award goes to the best zombie movie I saw this year.

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/3424/lsclpu4.jpg


Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974 / Jorge Grau)

This '70s zombie film has had so many different titles that even the two DVDs released of it by the same company (Blue Underground) across three years went by two completely different names. In Italy it was Zombi 3. In the UK it was The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. At one point in the USA it was called Don't Open the Window. But Let Sleeping Corpses Lie seems to be the most commonly known title, and it is also the title I saw it under...so I will refer to it as such.

As with most zombie films, the horror in this film is allegorical. This one actually tackles a few different subjects - environmentalism, hippies, and clashing generations.

George and Edna, two twenty-something English strangers who are forced to travel together after Edna accidentally wrecks George's motorcycle, are then thrust into the beginnings of a zombie infestation of the English countryside, as something is waking the dead from their graves.

Taking the same approach as Romero's original Night of the Living Dead, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie doesn't feature armies of the undead who simply pose as cannon fodder. There are only a small handful of zombies in the film, but they are quite terrifying.

Yes, the film is actually pretty damn creepy. Its photography is sublime, with much of the film's wonderful atmosphere coming from the eerie angles and lighting. One scene in particular has George and Edna trapped in a mausoleum with two zombies and one very small possibility of a way out.

While on a much smaller scale than many of the more popular zombie films, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie leads the pack because of its great technical filmmaking, and its ability to actually be frightening - something a zombie film hasn't done for me in quite a while.

[Russ]

Best films I saw for the first time in 2008:

1. Make Way for Tomorrow (McCarey, 1937)
2. The Kid Brother (Wilde, Howe, 1927)
3. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jires, 1970)
4. Champagne for Caesar (Whorf, 1950)
5. Lessons of Darkness (Herzog, 1992)
6. The Bicycle Thief (De Sica, 1948)
7. Riget II (Von Trier, Arnfred, 1997)
9. Wattstax (Stuart, 1973)
9. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988)
10. Mouse Heaven (Anger, 2004)

[dreamdead]

The Dark Knight (2008 / Christopher Nolan)

You all knew it was coming. Predictable? Yes. Deserving? Also yes.

The Dark Knight has hopefully converted a few more people to the belief that superheroes (and not to mention comic books in general) are a respectable form of storytelling. It features some profound ideas and characters representing distinct ideologies, giving their physical clashes added weight. It also has a final line of dialogue that may very well rank among my favorites...


I'll bite; rewatched this for New Year's Eve with my dad. What retained with me this viewing was the overwhelming effectiveness with all the scenes featuring Eckhart and Ledger. In terms of actual thematics, though, I fear that my appreciation for this film has definitely dulled. I don't mean to discount your notion that comic book superheroes deserve respectability, but I wonder what we do with the idea that that same respectability must always be so on-the-nose described. That is to say, the characters at times become too much like ciphers for the ideology that they espouse and while the Joker infuses his origin with enough differentiations that his story possesses some fluidity, the other characters nonetheless become circumscribed by their identifying ideology.

Additionally, the boat sequence on second viewing is painful to take in, as it traffics in reverse racism even as it firstly builds tension with the initial levels of racism (with the imposing African-American shots). If this scene were to appear in other, more generic action films, it'd get lambasted as the scene deserves.

Otherwise, though, I agree with the quality of the film's closing lines. I think they effectively communicate the ideology without becoming too didactic.

Enjoying the other mentions in the thread, too. The Heiress has now been added to the queue, and I just noticed that The Last Winter is on Netflix's Instant Viewing. Awesome.

[megladon8]

I'll bite; rewatched this for New Year's Eve with my dad. What retained with me this viewing was the overwhelming effectiveness with all the scenes featuring Eckhart and Ledger. In terms of actual thematics, though, I fear that my appreciation for this film has definitely dulled. I don't mean to discount your notion that comic book superheroes deserve respectability, but I wonder what we do with the idea that that same respectability must always be so on-the-nose described. That is to say, the characters at times become too much like ciphers for the ideology that they espouse and while the Joker infuses his origin with enough differentiations that his story possesses some fluidity, the other characters nonetheless become circumscribed by their identifying ideology.

