Just to say it once more, because I’ve certainly brought it up enough, 2008 was not a good year for film-goers.
That’s an incredibly subjective quip, of course, but I certainly found myself struggling with the level of quality on display with each and every screening, the oasis of the Oscar season ultimately proving to be a trickster mirage on the horizon as contenders ultimately fell flat or disappointed in various ways. And suddenly, we’re two weeks away from 2009.
Who let the goods out?
But a year lacking broad quality can be a fun “Where’s Waldo” for the impassioned film lover, and so it is that I found some truly wonderful, praise-worthy work from a number of driven and creative filmmakers this year. But a peculiarity began to arise as I sifted through the year’s offerings: What a load of downer cinema.
I first noticed it in the documentary offerings, heavier on morose subject matter than any other year I can remember. Depictions of the horrors of Katrina, the passionate life and tragic death of a Neil Diamond impersonator, the work of a journalist obsessed with his own inevitable suicide, the nation’s stance on the death penalty, the life and times of a child molester, a heart-breaking family drama in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a national economy on life support, despicable soldier etiquette at our global detention facilities -– it is hardly surprising that the most well-received documentary of the year is a celebration of an “artistic crime” in James Marsh’s “Man on Wire.” But how odd that the genre’s resident cynic, Werner Herzog, was responsible for one of the few other positive doc titles that made the rounds this year?
Moving into the realm of fiction, even the usually jubilant folks at Pixar couldn’t help but crank out their most sobering film to date, a cautionary tale wrapped in the guise of a love story that conveyed a creepy sense of inevitability despite a hopeful denouement.
I bring these observations up for a reason, and that is to add some perspective to the list you’ll find below. 2008 was a bellwether for me personally as I began to let the idea of “best” as a definitive slip away and become something more akin to a solid if flexible representation of the times, and how those times affect the viewer.
That’s really all it can be. Even the greats go back on what they think is “best” this year or that. Just take a look at Roger Ebert, who once considered “Raging Bull” his #2 film of 1980, just below Carol Ballard’s “The Black Stallion,” only to later consider Martin Scorsese’s film the best of the decade, while Ballard’s film was nowhere to be found.
And really, we should both allow and account for that kind of give and take, because that is what makes all this silliness so engaging, so wonderful and so meaningful.
I found myself drawn to films this year that could make powerful statements without losing sight of the medium’s tendency to captivate, inspire awe and outright entertain. But I also couldn’t ignore a great number of those expertly crafted efforts that pop up year in and year out like well-oiled machines. And when I finally settled on the 21 films below, I found a way to ignore the year’s shortcomings and revel in the delights these efforts, and those responsible for bringing them to the screen, came to afford.
So with that, my list of the year’s best, starting with the 11 films that fell just short of the top 10:
“BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER”
The easy anticipation is that Chris Bell’s consideration of steroid abuse in America (and the nation’s insistence on being all three superlatives of the title) would be a by-the-numbers cross section of all the data we already know. But cleverly combining the numbers with the priceless power of a family drama, Bell taps into a different level of showmanship and brings a rather compelling documentary into the fold. Let it be said that personality and personal perspective go a long way in the realm of non-fiction (more on that later).
“CHANGELING”
In perhaps his greatest success since “The Bridges of Madison County” 13 years ago, director Clint Eastwood conjured a 1920s Los Angeles enveloped by a thrilling narrative and sporting a fine central portrayal. Angelina Jolie’s performance as a woman left childless, and eventually, helpless (as a result of an incompetent Los Angeles Police Department), never boils over when it threatens to do so. The effort stays on track and becomes one of the more fully realized films of Eastwood’s career.
“CLOVERFIELD”
One of the most exciting movie-going experiences of the year, for those able to stomach the dizzying camerawork, of course, had to be this bit of sci-horror-comedy fun from producer J.J. Abrams. Using the medium in creative ways despite a paradoxical sense of derivation, Abrams and his director Matt Reeves constructed a thrilling piece of cinema at once engaging as a piece of pulp and arguably brilliant as an exercise in the manipulation of the senses.
“THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON”
Probably the closest thing to a #11 on my list of the year’s best, David Fincher’s vision of a beautiful Eric Roth script lingers in the bones long after a first viewing. It takes multiple looks to fully appreciate the delicate balance of the bizarre and sentimentality going on within the frames, but even the blind can recognize the massive leap forward for digital effects the film represents. In danger of being lost in the shuffle, Cate Blanchett gives one of the year’s most engaging portrayals.
