Top Ten and Analysis of 2008

[Sxottlan]

Late as usual!

When it comes to even-numbered years, 2008 wasn't terrible, nor spectacular. It was there. I've had a theory this decade that odd-numbered years have been better than the even-numbered one. 2008 put that theory to the test and found it somewhat lacking. While there were a small number of great films, there were also fewer really awful films either. Following such a great year as 2007, the dearth of anything really special in the spring was especially hard, but 2008 rebounded later on.

Now I wonder if that has to do with the number of films I went to in 2008? I saw 11 fewer movies in theaters than in the past few years. I can't say why that is. It feels like I saw as many films as I always do, but the math doesn't equal out. It's not really like I was more selective. I still saw Paul "Barack Obama" Anderson's Death Race and the third Mummy movie.

I think there were just fewer films that I wanted to see (the number of two-movie weekends were down this last year). My work schedule switched to nights last summer as well, making it a chore to even get to a mid-afternoon screening of just about anything. I can only recall a few trips to the art house theater, which is a shame because they're not-for-profit and I love supporting them, but wish they'd include matinees. The number of new rentals also stayed low.

Some trends I noticed in 2008:

The Self-Made Man: Two of the biggest hits of the year might be a peak into why some super heroes are so popular in the U.S. Both Iron Man and The Dark Knight feature men wealthy enough to forge new and powerful identities, for better or ill. The idea of wealth=freedom is on display in both movies, whether it's nearly soaring into space or prowling along on rooftop. Both are literally above it all and alone, a familiar pull at many people's souls. More than a century ago, it was "Go west young man!" Sixty years ago it was the moon. Now it's more about unplugging from the machine.

2009: The New 2008: I don't think I can recall a year with more high profile films being delayed. Maybe 2002. The delays especially hurt the fall season, which passed far more quietly than usual. Films like Harry Potter 6, The Road and Star Trek will be added gravy to an already busier 2009, but their absence was keenly felt this year. Films with Oscar buzz didn't reach most theatres until well after Christmas.

Now for the usual litany of films, good and bad. Please keep in the mind the films I did not see in 2008, whether it's because they never opened here and haven't come to DVD or else I just couldn't muster the interest (Defiance, Repo: The Genetic Opera, Man on Wire and Waltz with Bashir) or else I didn't have four hours (Che).

The Bottom Ten of 2008:

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Doug Liman watches his career shrink farther into the distance.

1. Jumper: ** A film that somehow manages to make the cool crime of teleporting obnoxious and overwrought. The movie also features the longest, most awkward first date in movie history as Hayden Christensen's character whisks away a girl to Rome and then spends most of it leaving her high and dry or else bickering with local police. I don't think I've heard the phrase "It's okay, can we just go?" more often than here. How romantic! I thought I'd have more to say on this one, but mercifully I've forgotten the rest of the film.

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Here's a demographic we haven't exploited yet!

2. Star Wars: The Clone Wars: ** Five seconds into this "film" and we're already in trouble. But let's be honest, shall we? This wasn't a movie. It was three episodes strung together to make a film. The last time I saw that was Master Ninja 1 on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. The film opens with a unnecessary and unintentionally funny narration that actually tells us what is happening as it's happening on screen. Apparently, we can't trust our eyes. This ocular discrimination continues with the wretched character design, from Anakin's cute Beverly Hills nose job to Ben Kenobi's beard that can looks like it could cut steel. Worst of all is the addition of an obnoxious padawan to the clearly disturbed Anakin as a way to make a bloody civil war palatable for little kids.

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Maybe if I hide here, no one will see the movie.

3. The Alphabet Killer: Shot in my hometown, I guess that explains why this film is so depressing. Rochester can be a grimy old rust belt town that's trying to fumble its way into a new identity. This fairly cliche serial killer film wallowed in child murder as a cheap way to get us to care and ends up being a side plot to yet another schizophrenic character. That allowed the director to indulge in ghost imagery that almost seems to mock the victims. You just walk of this drab colorless film feeling like offing yourself, another victim of the film's killer.

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C+. P.S. You'll shoot your eye out.