This seems similar to NickGlass' complaint about theme-spouting; is that kind of what you mean, or am I way off?

I definitely see where a complaint could be made, but I actually kind of liked it. Each one of them was so passionately devoted to their view of the world that it became like an epic "duel of the fates". With each of them representing one solid, consistent ideal for society, it makes it more potent when in the end Batman must change his way of thinking what is truly and purely "right".



Additionally, the boat sequence on second viewing is painful to take in, as it traffics in reverse racism even as it firstly builds tension with the initial levels of racism (with the imposing African-American shots). If this scene were to appear in other, more generic action films, it'd get lambasted as the scene deserves.

I'll give you that one, I did find that scene a little in-your-face with its racial message, but I thought the overall message (that regular city-folk are for the most part good people, and being able to take a life is not something any conscionable person is capable of).



Enjoying the other mentions in the thread, too. The Heiress has now been added to the queue, and I just noticed that The Last Winter is on Netflix's Instant Viewing. Awesome.

Great, I hope you enjoy it!

Montgomery Clift's life was tragic and much too short. I would have liked to have seen what he went on to do at an older age.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Because I'm all about excess, my Top 20 films viewed for the first time in 08'

Agnes of God (1985)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Black Christmas (1974)
Catch-22 (1970)
Chungking Express (1994)
Cleo 5 a 7 (1962)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Exotica (1994)
Hiroshima, mon amour (1959)
Let the Right One In (2008)
Little Women (1933)
Odd Man Out (1947)
State Fair (1945)
Stella Dallas (1937)
The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
The Limey (1999)
The Set-Up (1949)
Un Conte de Noel (2008)
Window Water Moving Baby(1962)

[megladon8]

Black Christmas (1974)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Let the Right One In (2008)
The Limey (1999)



These are all great ones; I approve.

The Limey is one my dad and I have been thinking of watching again together for quite a while.

[megladon8]

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/2757/ltroiic5.jpg


Let the Right One In (2008 / Tomas Alfredson)

A child actor is one of those things that can completely ruin a film, even if they're in a relatively minor role. Increase the number of children with prominent dialogue in a film and you exponentially increase the chances of the film being a disaster. Seeing Let the Right One In was a wonderful experience for many reasons, but I was consistently taken aback by how great the two child leads were (as well as the other children inhabiting the film).

Right at the very beginning of the story, a man is shown peeing in the snow. Upon reflection I found this image to be telling of much of the film's theme - the tainting of purity, the elimination of innocence. We are constantly shown images of the purity of the snow, being tainted by blood, dirt and filth. All this is echoed by young Oskar's innocence and naivety as it is tarnished by the coming of Eli, and her introduction of both violence and sexual awakening in Oskar's life.

Even the characters' appearances show this "pure, impure; light, dark" dichotomy. Oskar's almost white-blonde hair, his powder white skin, his immaculate cleanliness. Eli's dark hair and eyes, her unkempt and filthy appearance.

The film manages to combine both beautiful visual style and poetic storytelling to create something quite special.

[megladon8]

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3533/wtfcattu3.jpg


Today's special edition of the "Top 10 Films Viewed in 2008" is the "WTF? Award".

To put it simply, it goes to the film that left me looking like that cat. I was sitting in my seat thinking "what the fuck did I just see?".

Actually, I was left asking many questions which could be prefaced by "what the fuck..."

-...were they thinking?
-...did I spend my money on?
-...was being smoked by the people who thought this was a good idea?

So now that you get the general vibe of the award, it's time to give it away.

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/9246/pwzja3.jpg


Punisher: War Zone (2008 / Lexi Alexander)

Punisher: War Zone is one of the worst movies I have ever seen theatrically. Actually, it may be the very worst.