“MILK”
Despite working from a by-the-numbers screenplay from Dustin Lance Black, director Gus Van Sant brought a refreshing sense of creativity to the life story of Harvey Milk. Giving his career-best work as the slain San Francisco politician, Sean Penn embodies his role, emotes his spirit and truly captures the heart. Josh Brolin may have given his own best-yet performance, creeping under the skin of what could have been just a simple villain character and adding subtlety and layers that resonate.
“THE INCREDIBLE HULK”
Louis Leterrier’s re-boot of the mean, green machine was one of the biggest, most exhausting (in all the good ways) film-going experiences of the year. But despite consciously pushing the action peddle to the metal in this effort, and therefore breeding suspicion that the filmmakers might overdo it, each set piece is more dazzling than the last. The film holds the second turtledove of a young studio’s seizure of what promises to be one of the greatest cinematic roll outs the comic subgenre has seen.
“IRON MAN”
Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in Marvel’s first in-house operation fits like a glove; the actor fires on all cylinders, more a machine of dramatic purpose and performing genius than a thespian simpy playing the part. For comic fanatics (to avoid the pejorative “geeks”), hair-raising joy is found in many a minor crevice of the film, but the amplified fun factors of the effort keep the concentration off of hackneyed characterizations and over-the-top villainy.
“REVOLUTIONARY ROAD”
Sam Mendes’ sublime adaptation of a Richard Yates classic takes time to establish a sense of relationship breakdown, but it becomes something special because of the various perspectives a viewer can have on it, depending on age and sex, among other things. For this viewer, the film became an important analysis of two absolute cowards that understandably hasn’t found its footing with many in the film-going community, but being a chamber piece of a sort, it is perhaps the most cinematic play, of a kind, we’ve seen in some time.
“TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE”
Perhaps overshadowed this year by a 2007 Oscar-winning awards run and director/studio controversy surrounding its January release date and box office intake, Alex Gibney’s study of the United States’ torture practices is nevertheless a sobering piece of work deserving of year-end recognition in 2008. The film’s most cerebral moments come in an extended sequence detailing the various manners of psychological torture imposed (in our name) on numerous detainees since, and perhaps before, the events of 9/11.
“VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA”
An effective and delightfully self-aware comedy about the struggles of an artist and the search for inspiration, Woody Allen’s latest is, in many ways, reflective of own wanderings through the maze of irrelevance these many years. In the characters of Scarlett Johansson’s Cristina and Penélope Cruz’s Maria Elena, he tapped into an intriguing dichotomy, the back-and-forth of vision and lack thereof. Though Cruz’s work has been the most lauded, Rebecca Hall, as the title’s Vicky, deserves best-in-show honors.
“W.”
All signs going into Oliver Stone’s portrait of our exiting Commander-in-Chief seemed to indicate a train wreck fast approaching. A screenplay far too on-the-nose in its depiction of a bumbling simpleton who ascends to the highest power in the land seemed rife with cliché, but somehow Stone made the pieces fit in one of the more controlled pieces of his career. Kudos to Josh Brolin for filling in the gaps with a performance that could have taken a hard left into unnecessary showmanship.
And now, the top 10 films of 2008:
#10
“LET THE RIGHT ONE IN”
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Nothing can really prepare a viewer for the subtle, peculiar cerebral assault that is Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In,” or “that Swedish vampire movie” to those who might have heard this or that about it. Using incredibly creative in-camera effects and more than a fair share of eerie sound elements, Alfredson brought a refreshing take to an increasingly tedious subgenre of horror filmmaking. Unconcerned with teenage angst and young love, it became a welcome diversion from the likes of “Twilight” or HBO’s “True Blood.”
But that would be damning Alfredson’s achievement with faint praise. Here is a filmmaker cognizant of the power of what you don’t show an audience, but equally aware of how sporadic visual cues can resonate in that vacuum. But he is working with a pair of young actors who can pull their weight and then some. Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson work beautifully off of one another in this peculiar love story, adapted with refreshingly Spartan emotional notes by novelist John Ajvide Lindqvist.
#9
“GOMORRAH”
Directed by Matteo Garrone
When Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone sat down to construct a film out of Roberto Saviano’s detailed and controversial non-fictional account of the Neapolitan Camorra crime organization, he couldn’t have known the universal acclaim it would receive. But such recognition was certainly a part of his (and Saviano’s) hopes as they lifted the veil of an organization that has infiltrated unknown levels of infrastructure the world over. Bringing the truth to bear was significant and righteous, necessary even.