4. Wanted: For the first half of this film, Timur Bkemambetov's American debut is actually pretty good. There's a spark and energy to the film and the action scenes are fun. Funny how just the littlest nudge can send a film face-first into the ground. Ala Peter Griffin, I nearly stood up and said "Done!" when Morgan Freeman's character seriously tries to tell us they do what a spinning loom tells them to. Well wait, just your spinning loom? Or any spinning loom? Could I go to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and get a hit list off some Amish lady's loom? If it's possible, then the film gets even stupidererer. In all the time it takes the main character to catch and set up hundreds of rats as walking bombs, he could have simply just walked in and shot up the place.

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Sam Whitwicky is running from Capitoltron!

5. Eagle Eye: ** And talk about really going out of your way to do something. For example, the villain in this movie has the protagonists rob an armored car for a vial of medicine to keep them alive in low oxygen so they can ride in a transport plane. Uh, why not just get them tickets on a regular plane? It's films like this that make me worry about how Star Trek will turn out coming from the same people. I never fail to crack up at characters in sci-fi movies who go on and on about how advance their A.I. is and then have such a massive blind spot for how it can easily do without humanity. In this case though, the computer jumps through such loop holes to come to the conclusions it does that it's just ludicrous. So pretty much, never do anything because it'll bring harm to you. That's the lesson of the film. Pair that with so many silly things that go right for the villain and you have a movie stretched beyond the breaking point.

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Hey, I was angry too when I read the script's third act!

6. Hancock: ** Or: A Staggering Act of Self-Sabotage. Not the most disappointing film of the year, but darn near it. Director Peter Berg seems to regularly crank out solid work and much of this film appeared to be going the same way. And then it just turns 90 degrees and goes in a direction that is given absolutely zero set-up. The story completely shifts into something else and it's mind-boggling to watch. It needlessly complicates what had been an already interesting story about a superhero and his love-hate relationship with people. Yet in a film about superheroes, I find it harder to believe that he just happens to meet a guy married to some long lost love he doesn't even remember.

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I can take him. He's just an Ewok.

7. Semi-Pro: ** I actually felt a little bit like a used floor towel after watching this film i.e. a little scummy. What should have been the final installment in a hilarious Will Ferrell sports trilogy ends on this so-so film about minor league basketball involving a thoroughly unlikeable lead character. There's always been a fine line between Ferrell's characters being lovable idiots and detestable jerks. I guess this film just swung too far over the fence into jerk territory. Turns out jerk territory is Flint, Michigan in the 1970's, which is a great setting, but this film manages to squander this with scene after scene that just never quite gets to hilarious. Thinking back now, the most I remember laughing at is the bear wrestling scene and nothing else.

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The advancement of the spear was stymied by the invention of the horse.

8. 10,000 B.C.: ** Well at least they didn't try to show the hero inventing the wheel. Knowing little of the plot, I was hoping for something realistic. Okay, silly me. History and shifts in society fascinate me, but there's a black and white cartoon feel when a pair of hunter/gatherers walk into a village and stare in bewilderment at a small field of planted crops. It gets sillier as the film becomes a cliche as old as 10,000 years when the hero travels to the bad guy's city to rescue his girl. Roland Emmerich films the shrouded villain with such mystery I seriously thought it would be revealed that he was a Stargate alien. That would have actually made for a better film.

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Tens of people flock to the grand opening of Epcot Center New York!

9. The Day the Earth Stood Still: ** Perhaps the Earth was just as bored by this film as I was. A dull remake that tries to alter the story for our time, but at the expense of plausibility. If you're now going to wipe out humanity to save Earth, why bother sending an emissary to shake hands with them in the first place! Amid all the superfluous special effects scenes thrown in to punch up a second rate holiday feature (you know your movie is in trouble when the biggest monument destroyed in your disaster film is the Meadowlands) is perhaps the worst child performance in many many years. Jaden Smith, the hell spawn of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is the real alien monster here, practically ruining every scene he's in with his contrive obstinate and bratty behavior. About the biggest pleasure of the film was watching Klaatu leave the kid alone in the forest after the kid told police where to find him. I especially like how Klaatu downs a chopper and turns to look at the kid as if to say, "Those lives are on your head dumbass."

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"It's gone from suck to blow!"

