Synecdoche, New York: Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut is clearly an ambitious project, and it's hard not to admire it. I looked forward to this film for a really long time, ecause I'm a big fan of Charlie Kaufman's earlier work. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation are brilliant films, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my all-time favorites, and while this film has most of the thematic quirks I've come to love from Kaufman, I realized that he needs someone like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry to reel him in. This film is very slow, and overreaching, even though it' saved by a strong cast (led by the always amzing Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a sandout performance by Samantha Morton). For a first film, it's a valiant effort, and it leaes many questions to ponder, which is why I still recommend the movie.
The Fall: I just recently saw this beautifully shot and constructed film about a little Romanian girl in a hospital with a broken arm who listens to a suicidal stunt actor tell a story of five warriors seeking revenge. The imagination that goes into this film is breathtaking, and I love the colors and the sights, but I did feel some of the fantasy scenes were rather lifeless, especially compared to the scenes between our protagonists Roy and Alexandria (beautifully played by Lee Pace (from Pushing Daisies) and newcomer Catinca Untaru). The relationship between these two characters is what kept me into this film and the reason why I include it in here.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 13 OScar nominations are nothing to sneeze at, and I can see where this film got them. It's beautiful to look at and the score is a pleasure to the ears, so all technical nominations are richly deserved, but I felt that beyond that, the story had a lot of problems. It's large in scope, but it feels cold and empty at points. In fact, while I was watching it, I couldn't help thinking about Forrest Gump and how many of the same plot elements were much more enjoyable in that film. But I still think it's a film wort watching, particularly because of its amazing third act when the film comes into its own themes. I also feel the scenes in the middle of Act II with Tilda Swinton are a delight.
Now, on to the Top Ten:
#10. Frost/Nixon: Peter Morgan is a master at dramatizing real life. He did it two years ago with The Queen and what came out of that was one of the most enjoyable films about a real person I've ever seen. Peter Morgan doesn't write biopics, he writes portraits of real people by using important events, and what he does is he takes everything he knows about the people involved in the story he's telling and then uses his imagination to fill in the blank. I'm sure many writers do this, but in his case, the results have been entertaining as well as informative, and Frost/Nixon is not an exception. In this film, the tension is always up and in every interview, you watch how the power shifts between the interviewer and the interviewee. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen have both mastered these roles for years, and I can't think of better actors to interpret these roles (Michael Sheen looks a lot like David Frost). Ron Howard may not be the bravest director out there, but he knows how to tell a story and he knows how to make us care for characters, even if one of them is Richard Nixon.
#9. Revolutionary Road: I don't how many people out there still love Titanic, but I'm one of them, which is why I was excited to watch Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet together again, especially after the years these two have had after Titanic and the performances they've given (and, as a friend pointed out, they were awesome even before Titanic). This is a tougher film to watch though. It's about marriage and shattered dreams. It asks the question, how much of ourselves do we have to sacrifice for our marriage, and are we capable of sacrificing it? The film leads to devastating results, and it shows Leo & Kate, both at the top of their game, with Michael Shannon stealing a couple of scenes away from them. It's a shame this film was mostly overlooked by the Academy, because I was more impressed with Kate here than in the snoozefest that is The Reader, and I do believe the film leaves a lasting impression.
#8. Let the Right One In: While everyone was obsessing over Twilight (I had enough of that reading the book), this superior Swedish vampire love story was floating under the radar, and it sure was a treat. It's about Oskar, a bullied 12-year-old boy who finds a friend in the new girl next-door who only comes out at night, barefoot in the snow, and her arrival seems to have come with some suspicious Deaths. Oskar soon suspects that Eli, the new girl, is a vampire, but he doesn't care because he's already in love with her. I loved the film because of how it handles themes of puberty and loneliness and isolation, without having to resort to a cheesy love story. The attraction between Oskar and Eli feels natural and innocent. Eli is played in an impressive debut performance by Lina Leandersson, who has a very unique look for a vampire that makes her look vulnerable and dangerous at the same time. There are some scenes of gore and violence, but not enough to overshadow the central relationship.
#7. The Wrestler: I didn't follow Mickey Rourke's downfall, so I'm not familiar with his history leading up to this film. All I know is that the performance I saw come out of him in this film is one for the ages. Randy "the Ram" is a man who is only comfortable in one place, and that place is the ring. Inside of that ring, he is the king, but outside of it, he's a bum. No doubt borrowing from his own experiences, Rourke displays every bruise, every scar, he lets the character be raw and vulnerable without any big theatrics or gimmicks. All he knows is that his home is in the ring, and when he's told he can't go back to that ring and tries to compensate his life by building a relationship with a stripper who understand him better than anyone (the amazing Marisa Tomei, sexy as hell in her 40's), trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter who doesn't want to acknowledge his existence (Evan Rachel Wood, also outstanding in her few scenes), and working behind the counter at a deli, he realizes the ring might be all he has. It's a hard film to watch, and there are scenes that made me close my eyes, but I couldn't look away.
#6. In Bruges: I remember seeing the trailer for the film and thinking it was just another gangster film trying to be clever, but then a friend recommended it to me, and because there was nothing else to see at the time (it was somewhere in early March I believe), I decided to give it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised. The star of the film is the screenplay, which finds the right balance between offensive and dark humor, irony, action and poignant moments. I felt deeply for the characters in this film. Colin Farrell (who won a deserving Golden Globe for this) plays Ray, a rookie hit man who screwed up on his first job and is sent to hide out in Bruges with Ken (Brendan Gleeson, also outstanding) and sightsee while they await instructions, and as circumstances change, these two men will have to face their demons and make difficult choices, while looking at paintings, climbing up towers and meeting midgets. It is no surprise to me that writer/director Martin McDonagh is a playwright, since characters like these feel like they should be in the theater.