With a healthy troupe of adapting screenwriters on board, Garrone and Saviano found the right balance. Their patchwork narrative might seem trite and even trendy at first mention, but the menagerie works because it isn’t pretentious. There is no sense of contrivance or expressed intent to make its five separate narratives comment toward one another or intersect in a nifty manner. The assemblage is borderline slap-dash and more compelling as a result, all roads leading to nowhere but a list of sobering facts over black by film’s end.
#8
“DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER”
Directed by Kurt Kuenne
Going into Kurt Kuenne’s penetrating if (rightly) biased documentary knowing next to nothing of the particulars is the best way to go. The end result, if you have an ounce of hemoglobin pumping through your veins, is a parade of tears and recognition that Kuenne knows how to unfold a story. Perhaps the ultimate “family film” of all time, “Dear Zachary” disorients the viewer with an erratic editorial style punctuated by Kuenne’s own personality and emotions. But it is in the reveal, and the film’s final act, that the effort truly rewards.
Part of a one-two punch from Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Pictures (with Kelly Reichardt’s “Wendy and Lucy,”) “Dear Zachary” is a firm announcement of a new player on the indie scene this year. But it left this viewer anxious to see what Kuenne might do next, though painfully aware of the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the narrative and, as a result, the passion that went into conveying it. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: shame on the Academy for snubbing the film early on.
#7
“THE WRESTLER”
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
When director Darren Aronofsky wasn’t able to make the epic journey he perhaps would have preferred with 2006’s “The Fountain,” he surely did his share of artistic soul-searching before coming upon a modest, intriguing and certainly “indie” screenplay in Robert Siegel’s “The Wrestler.” Reaching back to his own maverick cinematic roots, those planted in 1998’s “Pi,” he has found his second wind with this incredibly moving and effortlessly poignant study of a man and his passion, and the loss that comes with it.
In casting disgraced actor Mickey Rourke in the lead roll of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, Aronofsky found himself in the midst of a massive gamble, but he knew it. And Rourke loved him for it, cranking out, far and away, his finest performance to date, and perhaps one of the greatest screen portrayals of all time. Building on the mystique of his own battered career and tapping into the pains of his life, his fault or otherwise, the actor created a startling character. But supporting performances from Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood should not go unrecognized either. It’s a tight ensemble all around.
#6
“HUNGER”
Directed by Steve McQueen
Filmmaker Steve McQueen announced himself loud and clear as a talent to watch with “Hunger,” a visual masterpiece in many ways and a vehicle for one of the year’s most underrated performances. A cinematic account of the “no-wash” and hunger protests of I.R.A. prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s, the film’s sparse screenplay really sings, a document that must have been woefully lacking in white space with wall-to-wall action, all of which comments quite thoughtfully to the plight of the characters.
Michael Fassbender’s performance as Bobby Sands is difficult to watch yet impossible to ignore as his body withers away in the film’s second half. With little in the way of dialogue, beyond an invigorating 20-minute take between Sands and a priest friend, the film quickly becomes Fassbender’s stage. But it is also McQueen and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt’s canvas as they capture mundane and intimate moments with an epic craftsman’s touch.
#5
“THE DARK KNIGHT”
Directed by Christopher Nolan
What more can be written about Christopher Nolan’s billion-dollar blockbuster? Every step of the way, this re-imagined franchise has taken the road less traveled. Risky decisions from the top on down, starting with Nolan being tapped as director, unconventional casting choices and the sheer bravery of rebooting the series less than a decade after it crashed and burned in the late 1990s -– these particulars never put the franchise in sure-thing territory.
But the film transcended the genre, no matter how cliché that kind of praise has become. Despite consistent indications from the filmmakers that their intentions were otherwise, the film captured the zeitgeist in the most wonderfully unexpected ways, drawing clear parallels to the political environment and a national sense of battered hopes. Heath Ledger’s performance will live on in infamy as not only one of the greatest screen villains of all time, but one of the most complete and spookily complete and lived-in characterizations ever.
#4
“PINEAPPLE EXPRESS”
Directed by David Gordon Green
Filmmaker David Gordon Green’s early career has been marked by an expressed interest in the mundane. The intimate intricacies of “George Washington” gave way to the slightly more complicated ides of “All the Real Girls.” He tried his hand at some genre play with “Undertow” and more intricate drama in “Snow Angels,” but “Pineapple Express” brought him back to his film school roots, much more reflective of the work he cranked out in the foothills of North Carolina in the late 1990s and a surprisingly secure fit.