10. You Don't Mess with the Zohan: ** Some of the old Adam Sandler absurdity returns in his most recent film about a Hassad super agent. Unfortunately, too much of a plot gets in the way and drags out the film way too long. It also gets distracted by cameos, some inspired (Dave Matthews as a redneck assassin) and dumb (Mariah Carey as... Mariah Carey). One particular joke involving sex with old women, like everything in this movie, just goes on way too long before it just starts getting nasty. The film's final third where Jewish/Palestinian animosity is put aside to fight off a Wal-Mart clone moving into the neighborhood offers nothing new or funny in the fight against rampant capitalism.

Next Up: Miscellaneous categories.

[Sxottlan]

To blatantly steal from MSNBC, some moments in time from 2008:

1. In Wall-E, Eve completes her mission and shuts down, which frightens Wall-E and sends him into a panic. The camera pans behind a detached TV screen to capture the scene as a harsh magnified reminder of their true nature in spite of their feelings.

2. A man finds something he did not expect in the closet of his mistress in Burn After Reading.

3. In probably The Incredible Hulk's cleverest bit, Hulk uses a huge piece of abstract art to beat the tar out of military vehicles invading a college campus looking for him. Bonus points for the strange neo-realist sequence set in a Brazilian neighborhood and soda factory.

4. A river flash freezes several horses in place in My Winnipeg and then seems to never thaw again, making the place an improbable dating hot spot.

5. A cathartic release as a weapons manufacturer stomps through a terrorist camp, cleansing his sins as he burns down his own creations and ends in an explosive ascension into the heavens in Iron Man.

Some miscellaneous categories:

Most Disappointing Film of 2008: Step Brothers. After the hilarious Anchorman and the surprisingly rich Talladega Nights (about the only recent film that felt like it came from a novel when it didn't), I was expecting something even better in Will Ferrell's third collaboration with Adam McKay. Instead we basically get a sitcom on the big screen, one that was fitfully funny, but almost more uncomfortable than anything. Besides, the conceit that these grown men would act specifically like 7-year olds seems to speak more to mental illness than bad parenting.

Most Under-Rated Film of 2008: The Fall. From what I understand, the film actually did fairly well on the art house circuit, but while that may grant Tarsem's second film a cult following, it's still a shame that such an extravagant yet personal film didn't so much as put a ding in the public consciousness.

Biggest Surprise Film of 2008: Kung Fu Panda: We've only ever had reason to expect dreck from the studio that brought us Shrek. Instead, we get a hyper stylish and fun animated action film without a single stupid pop culture reference. It's like the studio developed a spine. Not that it's a towering act of genius, but there is surprising complexity to some of the characters feelings and relationships, namely between Ti Lung and Shifu. Frankly, this is the kind of relationship we should have seen between Anakin and Obiwon in the prequel Star Wars trilogy. Such an interesting mix of pride, shame, rage and impotence.

Most Overrated Film of 2008: Slumdog Millionaire: Most juggernauts that clean up at awards season are usually films I admittedly get behind. Just not here. Entirely acceptable rental fare is blown way out of proportion here. Obnoxious camera work kept the film off-kilter the entire time. And in order to fulfill the Dickensian plot, you have to buy some far-fetched things (just what was that actor doing visiting the slums?). Again, serviceable, but hardly award-worthy.

Favorite Movie Seen on DVD in 2008: Legend of the Black Scorpion


Best Trailer of 2008: Star Trek teaser trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/index.html) before Cloverfield. Haunting.

Favorite Scenes of 2008:
1. A quiet evening after a long day of work in the opening of Wall-E.
2. Opening dream sequence from Kung Fu Panda.
3. Alexandria's second fall in The Fall.
4. Sword duel in Hellboy 2.
5. George H.W. Bush reacts to his lose of the '92 election in W.

Favorite Shots of 2008:
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1. A lone penguin heads towards the mountains and certain doom in Encounters at the End of the World.
2. Tracking shot of Kirk Lazarus running through a battlefield as a chopper crashes next to him in Tropic Thunder.
3. An underwater shot hints at the chaos above in Let the Right One In.
4. A hand-held shot captures the head of the Statue of Liberty landing nearby, runs into a convenience store and comes back out to find the street in ruins in Cloverfield.
5. Slo-mo shot as Wesley fires a machine pistol in a wide pan in Wanted.

