MC Yearly Consensus - 2008 (Revision)

[Spinal]

I did updated versions of 2007 and 2009. But never a second look at 2008. Let's see how it looks.

Submit your five favorite films from this year and in a week I will give you a top ten. IMDb dates will be used.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-5 points
2nd Place-4 points
3rd Place-3.5 points
4th Place-3 points
5th Place-2.5 points

There will be no restrictions on short films. A minimum of three films must be listed. If you want to edit, make a new post and tell me what you've changed.

You may begin now.

[Spinal]

1. Happy-Go-Lucky
2. Let the Right One In
3. Burn After Reading
4. Repo! The Genetic Opera
5. City of Ember

[MadMan]

1. The Wrestler
2. The Dark Knight
3. Burn After Reading
4. Frost/Nixon
5. Tropic Thunder

The rest of the list:

6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. Frygtelig lykkelig (Terribly Happy)
8. Wallace and Gromit in a Matter of Loaf or Death
9. Gran Torino
10. Waltz With Bashir

HM: The Baader Meinhof Complex, Pinapple Express

PS: I originally made this list a while back before seeing Terribly Happy, Waltz With Bashir, or The Baader Meinholf Complex. Funny how things change a little over a couple years.

[Raiders]

1. Two Lovers (James Gray)
2. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
3. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
4. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme)
5. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

-------------------

6. Man on Wire (James Marsh)
7. Somers Town (Shane Meadows)
8. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
9. Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen)
10. Hunger (Steve McQueen)

[Melville]

1. Two Lovers
2. Hunger
3. Waltz with Bashir
4. Synecdoche, New York
5. Love Exposure

HMs: Burn After Reading, The Class, Let the Right One In

[Weeping_Guitar]

1. A Christmas Tale
2. Summer Hours
3. Still Walking
4. Wall-E
5. 35 Rhums

[Ivan Drago]

1. The Dark Knight
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. Let The Right One In
4. Revolutionary Road
5. Cloverfield
------------------------------
6. Tropic Thunder
7. Two Lovers
8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
9. W.
10. Slumdog Millionaire

[soitgoes...]

1. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
2. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
3. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
4. Hunger (Steve McQueen)
5. Burn After Reading (Joel Coen)
--------------------------------------------------------------
6. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne)
7. Afterschool (Antonio Campos)
8. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
9. My Only Sunshine (Reha Erdem)
10. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)


11. Two Lovers (James Gray)
12. Speed Racer (Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski)
13. Love Exposure (Shion Sono)
14. Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley)
15. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)

[Stay Puft]

1. 35 rhums
2. Summer Hours
3. Tokyo Sonata
4. Burn After Reading
5. Birdsong

[B-side]

1. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
2. The Wrestler (Aronofsky)
3. Two Lovers (Gray)
4. Wall-E (Stanton)
5. Cloverfield (Reeves)

[Lazlo]

1. The Dark Knight
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
4. Let the Right One In
5. Rachel Getting Married

[StanleyK]

1. Two Lovers (James Gray)
2. WALL·E (Andrew Stanton)
3. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
4. Presto (Doug Sweetland)

I feel bad voting for only three films, but everything else I liked from 2008 I either don't like anymore or need to watch again.

[Boner M]

1. Tokyo Sonata
2. 35 Rhums
3. Love Exposure
4. Hunger
5. Two Lovers

HM: Wall-E, Of Time and the City, Momma's Man, Let the Right One In, Somer's Town, Three Blind Mice, Ballast

[kopello]

1. Rachel Getting Married
2. Tokyo Sonata
3. Flight of the Red Balloon
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Waltz with Bashir

6. My Winnipeg
7. Happy-Go Lucky
8. Speed Racer
9. Two Lovers
10. Hunger

[Watashi]

1. Speed Racer
2. WALL-E
3. Happy-Go-Lucky
4. Two Lovers
5. The Class

Fucking phenomenal year.

[Ezee E]

1. Dark Knight
2. Two Lovers
3. Let the Right One In
4. Rachel Getting Married
5. Dear Zachary

[Stay Puft]

3. Flight of the Red Balloon

This is 2007. Otherwise it'd be at the top of my list!

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. In Bruges
02. Let the Right One In
03. Wall-E
04. Tokyo Sonata
05. The Dark Knight
- - - - -
06. Transsiberian
07. Stepbrothers
08. Repo: The Genetic Opera
09. Pineapple Express
10. Cloverfield

With apologies to The Good the Bad the Weird, Speed Racer, The Ruins, Trick 'r Treat, and The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

[B-side]

1. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
2. The Wrestler (Aronofsky)
3. Two Lovers (Gray)
4. Wall-E (Stanton)
5. Cloverfield (Reeves)

I'm awful with modern foreign cinema, so this list is shamefully narrow in scope. I've got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the supposedly great foreign language cinema of the past decade.

[soitgoes...]

I don't know if it's still underseen or a lot of just don't have good taste in movies like me, but Still Walking needs to be on more lists.

[B-side]

I don't know if it's still underseen or a lot of just don't have good taste in movies like me, but Still Walking needs to be on more lists.

I've seen it. It's not great.