What makes the film work as a confident thoroughbred of entertainment is how well-suited Green’s attraction to the mundane is to the x’s and o’s of the stoner comedy genre. Moments of hilarity are highlighted by surprising strokes of realism. Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen’s handle on comedy is given fuller layers of immediacy beyond the surface antics of the actor and even the thoughtful humor of the producer, while an ensemble of talent knows where the mark is and how to hit it square.
#3
“SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK”
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
I typically describe Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” as “his least accessible film to date.” It’s generally in the way of warning, but for some intrepid film-goers, it’s a big, bright green light. I walked away knowing I either hated it or loved it, but whatever the case, I knew I had no choice but to respect it. And the further I spun away from this wonderfully tangled web of ambition, I grew to understand it as a definitive mark of artistry and yet another example of Kaufman’s ability to give perspective to his inner demons.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is sensational as the embodiment of how Kaufman sees himself today, just like John Cusack, Nicolas Cage and Jim Carrey before him. But enough couldn’t be said of the ensemble performance around him, a who’s who of character acting talent embossed by some of the most captivating actresses ever assembled in one place. Samantha Morton is the true standout, but praise for Michelle Williams, Emily Watson and Catherine Keener would not be misplaced.
#2
“BOLT”
Directed by Byron Howard, Chris Williams
Do not adjust your monitors. I went there. And unapologetically, because much like David Gordon Green’s “Pineapple Express,” Brian Howard and Chris Williams’s “Bolt” made for one of the most rewarding and enjoyable film-going experiences of 2008. Much as I respect the work being done at Pixar, the ambition of “WALL-E,” the mark it aimed for, that film never lived up to its potential and became an exercise in beautiful but circular storytelling as far as I was concerned.
“Bolt,” on the other hand, strayed from the formula in its own way, certainly less of a risk, but with a dose of creativity that I’m sure Pixar would have been proud to call its own. An energized road-trip film of a sort, the film captures both the vibrancy of near-delusional childhood wonderment and the possibilities inherent in marrying those concepts to an action extravaganza. In that way, the film has much in common with Pixar’s “The Incredibles,” but it is its own experience, a delightful surprise and a reminder of just how much fun the cinema can be.
#1
“SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE”
Directed by Danny Boyle
Director Danny Boyle has been working steadily toward this moment his entire career. A sunburst of promise after the genre antics of “Shallow Grave” and the riveting ingenuity of “Trainspotting” in the mid-1990s, his has been a unique vision with each and every effort. After working brazenly in studio territory with “A Life Less Ordinary” and “The Beach,” he began stretching the limits of new cinematic technology with “28 Days Later.” He delighted in the modesty of “Millions” and the ambition of “Sunshine” in recent years, but in 2008, “Slumdog Millionaire” presented the perfect storm for Boyle, a project that would simultaneously nurture his excited filmmaking vernacular and his penchant for conveying the contradictions of youth, love and, in a nutshell, life itself.
It would be unfair to the film to harp on the low-key nature of the year’s cinematic output, but “Slumdog Millionaire” might not have secured this brand of classification in another, more competitive environment. In some way, that might be just as well. A year is a year is a year, and Boyle and company stood out in 2008. No other effort had the same vigor, the same immediacy, the same artistic blend of everything that makes the cinema so unique. Working with a variety of skilled craftsmen, not the least of which being cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and film editor Chris Dickens, Boyle constructed a menagerie that couldn’t have been better described than in those five words from film critic Richard Corliss decorating the film’s publicity materials: “a buoyant hymn to life.”
And…that about wraps it up. Check back Wednesday for my annual “if I had a ballot” post, and finally Friday for a list of the year’s winners in a variety of categories.
To recap, the top 10 films of the year:
1. “Slumdog Millionaire”
2. “Bolt”
3. “Synecdoche, New York”
4. “Pineapple Express”
5. “The Dark Knight”
6. “Hunger”
7. “The Wrestler”
8. “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father”
9. “Gomorrah”
10. “Let the Right One In”
Have your say in the comments below! What are your favorite films of the year?