Terrible writing, a plot so ridiculous it might as well not exist, acting which would be an insult to the words "ham" and "cheese". The action is bland, the cinematography is flamboyant on a Schumacher level. They got absolutely nothing right with Punisher: War Zone, which is a shame because its two leads (Ray Stevenson and Dominic West) are good actors who could certainly have done something of value if the rest of the production hadn't been so utterly retarded.

Honestly...a gang of parkour dope fiends led by a dread-locked Jamaican guy with an Irish accent. One character says that these guys are "on a constant meth high"...but I think the writers failed to realize that someone who does that much meth wouldn't be that healthy or active.

Dominic West's hilariously over-the-top New YAWK accent almost made his scenes fun to watch, but I also couldn't help but cringe and think "my god...you're a good actor, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Punisher: War Zone is very well deserving of the "WTF? Award". Many movies turn out bad, but the idea that this film was even made, and then on top of that released to the public is just mystifying.

Ray Stevenson could have made a great Punisher. He's mean-looking and brutish, charismatic and has the acting chops to carry a film. But a good Punisher film is something we'll probably never see now, because of how much they messed this up.

I'm going to go watch Batman & Robin.

[megladon8]

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5934/orphanagehz7.jpg


The Orphanage (2007 / Juan Antonio Bayona)

I really didn't know what to expect with The Orphanage. The marketing for it capitalized on Guillermo Del Toro's name being attached, and practically made it look like The Devil's Backbone 2. And having just recently seen The Changeling before this one (and had the lights scared out of me) I was afraid that any attempts at haunted-house-frights would pale in comparison to the George C. Scott film.

The Orphanage is much more emotionally affecting than it is frightening. It's a ghost story, for sure, and it has a foreboding atmosphere and some creepy locales, but it's not all about delivering scares. Much like how zombie films often use their monsters allegorically to comment on problems in society, ghost stories use their spectral figures to reveal hidden truths, and they take us on an introspective journey in the shoes of the protagonist as they come to learn about the place they are in and what it wants from them.

This is a finely crafted paranormal thriller. It is filmed beautifully, has a great script with rich characters, and is acted well by everyone involved. Especially impressive is Belén Rueda who carries the film on her shoulders with no problems at all, showing us an emotionally wounded but strong and determined woman and mother.

I would recommend this film strongly to anyone, really. It's frightening without telegraphing, emotional without being sappy or sentimental, and provides a full, layered story that warrants repeat viewings.

Oh, and see it in BluRay if possible - it's divine.

[jesse]

The best non-2008 films I saw in 2008:

01) La pointe courte (1954, Varda)
02) Innocence (2007, Hadzihalilovic)
03) Garden of Earthly Delights (2004, Majewski)
04) Who's Camus Anyway? (2005, Yanagimachi)
05) Vampyr (1932, Dreyer)
06) Lady Chatterley (2007, Ferran)
07) Les enfants terribles (1950, Cocteau)
08) Salome (1923, Bryant)
09) The Last Holiday (2006, Wang) (yes, seriously)
10) Syndromes and a Century (2007, Weerasethakul)

[jesse]

8. Je t'aime, je t'aime (Alain Resnais, 68) *shakes fist at unavailability*


13. Blue (Derek Jarman, 1993) Ohhhhh... did you write any thoughts on this?


4. Champagne for Caesar (Whorf, 1950) Seriously? I saw this for Celeste Holm, who I rather adore, but even at the time I couldn't come up with anything remotely distinctive to attribute to it...


Cleo 5 a 7 (1962)
Hiroshima, mon amour (1959) Indeed! Two top-teners as far as I'm concerned...

And in regards to our gracious host: I've seen exactly three of your films so far--Mildred Pierce, The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Heiress. Loved the first at the time, but it's been so long I can hardly remember it anymore (I've been meaning to revisit for a while now), the second is probably my favorite example of a genre I rarely wander into, and the third left me surprisingly cold, especially since I usually eat that kind of stuff up with a spoon. Probably should be revisited at some point as well.

