Ten-Years-Later Match Cut Consensus - 2008

[Spinal]

In conjunction with the 2008 ten-years-later awards, let's also do a countdown of your favorite films from the year. Post a top 10 (IMDb dates) below. I'll count up the votes and give you a top 20-25 (depending on the statistical significance of the results). I will wait to post the results until after the results of the 2008 awards are revealed, so as not to steal thunder.

Points will be counted using a weighted system:

1. - 10 pts
2. - 8 pts
3. - 7 pts
4. - 6 pts
5. - 5 pts
6. - 4.5 pts
7. - 4 pts
8. - 3.5 pts
9. - 3 pts
10. - 2.5 pts

(Weighted system used to give top films a boost, and to minimize the distinction between second tier films.)

Have at it.

[Spinal]

1. Let the Right One In
2. Happy-Go-Lucky
3. Repo! The Genetic Opera
4. Burn After Reading
5. Che
6. City of Ember
7. Tokyo Sonata
8. Speed Racer
9. The Hurt Locker
10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[Dukefrukem]

1.The Dark Knight
2.Ip Man
3.WALL·E
4.Iron Man
5.Pineapple Express
6.Gran Torino
7.Transsiberian
8.The Wrestler
9.Taken
10.Speed Racer

[Dead & Messed Up]

This was difficult to do.

01. Lake Mungo
02. In Bruges
03. Let the Right One In
04. The Dark Knight
05. Step Brothers
06. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
07. Wall-E
08. Speed Racer
09. Repo: The Genetic Opera
10. Trick 'r Treat

HM:
Cloverfield
The Hurt Locker
Ip Man
Iron Man
Tokyo Sonata
Transsiberian
Tropic Thunder

[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
6. Wendy and Lucy
7. Speed Racer
8. The Brothers Bloom
9. The Hurt Locker
10. In Bruges

[baby doll]

The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
Les Plages d'Agnès (Agnès Varda)
24 City (Jia Zhangke)
Los Bastardos (Amat Escalante)
Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki)
Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood)
Tony Manero (Pablo LarraÃ*n)
Entre les murs (Laurent Cantet)
Hunger (Steve McQueen)
La Frontière de l'aube (Philippe Garrel)
Black and White Trypps Number Four (Ben Russell)

[Grouchy]

Most difficult year of all the 'aughts for me.

1. Let the Right One In
2. WALL-E
3. Gran Torino
4. In Brugues
5. Gomorra
6. Synecdoche, New York
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. Revolutionary Road
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10. Burn After Reading

[Grouchy]

I feel bad about leaving out Historias Extraordinarias (Extraordinary Tales) by my countryman Mariano Llinás, because it's truly one of a kind film. But one of the qualities that inform my criteria the most is rewatchability... and I've never been able to watch all five hours of it in one sitting.

EDIT: His latest film The Flower is 15 hours long. I refused free tickets for it.

EDIT 2: I also left out Speed Racer! I can't do this year justice. Martyrs would also be there on any other year.

[Ezee E]

1. Let the Right One In
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Step Brothers
4. Dark Knight
5. The Wrestler
6. The Strangers
7. Blindness
8. Rachel Getting Married
9. Redbelt
10. Slumdog Millionaire

[Gizmo]

I really took "Favorite" films to heart. This list would be different if it were "Top" films of the year:

1. Let the Right One In
2. The Dark Knight
3. Wall-E
4. Step Brothers
5. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
6. Ponyo
7. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
9. Saw V
10. The Wrestler

[Dukefrukem]

Ah, the good old favorite vs best argument. Any takers?

[Ezee E]

Ah, the good old favorite vs best argument. Any takers?

Kind of gone to combine the two over the years.

[baby doll]

Ah, the good old favorite vs best argument. Any takers?For me, it's less a matter of favourite versus best than a compromise between intensity of effect (which inevitably wanes with repeat viewings) and inexhaustibility. The only films in my top twelve that I haven't seen more than once are Los Bastardos and La Frontière de l'aube, and given how shocking the Escalante film is, I suspect I'll like it less on second viewing (but still a lot), whereas I'm confident The Headless Woman will hold up on third viewing since, like all of Martel's films, it's a movie that needs to be seen more than once.

As for people who make a fine distinction between best and favourite, it's always struck me as a cop-out, like they don't want people to criticize them for having shit taste but can't be bothered to put forward an argument for liking the things they like.

[Grouchy]

Can I correct my Top Ten? I'll go right ahead.


1. Let the Right One In
2. WALL-E
3. Gran Torino
4. In Brugues
5. Gomorra
6. Speed Racer
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. Rachel Getting Married
9. Redbelt
10. Burn After Reading

baby doll, I love Martel (as a person, even) but The Headless Woman literally put me to sleep. I've been unconsciously avoiding Zama because I love the novel and I hear it takes quite a few liberties with it.

[baby doll]

baby doll, I love Martel (as a person, even) but The Headless Woman literally put me to sleep. I've been unconsciously avoiding Zama because I love the novel and I hear it takes quite a few liberties with it.Yeah, it's probably not a film for everyone: The first half is incredibly disorienting, particularly it's never explained that the heroine has amnesia, and a second viewing didn't clear everything up, but for me that's part of what keeps the film so fascinating over time--as opposed to even a very good film like Entre les murs, which can be easily understood on first viewing (which is not to say that I didn't enjoy seeing the film a second time).

I've not yet read the Benedetto novel, but I liked Zama a lot and look forward to seeing it again. It's less disorienting than The Headless Woman (which I've come to regard as Martel's most audacious film to date), but as in all of her films, the exposition is patchy to say the least. It's also her most gruesome.

[Stay Puft]

1. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
2. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
3. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)
4. Good Morning (Satoshi Kon)
5. Speed Racer (The Wachowski Starship)
6. Burn After Reading (Super Coen Bros)
7. Nightmare Detective 2 (Shinya Tsukamoto)
8. 24 City (Jia Zhangke)
9. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
10. CJ7 (Stephen Chow)

[Peng]

1. The Dark Knight
2. Dear Zachary
3. Wall-E
4. Slumdog Millionaire
5. Happy-Go-Lucky
6. Let the Right One In
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. Doubt
9. In Search of a Midnight Kiss
10. Hormones

[MadMan]

1. Man On Wire (James Marsh)
2. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)
3. WALL*E (Andrew Stanton)
4. Burn After Reading (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
5. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
6. Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard)
7. Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller)
8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher)
9. Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (Nick Park)
10. Frygtelig lykkelig aka Terribly Happy (Henrik Ruben Genz)

While I like Slumdog Millionaire, the fact that it won Best Picture that year when so many better films came out reflects that the Oscars is mostly about statements instead of cinema.