Comments
103 responses to “Runnin’ on empty: the best films of 2008”
Diego ahs summed it up:
“Wall-E is better than Bolt…”
Yep, pretty much. I agree with another poster who said he thinks this list may be just to stir up debate. I could see Bolt being the #2 film of the year…if WALL-E were the #1. Otherwise, nope, not really. It was good, great even, it just wasn’t WALL-E, which is so absent from this list I’m 100% that this list is just begging for the film’s followers to come out and bash it so you’ll get more hits. Guess it worked, but still quite lame.
Also:
“this list lost it’s credibility when you placed “Bolt†and “Pineapple Express†ahead of “The Dark Knightâ€, and completely ignored “Wall-E—
Yep, ditto.
Top 10 so far (no particular order):
WALL•E
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE WRESTLER
MILK
TROPIC THUNDER
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
HUNGER
A CHRISTMAS TALE
WALTZ WITH BASHIR
CHE
And the best of the year so far (or at least, the most interesting):
IN BRUGES
1- Slumdog Millionaire
2- Redbelt
3- The Dark Knight
4- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
5- Rachel Getting Married
6- Iron Man
7- Milk
8- Bolt
9- In Bruges
10- Pineapple Express
We seem to share a lot of the same movies in one context or another, Kris. My list is severely lacking the foreign heavyweights right now though.
McGuff, here’s my defense: Quantum of Solace just blew me away. I went into it with my thoughts filled with the negative reviews. The film was a disappointment. That was the word. Though Casino Royale was my #1 film of 2006, my expectations were somewhat lowered by the news. But from the moment Bond said “It’s time to get out” and the theme song played, I was hooked. (Okay, I will admit to cringing at some of Olga Kurylenko’s early scenes and the editing could have been better.)
I like the direction they took with the film: Bond, Bourne-style. This is a Bond film we haven’t seen before. For example, the opera scene: magnificent. Forster has made a Bond film uniquely his, and it’s all the better for it. There’s not a lot of humor and there doesn’t need to be. It’s a serious film. Nay-sayers can jump all over me, but I think it’s the best Bond film to date and one of the best films of the year.
Matt (and other poster cited): I don’t put up a list “just to stir debate.” And I consider it an insult if anyone would think otherwise. Don’t search for meaning, this is my list of the year’s 10 best. You’ll wake up tomorrow.
[…] know the movie scene leaves much to be desired when Kris Tapley over at Incontention lists Bolt as his number 2. Tapley wrote up his year’s end column, capping it off with a top ten […]
Pleasantly surprised to see Bolt so high on your list. I go to the movies a lot. I go to be entertained and to take a time out from the hum drum realities of life. Bolt fit the bill quite splendidly. In fact, I went twice!
Josh, that’s fair. I also loved Casino Royale — particularly, I thought the new energy Daniel Craig brought to the role was fabulous. I’m surprised — you said “CR” was your top movie of 2006, but you think “Quantum” is the best Bond movie yet? High praise, certainly. I certainly thought Casino Royale was in the top three or so, and I could make an argument for the top spot, but ‘Quantum’ fell short for me (25th out of 40).
For me, maybe it’s the Bourne comparison that hurts it. With Jason Bourne, the thirst for vengeance makes sense to us — here was a man betrayed by an entire government. With Bond, seeking vengeance for a killed lover makes sense in a vacuum, but not in terms of the character that has been built for 40 years. For me, James Bond has too much Don Juan to be Jason Bourne. I’m okay if that makes me imagine-less, but character consistency (and I think I blame Haggis for this) is important to me.
To Matt: I imagine I’ll spend the next two months pleading with WALL-E detractors to dampen the vitriol and enjoy a light-hearted (if ambitious) movie for what it is. Hey, that’s my top movie of the year they’re calling overrated. What I hoped was that it wouldn’t go the other way — that Wall-e supporters would start spitting fire. Relax, and don’t make accusations that sound so baseless.
I still need to see The Wrestler, Benjamin Button, and possibly Doubt and Revolutionary Road. And some of those docs, though I find that most documentaries don’t have much replay value, regardless of how good they are. Replay value is key. The twenty-two 2008 films I’ve seen this year, and the order in which I enjoyed them (calling something “the best” is arbitrary and meaningless):
1) The Dark Knight
2) WALL*E
3) Milk
4) Synecdoche, New York
5) Tell No One (French film/2008 North American release)
6) Frost/Nixon
7) Slumdog Millionaire
8) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
9) Rachel Getting Married
10) Let The Right One In
—————————————————————–
11) In Bruges
12) Iron Man
13) Happy-Go-Lucky
14) Burn After Reading
15) Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
16) Quantum of Solace
17) Hellboy II: The Golden Army
18) Wanted
19) Tropic Thunder
20) The Incredible Hulk
21) Cloverfield
22) Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
i just need to say somewhere…
-I went to see Doubt on Saturday and the tremendous performances from Streep, Hoffman, Adams and Davis save an otherwise average film.