[megladon8]

05) Vampyr (1932, Dreyer)



I've wanted to see this forever, but I keep getting it mixed up with this...

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/6564/vampirescf3.jpg

[Russ]

4. Champagne for Caesar (Whorf, 1950)

Seriously? I saw this for Celeste Holm, who I rather adore, but even at the time I couldn't come up with anything remotely distinctive to attribute to it...
Did you not notice Vincent Price? He only gave one of the greatest over-the-top comedic performances ever. IMO.

[megladon8]

Just two more entries to go! I'll officially be finished tomorrow night.

I'll have the last special edition tonight (which will be the "Worst Movie I Saw in 2008" award), and then I'll have the final entry in the top 10 tomorrow.

[megladon8]

The final special edition of my 2008 list goes to the absolute worst movie I saw this past year.

I saw some films that I'd qualify as "interesting failures" - movies where the director/writer/cast had something good going, but it just didn't all pull together. I also saw a good number of movies that were pretty bad.

But nothing compares to the winner of the award, whose stupidity, annoying characters, terrible filming techniques and lack of coherency made it the very worst movie I saw all year.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2448/auttransmv1.jpg


Automaton Transfusion (2006 / Steven C. Miller)

I gullibly fell for the advertising for this film, stating it's "one of the best zombie films in decades", and "a reawakening of true independent horror". I probably should have noticed that these quotes were from Fangoria and Bloody-Disgusting - two places that are not reliable at all when it comes to journalism. But still, I expected that there would at least be some fun to be had here - a decent zombie-filled time, more or less.

But no, this movie is crap coming out of my eyeballs. It's a pugnacious pile of pustulating penile putridness.

The main character is an unlikable douche with a faux-hawk whose dad is killed by a zombie and he...I don't know. See? I don't know what happens in the movie from a point 10 minutes in, because it's such a mindless piece of garbage. There are scenes in this movie where the handful of survivors are standing in an empty street looking around, then suddenly they turn around and there's an army of screaming, flailing zombies not 25 feet away from them!

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/936/atran1bvd6.jpg

I mean, look at that! There is NO WAY you are going to tell me that they did not hear or notice any of those zombies, especially when the movie clearly showed them LOOKING IN THAT DIRECTION just a few seconds prior!

The movie also makes maddening false promises. You see those three people in the first picture? They're high school students (yeah, right) and the guy on the left says to a bully (because I'm sure he would get bullied) "I wanna stick a chainsaw in your face". Later on in the film, he has a chainsaw, as you can see, and he even comes up against the zombified bully...and he doesn't stick the chainsaw in his face!

WHAT THE HELL??

Yes, there are a lot of terrible zombie films out there, but decorating this one like it's some return to the brilliance of old-school zombie-ism is like puking in a paper mill and masking it with Lysol. It still smells like puke in a paper mill, and if your can of Lysol was enough to trick someone into taking a whiff of your steamy surprise, you deserve a chainsaw in the face.

[megladon8]

Deadest.
Thread.
Ever.

[Ezee E]

Nobody saw the last movie most likely, so it's hard to talk more about it beyond, "WEird. I won't see it either."

The thread was good though. It spawned off to three pages, started a new one for 2009, and definitely had some good posts in there. It will die happy.

[jesse]

Did you not notice Vincent Price? He only gave one of the greatest over-the-top comedic performances ever. IMO. Hmmm, I suppose I didn't, considering I didn't even remember he was in it... :confused:

[megladon8]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/Bodysnatchers2.jpg


Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 / Philip Kaufman)

Another one I'd put off for far too long, the 1978 reimagining of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is apparently the definitive vision of the story. While I haven't seen any of the others (I believe there are now a total of four) I think this is probably right, since I can't imagine anything being much better than this. In short, it's a science fiction/horror masterpiece.