[dmk]

1 . Revanche (Götz Spielmann)
2 . Un lac (Philippe Grandrieux)
3 . Of Time and the City (Terence Davies)
4 . Momma’s Man (Azazel Jacobs)
5 . La Ventana (Carlos Sorin)

PS. The Dark Knight sucks.

[Stay Puft]

I've seen it. It's not great.

Agreed.

35 rhums is where it's at this year. Glad there's at least a couple other people throwing support behind that one.

[EyesWideOpen]

1. Speed Racer
2. Let the Right One In
3. Wall-E
4. Two Lovers
5. Revolutionary Road

[Henry Gale]

1. Synecdoche, New York
2. Let The Right One In
3. The Dark Knight
4. WALL-E
5. The Wrestler

And yes, Speed Racer would be #6.

Either way, looking over these lists and my own, I'm kinda disappointed as to how many movies from this year I still need to get around to, long after the fact.

[baby doll]

1. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
2. Hunger (Steve McQueen)
3. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
4. Tony Manero (Pablo Larrain)
5. La Frontière de l'aube (Philippe Garrel)

Runners-up: Burn After Reading (Ethan and Joel Coen); Entre les murs (Laurent Cantet); Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood); My Dear Enemy (Lee Yoon-ki); Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki).

[Raiders]

I've seen it. It's not great.

Koreeda >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tony Scott

[B-side]

Koreeda >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tony Scott

Maybe. I've only seen Still Walking.

[Yxklyx]

1. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
2. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)
3. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
4. Julia (Erick Zonca)
5. Two Lovers (James Gray)

[elixir]

1. Let The Right One In
2. Our Beloved Month of August
3. Happy-Go-Lucky
4. Wall-E
5. Rachel Getting Married

Still have a lot to see.

[origami_mustache]

1. Speed Racer
2. Hunger
3. Pineapple Express
4. Ballast
5. Love Exposure

[Russ]

1. Speed Racer
2. Let the Right One In
3. Genius Party Beyond
4. Fatso
5. Mock Up on Mu

[Irish]

1. Speed Racer

Oh, COME ON!!!!!!

:P

[Kurosawa Fan]

1. Speed Racer
2. Speed Racer
3. Speed Racer
4. Speed Racer
5. Mamma Mia!

[Pop Trash]

I knew this kinda shit would happen. I call shenanigans due to people getting all butt hurt in the Speed Racer thread.

[Grouchy]

1. Let the Right One In
2. The Dark Knight
3. In Bruges
4. Wendy and Lucy
5. Hunger

[Spinal]

5. Mamma Mia!

:lol:

[Irish]

1. Speed Racer
2. Speed Racer
3. Speed Racer
4. Speed Racer
5. Mamma Mia!

:lol:

I thought of posting a list where SR was #1, but thought people wouldn't take it the right way.

[Irish]

I knew this kinda shit would happen. I call shenanigans due to people getting all butt hurt in the Speed Racer thread.

It's a Match Court voting scandal. Hanging chads! Ballot stuffing!

I'm suing and will take this all the way to the MC Supreme Court if need be.

[origami_mustache]

I knew this kinda shit would happen. I call shenanigans due to people getting all butt hurt in the Speed Racer thread.

If you look up my top films of 2008 post on match-cut you will see that I had Speed Racer at #1 all along.

[transmogrifier]

If you look up my top films of 2008 post on match-cut you will see that I had Speed Racer at #1 all along.

I'm not sure proving that you have been wrong for a significant amount of time makes the wrongness less wrong.

[origami_mustache]

I'm not sure proving that you have been wrong for a significant amount of time makes the wrongness less wrong.

Probably makes it worse, but I'm no flip flopper. Pretty weak year anyway.

[Raiders]

It's a Match Court voting scandal. Hanging chads! Ballot stuffing!

I'm suing and will take this all the way to the MC Supreme Court if need be.

I'll allow it.

[Rowland]

1. Synecdoche, New York
2. Wendy and Lucy
3. Martyrs
4. Sita Sings the Blues
5. Let the Right One In
----
6. Prodigal Sons
7. Redbelt
8. Julia
9. Two Lovers
10. The Wrestler
11. The Brothers Bloom
12. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[transmogrifier]

Probably makes it worse, but I'm no flip flopper. Pretty weak year anyway.

Tremendously weak year, I agree. As this consensus will testify to.

[Raiders]

I think it was a very strong year. All five of the films I voted for received four stars.

[Irish]

Tremendously weak year, I agree. As this consensus will testify to.

I didn't see a lot from this year, but even looking over some lists elsewhere ... man, I think this is about where I started not to care about the movies so much.

Outside of Batman and one other movie, I don't think there's anything from 2008 that I've seen that's worth listing, much less talking about.

[Raiders]

I didn't see a lot from this year, but even looking over some lists elsewhere ... man, I think this is about where I started not to care about the movies so much.

Outside of Batman and one other movie, I don't think there's anything from 2008 that I've seen that's worth listing, much less talking about.

There are about 25 or 30 films from this year, just off the top of my head, I would rather discuss than the damn Batman film.

[soitgoes...]