#5. Slumdog Millionaire: I'll admit, there are a couple of plot points in this film that bother me and some of the contrivances stand out the more I think about them, but then I remember how the film made me feel when I left the theater. I applauded when the film was over. I found myself rooting for Jamal to win and for him to find Latika. What grabbed me about this film at first was the message that we can learn just by being alive. Formal education is not the only kind of education. Living gives us the tools to learn and we learn from every experience we live, which is why I loved the structure of Jamal telling the detective how he knew the answer to every question he was asked, linking it to a different part of his life, and all he did was live that moment. The fate angle that was later introduced was where the film almost lost me, but if it weren't for the charismatic characters (I thought Jamal's brother Salim was a particularly interesting character, always conflicted between his will to survive and his loyalty to Jamal), and the colorful, fast-paced direction by Danny Boyle (who is really the star of this film) is what kept me in this film. The best way to describe it is that it's a classic Frank Capra film with the Danny Boyle touch.
#4. Rachel Getting Married: This was a great year for female performances, and Anne Hathaway gave one of my two favorite female performances this year. She plays a drug addict who is yet to be forgiven for many of her sins and mishaps by the members of her family, including herself. Kym is the black sheep of the family. A girl with a reputation for being dangerous, for making everything around her about her problems, but she's really just looking for a love that she lost a long time ago, but Hathaway doesn't give the only impressive performance in this film. Rosemarie Dewitt plays the title character, whose wedding is this weekend and she has to deal with her sister coming home, as well as her absent mother, and her vulnerable father (supported by a new wife). Some of the filmmaking aspects of the film, such as the hand-held camera and the long moments away from our characters (i.e. hearing all the toasts and being in the middle of the wedding dancing) bothered me at first, but looking back at it, it's all part of what makes this film brilliant, and they are all attributed to director Jonathan Demme, with the characters provided to Jenny Lumet (daughter of director Sidney).
#3. Happy-Go-Lucky: This is my other favorite female performance this year, and looking back, I think I'm a better fan of this one. Sally Hawkins is Poppy, a woman who looks at the bright side of life no matter what. She takes everything in stride and believe in the good in people as well as making people happy, not because she's naive or stupid, but because she made a conscious choice to take life with a sense of humor and a level-headed joy that guides her through difficult situations, which include driving lessons with her pessimistic instructor Scott (a frighteningly accurate performance by Eddie Marsan). Some people find Poppy annoying, but one thing that always strikes me about people is that we've come to believe that bad things are the norm and good things are miracles, so we react negatively to a positive person like Poppy. But I wish I could be more like her. I wish things didn't stress me out and I wish I could take things with a smile or with a brush off. Poppy knows how to handle difficult situations. She's a teacher, and she knows how to deal with children who have been abused. Poppy is a woman who wants to spread happiness to everyone she meets, but as an audience member, I can see people are immune to it, and that is a shame.
#2. Milk: Biopics are a tricky formula. It's hard to make one that doesn't feel like you're just going through the motions and showing someone in the best light possible. Most biopics have an admiration for the subject they are presenting, but I think the thing that Milk has above all other biopics is a love for its subject. Director Gus Van Sant as well as Sean Penn who plays him, they both seem to love Harvey Milk and that love is contagious in this film. He's not a perfect man, but he's a man with a lot of love to give, and I felt welcomes into the world of Harvey Milk, and I think Sean Penn's warm performance had something to do with that. I've never seen him smile so much in a film, which is something that drew me in from the get-go. Also strong performances by Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Allison Pill, and particularly Josh Brolin who plays fellow city supervisor Dan White, a man slowly eaten away by inner demons. He's the guy we're supposed t hate, but it's hard not to feel some pity for Dan White. It also feels very much like a film of our time. Harvey Milk is like Barack Obama, a man who inspires hope. "You got to give them hope". That seems to be the motto of the times to come. "You got to give them hope."
#1. WALL-E: Yes, for my number 1 film, I went with the cute little robot. Seriously though, I've always admired Pixar, and have loved everything they've done to this day, but I feel with WALL-E they outdid themselves (even with masterpieces like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille). WALL-E is a film that doesn't just tell a great story and is beautiful to look at, but it's a film you can marvel at. I love that the first act of the film is mostly dialogue-free, which reminded me of Chaplin and his many attempts to get the girl, and the message of the film, while not told in the subtlest way possible (it is rated G after all), it's handled with so much class and it is integrated into the story seamlessly. I also think it's a film we can all reflect on, and think that what we're looking at in this film could be our future. It seems plausible that one day our Earth won't be livable and that we'll all end up living on chairs like obese babies, sucking on liquid food and pushing buttons, not because we're bad people, but because it's all we know. But, above everything, this is one of the most moving love stories I've seen in a long time, and I believe it will be as timeless as most (if not all) of Pixar's previous and future efforts.
Well, that's my impression of 2008. I still thought it was a weak year, especially compared to 2007 which was an amazing year, but there was still plenty to watch and plenty I'll be wanting to watch again.
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