The film stars Donald Sutherland, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy as a cast of colourful, vibrant characters. Some win you over quite quickly, some are slightly annoying paranoiacs, and others are abrasive and self-obsessed. But they are all different, and this provides the greatest horror of the film - the absence of individuality.

It's a cliché statement to say that "if everyone was the same the world would be a boring place", but as derivative as it is, it's very true. The film goes to show how terrible the world would be if we were all these mindless automatons - regardless of the fact that they claim to be "better". This hive-mind psychology robs us of our most human traits.

The performances are wonderful, and the film has an inarguable feeling of impending doom right from the first eerie shots of the strange alien organisms gathering on an asteroid headed for Earth.

It's sci-fi with brains and heart, just the way I like it.

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/screen-capture-2.png


Le Samourai

Jef Costello is a clockwork man, living in a clockwork film. The facts are his drive, a plan culminating in success, his passion. He's a killer, living by a code of his own making, a false bushido (as is exemplified by the fabricated quote that opens the film), a conundrum. Even the visits his girl receives from other men don't bother him. On the contrary, they provide him an alibi. And more basically, they are a fact of life.

We are not shown how Costello formulated his creed nor how its delicate crystalline structure has endured so far. Those are not the matter of the film. We study the equation where it turns and otherwise rule out its domain.

Costello's code is his end. It's not for love that he gives himself up. He has come to find something beautiful, which, he would rather not destroy. Reality, desire, has entered his world.

Meleville has done the cruel and fascinating work of inventing a character in a vacuum and then smothering him with the air of reality. Two human elements have entered Costello's world, evil, personified by greed and good, personified by beauty. He commits ritual suicide because his purpose is compromised. His profession has been smeared by treason and misuse. Honor cannot sustain among thieves nor a bushido among the denizens of the 20th century. Costello is an idea personified, one that cannot stand humanity.

-9-

[megladon8]

Great choice. One of my all-time favorites.

I loved the sequence in the police station, with the swinging doors.

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/screen-capture-3-1.png


Lake of FIre

'Lake of Fire' doesn't attempt to solve the modern social conundrum posed by abortion but it leaves the viewer in a miraculous state, a state in which the viewer can believe two seemingly irreconcilable things completely. It reveals the horror and anguish of abortion. It makes clear that this is not normal, that it's unsettling, that these left over bits would likely be living humans leading unquantifiable lives. But, it also makes clear the inadequacy of a single person or law to provide a single answer for the millions of conflicted women. It makes clear that explaining to courts and parents or being forced in a direction only compounds the pain of the problem.

While many of the images may leave you with a disdain for the painful decision of abortion you'll never forget the people (for or against choice) and their trials. And if the filmmakers are manipulating your emotions, they're giving everyone a fare chance to do it.

The honesty of Kaye's film illuminates some of the most ridiculous aspects of this entire debate, such as the resources the pro-life movement has squandered on protest when there are people truly in need and the preposterousness of a group of people who fight abortion so fervently yet largely supported two foreign wars.

It is the best a documentary can be. It has perforated an issue nearly perfectly, first showing the passionate arguments and by showing the real and compassionate stories of the people who bring the debate down from one of ideologies.

-10-

[megladon8]

I get the feeling from your writing that the film seems to side with the pro-life people.

Is this true, or am I reading it wrong?

[Melville]

I get the feeling from your writing that the film seems to side with the pro-life people.

Is this true, or am I reading it wrong?
It definitely doesn't side with the pro-life side. It recognizes the validity of their point (after all, abortion is, at best, the killing of something that has a high probability of growing into a conscious person), but in the end it sides more with the pro-choice side. It really does an impressively good job of exploring the issue. Personally, I would have preferred if it had spent less time on the US cultural aspects of the story (i.e. the radical, abortion-clinic-bombing pro-lifers), and more time on the philosophical and ethical aspects, but that's just a quibble based on my own predilections.

[SirNewt]

I get the feeling from your writing that the film seems to side with the pro-life people.

