Here are my 20 favorite films of 2008. This is different than the original list which I posted in December, and it is very similar to the list I sent for the Film Comment Reader's Survey. As always, I post without commentary:
1. Frost/Nixon
2. Taxi to the Dark Side (doc)
3. The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey)
4. The Flight of the Red Balloon (France/Taiwan)
5. Slumdog Millionaire (UK)
6. The Wrestler
7. Doubt
8. In Bruges
9. Elegy
10. The Visitor
11. Milk
12. Gran Torino
13. The Dark Knight
14. The Last Mistress (France)
15. Paranoid Park
16. Let the Right One In (Sweden)
17. Tell No One (France)
18. Man on Wire (doc)
19. Vicky Christina Barcelona
20. Takva: Fear of God (Turkey)*
*-Released in Turkey in 2006. Not released theatrically in US, but is available on dvd
Did you see "Synecdoche, New York" ?
ReplyDeleteIt's the best movie I never want to see again. And I mean that in a good way.
Although I'll probably end up giving it a second spin. It's closer to a dream than any film I can remember, short of Bunuel, without obvious surrealism (save for a house that burns for decades but remains habitable). It's lots of vivid strands you just can't get a solid grip on.
And call me crazy but I liked two violent wanks -- "Burn After Reading" was minor Coens but surprising and merciless. "RocknRolla," too. I'm easy, but Thandie Newton's little dance was one of my favorite cinematic moments of the year.
"wanks"? Are you British-born, Harvey? And by "Shepherd", do you actually mean that you tend sheep?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed "Slumdog" - which I saw on my birthday - but I must concede that those dismissing the film as "poverty porn" have a point. Years ago, I described BLACKHAWK DOWN as "war porn". I just picked up MAN ON WIRE at the library. Saw it in release, but, lol...fell asleep!
ReplyDelete