Just like pretty much every year of the 2000's, 2008 is ridiculously strong. Saying otherwise makes me think that enough films have yet to be seen to form a complete opinion. World cinema is pretty much at the top of its game, and by world, I don't mean a handful of countries like in the 50's and 60's. American independent film is top notch. The only weak point is with Hollywood films, but even with them there are usually a few each year that are great.

[soitgoes...]

Maybe. I've only seen Still Walking.
I've seen enough from both to be able to tell you Raiders is correct.

[Melville]

Four of the movies I listed are among my favorites, and another two are close. I liked The Dark Knight, but it would be pretty far down on the list of movies I saw from this year. It was mostly worth talking about because it's easy to talk about, given its ham-fisted approach to its themes and its many egregious problems.

[dreamdead]

1.Tokyo Sonata
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. 35 Rhums
4. Happy-Go-Lucky
5. WALL-E

[TGM]

1. The Dark Knight
2. Wall-E
3. Kung Fu Panda
4. Cloverfield
5. Iron Man

[Grouchy]

I think this year was rocking. The rest of my fantastic Top Ten:

6. Gran Torino
7. Lorna's Silence
8. Transsiberian
9. WALL-E
10. Burn After Reading

[Bosco B Thug]

So much I'm curious to see from this year: Still Walking, A Christmas Tale, Hunger, Burn After Reading, even Revolutionary Road, because for some reason I find it gets brought up a lot in IRL life...

But my list now would be:

1. Two Lovers
2. Summer Hours
3. Rachel Getting Married
4. Happy-Go-Lucky
5. Ponyo
---
6. Wendy and Lucy
7. Wall-E
8. Tokyo Sonata
9. Sita Sings the Blues
10. The X-Files: I Want To Believe
11. 35 Rhum

[EyesWideOpen]

I knew this kinda shit would happen. I call shenanigans due to people getting all butt hurt in the Speed Racer thread.

I think you're overestimating your importance on other people's posts.

[Pop Trash]

I think you're overestimating your importance on other people's posts.

There are others...

[Pop Trash]

1. Synecdoche, NY
2. Wendy and Lucy
3. The Wrestler
4. Two Lovers
5. Wall-E

6. Man on Wire
7. Waltz with Bashir
8. Goodbye Solo
9. The Dark Knight
10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Honorables:
Cloverfield
Let the Right One In
Gran Torino
The Strangers
Rachel Getting Married
Tyson
Pineapple Express (maybe)

Tremendous year.

[MadMan]

Sure Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture in a year where numerous other movies were far better. But 2008 is still better than 2010, even though I still have not seen a movie deserving a 100 score in 2008, where that is the case for 2010.

[Watashi]

More people need to see The Class.

[Dead & Messed Up]

There are about 25 or 30 films from this year, just off the top of my head, I would rather discuss than the damn Batman film.

Well, yeah, I think that even big fans of the flick are tired of talking about it. I'm surprised that no one else liked In Bruges as much as I did. I'm still in awe of its ridiculous blend of drama and action and comedy and sight-seeing.

[Pop Trash]

More people need to see The Class.

More people need to see To Be and To Have.

[Raiders]

Well, yeah, I think that even big fans of the flick are tired of talking about it.

Well, I meant back when it opened too. I like it, but it really isn't all that interesting to me.

[baby doll]

Pretty weak year anyway.For mainstream American cinema definitely (especially compared with 2007), but not for world cinema generally.

[eternity]

1. Cloverfield
2. Speed Racer
3. Wendy and Lucy
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. In Bruges
...
6. Dear Zachary
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. My Winnipeg
9. Burn After Reading
10. Rachel Getting Married

[origami_mustache]

For mainstream American cinema definitely (especially compared with 2007), but not for world cinema generally.

I actually thought it was a good year for mainstream American films. I think Speed Racer and Pineapple Express are two of the best mainstream films to come out last decade. Wall-E and Milk were pretty solid. Cloverfield, Be Kind Rewind, The Fall, and Dark Knight weren't great, but I enjoyed them for what they were. I also enjoyed The Wrestler, Blindness and Synecdoche, New York, and Burn After Reading.

....going by imdb dates instead of U.S. release dates elminates Still Life You, the Living, and My Winnipeg which would have all been top 5. Not a big fan of Happy Go Lucky, Adoration, or A Christmas Tale.

[B-side]

I think Speed Racer and Pineapple Express are two of the best mainstream films to come out last decade.

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/mfw/1293832687.jpg

[baby doll]

I actually thought it was a good year for mainstream American films. I think Speed Racer and Pineapple Express are two of the best mainstream films to come out last decade. Wall-E and Milk were pretty solid. Cloverfield, Be Kind Rewind, The Fall, and Dark Knight weren't great, but I enjoyed them for what they were. I also enjoyed The Wrestler, Blindness and Synecdoche, New York, and Burn After Reading.

....going by imdb dates instead of U.S. release dates elminates Still Life You, the Living, and My Winnipeg which would have all been top 5. Not a big fan of Happy Go Lucky, Adoration, or A Christmas Tale.I can't comment on either Speed Racer or Pineapple Express, not having seen either (or Cloverfield, for that matter). And since I believe we're going by IMDb dates, The Fall is 2006.