Is this true, or am I reading it wrong?

If the film leans you toward pro-life it's not because of any "side taking". Several reviews, however, that I've read said they felt the film is more likely to push you towards pro-life than pro-choice. I don't think that the film intends this and I don't know: maybe it's not the film. Maybe there is some moral centre tugging viewers towards pro-life, who knows. The film had the opposite effect on me. The last thirty minutes really solidified my position of pro-choice.

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/screen-capture-1-1-1.png


Culloden
for Spinal

If battlefield photography existed in the 1700s it might look something like Culloden. Photography, though, is perhaps too democratic an art to survive the times. The films style allows commanders to address their comments directly at the camera instantly dissovling the notion that this is some kind of plastic diarama. This abates the sanitized fantasy fulfillment of films like Gettysberg where every man is a warrior fighting for a state, a president, a cause, unless your fantasy is to look, dirty, malnourished, or stupid.

The story of Culloden is sharply real. It's the kind that isn't written down in epic tales or made into Hollywood movies often. It is that of the man who could've ruled but in the end simply lost his nerve. In fact one wonders if Edward Stuart (leader of the renegade jacobite force) even roused the rebellion himself or if he wasn't some pawn set up as the emblem of a cause. In the end he walks off the battlefiield as unsure as when he walked on. A few thousand lives and nationhood are sacrificed to allay unhealthy bickering of his unqualified subordinates.

The battle is not shown in great detail. It is largely shown like the ranged conflicts of today, only really as aftermath, the wounded writhing on the ground, so much of which we've seen in 16mm. And perhaps that is key. Culloden is existing history: it's happening right now.

The concept is brave but perhaps instantly exhausted. One can instantly think of a slew of periods to retred in this style, an idea which is instantly boring. Perhaps Culloden is poiking fun at the genre entirely. Events come and go then come the dockmumentaries about them, always so excited and in the moment, a moment already passed. And Culloden, with its style and abruptness makes 1700 look just as intense as 68.

-10-

[Spinal]

:faints:

[megladon8]

I've neve reven heard of that one :sad:

[Spinal]

I've neve reven heard of that one :sad:

I assigned it to him for the 'obscure film swap'. It's great.

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/Backdrop_-_life-of-brian1-1.jpg


Monty Python's Life of Brian

I think I had just begun to doubt Christianity when Mel Gibson released his overstated and bloody depiction of the last twelve hours of Christ. I remember meeting with Christian friends after watching it to discuss it. Everyone was silent but I wanted to talk about it. Someone derided my comparison of the film to a scene from 'Band of Brothers' in which a man writhes in the snow, his friends feet away unable to help him. I felt the comparison was strong but the clouds of controversy and marketing had settled in and made the film Cannon. To compare 'The Passion' to just any other film was blasphemy. The attitude lacked any higher philosophy, reason, or even good theology. It was a crude religious algebra. If a man suffered to save all people was it just a case of statistics that made his suffering more precious than that of the man who suffered to save a handful? The experience punched a hole in the veneer. The more dense realizations of humanism began to poor in and push the hot air of religion out.

And still, growing up in "Christian home" there was still another film about Christ. One which was completely banned from my viewing. Which of course meant I caught every bit of it I could in passing anywhere I could. And though I was very serious about my faith I found the bits I saw of 'The Life of Brian" neither offensive nor provocative, only funny in the "that's so stupid" way. Now having seen 'Brian' in its entirety I have to say my biggest disappointment is that the films funniest parts don't occur when the humor is at its most meditative or penetrating. Scenes played for straight laughs such as "What have the Romans ever done for us?" or "Thwow hiiiim to the fwoor." are much funnier than "Follow the gord." and others.

Maybe I wanted to see religion get a real good ripping. Or maybe the Pythons' absurdist take on religious factions, taboos, and literalism has so oft been pilfered by humorists that its standard today. That the film is still such a taboo to the religious right is puzzling to me. It strikes me as not just odd but completely waked that a film with some swears, crude humor, and a little nudity should be banned to anyone when people half my age are encouraged to spend two hours watching a man be physically torn apart.