– I watched In Bruges last night and loved it. It works in so many ways on so many levels, and if they’d have waited til october-november to release it, it might be a real oscar contender, but i think it’s gonna settle for GG love.
– I saw I’ve Loved You So Long tonight, and was fairly underwhelmed. I won’t be shocked if Kristen Scott Thomas gets an Oscar nod, but i didn’t think her work was all too groundbreaking.
“-I went to see Doubt on Saturday and the tremendous performances from Streep, Hoffman, Adams and Davis save an otherwise average film.”
That’s pretty much what’s been said about it in most circles. Well-acted, but the film, story-wise, doesn’t work nearly as well on screen as on the stage.
“- I saw I’ve Loved You So Long tonight, and was fairly underwhelmed. I won’t be shocked if Kristen Scott Thomas gets an Oscar nod, but i didn’t think her work was all too groundbreaking.”
That’s interesting….I usually hear that it’s a great performance in a so-so film.
And In Bruges is a very enjoyable film. It’s like a more quiet, reflective variation on a Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie fim, with a lot of unexpected sideways humour.
SO right on with the tarantino comparison.
CHAD, don’t make pointless criticisms about my username when you know very well that Tapley’s list is worse than Richard Roeper’s…that’s embarrassing
You’re being quite silly, Bob. Grow up or move on…preferably both.
I don’t get how a list can be “worse” than any other list. We all have a rough pool of the same 30 movies that everyone seems to like this year. Just because you didn’t like the list doesn’t mean that it’s a bad list. I liked how he wasn’t afraid to defy a little convention with “Bolt” but still kept it diverse with a plethora of foreign films. It’s not like “88 Minutes” and “Leatherheads” were his 1-2.
If Kris wanted to be controversial, surely he wouldn’t have had Slumdog Millionaire at number 1?
Kris has made it quite clear by now that he didn’t personally connect with “WALL-E.” Not everyone has to. Get over it.
If you like your Top 10’s to look like they’ve been compiled by a committee (I’m not going to single out any high-profile names), then I guess Kris’ list would bother you. But human beings are quirky creatures. If people agreed with every entry on the list, something would be wrong with it.
*I say this as someone whose favourite film of 2005, I seem to recall, landed on Kris’ “10 Worst” list.
It is refreshing to see someone make their own decisions without the help of “herd think”. I applaud Kris, and especially applaud his #2 choice. I think we get so mixed up in Pixar pedigree that we miss the great muts sitting casually before us.
[…] then, you might not have guessed that Kris Tapley chose “Bolt,†not “Wall-E,†as the film that was second only to “Slumdog.†Do not adjust your monitors. […]
So far I’ve seen 5 of the films on your list, and 3 of them also make my top 10 of the year out of the 40-something films I’ve seen so far (which I won’t post, because I don’t see why I should publish anything incomplete.) So I’m definitely not going to criticise you for your list. I think it’s refreshing and even though I may disagree with some of your picks in the end, I reckon it’s always more interesting to read opinions that diverge from one’s own than reading the same old shit all day long.
Especially the”Bolt” pick is interesting, because I myself would rank “Kung Fu Panda” higher than “Wall-E” right now, and now I’d really like to see “Bolt” which otherwise I’d probably have given a pass. Stay true to what you really think – it’s the only way you can make a good and honest job.
And may I add I am about to name Che one of the years best films, something I hartdly think Kris will agree with but he will forever respect my right to name it such — some folks on this site need to learn about opinion….we all have one — learn to respect the opinion of others — yopu never have to agree, that is your call, but to condemn??? Foolish.
[…] of you who dug through my “best of the year” column yesterday know that I was a supporter of Chris Bell’s creative, informative and, at times, […]
Mine, if anyone cares:
1. The Dark Knight
2. WALL-E
3. Tropic Thunder
4. Changeling
5. Cloverfield
6. Young@Heart
7. Wanted (yeah, yeah, I know, get over it)
8. Iron Man
9. Penelope (did anyone actually see this?)
10. Son of Rambow
I love “worst” lists but since I deliberately avoid 90% of movies released, mine can never be accurate. I’m sure “Disaster Movie” is far and away the worst movie of the year but I didn’t see it. I can make a short list of films that I had heard were good or wanted to be good but were, in fact, terrible.