[Yxklyx]

1. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton) 9
2. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt) 9
3. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa) 9
4. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda) 9
5. Julia (Erick Zonca) 8
6. Two Lovers (James Gray) 8
7. Afterschool (Antonio Campos) 8
8. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh) 8
9. Hunger (Steve McQueen) 8
10. Revanche (Gotz Spielmann) 8

[Mysterious Dude]

1. Home
2. Ballast
3. Burn After Reading
4. Julia
5. Gomorrah
6. Revanche
7. Jermal
8. Ramchand Pakistani
9. Let the Right One In
10. The Good the Bad the Weird

[Dukefrukem]

Oh man, I love The Good the Bad the Weird.

[Ezee E]

Oh man, I love The Good the Bad the Weird.

Oh yeah..... I remember liking it but couldn't distinguish a scene at this point.

[dreamdead]

1. Summer Hours
2. 35 Shots of Rum
3. Wendy and Lucy
4. Synecdoche, New York
5. Wall-E
6. Tokyo Sonata
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. The Headless Woman
9. Waltz with Bashir
10. Repo: The Genetic Opera

[transmogrifier]

1. Wall-E
2. Lake Mungo
3. Revanche
4. Hunger
5. Redbelt
6. Three Monkeys
7. The Bank Job
8. Rachel Getting Married
9. Synecdoche, New York
10. Waltz with Bashir

Only doing this to try to prevent the inevitably of The Dark Knight making #1

[Dukefrukem]

The Bank Job?

[baby doll]

The Bank Job?I remember absolutely despising that movie when I saw it in theatres, so much so that I find myself doubting my own responses--especially since, as far as I'm aware, no one else found it as deeply unpleasant as I did (except the person I saw it with). Even the negative reviews tend to write it off as merely a generic, over-plotted heist flick, rather than a generic, over-plotted heist flick interrupted by scenes of torture and murder so gruesome they seem completely out of place in a film that is ostensibly intended as entertainment.

[Grouchy]

I remember I thought it was very fun but nothing specific comes to mind. I thought Saffron Burrows was so beautiful in it that I sought other films with her and discovered a really weird vampire flick called Perfect Creature.

[baby doll]

I remember I thought it was very fun but nothing specific comes to mind. I thought Saffron Burrows was so beautiful in it that I sought other films with her and discovered a really weird vampire flick called Perfect Creature.I'm thinking in particular of the scenes where Stratham's buddy is tortured to death by pornographers and the female police spy is hacked to death with a machete. In both scenes the violence is more suggested than shown, but to see sympathetic characters killed off in such grisly ways just made me feel depressed.

[StuSmallz]

1. WALL-E
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Slumdog Millionaire
5. Iron Man
6. In Bruges
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. Let The Right One In
9. Gran Torino
10. The Wrestler

[Dukefrukem]

My quick notes on the Bank Job via Letterboxed (god this site can be so useful!)

"I was expecting this to be an off-shoot of the Italian Job, but didn't realize this was an adaptation of a real bank robbery. Not your typical Statham flick. Minimal punching and kicking. Worth a watch."

[Pop Trash]

1. Synecdoche, NY
2. Happy-Go-Lucky
3. Two Lovers
4. Wendy and Lucy
5. Wall-E
6. The Wrestler
7. The Dark Knight
8. Pineapple Express
9. Gran Torino
10. Cloverfield

Mostly going with rewatchable favorites, here. PSH's death has only calcified my feelings that SNY is one of the monumental achievements in 21st Century American cinema.

[Yxklyx]

Unfortunately I don't remember a thing about Revanche (#10) - making it my duty to rewatch it again this week. Maybe it's one of those movies that appeals on a technical level?

[baby doll]

Unfortunately I don't remember a thing about Revanche (#10) - making it my duty to rewatch it again this week. Maybe it's one of those movies that appeals on a technical level?Oddly enough, I wasn't blown away by this when I saw it at PIFF ten years ago but it's stuck with me since then and I've been meaning to give it another look for a while now.

[baby doll]

PSH's death has only calcified my feelings that SNY is one of the monumental achievements in 21st Century American cinema.Although I enjoyed the film, I'm firmly in the camp that regards it as an ambitious but only partially successful film. That Hoffman died a couple years later does make the film any more (or less) fully achieved.

[StanleyK]

1. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
2. Two Lovers (James Gray)
3. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel)
4. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh)
5. The Class (Laurent Cantet)
6. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
7. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)
8. Hunger (Steve McQueen)
9. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)
10. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)

[Pop Trash]

Although I enjoyed the film, I'm firmly in the camp that regards it as an ambitious but only partially successful film. That Hoffman died a couple years later does make the film any more (or less) fully achieved.

Sure it does. It only makes the themes more heartbreaking, but you're autistic so I wouldn't expect you to understand.

[baby doll]

Sure it does. It only makes the themes more heartbreaking, but you're autistic so I wouldn't expect you to understand.Even way back in 2008, the idea that everyone gets old and dies wasn't exactly a newsflash; if the film has any merit, it's because of how it treats its themes, not the themes themselves. The fact that Hoffman subsequently died is irrelevant.

[Grouchy]

if the film has any merit, it's because of how it treats its themes, not the themes themselves.
This is true of all films ever made.

[baby doll]

This is true of all films ever made.I agree.

[Spinal]

I've done a preliminary count, so anyone who's posted so far will have to do a new post to make an edit. New lists are still welcome.

Remember, this list won't be revealed until after the Ten Years Later MC Awards, so if you want to see it, make sure to fill out your ballot in the other thread.

[Rico]

1. The Dark Knight
2. WALL-E
3. Flame & Citron
4. In Burges
5. Let the Right One In
6. Happy-Go-Lucky
7. Tropic Thunder
8. Iron Man
9. JCVD
10. Burn After Reading

Am I really the only one that liked Flame & Citron?