[Sxottlan]

Now on to the Top Ten of 2008:

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Alternate: Sukiyaki Western Django ***1/2 Directed by Tekashi Miike. A well-done, if familiar story. Borrowing heavily from Yojimbo to the point of nearly being a remake, Miike still provides a colorful and violent tapestry with a few surprises. Instead of a single pistol threatening to change the balance of power in this town, it's a Gatling gun, which thankfully finds plenty of use. The mixing of motifs between Japanese and Old West is a bit of a silly conceit (one that gets even more bizarre with Quentin Tarantino trying to do stereotypical Asian accents), but one that works when you consider how these two have borrowed so heavily from each other over the years to the point of just mixing them together here. You get use to it fairly quickly. The mysterious stranger in town is kind of hard to root for, but the movie finds an interesting way of giving him some depth by way of an orphaned child in town, providing we suspect a mirror to his past and providing a grim preview of the kid's future.

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"I told them I wasn't going to shoot a penguin film."

10. Encounters at the End of the World ***1/2 Directed by Werner Herzog.

While I've only seen a fraction of his filmography, I get a bit of a feeling that this a slightly different film for Herzog. Apparently commissioned by Discovery Channel to go to Antarctica and see what he can find, Herzog ends up finding what really feels like the last human outpost on the planet. What we get is your standard nature special, but with Herzog's signature twist, continuing the director's renaissance of popularity.

Naturally, Herzog is attracted to the eccentrics who inhabit the seventh continent and while he certainly gets plenty of nature in his shots, it's usually in getting man's reaction to it, from the guy tracking glaciers to the people listening to seals beneath the ice. I particularly liked the tunnel with messages posted. People last long enough down there, I could see them becoming catacombs.

All of the vignettes are interesting and while Herzog said he didn't want to film any penguins, the one penguin he does get is probably the film's best moment.

[Sxottlan]

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"I'd like you to take a step back... and literally fuck your own face!"

9. Tropic Thunder ***1/2 Directed by Ben Stiller.

The line above crudely refers to the level of navel-gazing a film about film usually takes part in. Essentially a more violent version of a childhood favorite, The Three Amigos, Ben Stiller's latest film is little more than a smart, funny little comedy that just happens to look ridiculously good while doing it. Much of that credit is due the great cinematographer John Toll. It is unbelievable how so many comedies continue to look like pilots for sitcoms in this day and age when even cheap digital cameras can lead to great looking small independent features.

The surprising production values aside, the film manages to feel fairly authentic. From the egotistical actors to the inexperienced director, even down to the trailers showing off real movie studios teasing the kind of films they're genuinely known for, Stiller has seen it from the inside his whole life. The amazing thing is that he doesn't go for broke and reins himself in. So while you have the kid drug kingpin and idiot leading man, it's not total one-liners throughout.

However some eccentric characters do crop up, from Tom Cruise's monstrous and ape-like movie executive to Robert Downey Junior's character actor without a real personality. The humor comes in these deranged Hollywood-types who seamlessly transition from dealing with fake action to dealing with a vicious heroine cartel like it's a contract negotiation. Cruise is great and while it isn't remotely a good make-up job, he still manages to create a full character. Downey's character is probably the biggest gamble of the year and it pays off wonderfully as Stiller and Downey are always able to make it more about a deranged studio system that would rather go for the tasteless instead of the sensible.

[Sxottlan]

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"I was doing a piece for Vanity Fair."

8. Iron Man ***1/2 Directed by Jon Favreau.

I find this more of a techno corporate thriller than a comicbook movie. It might be a little crazy, but I see Favreau's sophomore effort having more in common with Michael Clayton than with Spiderman. There is little in the movie that really screams its comicbook origins and, while The Dark Knight cornered the market on "ultra-serious" adaptations, Iron Man feels more near-future than alternate present day universe (was it Stark's colorful armor?).

The film centers on the personification of the military industrial complex, Tony Stark, and his social awakening. Dragged down from his ivory tower where he naively thinks he can just fire and forget, he stumbles out of a cave not three days later, but three months, reborn as Iron Man. There seemed to be maneuvering of the release dates of Robert Downey, Jr. other films in 2008 so that the Academy could get him a nomination for his comeback in this film. Here's an idea, why not nominate him for this movie? It was such a complete star-making turn they made a point of inserting him into another movie later that same summer as the same character. Downey adeptly moves Stark across the emotional spectrum believably, those expressive eyes that just moments before were having fun now turn pleading when facing dire reality.