Be Kind Rewind
Young@Heart
Son of Rambow
Mister Lonely
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The Happening
Step Brothers
Tropic Thunder
The Visitor
Chad, I love the ‘worst’ lists too, and I posted my five worst above. I’m assuming you didn’t see ‘Smart People’, because if you had, I’m pretty sure it would find a spot on your list.
I do have a question for you, though…
I can understand someone not liking ‘Tropic Thunder’ — hey, it’s crude and unapologetic of some vain humor … and I say that as a guy that loved it — but for whatever reason, disliking “The Visitor” just mystifies me. I think the movie works on almost every level — it’s a political movie that focuses more on pathos than politics. It has some great acting. The musical element gives it a fun touch.
So what I’m asking is: why didn’t you like The Visitor?
Kris –
Over the years, you and your site have become fixtures in my own personal oscar coverage year after year. Yours is an opinion I have come to respect and look forward to, even when I disagree. This past year I have grown fonder of your coverage and your site in learning that you, as I, are a Batfan in the strictest sense of the word. Nobody else in awards coverage shares my love of all things bat like you, and that has only cemented your place as my “go to guy” when it comes to the oscar race. So I come to you and ask this as a Batfan, and a fan of cinema: How is ‘The Dark Knight” not higher on your list? Now, I understand, 5th best film of the year is no position to shrug at, and if it were anybody else, I would cheer the ranking. But it is not just anybody else. It is you. Now, to clarify just what kind of fan I am, no Bat film has ever been my favorite film of the year. “Batman Begins” cracked my top 10 of the year, but not my top five. And before that, I don’t know. I’d have to go back and review the years. But “The Dark Knight” isn’t just any Bat Film. It is, in my opinion, THE Bat film. It has the perfect villain that Begins was lacking (not a fault, just a fact), it has jaw dropping action sequences that can stand up against any summer fare and most importantly, it has a dramatic, deep, rich and authentic script which treats these characters that I have loved since i was old enough to direct my imagination towards the figures I held in my little hands with the decency and respect they deserve. I totally understand how films like “Slumdog Millionaire” could top other peoples lists (it is my #2) but for a fan of the Batman, to receive a film as brilliant as “The Dark Knight” is, I guess I just don’t understand how it is not higher for you personally. Now i understand the distinction between “Best” and “Favorite” but this is a time where, for me personally at least, the two converge. Anwyay, not at all a judgement of your list (which is, as always, interesting and inspirational in terms of what films I need to catch up on) but more of an inquiry from one fan to another as to why “The Dark Knight” did not rank #1 for you.
All critics who don’t have TDK as No.1 on their top 10’s are receiving death threats from fanboys and those critics are loosing their credibility, there’s either something wrong with them or obviously TDK would be no.1 on their lists.
Gareth: I think a lot of those answers might be found in my enthusiastic but — keyword — measured review of the film from July. I lvoe the film very much. I think Ledger’s performance is the stuff of legend. But I couldn’t get carried away with the film as a true milestone because the fact remains, it has the scars of imperfection like any other. There are numerous examples, but to name a few:
1) As much as I love the ferry sequence and the aim of the last act, it feels tacked on and not carefully blended into the narrative to combat the sense of stagnation.
2) The plot is heavily contrived in a number of areas, many of the forgivable (given the genre), but most of them sore thumbs of a sort.
3) Aaron Eckhart’s performance, though lauded by some as the unsung hero of the film, felt flat in many ways to me, like the actor was struggling to keep up with the talent surrounding him.
Etc.
But let it be known these are simply imperfections that needed to be verbalized to make my point here, and that none of them hurt the film so much as to damage it’s credibility in my eyes. They simply go toward the cumulative effect of knocking it down a few pegs, a humility the film certainly could have used throughout the year.
I hope that helps. The film just didn’t come to the sweet spot of being inarguable like my #1s tend to do. It didn’t satisfy as wholly as the four films above it and, as a result, it settled toward the middle of the list.
And as for “Batman Begins,” ask me some days, I’d call it a better film than “The Dark Knight.” And 2005 was such an awful year, it actually cracked my top 5 (landing at #3).
I walked out of Pineapple Express. A brainless and unfunny script with the most irritating characters of the year does not do it for me. Well that’s my opinion at least.