[PURPLE]

1. The Sky, the Earth, and the Rain
2. Revanche
3. Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona
4. The Headless Woman
5. Paper Soldier
6. Still Walking
7. A Christmas Tale
8. Wendy and Lucy
9. Un Lac
10. Hipsters

[Thirdmango]

1. The Good, The Bad, and The Weird
2. Speed Racer
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Wall-E
5. Burn After Reading
6. The Fall
7. Ponyo
8. Frost/Nixon
9. Ip Man
10. Vicky Christina Barcelona

[Spinal]

Last day for this thread. If you want to make changes, you need to do it in a new post. Everything above has been counted.

[Spinal]

The sound of crickets means the voting is now officially closed. Results to being shortly. I'll be presenting a top 25 of 2008.

[Spinal]

You've had a whole decade to see more movies, to get past your initial biases and reflect. Now there can be no excuses. Here are your top 25 films of 2008 ...

#25

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/Slum_zpszqtgybta.jpg
So Jamal, tell me something about yourself.

Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle (with Loveleen Tandan)

Country: UK

A Mumbai teen reflects on his upbringing in the slums when he is accused of cheating on the Indian Version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?


Winner of 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Editing
Winner of 4 Golden Globes including Best Picture - Drama
Won 7 BAFTA Awards including Best Film (Oddly, lost Best British Film to Man on Wire.)
Nominated for 6 MTV Movie Awards including Best WTF moment (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar jumping in the poop shed)


One of two Best Picture Oscar winners to show a child jumping into the waste pool under a toilet. The other is Schindler's List , which was snubbed by MTV.

IMDb Parental Warning! Latika puts hot peppers down Salim's pants.

"Like so many of the Bollywood melodramas it stylistically apes, Boyle’s film is unapologetically pop, even as Boyle himself seems to be at once inside and outside the idiom, embracing it while winking slyly at our collective need for escapist fantasy." - Scott Foundas, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Ezee E predicts Slumdog Millionaire will earn Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. (9/4/2008)

[MadMan]

Too high.

[Spinal]

#24

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/Iron20Man201201_zpsmv70vqff.jp g
I'm just not the hero type. Clearly.

Iron Man

Director: Jon Favreau

Country: USA

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.


Nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Visual Effects, Sound Editing)
Nominated for Best Special Visual Effects at the BAFTA Awards
Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
Won Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up at the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards (Frost/Nixon won Best Movie for Grownups)


According to Paul Bettany, he did not know on which film he was working. He merely did the job as a favor for Jon Favreau.

IMDb Parental Warning! Stark and straight-arrow military man Jim Rhodes ride one of Stark's private jets that's staffed with midriff-baring flight attendants and a stripper pole.

"Getting the suit right is easy. Getting the man underneath the suit right - that was the challenge, and the filmmakers rose to it." - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Watashi mentions that the film is two days away from release and that he has experienced a related 'splooge attack!' (4/30/2008)

[Dukefrukem]

Too low

[Spinal]

Too high.


Too low

I see how this is going to go.

[MadMan]

Not high enough, too medium, just right, oh no why was that listed, etc...

I kind of prefer Iron Man 3 the best out of the entire trilogy but this is a 2008 thread, so...

[Spinal]

#23

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/zachary_zpsld9xwaqs.jpg
I have a good idea: I'll go back in time and stop you from dying.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Director: Kurt Kuenne

Country: USA

A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.


Named one of the year's top 5 documentaries by the National Board of Review
Nominated for Best Documentary and Best Breakthrough Filmmaker at the Online Film Critics Society Awards
Won the Match Cut Award for Best Documentary - twice.


Kuenne started the film as a project only to be shown to friends and family of Andrew Bagby. But as the events unfolded, he decided to release the film publicly.

IMDb Parental Warning! The foul language in the beginning of the movie is silly, the cursing towards the end feels justified.

"Kuenne lovingly assembles home-movie footage and new interviews ... to create a true-crime story so gripping, devastating, and ultimately unforgettable that it easily trumps any thriller Hollywood has to offer this year." - Martin Tsai, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Eternity starts a thread for the film and asks if anyone else has seen this "pretty fantastic documentary". Number8 claims to have urged people to see it in the Upcoming Films section; however, I can find no record of this post. (12/13/2008)

[Spinal]

#22

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/hunger_zpskf9xdbpp.jpg
You're calling it suicide. I call it murder. And that's just another wee difference between us two.

Hunger

Director: Steve McQueen

Country: Ireland

Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.


Won the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer (McQueen) at the BAFTA Awards (also nominated for Best British Film)
Won 2 awards at Cannes including the Golden Camera
Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards
Won the Gucci Prize at the Venice Film Festival


Michael Fassbender had to go on a medically monitored crash diet to portray Bobby Sands.

IMDb Parental Warning! A woman sticks her hand inside her dress to remove a package (it's implied that she hid it vaginally).

"This movie is about the corporal state of human bodies as much as it's about anything, and it's not pretty. From the attention paid to the sounds of people breathing, to the piles of rotting food in a prison cell, to beatings that accompany haircuts, Hunger shows how thoroughly the prison state tries to tear apart human dignity." - Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M announces that Hunger is a part of the Sydney Film Festival (5/7/2008)

[Spinal]

#20 (tie)

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/mungo_zps8bstnnyw.jpg
Alice kept secrets.She kept the fact that she kept secrets a secret.

Lake Mungo

Director: Joel Anderson

Country: Australia

A family tries to come terms with the drowning death of their daughter and the potentially supernatural events they experience after her death.


Nominated for Best Horror Film at the 2010 Fright Meter Awards (lost to Let Me In)
93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Many important archaeological findings have been made at Lake Mungo in New South Wales, most significantly the discovery of the remains of 'Mungo Man', the oldest human remains found in Australia and 'Mungo Woman', the oldest human remains in the world to be ritually cremated.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man is shown, from behind, thrusting into a woman lying on a bed while she moans. A naked woman kneels nearby.