Thankfully everyone else pretty much plays it straight against Downey's juggernaut role. Jeff Bridges is great as a big bear of a man both friendly and menacing while Gwyneth Paltrow has a nice return to the screen as Stark's girl Friday. Credit goes to Favreau for continuing to go with physical models whenever possible (the relationship between Stark and Miss Potts is nearly overshadowed by the one between Stark and a sentient robotic appendage). I can't wait for the sequel, even though the story sounds like it'll go in a different direction than what this movie implied.

[Sxottlan]

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"We die and the world will be poorer for it."

7. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army ***1/2 Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

An improvement over the original in just about every way (save the kung fu Nazi fetishist), Del Toro's second installment in what will hopefully become a trilogy takes advantage of the director's clout following Pan's Labyrinth. A visual feast (for the eyes!) that goes for broke also has a resonating simple fairy tale story.

Indeed the movie wears its heart on its sleeve. One realizes the elves probably wouldn't be so bitter if they didn't live in sewers and subway tunnels. Still plenty of forest out there. No matter. Given the environmental message of the film along with the set pieces (one including mechanical men), there were times I could have been watching Hayao Miyazaki's first live action film and that is certainly a compliment to Del Toro.

Much was made of the creature creations and comparisons of this film's market scene to the cantina scene from Star Wars are deserved. While there isn't even any attempt to do anything realistic, that's fine. Otherwise we wouldn't get a banker with a little town on his head or little creatures with two heads who debate amongst itself. We especially wouldn't get a forest elemental in a thrilling and then sobering action scene as the villain puts Hellboy into the terrible position of killing the last of a mighty species. The scene ends with surprising beauty and I wish the movie had returned to that street at the end.

The Hobbit is in good hands.

[Sxottlan]

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"Who's alive? Who is alive? Who is alive anymore? So hard to remember. Sometimes..sometimes I forget. I forget Cameron is gone. I forget my father has been gone since I was 21. At some point, when you miss a place, the background in photos become more important that the people in them."

6. My Winnipeg ***1/2 Directed by Guy Maddin.

The second film on the top ten list seen just on DVD. A look into the director's hometown so intimate you almost feel a little embarrassed to take a peak. Do you think so fondly of the town where you're from? I'll admit to taking two vacations in the last couple years to my old hometown of Tucson for some pure nostalgia trips. Drive around, reflect on what it was like a quarter century ago and what it looks like now. Think about the life I could have had if I stayed. Would the arbitrary places that seem to have an almost mystical place in my memory and in real life have the same feeling?

An eclectic variety of structures and places fill Maddin's pseudo-biography: a hockey arena now demolished, an old girl's school, his first house, which also served as a business. Conveniently, he's able to get back into his old house to film for this documentary! Throughout the film, we're aware of Maddin's love for his hometown while at the same time conveying an irreverent tone that acknowledges how tucked away from the world the whole city is. This is done through the repeated motif of sleepy passengers trying to leave town on a train. Maddin tries to escape and in his dream logic, figures the best way out is through. That is, to go delve into his past and become only more hopelessly mired in the molasses that is Winnipeg ("Wonderful Winnipeg" as we're reminded in a haunting tune that opens the film). The whole movie in many ways resembles a dream with its random jumps to other places and a fairly abrupt and subsequently unsatisfying ending.

Even after repeated viewing (I rented the film again just to write this), the film is able to cut through the bizarre to tap into your own memories of your own hometown. It wasn't Eaton's Department store I was really looking at, but the Tuscon Mall. It wasn't the hair salon beneath Maddin's apartment, but my grandfather's locksmith shop on 4th Avenue. Like Eaton's, the shop is gone (although preserved for posterity in the background of a few shots in the 1980's sci-fi B-film The Wraith). And at the end, when Maddin drops his wacky facade and talks straight about his family, I cried harder than I have in a long time.

[Sxottlan]

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"I fantasize about what it would be like if Caden died."
"Caden, how does that make you feel?"