As for the rest of the films you mentioned, Be Kind Rewind was enjoyable in a mild sort of way, but it's still a huge step down from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Le Science des rêves. Similarly, I liked Synecdoche, New York for its ambition and weirdness, but it could've used a director.

Even by the standards of a summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight is undistinguished on every level. It doesn't do anything interesting in terms of form or narration (whatever their limitations, you could at least say that much about Memento and Inception); it's burdened with lots of clunky exposition (natch); Nolan's staging of actors is unimaginative and static, and his staging of the action sequences is incomprehensible (double and triple natch). Also, the performances are universally terrible, including Ledger.

Likewise, even by the standards of an Oscar-nominated sports movie... Well, I guess if that's your standard, then The Wrestler doesn't look half-bad, poorly written chick characters notwithstanding. Still, Aronofsky's movies tend to grow less interesting in inverse proportion to how much money they cost. Pi cost about twenty thousand dollars (or some ridiculous figure like that) and didn't have any stars, and it was brilliant. Black Swan, on the other hand...

And don't even get me started on Blindness (which is technically Canadian anyway).

In any case, 2008 was pretty weak compared to 2007, when the US mainstream alone gave us Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, The Dajreeling Limited, Gone Baby Gone, Hairspray, I'm Not There., Margot at the Wedding, Paranoid Park, and We Own the Night.

[MadMan]

In Bruges, just like Repo! The Genetic Opera! was really good, and I love both from 2008. I just don't feel they are good enough to make my Top 10 for 2008, that's all.

I was thinking of doing an "Overrated/Underrated" game for all of the revision threads, but then I realized this requires thinking, and that its much goddamn easier to just post my list and be done with it :P

But if people want to play along, go ahead. Ah hell, I guess I will. 2009 overrated was of course Avatar, and underrated was eh, I guess In The Loop.

As for 2008, I'd say Slumdog Millionaire was the most overrated. In Bruges was probably the most underrated. Others qualify, of course.

[baby doll]

As for 2008, I'd say Slumdog Millionaire was the most overrated.I think the fact that people treated The Dark Knight as anything but a cynical moneygrab is indicative of the degree to which commerce drives the discourse around film: The thinking seems to be that this is what people are seeing, so therefore it must be worth discussing as a work of art. Or for what it says about the zeitgeist. Or something. Accordingly, in the last few days, Mubi has published not one but two essays on Transformers 3.

But yeah, Slumdog Millionaire was a piece of shit also.

[MadMan]

I actually liked Avatar, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Dark Knight. The problem is that none of them deserved to win Best Picture, and luckily for us all only one actually did. I thought TDK was a great movie, and the backlash amuses me. However, Avatar and Slumdog were well deserving of the hate they received, especially since my list showcases that Slumdog Millionaire doesn't even deserve to be listed as an honorable mention-the same goes for Avatar.

None of them deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as the Transformers movies, though. Michael Bay makes pure shit. At least Avatar looked pretty and I could tell what the hell was going on in the action sequences, and Slumdog had some honest acting going on.

[baby doll]

I thought TDK was a great movie, and the backlash amuses me.Why do you think it's a great movie?

[elixir]

I think the fact that people treated The Dark Knight as anything but a cynical moneygrab is indicative of the degree to which commerce drives the discourse around film: The thinking seems to be that this is what people are seeing, so therefore it must be worth discussing as a work of art. Or for what it says about the zeitgeist. Or something. Accordingly, in the last few days, Mubi has published not one but two essays on Transformers 3.

But yeah, Slumdog Millionaire was a piece of shit also.

Whether or not it's "a work of art," I don't see why this shouldn't be the case. Should critics/analysts/whatever only discuss art-house films? That's silly. It's just as important to look at the films that more people are watching--what messages do those films convey, why is this film popular (critically or commercially), etc.?

[baby doll]

Whether or not it's "a work of art," I don't see why this shouldn't be the case. Should critics/analysts/whatever only discuss art-house films? That's silly. It's just as important to look at the films that more people are watching--what messages do those films convey, why is this film popular (critically or commercially), etc.?I wasn't trying to distinguish art house fare from more commercial movies; rather, I was trying to differentiate looking at The Dark Knight as a commercial reality versus looking at it as a film. Just because something makes money doesn't mean it's a worthwhile experience, nor does it necessarily have anything urgent to say about the world outside the theatre. Sometimes a turd is just a turd.

[elixir]

I wasn't trying to distinguish art house fare from more commercial movies; rather, I was trying to differentiate looking at The Dark Knight as a commercial reality versus looking at it as a film. Just because something makes money doesn't mean it's a worthwhile experience, nor does it necessarily have anything urgent to say about the world outside the theatre. Sometimes a turd is just a turd.

Okay, but just because it made money doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile experience...and why wouldn't we look at it as a film (even if it's a product of the dreaded commercial reality)? The Dark Knight is a film.

[transmogrifier]

How much is it worth for you all in this thread to not start another discussion on The Dark Knight? I can offer either the carrot or the stick, people.

[baby doll]

Okay, but just because it made money doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile experience...and why wouldn't we look at it as a film (even if it's a product of the dreaded commercial reality)? The Dark Knight is a film.Yeah, there are lots of profitable movies that are still worth seeing and discussing as movies. But this ain't one of them.