[…] So with that, I give you my list of the year’s best in an array of categories.  The first five you know. More after the jump. (Check back Friday for a year-end list of superlatives. And in case you missed it, my top 10 and “best of the year” column here). […]
[…] ranks as one of its most staggering offerings — as reflected by its well-deserved placing on Kris’s top 10 list […]
McGuff- The Visitor fails on every level to me. It’s just a screenwriting exercise, getting a character from point A to point B by painting a morally ambiguous issue in the broadest of black and white strokes. Jenkins is good with what he has to work with but no other performance was above college theater in my opinion.
Happy to see (I wasn’t expecting them):
“Synecdoche, New York” (at number 3, great choice)
“Taxi to the Dark Side”
“Pinneaple Express” and “Cloverfield” (I put these two at the same level)
Surprised to see (I don’t think these are nearly good enough to deserve their spots on the list):
“Iron Man” (Still can’t undersand what the fuzz is all about)
“The Incredible Hulk” (!!!???)
“Bolt” (at number TWO????!!! BETTER THAN SYNECDOCHE???!!!)
And for the record: I consider Downey Jr. as one of the greatest thespian of this generation… but that was not seen in Iron Man. I believe Eckhart’s rendition of Harvey Dent and Two-Face is by far better than Downey Jr.’s Stark. The difference is that Downey was the lead star surrounded by completely lackluster performances, while Eckhart is surrounded by all kinds of great talents. And yet, he still does his job with passion and delivers a solid performance. And his character is supposed to be inferior, overwhelmed by the actions of everybody else around him. He’s supposed to be a loser, and an emotional one for that matter. I think his peformance was spot on.
But Tony Stark was too conventional and lacked scope and ambition. Downey had charisma, but he was just going through the motions, in an “ambitionless” movie. Not enough of a performance to send Iron Man anywhere near the eleventh spot.
And “Bolt”? “The Incredible Hulk”? What about “Che”? That is an unique piece of biopic in the history of cinema, why isn’t “Che” in the top 10?
I’m not bashing anything, just trying to get around these strange picks.
[…] Kristopher Tapley (In Contention) […]
[…] many of you already know my deep enthusiasm and respect for Kurt Kuenne’s passionate “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His […]
[…] Tapley (column) 1. “Slumdog Millionaire” 2. “Bolt” 3. “Synecdoche, New York” […]
[…] 5. Kristopher Tapley, In Contention […]
[…] 5. Kristopher Tapley, In Contention […]
[…] that mattress man. Thanks to Kris Tapley for letting me steal his layout and to Michael Tully for making me think it’s okay to waste […]
Tapley. Just finished my wrap up, complete with layout steal. Link is here if you’re interested (we have 3 overlaps in the top 10)
http://chadhartigan.wordpress.com
[…] known to reduce one of its three-strong categories to a lean field of two. So, not having seen the Tapley-endorsed “Bolt,” nor having been greatly impressed by anything else in the medium this year, I […]
I heard that you’d marked Bolt as your #2 on The Movie Blog Podcast at the beginning of the year, and it really made my day to see that. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the likes of Wall-E and The Dark Knight. As a matter of fact, they’re two of only 15 films that I’ve given a 10/10.
Bolt, however, connected with me on a much more personal level than, dare I say, any film. With every single viewing of the film, I’ve found myself laughing, crying (with tears of both sadness and joy), and at the end of it all, feeling like a million bucks. While this film does hold an 88% on RT, I still feel that it is severely underappreciated. As far as I’m concerned, Bolt is better than any of Pixar’s films (which, again, is saying a hell of a lot, considering that Wall-E, The Incredibles, and Up are in my all-time Top Ten list).
Top Ten of 2008:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. Cloverfield
4. The Dark Knight
5. The Wrestler
6. Snow Angels
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. Changeling
9. In Bruges
10. Marley & Me
Bottom Ten of 2008:
1. Disaster Movie
2. Meet the Spartans
3. An American Carol
4. The Forbidden Kingdom
5. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
6. The Spirit
7. Righteous Kill
8. Semi-Pro
9. Diary of the Dead
10. Space Chimps
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married
Most Overrated Film of 2008: Slumdog Millionaire
Most Underrated Film of 2008: Passengers
I definitely think Bolt deserved the second place. It was a wonderful movie that might not strike critics as particularly original at the surface, being a slightly predictable story about a faithful dog trying to find his owner, but it actually packed some pretty interesting character development and deep messages.
Great list btw!
IRON MAN is best, love it !!!!!!
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