"Lake Mungo is actually trying to say something, about how grieving people can have their lives consumed by a fruitless search for meaning. It’s amazing how much that little bit of extra thought and personal commitment adds to a horror movie." - Noel Murray, The AV Club

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Dukefrukem notes that the film will be appearing at Horrorfest 4. (1/8/2010)

[Spinal]

#20 (tie)

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/rum_zpsrtswgis3.jpg
You revolt simply because, for various reasons, we can't breathe.

35 Shots of Rum

Director: Claire Denis

Country: France

The relationship between a father and daughter is complicated by the arrival of a handsome young man.


Placed 5th on the Village Voice film poll
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the National Society of Film Critics Awards
Won the Art Cinema Award at the Hamburg Film Festival

Denis based the intimate father-daughter relationship on her mother's relationship with her grandfather who raised her as a single parent.

IMDb Spinal's Parental Warning! You really shouldn't consume any more than 32 shots of rum in a single sitting.

"You can live in a movie like this. It doesn't lecture you. These people are getting on with their lives, and Denis observes them with tact. She's not intruding, she's discovering." - Roger Ebert

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M notes that the film earned a rave from Variety after playing at the Venice Film Festival (8/31/2008)

[Spinal]

#19

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/40bec263-264b-41e9-8d39-1607ad77659f_zpsoop1rv5c.jpg
Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.

Step Brothers

Director: Adam McKay

Country: USA

Two aimless middle-aged losers still living at home are forced against their will to become roommates when their parents marry.


Nominated for Best Grownup Love Story (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins) at the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards (lost to Last Chance Harvey)
55% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

The playground bully, Chris Gardocki, is named after an NFL punter who played for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man drapes his balls over his brother's drum set.

"Ticking away just beneath Step Brothers‘ freely associative surface is a fairly astute commentary on how we define such abstract concepts as 'growing up' and 'making something of yourself'." - Scott Foundas, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: In a thread entitled 'Do People Here Not Care About Summer Movies?', Watashi calls our attention to several upcoming movies, including Step Brothers, that "make [his] body tingle with joy." (4/30/2018)

[Spinal]

#18

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/tokyo_zpsrzapyzb9.jpg
We are like the slow-sinking boats ...

Tokyo Sonata

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Country: Japan

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


Won Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes
Won Best Film and Best Screenwriter at the Asian Film Awards

The Nikkei 225 (index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange) fell over 50% between June 2007 and December 2008.

IMDb Parental Warning! There is brief thrusting and gasping. Only lasts for a few seconds.

"Tokyo Sonata, in so many senses, is about an allergic reaction to the very idea of what it means to be Japanese. The characters misplace their belief in etiquette, politesse, dignity, and propriety - or they struggle to maintain it." - Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M shares the Un Certain Regard selections for Cannes 2008, although he seems more excited about the anthology film, Tokyo! (4/23/2008)

[Spinal]

#17

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/two20lovers_zpswiibfulq.jpg
A kid's got to start thinking about his future sometime.

Two Lovers

Director: James Gray

Country: USA

In Brooklyn, a bachelor is torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor.


Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes
Nominated for Best Director and Best Female Lead (Gwyneth Paltrow) at the Independent Spirit Awards
Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the César Awards

This was Joaquin Phoenix's last film before his fake retirement from acting.

IMDb Parental Warning! Michelle takes 2 Ecstasy tablets before going to a nightclub.

"The whole movie is so well-cast and performed that we watch it unfolding without any particular awareness of 'acting.'" - Roger Ebert

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M mentions the film's mixed reviews at Cannes, noting that the film tended to be embraced by the French, but not by the Americans. (5/20/2008)

[Spinal]

#16

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/701a0733-ad3c-440b-9f41-be50b1d6837e_zpseglarwar.png
What would l do with something valuable?

Summer Hours

Director: Olivier Assayas

Country: France

Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.


Won Best Foreign Language Film at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
Won Best Foreign Language Film at the National Society of Film Critics Awards
Won Best Foreign Language Film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Edith Scob) at the César Awards
Placed 2nd in the Village Voice film poll for Best Picture (behind The Hurt Locker)
Placed 9th on the New York Times' list of the Best Films of the 21st Century So Far in 2017


It is the second in a series of films produced by (French art museum) Musée d'Orsay, after Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon.

IMDb Parental Warning! We see the backside of some nude sculptures. [For more, visit the Musée d'Orsay! -- Ed.]

"Too chatty to be ascetic, Summer Hours is nevertheless almost Ozu-like in its evocation of a parent’s death and the dissolving bond between the surviving children. It’s also an essay on the nature of sentimental and real value—as well as the need to protect French culture in a homogenizing world." - J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Summer Hours appears on Cult's top 10 list for 2008. (10/7/2008)

[Spinal]

#15

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/get-off-my-lawn_zpsoqf8jdqh.jpg
I'll blow a hole in your face then go inside and sleep like a baby.

Gran Torino

Director: Clint Eastwood

Country: USA

A disgruntled Korean War veteran sets out to reform his neighbor, a teenager who tried to steal his 1972 Gran Torino.


Won Movie of the Year at the AFI Awards
Won Best Foreign Film at the Awards of the Japanese Academy
Won Best Foreign Film at the César Awards
Named Best Actor (Eastwood) and Best Original Screenplay by the National Board of Review
Nominated for Best Original Song ("Gran Torino") at the Golden Globes


For Walt's dog, Daisy, Eastwood used his own beloved family retriever.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man drinks a lot of beer.

"Whatever it is, it's a movie for people who are interested in Clint Eastwood - not just his work, but the whole Clint thing in the world." - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Watashi includes Clint as a possible Oscar contender for Best Actor, although he (rightfully) does not put him in the top 5. Watashi ended up 3/5 on his predictions. (9/5/2008)

[Dukefrukem]

Huge fan of Gran Torino here.

[Spinal]

#14

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/e812cb44-999c-45c0-9f5d-a1c5a71252a5_zpsh1caossc.png
I aimed at the tires.

Revanche

Director: Götz Spielmann

Country: Austria

An ex-con plans to flee to the South with his girl after a robbery. But something terrible happens and revenge seems inevitable.


Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Won 3 awards at the Berlin International Film Festival
Named one of the top 5 foreign films of the year by the National Board of Review


The literal English translation of the title is 'revenge', but also has another meaning of 'second chance'.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man overhears a customer behaving violently in a brothel. He confronts him and fisticuffs ensue.