[elixir]

Yeah, there are lots of profitable movies that are still worth seeing and discussing as movies. But this ain't one of them.

Okay then. I don't even care to discuss The Dark Knight and I'm not even a fan of it, but I'm just defending its right to be discussed in general.

[kopello]

This is 2007. Otherwise it'd be at the top of my list!

D'oh, that makes the year a little less special then. Corrected list:

1. Rachel Getting Married
2. Tokyo Sonata
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Waltz with Bashir
5. My Winnipeg

6. Happy-Go Lucky
7. Speed Racer
8. Two Lovers
9. Hunger
10. Encounters at the End of the World

HMs: Redbelt, In Bruges, Wendy and Lucy, Milk, Still Life, Trick 'r Treat, The Headless Woman, Julia, Australia, 35 Shots of Rum, WALL-E

Such a great year.

[StanleyK]

I'm kind of with baby doll on this one. I mean, I'm not saying people shouldn't discuss The Dark Knight, but you can't throw a stone without hitting someone already talking about it; meanwhile, where are the people talking about, say, Lucrecia Martel?

[elixir]

I'm kind of with baby doll on this one. I mean, I'm not saying people shouldn't discuss The Dark Knight, but you can't throw a stone without hitting someone already talking about it; meanwhile, where are the people talking about, say, Lucrecia Martel?

My point was more generally that a film like The Dark Knight can and should be discussed, not that the specific film needs to be discussed more. It just seemed that babydoll was railing against "commercial films" being analyzed at first (two essays on Transformers 3!), but then he clarified what he meant.

[Mysterious Dude]

Why do you think it's a great movie?
If the movie is not even worth discussing, why invite discussion by asking this question?

[Stay Puft]

I forgot The Headless Woman was '08. That should probably be on my list.

[Ezee E]

If the movie is not even worth discussing, why invite discussion by asking this question?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rtOXMZlMTkg/TP8BvTPOx7I/AAAAAAAAD90/cBzrKVqd6WY/s1600/trap.jpg

[StanleyK]

My point was more generally that a film like The Dark Knight can and should be discussed, not that the specific film needs to be discussed more. It just seemed that babydoll was railing against "commercial films" being analyzed at first (two essays on Transformers 3!), but then he clarified what he meant.

Yeah, that's what I meant too; movies like The Dark Knight do deserve discussion, but they already get plenty of it at the expense of discussion of films like Lucrecia Martel's.

Incidentally, have you seen any Martel? She seems right up your alley.

[elixir]

Yeah, that's what I meant too; movies like The Dark Knight do deserve discussion, but they already get plenty of it at the expense of discussion of films like Lucrecia Martel's.

Incidentally, have you seen any Martel? She seems right up your alley.

Yeah, well, that happens. I don't think we are disagreeing.

No, I haven't. Your mention of the Dardennes did spark my interest, since they are one of my favs. She was also on the list of female directors I made for myself a few months back...I, um, have only seen 2 female-directed films since then. I fail. I should start that up again.

[origami_mustache]

Well I'm not a huge advocate of The Dark Knight or Cloverfield etc., but comparatively speaking they were much easier to swallow than most of the Hollywood drivel that I've seen. I enjoy watching these types of films with friends or as a mindless cinema vacation from time to time and they can be fun to analyze as well, but generally I'm not interested in commercial cinema and me saying it was a good year for mainstream movies is like saying my dog's poop smelled better today than yesterday. However, I personally think Speed Racer and Pineapple Express are something special.

[transmogrifier]

However, I personally think Speed Racer and Pineapple Express are something special.

I can reconcile the world I know with half of this sentence.

[origami_mustache]

I can reconcile the world I know with half of this sentence.

got it guys...a lot of you don't like these movies...it is just now clicking.

[transmogrifier]

got it guys...a lot of you don't like these movies...it is just now clicking.

That's what you got out of my comment? I was talking about how much I liked Pineapple Express. You're a cups half empty kind of guy, ain't ya?

[origami_mustache]

That's what you got out of my comment? I was talking about how much I liked Pineapple Express. You're a cups half empty kind of guy, ain't ya?

Sorry, I just anticipated another dig at Speed Racer...and yes I am.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

1. Rachel Getting Married
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. The Fall
4. Man on Wire
5. Burn After Reading

[Pop Trash]

3. The Fall


2006. We're using IMDB dates.

[Mysterious Dude]

1. Home (Ursula Meier)
2. Ballast
3. Revanche
4. Gomorra
5. Burn After Reading

6. Hunger
7. Julia
8. Let the Right One In
9. The Dark Knight
10. The Hurt Locker

[origami_mustache]

forgot about Ballast...I am adjusting.

[StanleyK]

I added The Headless Woman to my vote. Not that it looks like it'll make much of a difference.

[Spinal]

Any more?

[MadMan]

Why do you think it's a great movie?Good/great acting, good script, dialogue, screenplay, remarkable direction, etc....I could review it, but I don't think I really need to. Its been discussed to death.

And for the record, I was just responding to a post rather late because I felt like it. These threads are kind of boring to me, but I post in them because I like lists.

[baby doll]

Good/great acting, good script, dialogue, screenplay, remarkable direction, etc....I could review it, but I don't think I really need to. Its been discussed to death.