5. Synecdoche, New York: **** Directed by Charlie Kaufman.

The downward spiral and echo upon echo evident in so many of Kaufman's scripts is in full effect here. Hardly the feel good movie of the year, the film still has the manic energy and originality that kept reminding me of Annie Hall for some reason. Mostly I think it was the house burning down for forty years.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman slumps into a role perfect for him, a quiet man who we detect is furious at his life and which sometimes slips through. Since he has his whole life to dedicate to his masterwork, it's not surprising when that work eventually starts to emulate the production. The meta-production eventually circles back around to the point that Caden Cotard lives his hollow life taking cues from a woman hired to play him. The movie folds in on itself so many times that the director disappears, the edge of the set is beyond the horizon and the director's life still never once makes sense to him.

I can try and sit here and dissect the film more, but it's one that consciously attempts to defy explanation. That can get a little frustrating and we have to instead just roll with it. Thankfully, Kaufman took a few pages from Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze when it came to developing a visual style in his directorial debut, creating a haunting, hand-held visual look. There is plenty of dark humor to enjoy even as the director's life is slipping away, his actors impatient at the pre-production time on this play.

[Sxottlan]

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"I want to remember us just as we are now."

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: **** Directed by David Fincher.

Admittedly, it's Forrest Gump 2. However, I also found it a more mature, somber version as if those filmmakers came back 15 years later and tried again. Shrimp gumbo becomes caviar and vodka in a run down Minsk hotel kitchen. Instead of developmental disability, the main character ages backwards through time, ditching the cutesy angle that tied down Gump and has started to slow that film's move into real classic status.

Whether Fincher's meticulous film will even last as long as Zemeckis' film remains to be seen. Thinking back on that film, it's hard to believe that visual effects would someday surpass those and here Fincher effortlessly folds in a great digital performance by Brad Pitt. While we look at Pitt for the first time on camera a third of the way through the movie and realize it, it's also a credit to the visual effects that what we saw before also looked real...just different. Kind of hard to explain.

As death is a constant companion for Benjamin, the briefest moments of joy really shine through and that's a credit to David Fincher, often known for his dark and bleak work. Here they take on a certain haunting beauty, such as with a hummingbird outside a rain-soaked window. Pure joy is on display for the briefest of montages as Button reaches the same age as the love of his live and we never thought we'd see that kind of emotion in a Fincher film.

And then it slowly starts to fade as it inevitably must. As a progression through a person's life, some moments start to stand out over others. But the haunting imagery remains, including the warning sirens at the end and the film's final shot, implying that the clock will forever be buried beneath the silt of the Gulf of Mexico.

We know the waters will recede, yet we believe it won't.

[Sxottlan]

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"Why are you making everyone die."
"It's my story."
"Mine too."

3. The Fall: **** Directed by Tarsem.

After eight years of speculation (the only rumor to sustain fans the possibility that maybe he was working on some Indian version of Hamlet?), Tarsem brings a labor of love to the big screen and it's about as epic as can be with practical effects in this day and age.

The film celebrates the reckless early days of Hollywood moviemaking in its opening and closing. Between is a different kind of story told in a manner soon to become extinct in the 20th century film revolution. A story told between one person and another orally and how once it's out there, it's not necessarily just any one person's story. Not that Tarsem doesn't supply the imagination of a little girl with phenomenal locations from not just one country, but all over the world. You'd think the film would have been a shoe-in for an Art Direction Oscar until you discover that all of the locations already exist.

Another staggering surprise is Catinca Untaru as the main character. It's unbelievable how good she is here, her inexperience as an actress somehow translating to a 100% believable performance as a curious child. Far, far too many child performances feel like they're trying to play grown-ups or are too jaded for their age. While I might be able to see the complaint about Untaru's performance being too precious, it also felt more genuine than most child performances I've seen in a long time.

Lee Pace does great supporting work as a cipher whose dark wish slowly comes to light, leading him to putting his young friend in danger. His selfishness leads to the girl falling again, manifested in a nightmare that strangely made sense for a child experiencing a traumatic experience again, just ripping her mind in half.

[Sxottlan]

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"And we won't come home until we kiss the girl..."

2. Wall-E: **** Directed by Andrew Stanton.

And you will know us by our trail of garbage too apparently. For that is all Wall-E has and it's all out of context (a diamond ring is tossed in favor of its box). Astonishing, and satisfying, that this became a blockbuster despite nary a word spoken.

If anything, the film is really two in one and I can understand the criticism leveled at the second part. The first half is admittedly the better of the two, a nearly silent film relying entirely on the strong haunting visuals or a ruined world. It's a delirious blend of sadness and hope and innocence; all pure emotion on display with a healthy dose of humor as Wall-E's box-like shape does everything it can to mimic human behavior.