"Directed with terrific control and economy of means by Spielmann, Revanche gets its hooks into you early and leaves them there, alternately suggesting a darkly romantic film noir in the vein of Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground, a Strindbergian chamber play opened up for the great outdoors, and a Jacobean revenge drama stripped of its ceremonial bloodshed." - Scott Foundas, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Ezee E shares that he is hearing positive buzz about the film at Telluride 2008, although it is not one of the films he ends up seeing at the festival. (9/8/2008)

[Spinal]

#13

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/rachel_zpsq0uc431i.jpg
If I hurt someone, I hurt someone. I can apologize, and they can forgive me... or not.

Rachel Getting Married

Director: Jonathan Demme

Country: USA

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


Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (Anne Hathaway)
Nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Hathaway)
Nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated for 6 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature and Best Director
Won Best Actress (Hathaway) from the National Board of Review
Won Best Screenplay at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival


All music heard in the film is performed live.

IMDb Parental Warning! Skimpy dancers wear nothing more than bikini-type outfits, while suggestively dancing.

"Demme is simply the most humane of directors, capable of projecting warmth, vibrancy, and compassion without the labored earnestness of someone like John Sayles. One of the wonderful things about Rachel Getting Married is that it has no villains; all the major characters have the best intentions yet they can't keep from hurting each other anyway." - Scott Tobias, The AV Club

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Watashi mentions Debra Winger as a possible contender for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, but (rightfully) does not include her in the top 5. Watashi went 3/5 in this category as well. (9/3/2008)

[Spinal]

#12

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/synec_zpshmtyttn8.jpg
We're all hurtling towards death, yet here we are for the moment, alive.

Synecdoche, New York

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Country: USA

A struggling theatre director creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.


Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes
Won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards (also nominated for Best Screenplay)
Nominated for Trippiest Movie of the Year at the Golden Schmoes Awards (lost to a film to be named later)
Named best film of the decade by Roger Ebert


Philip Seymour Hoffman's character's last name is a reference to the Cotard delusion, 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.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man has gum surgery.

"Charlie Kaufman understands how I live my life, and I suppose his own, and I suspect most of us. Faced with the bewildering demands of time, space, emotion, morality, lust, greed, hope, dreams, dreads and faiths, we build compartments in our minds. It is a way of seeming sane." - Roger Ebert

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Spinal lists the contenders for the top prize at Cannes 2008, then proceeds to only watch 3 of them over the next 10 years. (4/23/2008)

[Pop Trash]

Way too low.

[Pop Trash]

When I saw Rachel Getting Married back in '08 at the theater, a mentally handicapped man stood up in front of the audience at the end of the film and announced, "HEY EVERYONE! THAT WAS DEBRA WINGER! You might remember her from the movies An Officer and a Gentleman and Terms of Endearment!"

I thought that was a nice bonus.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow. I now want to see Synecdoche, New York immediately.

[Spinal]

#11

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/hurt_zpsltrop2n4.jpg
This box is full of stuff that almost killed me.

The Hurt Locker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Country: USA

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates.


Won 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay
Nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Drama
Won 6 BAFTA Awards including Best Film and Best Director
Named Movie of the Year at the AFI Awards
Nominated for 2 Independent Spirit Awards
Won 5 awards at the Venice Film Festival
Won Best Film and Best Actor (Jeremy Renner) in the Village Voice Film Poll
Named the second best film of the decade by Roger Ebert


The film only made $17 million at the domestic box office.

IMDb Parental Warning! A young Iraqi boy sells DVDs to the troops and advertises with terms such as "donkey porn" or "gay sex."

"For most of her career, her superior talent has had to reveal itself through lesser material, but in the The Hurt Locker ... Bigelow finds the perfect vehicle to show what she can do that others can't touch." - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: In a defense of Bigelow's early action films, Pop Trash mentions that Hurt Locker is supposed to be good as well. (10/10/2008)

[Ezee E]

Digging the earliest mention pieces, and how it still relates to today.

[Spinal]

#10

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/wrestler-7_zpshahadomt.jpg
I'm an old broken down piece of meat... and I'm alone.

The Wrestler

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Country: USA

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.


Nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Best Actor - Mickey Rourke, Best Supporting Actress - Marisa Tomei)
Won 2 Golden Globe Awards including Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Rourke)
Won the BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actor (Rourke)
Won 3 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature
Nominated for 2 Independent Spirit Awards
Won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival


During his boxing career, the song played over Mickey Rourke's entrances was "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses; his character in this film uses this same song when entering the ring in his last fight.

IMDb Parental Warning! In one match, a man staples his nipples with a staple gun, then staples a note to his forehead.

"Who’d have thought that one of the great movies of Toronto (and the year) would turn out to be a wildly original, existentialist tragicomedy decked out in frosted-blond hair extensions and spandex tights?" - Scott Foundas, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M mentions that The Wrestler is getting a "love-in" from the critics after its premiere in Toronto. (9/5/2008)

[Spinal]

#9

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/Speed-Racer-Chim-Chim_zps7u9igwrv.jpg
Stop steering and start driving.

Speed Racer

Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski

Country: USA

A young driver aspires to be champion of the racing world with the help of his family and his high-tech Mach 5 automobile.


Won the Golden Schmoe Award for Trippiest Movie of the Year
Nominated for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film by the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
Nominated for Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture at the Visual Effects Society Awards
Nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel at the Razzie Awards ('lost' to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)


Japanese voice artists Katsuji Mori, Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Kenji Utsumi voiced Ben Burns, Mr Togokahn and Pops Racer in the Japanese dub of the film. These three all worked on the original Speed Racer series.

IMDb Parental Warning! A boy shoots a man in the head with a slingshot, and a monkey throws feces at him.

"In the early going, the whiz-bang editing and searing primary colors in Speed Racer work like a sugar rush, but the crash from all that overstimulation is enough to reduce grown men into sobbing infants. The Wachowskis may be guilty of being too far ahead of the curve." - Scott Tobias, The AV Club

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: In the aforementioned post about Watashi anticipating summer movies and being concerned that others did not, Speed Racer is one of the upcoming movies that made Watashi's body "tingle with joy". (4/30/2008)

[Pop Trash]

When did Match Cut start? 2007?