And for the record, I was just responding to a post rather late because I felt like it. These threads are kind of boring to me, but I post in them because I like lists.Yeah, I don't really see any of those qualities. The acting seemed uniformly uninspired, but that's due I think to the weaknesses of the script (what else could Ledger do but play an over-the-top cartoon villain?) and Nolan's direction (his over-reliance on close-ups means that the actors are forever acting from the neck-up), rather than the limitations of the actors themselves. (Let's just say it's not exactly Monsieur Verdoux.) As for the screenplay, it seemed to me a thin pretext to get from one (incomprehensible) action set piece to the next with lot of perfunctory exposition and on-the-nose thematizing in between ("Some men just want to watch the world burn"), and Nolan wasn't doing anything interesting in terms of structure (as he did in Inception) or narration (Memento). It's mediocre blockbuster filmmaking on every level.

[Pop Trash]

Nobody cares Baby Doll.

[Irish]

I do. But I thought we weren't allowed to discuss "that movie." :cry:

[right_for_the_moment]

If it's not too late...

1. Summer Hours
2. Two Lovers
3. Wendy and Lucy
4. Wall-E
5. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

6. Burn After Reading
7. The Dark Knight
8. The Wrestler
9. The Headless Woman
10. Synecdoche, New York

[Spinal]

Wow. Possibly the closest voting ever. Results soon.

[Spinal]

Less than 27 points separate the #1 film from the #10 film.

[Spinal]

#10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/happy-go-lucky-2-1.jpg

Happy-Go-Lucky

Director: Mike Leigh

Country: UK

A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.

Nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Original Screenplay. Won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical (Sally Hawkins). Hawkins was also named Best Actress by the Berlin International Film Festival, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.

"Poppy is one of the most difficult roles any actress could be assigned. She must smile and be peppy and optimistic at (almost) all times, and do it naturally and convincingly, as if the sunshine comes from inside. That's harder than playing Lady Macbeth." -- Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

#9

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/WendyInWoods.jpg

Wendy and Lucy

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Country: USA

A woman's life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. When her car breaks down, and her dog is taken to the pound, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she is led through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.

Nominated for Independent Spirit Awards in the categories of Best Feature and Best Female Lead (Michelle Williams). Reichardt was worried that Williams was "too pretty" to play the role. She asked Williams to go without makeup and not wash her hair for two weeks during filming.

"[Wendy and Lucy] has a European aura that can only be intentional. Those with even a scant familiarity with Italian cinema, for example, will see the parallels between this young woman-and-her-dog story and Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D ... That parallel in itself contains a message: The conditions that produced Italian neorealism have come to the United States." -- Mick LaSalle

[Spinal]

#8

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/speed_racer_2.jpg

Speed Racer

Director: Andy and Lana Wachowski

Country: USA

Born to race cars, Speed Racer is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized-the legendary Rex Racer - whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill.

Nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the Category of Best Summer Movie So Far. Nominated for a Razzie Award in the category of Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel. Peter Fernandez, the voice of Speed Racer and Racer X in the original cartoon series, plays the Race Announcer in this movie.

"Gaudier than a Hindu-temple roof, louder than the Las Vegas night, Speed Racer is a cathedral of glitz. The movie projects a Candy Land topography of lava-lamp skies and Hello Kitty clouds—part Middle Earth, part mental breakdown—using a beyond-Bollywood color scheme wherein telephones are blood orange, jet planes electric fuchsia, and ultra-turquoise is the new black. Call it Power Kitsch, Neo-Jetsonism, or Icon-D—this film could launch a movement." -- J. Hoberman

[Spinal]

#7

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/06090336_.jpg

Rachel Getting Married

Director: Jonathan Demme

Country: USA

A young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.

Nominated for an Oscar in the Category of Best Actress (Anne Hathaway). Nominated for six Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Actress and Best Director. The dishwasher scene was based on an actual event involving Sidney Lumet and Bob Fosse.

"The Jonathan Demme touch, like the famed Lubitsch touch, isn't easy to define, because it isn't based on any clear stylistic signatures or some uniform, easily recognizable approach to varied material. At his best—and his new movie, Rachel Getting Married, finds him in peak form—Demme is simply the most humane of directors, capable of projecting warmth, vibrancy, and compassion without the labored earnestness of someone like John Sayles." -- Scott Tobias

[MadMan]

I've gotten to the point where I don't even give a fuck about what I think about the movies I like. So if someone bashes it, who gives a shit? I know its good. I liked it. Huzzah!

[Spinal]

#6

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Tokyo-Sonata-film-still-001.jpg

Tokyo Sonata

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Country: Japan

An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.

Won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes. Won the Asian Film Award for Best Film.

"Tokyo Sonata is yet another of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's chilling portraits of micro and macro alienation, a family drama as chillingly controlled and despondent as the horror films that gained him international recognition." -- Nick Schager

[Spinal]

#5

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/heath-ledger-nurse.jpg

The Dark Knight

Director: Christopher Nolan

Country: USA

Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by an anarchist mastermind known only as the Joker, as he drives each of them to their limits.