And I suppose this is exactly where a film like 'Brian' completely harpoons a film like Gibson's and what's more, religion in general. It shows the absurdity of their shared somber facade. Something which both things are utterly reliant on. But really it's always that way when comedians lay their hands on the myths.

Theological quandaries aside "Life of Brian" is just a hilarious movie. Besides what other film gives me the opportunity to say "Biggus Dickus" allowed in public with impunity.

-10-

[SirNewt]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/sir_newt/9328306_gal.jpg


Mulholland Drive

Since first seeing Lynch's film I've sat down on more than one occasion to look up a plot synopsis or explanation of Mulholland Drive. But the imagery and ghastly sense of agoraphobia have embedded themselves deep in my imagination. Reading an overview or even a re-watching the film feel like trying to remember something in a way that it didn't actually happen.

Lynch's film is dreamlike and non-linear sharing much with what I call post new wave films (films with which the spirit of the new wave was alive but the slim budgets and small production teams were not) like 'Persona' or "8 1/2'. But despite sharing aesthetic characteristics with these films I liken 'Mulholland Drive' more to Eisenstein's 'Ivan the Terrible' because like that film the imagery seems utilitarian, solemn, and iconic. Lynch's film isn't so much a visual poem as it is an alphabet. One which he explains even as he uses it. But at once the film is a test of the triviality of cinema. A seemingly irrelevant incident behind a store escalates tension. The sinister treatment of a grotesque film mogul draws our disdain. A silent intangible bond forms between the films protagonists. And through all of this, despite moving from scenes far and wide a sense of focused space which practically sweats under the dromedary like pace of the camera persists. A feeling much like one provided by those primeval castle chambers in Ivan.

-10-

[SirNewt]

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/6174/trainsp37.jpg


Trainspotting


Enough films show the dazed downward spiral of a life with drug abuse. The curiosity, innocent experimentation, and first slip which drive protagonists straight to hell with freight train momentum are all well dramatized and studied. But no film rollicks in the shear joy of the high like Trainspotting. Boyle isn't justifying heroin use but his film certainly fills a hole excavated by preceding films (and now re-dug by subsequent films). Films which end tragically with the dangling obvious question "If drugs are so bad, why do so many people take them?", Boyle responds to with gusto. Some truly awful things happen to our romping band of addicts which may shock some out of the habit while driving others further into it. But these aren't part of a downward loopdy-loop of madness. They like the drug use itself are part of a greater life of freedom and irresponsibility and are offset somewhat by the ever-flowing good times and constantly entertaining absurdity of the lifestyle. Even main character Renton's withdrawal becomes a mis-adventure with moments of hilarity.

Boyle measures the hardships of addiction without invalidating the lives of his band of sometimes marginalized, often merry protagonists. Renton may commit at the end of the film to start a new with that mainstream life he formerly avoided but he's still starting it with money he stole from an almost soured drug deal.

-10-

[SirNewt]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/tomasutpen/Album2a/virginspring.jpg


The Virgin Spring

"Odin Come." More unsuspecting words have hardly been spoken in the history of cinema. Odin honors the prayers of his devotee. He fulfills the horrific wish of Ingeri. His spear again takes it's mark. He smites Karin and simultaneously brings the chaos characteristic of his nature (which is war). When the full aftermath of Odin's intervention is revealed, Ingeri's hated rival is raped and dead. And Karin's father, a very high man has in turn murdered a child.

All will be well for Karin's Father, though. With renewed dedication to God he will build a church to commemorate his daughter and to serve as penance for his sin. For him, with time guilt will perish. And wrongs against men offend God more than they offend men, and after all, God forgives.

In one film Bergman highlights the poverty of ancient Paganism and the reeking hypocrisy of Christianity and at an atomic scale, the near vanity of their clash.

-10-