[Spinal]

#8

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/Wendy-and-Lucy_zpscofcbo8b.jpg
You can't get an address without an address. You can't get a job without a job.

Wendy and Lucy

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Country: USA

Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.


Won the Palm Dog at Cannes
Nominated for 2 Independent Spirit Awards (Best Feature and Best Female Lead - Michelle Williams)
Finished 2nd in the category of Best Actress (Williams) on the Village Voice Film Poll
Won Best Picture and Best Performance, Female (Williams) at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards


Like Clint Eastwood mentioned above, Kelly Reichardt cast her own dog, Lucy, as the co-star.

IMDb Parental Warning! The overall feeling of the movie is somber, and at times, depressing.

"This isn't the romantic road movie of Alexander Supertramp in Into the Wild. This is survival, revealed in all the blunt details of a documentary portrait and the simple power of Williams' unadorned, Oscar-worthy performance. " - Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Watashi lists the film as one of the National Board of Review's top 10 independent films of the year. (12/4/2008)

[Spinal]

#7

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/happygolucky_zps5cli8m6n.jpg
Oh! What-chu-ma-call-it ding dang dilly dilly da da hoo hoo!

Happy-Go-Lucky

Director: Mike Leigh

Country: UK

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


Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Sally Hawkins), also nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Won Best Actress (Hawkins) at the Berlin International Film Festival
Won Best Director and Best Actress (Hawkins) at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Won Best Actress (Hawkins) in the Village Voice Film Poll (3rd place for Best Film, 2nd place for Best Supporting Actor - Eddie Marsan)


The role of Poppy was written specifically for Sally Hawkins.

IMDb Parental Warning! A woman is accidentally referred to as a lesbian.

"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

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Grouchy mentions it as a film he missed (presumably at a film festival?) but would love to see. (5/7/2008)

[Spinal]

#6

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/burn-after-reading-20140731173929_zps8efpd2dy.jpg
Report back to me when it makes sense.

Burn After Reading

Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Country: USA

A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.


Nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards including Best Screenplay - Original
Named one of the year's 10 best films by the National Board of Review
Nominated for Best Original Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America


Tilda Swinton modeled her character's hair after The Simpsons' Edna Krabappel.

IMDb Parental Warning! A man shows a woman a rocking chair that has a dildo built in it.

"The Coens suggest this is simply a story about knuckleheads. But the film offers a damning portrait of a society in which the knuckleheads continue to hold the levers of power." - Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Spinal lists it as his #3 most anticipated film of 2008. This list also includes George Clooney's Leatherheads for some reason. (11/2/2007)

[Dukefrukem]

When did Match Cut start? 2007?

Yes. I remember vividly being welcomed with open arms and fanfare (http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?34-I-m-here).

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yes. I remember vividly being welcomed with open arms and fanfare (http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?34-I-m-here).

I lolled.

[Grouchy]

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Grouchy mentions it as a film he missed (presumably at a film festival?) but would love to see. (5/7/2008)
Ten years later, I still haven't seen it.

[dreamdead]

#6
Burn After Reading

...

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Spinal lists it as his #3 most anticipated film of 2008. This list also includes George Clooney's Leatherheads for some reason. (11/2/2007)

This is one of the reasons I'm so happy that I've stopped listed films that I'm anticipating. The genuine laughter that this comparison brought me is the sort of good-faith belief that we all trust our favorite performers will give to us each year. The amount of anticipating-to-mediocrity level has to be high.

Perhaps it's not a huge surprise, but I find that I haven't really caught up with those I missed here the first time around. There's a few I'd to revisit since I saw them in extraordinary good circumstances (first theatrical film screening with Sarah was Speed Racer, another early one was Rachel Getting Married), but then I think of David Ehrlich's top 25 yearly compilations that he edits and puts on Vimeo each year. I rewatched a slew of them over the summer, noted with interest those that I'd missed and that looked interesting, and then... did nothing. It's a frustrating reality that I have less investment in film than I did 5 years ago (when Upstream Color rocked my world), let alone a decade ago.

[Spinal]

#5

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/headless-woman_zpscnkyvjmm.jpg
*ring* *ring* *thump*

The Headless Woman

Director: Lucrecia Martel

Country: Argentina

After hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.



Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes
Named Best Undistributed Film in the Village Voice Film Poll
Won 3 awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina (Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay - Original)

The song playing on the car radio at the time when the accident happens is "Soley Soley" by Middle of the Road.

IMDb Parental CNN Warning to Distracted Drivers! In Buenos Aires, Argentina, writing or reading texts while driving can result in fines between $5 and $500, and five points added to the driver's license, with licenses revoked after 20 points, according to the WHO report.

"A full appreciation of Lucrecia Martel’s elegant, rain-soaked film, The Headless Woman, requires the concentration and eye for detail of a forensic detective. Every frame of this brilliant, maddeningly enigmatic puzzle of a movie contains crucial information, much of it glimpsed on the periphery and sometimes passing so quickly you barely have time to blink." - Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Boner M notes that the film has made Sight and Sound's top 10 list for the year. (12/7/2008)

[Mysterious Dude]

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Spinal lists it as his #3 most anticipated film of 2008. This list also includes George Clooney's Leatherheads for some reason. (11/2/2007)

To be fair, Clooney had a pretty good track record as a director up until Leatherheads.

[Spinal]

#4

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/in-bruges_zpsevytm90u.jpg
Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges.

In Bruges

Director: Martin McDonagh

Country: UK

Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, a hitman and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium.



Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Colin Farrell) - nominated for 2 others
Won the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay - Original (nominated for 3 others)

Hieronymous Bosch symbolism recurs throughout the movie, suggesting that the waiting period in Bruges is akin to purgatory.

IMDb Parental Warning! 2 uses of 'shag' (Brit slang for "to have sex" as in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me)

"The working-class Irish accents, grubby aesthetic, and surreal, dreamlike interludes inevitably recall Neil Jordan's early work, but In Bruges resembles films like The Crying Game for larger reasons: When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise." - Tasha Robinson, The AV Club

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Ezee E previews the trailer and mentions that it looks "like Hot Fuzz with serious actors." (11/7/2007)

[Spinal]

To be fair, Clooney had a pretty good track record as a director up until Leatherheads.