Won Oscars in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger) and Best Sound Editing. Nominated for six other Oscars including Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing and Visual Effects. When it was released on July 18, 2008, the film made $67.2 million in a single day, the most lucrative opening for any film at that time.

"By the end of this second installment in that rare franchise one hopes won't end anytime soon, Batman seems to have less in common with his superhero brethren than with those old frontiersmen of movies past. Like The Searchers' Ethan Edwards and High Noon's Will Kane, he's left to ride off into the darkness, pondering the uncertain destiny of principled men in an unprincipled world—as are we." -- Scott Foundas

[MadMan]

Oh and for the record, the Hong Kong scenes in TDK are the worst part of the movie. They could have cut those out and the movie would have been just fine. So there you go, the movie had flaws! FLAWS I TELL YOU!

[Spinal]

#4

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/synecdochenewyork.jpg

Synecdoche, New York

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Country: USA

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

Shown in competition at Cannes. Won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, as well as the Robert Altman Award. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character's last name is a reference to the Cotard delusion, which is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs.

"The subject of Synecdoche, New York is nothing less than human life and how it works. Using a neurotic theater director from upstate New York, it encompasses every life and how it copes and fails. Think about it a little and, my god, it's about you. Whoever you are." -- Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

#3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/TwoLovers_KoteasPaltrowPhoenix-thumb-500x286-14701.jpg

Two Lovers

Director: James Gray

Country: USA

A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor.

Shown in competition at Cannes. Nominated for Independent Spirit Awards in the categories of Best Director and Best Female Lead (Gwyneth Paltrow). The film is loosely based on Dostoevsky's 1848 short story 'White Nights'.

"The characters are all a little too old for this sort of drama, and they know it, but that makes Two Lovers as much about last chances as new loves. Even when the characters talk around what they feel, the performances make it clear they know they’ll be living with their current choices for the rest of their lives, right up to a final scene that could be graceful or tragic, and defies viewers to see it only one way." -- Keith Phipps

[Spinal]

#2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/let-the-right-one-in_NCC_jpg_627x325_crop_upscal e_q85.jpg

Let the Right One In

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Country: Sweden

Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.

Named Best Foreign Language Film by the Online Film Critics Society. The final, unspoken word in the film is 'puss', Swedish for 'small kiss'.

"This lucid Swedish indie gem ... releases the vampire movie from overwrought conventions like close-ups on trembling bosoms and bloody fangs, offering instead a coolly balanced and utterly compelling examination of alienation and love." -- Elena Oumano

[soitgoes...]

I'm kinda surprised there's no WALL-E.

[Watashi]

I'm kinda surprised there's no WALL-E.
#1 fool.

[Watashi]

2008 might be the best year of the past decade. So fucking good.

[soitgoes...]

#1 fool.
Yeah, that's dumb.

[Spinal]

#1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/2008-07-04-image3walle.jpg

WALL-E

Director: Andrew Stanton

Country: USA

In the distant future, a small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

Won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Nominated for five other Oscars including Best Original Screenplay. The song 'Down to Earth', written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

"Yes, it's true. WALL-E is literally Jesus." -- Watashi

[Watashi]

:twisted:

[Spinal]

1. Wall E 48
2. Let the Right One In 46
3. Two Lovers 45.5
4. Synecdoche, New York 35
5. The Dark Knight 34
6. Tokyo Sonata 27
7. Rachel Getting Married 24.5
8. Speed Racer 24
9. Wendy and Lucy 22
10. Happy Go Lucky 21.5

Hunger 20.5
Burn After Reading 18
Summer Hours 17

Original Poll:
1. Wall-E (Stanton)
2. Let the Right One In (Alfredson)
3. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)
4. The Dark Knight (Nolan)
5. Two Lovers (Gray)
6. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
7. Happy-Go Lucky (Leigh)
8t. Wendy and Lucy (Reichardt)
8t. The Wrestler (Aronofsky)
10. Hunger (McQueen)

[Watashi]

10. Happy-Go-Lucky ****
9. Wendy and Lucy ***½
8. Speed Racer ****
7. Rachel Getting Married ****
6. Tokyo Sonata N/A
5. The Dark Knight ***
4. Synecdoche, New York ***½
3. Two Lovers ****
2. Let the Right One In **½
1. WALL-E ****

[B-side]

Speed Racer, Rachel Getting Married and Let the Right One In all make the top 10, but The Wrestler doesn't? Odd. I'd take Cloverfield over those 3 as well.

[Spinal]

So, yes, right_for_the_moment's last minute ballot was enough to preserve first place for Pixar.

[Spinal]

Getting The Wrestler out of the top 10 was worth all the effort spent to re-do this poll.

[B-side]

Getting The Wrestler out of the top 10 was worth all the effort spent to re-do this poll.

Says the guy with the Speed Racer avatar.:P

[soitgoes...]

Speed Racer, Rachel Getting Married and Let the Right One In all make the top 10, but The Wrestler doesn't? Odd.Mostly because those are all great films, while The Wrestler isn't.

[Watashi]

You did good, Match Cut.

You did real good.

[DavidSeven]

Mostly because those are all great films, while The Wrestler isn't.

Basically, this. An excellent year indeed.

[Spinal]

I love Hoberman's Speed Racer quote. He didn't like the movie at all and yet he perfectly describes why I like it so much.