The second half, or second film if you will, attempts to drive home more of a point. It certainly succeeds; the emotion here one more of pure rage. Rage at our incessant and unending consumerism without end in sight visualized by the disturbing image of a grotesque Wal-Mart like store that is also the world's apparent governing body. And centuries later, it continues unabated. For while everything may seem pristine on board the Axiom, down below decks the filth and the waste continues, with only bigger and bigger versions of Wall-E.

The ending, while happy on the outside, may not be so cheery when you consider the possibility of it starting all over again. While the beautiful mosaic of the end credits implies a reboot to civilization, that image of the garbage piles in space hints that humanity's descendants never did learn a damn thing and will begin again. Or maybe not. The film ends on it being 50/50. Which is all anyone's chances can ever be.

[Sxottlan]

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"Hi."

1. The Dark Knight: **** Directed by Christopher Nolan.

There's isn't much more that can be said about this film that already hasn't been said. I was a bit concerned about Christopher Nolan changing up the look of Gotham City from his first film, Batman Begins (which really grew on repeated viewings). I was raised more on the Burton films and cartoon series compared to the brighter, daylight-friendlier television series from the 1960's. However, his well-publicized attempt to mimic Michael Mann's Heat made for as realistic a feeling comicbook movie as one can get thanks to mostly location shooting and (some) visual effects.

Indeed, the Gotham City of The Dark Knight is still as big a labyrinth as anything in Dark City. With the notable exception of a side trip to Asia, everything is set in Gotham and there just doesn't seem to be any way out. When a pair of ferries leave dock towards the end, Nolan's composition hems them in with nowhere to go.

Within this city is the battle of wits between two of the most famous arch-nemesis's from the last century of pop culture. Christian Bale pretty much made me forget about the other Batmans. It's not too difficult, but I always liked Michael Keaton and admittedly, Val Kilmer too. Bale usually plays psychopaths and really Bruce Wayne isn't far removed, but it's his most heroic role yet and he's good at it. Heath Ledger is dynamite as the Joker, his flat Midwestern accent somehow adding to his malevolence. It's a huge feat following in Jack Nicholson's performance. Nicholson's take on the Joker was the first performance I remembering really noticing as I was growing up. And now with the two, I find they both provide valid interpretations of the Joker.

This battle between the two really isn't as action-packed as you might think. What action scenes there are are fine. It's the conversations that you actually remember more in this comicbook adaptation. In some ways, the climax drags on a bit too long with Batman trying to prevent violence, but it's Batman being who he is. Even at an incredibly cathartic moment at the end, Nolan doesn't let the audience off that easily and literally pulls the Joker back from the brink.

It's endemic of a film that strangely never compromises and doesn't take the easy way out. I'd love to see more, but don't know what they could do next.

Total Number of Films Seen in 2008: 65
Good (*** to ****): 41
Average (**1/2): 17
Poor: (Zero Stars to **): 7

Wow. A lot more positives than I remembered. I guess the quantity didn't exactly equal memorable quality. However, it's balanced out by a lack of truly awful, eye-gougingly bad movies.

See you next year!

[megladon8]

I have yet to see so many movies from your list, but most of them are from the "worst of" list, so I guess that's a good thing then. :)

I agree with everything you said about Hancock in your first post. It's too bad a good story was butchered so badly.

[Sxottlan]

I have yet to see so many movies from your list, but most of them are from the "worst of" list...

Do you know what the tragedy is? I saw Wanted and Hancock on the same day.

A real double whammy.

[Stay Puft]

Fast and furious, Heino style. Kudos.

Always enjoy your yearly commentaries.

[Sxottlan]

Fast and furious, Heino style. Kudos.

Always enjoy your yearly commentaries.

Thanks! This is the ninth list I've done. I'm thinking about going either going for an even ten and calling it quits or scaling it back yet again. People don't seem to do these much anymore.

[trotchky]

Sukiyaki Western Django - **
Tropic Thunder - *
My Winnipeg - ***
Synecdoche, New York - ****
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – w/o
Wall-E - ***
The Dark Knight - **1/2

[monolith94]

Glad to have another "The Fall" fan! Such a great movie.