Good point. He would have been coming off of Good Night and Good Luck, which may explain my anticipation.

[Spinal]

The next three films, which you can probably guess without too much trouble, were the top scorers by a wide margin. There is a 37-point gap between the #3 film and the #4 film.

[Spinal]

#3

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/let20the20right_zpsgaoyywtl.jp g
I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.

Let the Right One In

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Country: Sweden

An overlooked and bullied boy finds love and revenge through a beautiful but peculiar girl.



Nominated Best Film Not in the English Language at the BAFTA Awards
Won Best Foreign Film at the British Independent Film Awards
Won 4 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Lina Leandersson)
Won Foreign Language Film of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards
Named one of the year's top 5 foreign films by the National Board of Review
Won the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival

The word tapped out in Morse Code means 'small kiss' in Swedish.

IMDb Parental Warning! A boy stabs a tree twice with a hunting knife, pretending to be tough.

"Set in a wintry Stockholm suburb, the film is lit like a Renaissance painting. In addition, the audacious sound design—the silence of snow broken by faint sounds of a child breathing or eyelashes fluttering; the dense, vividly impressionistic noises of the vampire feeding—and wise performances from Hedebrant and (especially) Leandersson infuse the film with a low-key naturalism that allows for maximum believability. Right One returns to the archetype of the immortal its poetic cohesiveness and the power of myth." - Elena Oumano, The Village Voice

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Grouchy reports on the film from the Buenos Aires Film Festival and calls it "visually astounding". (4/16/2008)

[Spinal]

#2

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/joker_zpsloj477z0.jpg
I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

The Dark Knight

Director: Christopher Nolan

Country: USA

When the menace known as the Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham.



Won 2 Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger, Best Sound Editing) - nominated for 6 others
Won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Ledger)
Won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor (Ledger) - nominated for 8 others
Nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures by the Directors Guild of America
Won Best Villain (Ledger) at the MTV Movie Awards
Named one of the year's top 10 films by the National Board of Review
Won Best Supporting Actor (Ledger) in the Village Voice Film Poll
Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America

While the film is dedicated to Heath Ledger, it also bears a dedication to Conway Wickliffe, a stuntman who was killed when the car he was driving crashed.

IMDb Parental Warning! There is a scene where a man is about to drink, but is interrupted.

"Something fundamental seems to be happening in the upper realms of the comic-book movie. Spider-Man II may have defined the high point of the traditional film based on comic-book heroes. A movie like the new Hellboy II allows its director free rein for his fantastical visions. But now Iron Man and even more so The Dark Knight move the genre into deeper waters." - Roger Ebert

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: In a post regarding Cloverfield, Watashi notes that the film, along with The Dark Knight have had fantastic marketing campaigns. (11/19/2007)

[Spinal]

#1

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p485/joelharmonpdx/0a33e5a1-1276-434f-870e-eecd9fa9ed29_zpscqddyvhu.png
I don't want to survive. I want to live.

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 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year - nominated for 5 others including Best Original Screenplay
Won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film
Won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film
Won Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR Animation in a Feature Film from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
Won Best Animated Feature from the National Board of Review
Named Best Film in the Village Voice Film Poll

Elissa Knight, who provides the voice of EVE is not an actress, but an employee of Pixar.

IMDb Parental Warning! There is no gore.

"The genius of Wall-E ... lies in its notion that creativity and self-destruction are sides of the same coin. The human species was driven off its home planet ... by an economy consecrated to the manufacture and consumption of ever more stuff. But some of that stuff turned out to be useful, interesting, and precious. And some of it may even possess something like a soul." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Earliest known mention on Match Cut: Silencio posts the trailer and labels it "adorable". (12/17/2007)

[Spinal]

TEN YEARS LATER MC CONSENSUS - 2008

(In the event of a tie, the film mentioned by the most people was given preference. When the same number of people mentioned it, the film with the highest average ranking was given preference. After that, I gave up and just called it a tie.)

1. Wall-E (104)
2. The Dark Knight (77)
3. Let the Right One In (73.5)
4. In Bruges (36.5)
5. The Headless Woman (34.5)
6. Burn After Reading (33.5)
7. Happy-Go-Lucky (33.5)
8. Wendy and Lucy (31.5)
9. Speed Racer (31)
10. The Wrestler (29)
11. The Hurt Locker (28)
12. Synecdoche, NY (27)
13. Rachel Getting Married (23.5)
14. Revanche (22)
15. Gran Torino (21.5)
16. Summer Hours (21)
17. Two Lovers (19.5)
18. Tokyo Sonata (18.5)
19. Step Brothers (18)
20t. 35 Shots of Rum (18)
20t. Lake Mungo (18)
22. Hunger (15)
23. Dear Zachary (15)
24. Iron Man (14.5)
25. Slumdog Millionaire (14.5)

Next 5:
Ponyo (13)
Repo! The Genetic Opera (12.5)
The Good, The Bad and The Weird (12.5)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (12)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (11.5)

ORIGINAL RESULTS FROM DECEMBER 2009:

1. Wall-E (74.5)
2. Let the Right One In (51)
3. Rachel Getting Married (47.5)
4. The Dark Knight (45)
5. Two Lovers (40.5)
6. Synecdoche, New York (32.5)
7. Happy-Go Lucky (32)
8t. Wendy and Lucy (22)
8t. The Wrestler (22)
10. Hunger (20.5)

Honorable Mention:
Tokyo Sonata 20
In Bruges 20
Burn After Reading 18
Gran Torino 17
A Christmas Tale 16.5

[Dukefrukem]

In summary; Hunger drops 12 points and Watashi gets all the attention around here.

[Ezee E]

I figured Dark Knight would take a hit. Interesting.

[Gizmo]

I'm surprised The Dark Knight moved that much, but maybe it's because more people voted (seemingly). I actually liked that one more then, than now, though it's still great, just the awe has rubbed off, for me. Rachel Getting Married plummeted.

[Peng]

#1

I don't want to survive. I want to live.

WALL·E


Didn’t realize until this post that both Wall-E and 12 Years a Slave have the exact same key speech.