[B-side]

Mostly because those are all great films, while The Wrestler isn't.

They're all adequate films, while The Wrestler is good.

[Spinal]

They're all adequate films, while The Wrestler is good.

The Wrestler is probably the only film mentioned in this thread that is more shallow than Speed Racer.

[B-side]

The Wrestler is probably the only film mentioned in this thread that is more shallow than Speed Racer.

That is patently absurd.

[MadMan]

I'm going to watch the rest of the 2008 official poll, and we'll see what I end up thinking. Right now though, I'd say that 2008 was a weak year. Not as bad as 2010 or 2003 (which was still a really good year), but not as good as say, 2004 or 2009.

[right_for_the_moment]

So, yes, right_for_the_moment's last minute ballot was enough to preserve first place for Pixar.

But not enough to push Summer Hours over the top unfortunately :(

[Irish]

My consolation here is that the abomination that is SR is not in the top 5.

[Mysterious Dude]

Not a single movie from my top 5 made the list. I thought at least Burn After Reading had a chance.

The love for Speed Racer is perplexing to me.

[Melville]

Boo to Hunger falling off the list.

1. Wall E - 6
2. Let the Right One In - 8.5
3. Two Lovers - 9.5
4. Synecdoche, New York - 9
5. The Dark Knight - 6.5
6. Tokyo Sonata - n/a
7. Rachel Getting Married - 5.5
8. Speed Racer - n/a
9. Wendy and Lucy - 7
10. Happy Go Lucky - 5

Hunger - 9
Burn After Reading - 8
Summer Hours - 6

[dreamdead]

My bad, people. I didn't remember that Hunger was from that year, so I forgot to vote for it...

[/fail]

[Raiders]

1. WALL-E [****]
2. Let the Right One In [N/A]
3. Two Lovers [****]
4. Synecdoche, New York [N/A]
5. The Dark Knight [***]
6. Tokyo Sonata [***½]
7. Rachel Getting Married [****]
8. Speed Racer [**]
9. Wendy and Lucy [N/A]
10. Happy Go Lucky [N/A]

Hunger [***½]
Burn After Reading [***½]
Summer Hours [N/A]

I seem to have much I need to see.

[Winston*]

I don't really like to vote on these things but Hunger is clearly one of the best films of this year.

[Dukefrukem]

1. The Dark Knight Nolan,
2. Wall-E Stanton,
3. Gran Torino Eastwood,
4. The Wrestler Aronofsky,
5. Kung Fu Panda Osborne,
6. Speed Racer Wachowski,
7. Step Brothers McKay,
8. Let The Right One In Alfredson,
9. Frost/Nixon Howard,
10. The Good, the Bad, the Weird Kim,

edit: oh what the fuck? You tallied them already? C'mon i've been at the beach!

[Raiders]

Dude, you've made like 50 posts in the last week in various threads.

[StanleyK]

1. WALL·E - 9
2. Let the Right One In - Need to rewatch.
3. Two Lovers - 9
4. Synecdoche, New York - N/A
5. The Dark Knight - 7
6. Tokyo Sonata - N/A
7. Rachel Getting Married - N/A
8. Speed Racer - 3
9. Wendy and Lucy - Need to rewatch.
10. Happy Go Lucky - N/A

Hunger - N/A
Burn After Reading - 6
Summer Hours - Need to rewatch.



Obviously there's a lot I still need to see; WTF at Speed Racer, rep for all the cool motherfuckers who had Two Lovers at #1.

[Pop Trash]

I'm fine with Speed Racer hovering above number ten as some weird match-cut anomaly; it's only when people start talking about it being "one of the best films of the decade" that I start to flip my disco biscuits. It's like saying Dick Tracy is one of the best films of the 90s.

Anyways, excellent list guys. Good job.

[Spinal]

I was curious whether The Hurt Locker would make a push. But it didn't receive a single vote.

[Pop Trash]

I was curious whether The Hurt Locker would make a push. But it didn't receive a single vote.

Interesting. I figured Raiders would vote for it. I guess since it won BP, people aren't as passionate about it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I was curious whether The Hurt Locker would make a push. But it didn't receive a single vote.

I forgot about it, but it wouldn't've made my top five, so anyway. As you were.

[Raiders]

Interesting. I figured Raiders would vote for it. I guess since it won BP, people aren't as passionate about it.

I was never that passionate. It is currently my #11 for the year.

[Dukefrukem]

Dude, you've made like 50 posts in the last week in various threads.

Well I haven't been hitting the 'New Post" button here. Just entering random areas ... I also didn't have my lists handy. I thought I'd have more than enough time to post this.

Posting from the beach btw

[Stay Puft]

2. Let the Right One In (**)
3. Two Lovers (***)
5. The Dark Knight (**½)
6. Tokyo Sonata (***½)
7. Rachel Getting Married (**)
8. Speed Racer (***)

Burn After Reading (***)
Summer Hours (****)

[Spinal]

I guess since it won BP, people aren't as passionate about it.

I think it's one of the better Best Picture winners in recent memory. Not that the competition is stiff.

[MadMan]

The Hurt Locker was great, but several movies deserved to win Best Picture more. That's usually the case with the Academy, though.