[Spinal]

I'm surprised The Dark Knight moved that much, but maybe it's because more people voted (seemingly). I actually liked that one more then, than now, though it's still great, just the awe has rubbed off, for me. Rachel Getting Married plummeted.

In the original thread, we only had people list their top 5 films. That's what accounts for the point difference.

[Spinal]

Main takeaway for me from this is that I now have The Headless Woman checked out from the library.

[transmogrifier]

Everyone should watch Lake Mungo.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Everyone should watch Lake Mungo.

It's good.

It's so damn good.

[Spinal]

I want to see that one too! It's always so surprising to me that, ten years later, there's still highly regarded films I haven't heard of.

[StuSmallz]

TDK and Wall-E aren't just my favorite films from '08, they're some of my favorite films, period, so I have no issue with them taking the top spots here :D

[baby doll]

1. Wall-E mild
2. The Dark Knight cold
3. Let the Right One In cold
4. In Bruges (36.5) mild
5. The Headless Woman spicy
6. Burn After Reading warm
7. Happy-Go-Lucky spicy
8. Wendy and Lucy mild
9. Speed Racer
10. The Wrestler mild
11. The Hurt Locker warm
12. Synecdoche, NY warm
13. Rachel Getting Married mild
14. Revanche warm
15. Gran Torino spicy
16. Summer Hours mild
17. Two Lovers mild
18. Tokyo Sonata
19. Step Brothers
20t. 35 Shots of Rum warm
20t. Lake Mungo
22. Hunger spicy
23. Dear Zachary
24. Iron Man cold
25. Slumdog Millionaire cold

Next 5:
Ponyo spicy
Repo! The Genetic Opera
The Good, The Bad and The Weird frozen
Vicky Cristina Barcelona mild
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button cold

[Dukefrukem]

Well those are new ratings never before seen on MC. How am I supposed to interpret that? Is it like hot and cold takes? The hotter the more outrageous because it's so out there? And Cold means, "yeh no shit"?

[baby doll]

Well those are new ratings never before seen on MC. How am I supposed to interpret that? Is it like hot and cold takes? The hotter the more outrageous because it's so out there? And Cold means, "yeh no shit"?I got the idea while ordering wings. "Spicy" is my highest rating, "warm" means it's a film I'd watch again, "mild" is worth seeing, "cold" sucks, "frozen" is worthless, and "inedible" means I walked out or turned it off before the end.

[baby doll]

For the record, I have no idea what a hot or cold take is.

[Dukefrukem]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_take

[Pop Trash]

I'm surprised The Dark Knight moved that much, but maybe it's because more people voted (seemingly). I actually liked that one more then, than now, though it's still great, just the awe has rubbed off, for me. Rachel Getting Married plummeted.

It has become so steeped into the culture, to the point where people still talk about it and quote it to this day. I also think that watching Zack Snyder try (and fail) to accomplish what Nolan did has made me appreciate it more. It's basically Terminator 2 for the 00s; the populist fanboy movie I can get behind.

[baby doll]

It has become so steeped into the culture, to the point where people still talk about it and quote it to this day. I also think that watching Zack Snyder try (and fail) to accomplish what Nolan did has made me appreciate it more. It's basically Terminator 2 for the 00s; the populist fanboy movie I can get behind.The Terminator (1984) > Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) > Day-old pizza > The Dark Knight

[transmogrifier]

The Terminator (1984) > Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) > Day-old pizza > The Dark Knight

Pretty much.

Also

Batman Returns > Batman > The Dark Knight Rises > The Dark Knight > Batman Begins >>>>>> Batman Forever >>>>> Batman and Robin

[Pop Trash]

Pretty much.

Also

Batman Returns > Batman > The Dark Knight Rises > The Dark Knight > Batman Begins >>>>>> Batman Forever >>>>> Batman and Robin


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx7qEn9q2Rc

[MadMan]

When did Match Cut start? 2007?Yes. Somedays I wish had never registered here. I am sure many feel the same.

Gran Torino is great, as is The Wrestler. I liked Step Brothers but I did not vote for it. Burn After Reading is hilarious.

[MadMan]

In Bruges is near great, and was not on my list-the same goes for Let the Right One In. The Dark Knight is probably even more relevant now, sadly. WALL·E is wonderful and I wish I had seen it on the big screen. I doubt I will get to any of the ones on this list that I have not seen. Oh well.

[Dukefrukem]

Pretty much.

Also

Batman Returns > Batman > The Dark Knight Rises > The Dark Knight > Batman Begins >>>>>> Batman Forever >>>>> Batman and Robin

I feel like Batman and Robin is on the same lines as the Room or Battlefield Earth at this point. IT's more fascinating to watch than people give it credit for it. Also, the drop off from Batman Forever to B&R is also fascinating. It's the same fucking director. What happened??

[baby doll]

Also, the drop off from Batman Forever to B&R is also fascinating. It's the same fucking director. What happened??I haven't seen either film since they came out, but I don't remember that big of a drop off, or indeed much of a drop off at all.

What happened, I think, is that Schumacher is essentially an unpretentious craftsman Ã* la post-'60s Sidney Lumet who tends to do his best work in mid-range projects like Falling Down, Tigerland, and Phone Booth (and his screenplay for Car Wash). His talent for economy and efficiency doesn't translate well to franchise films that are, almost by definition, sprawling and over-inflated smorgasbords.

[Rico]

Also, the drop off from Batman Forever to B&R is also fascinating. It's the same fucking director. What happened??
Better villains. Carrey's Riddler and Jones' Two-Face were at very least entertaining. All these films are driven by the quality of the villain.

[Dead & Messed Up]

They aren't that much different in approach, but Batman and Robin leaned even more into the Adam West camp style, and there's less exploration of Wayne as a character to push against that. Funnily enough, Uma Thurman is probably the best villain performance of either film.

[Ezee E]

Not sure I've actually watched Batman & Robin from beginning to end.

[MadMan]

Not sure I've actually watched Batman & Robin from beginning to end.

I, um, saw it in theaters as a kid. Then I watched it on TV multiple times. Its so bad I couldn't look away.

[Dukefrukem]

I, um, saw it in theaters as a kid. Then I watched it on TV multiple times. Its so bad I couldn't look away.

I saw it in theaters too. I remember how crushingly disappointing I felt after watching it.