It’s that time of year again. Remember the tried and true formula: experience + resonance= fantastic film. As we all know art is not made within the confines of a calendar year and release dates are arbitrary, or at least monetarily driven, but that said, here’s what we have for the last 12 months of the year that was 2008.
A terrible year for movies? For American mainstream films, mostly, it was sub par overall. But if you open up to the world around you, it’s fairly easy to see it’s been an incredible rich year for cinema globally and frankly, I never make the distinction between movies and “foreign films,” and am always baffled by those that do (Yes, we’re going with the first person for our Top 10 lists for once). This is why there should be an international Oscars, but I digress cause that’s another post (Cannes is different and more like the Olympics).
The year for me, personally? Going to the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film festival is where I saw the meat of all the year’s greatest films so I look back and am extremely happy with my decision to self-finance my trip to TIFF. It was well worth it, just from a cinephile’s point of view. I only now wish I would have gone to Cannes in May as many of the year’s best films came from that incredible international festival. You’ve probably already heard my thoughts on how Sundance ’08 turned out over all: very underwhelming for the most part. What else, the economy? Like me, you’d probably rather read about this topic on the Wall Street Journal, not a film blog, but I will say that the shuttering of specialty film houses like Paramount Vantage was disconcerting and we surely won’t be feeling the full effects of these great studio indies closing until 2009 and 2010 when the Hollywood slate gets more and more populist and dismal – great for movie goers and escapist geek bloggers, but not so hot for the rest of us. Let’s hope places like Fox Searchlight keep at it, they had another great year too. Thank god IFC Films is still rocking at full force, they get the spirit award for keeping the independent flag flying and have done a fantastic job this year. Thank god for Film Forum in Manhattan and BAM in Brooklyn too. One final footnote: “Che” could have easily been #1, but we felt that seemed like more of a statement (in the way Jeff Wells or Dave Poland did) rather than a genuine pick, but on any given day either of the top two picks could be #1. We almost forgot to give props to the New York Film Festival, which in North America, was probably the most tastefully curated small-scale festival even if it was just a select selection of Cannes picks (not everybody goes to France).
Here’s the Best Films I saw in 2008, some of them don’t technically come out until 2009.
01. “Reprise” – Norway – Miramax
A vibrantly alive and magnetic ode to youth, a passionate chronicle of friendship and the manic energy of a restless mind. It struck a chord and never left.
02. “Che” – U.S./South America – IFC
A bold, daring and stunning achievement in cinema that was uncompromisingly singular in vision for better or worse (better in our minds). Obdurate, sprawling, ambitious and challenging to the last breath, this rebellion in narrative fully earned the title of epic.
03.”I’ve Loved You So Long” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
Just thinking of this movie makes us want to cry. An arresting performance by Kristin Scott Thomas made this the most emotionally devastating film about family made this year.
04. “The Headless Woman” – Argentina (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
An eerie and intentionally disorienting experience about a woman and the frightening after affects of a random car accident, Lucrecia Martel enigmatically places you in a claustrophobic mental crawlspace that blurs the lines between reality and depth perception autism. Perhaps the first film that frighteningly (and subtly) makes you feel like you’re taking on the first symptoms of schizophrenia.
05. “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days” – Romania – IFC
An unflinching and haunting abortion story set during 1980s Romania where such procedures are then highly illegal, the chronicle becomes potent by being told through the eyes of the friend trying to assist the matter who pays her own heavy psychic toll. It’s brutal in spots, but super powerful.
06. “Happy-Go-Lucky” – U.K. – Miramax
To write off this films as aggressively ebullient is deeply shortsighted. Mike Leigh’s greatest work in years is bolstered by two of the best performances of the year in Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan.
07. “Silent Light” – Mexico – Palisades Pictures
A transcendent and slow-moving tale of adultery set amongst deeply religious Mennonites faced with a personally fractured morality that is luminously shot and practically a religious experience in itself. Utterly radiant.
08. “Slumdog Millionaire” – U.K./India – Fox Searchlight.
A kinetic and celebratory fairytale of love set in the Mumbai slums to the thrilling camera and joyful tone of winning director Danny Boyle who finally get his proper due as a modern day auteur.
09. “The Edge Of Heaven“ – Turk/German – Strand
A profoundly moving tale of kismet and chance occurrence. Three seemingly disparate Turkish and German families intercede through fate in this Kieslowski-esque- drama by noted director Fatih Akin.
10. “Man On Wire” – U.S. – Magnolia
How does a documentary about a man who dared to wire walk across the world trade center become poetry; a spectacle of beauty and an awe-inspiring vision of one of the greatest heists/works of art of the 20th Century? Because of a fascinating, unique individual and powerhouse filmmaking that leaves you joyously windswept and crestfallen.
11. “Tokyo Sonata” – Japan (March *2009, Regent Films)
A family drama like none other done by former J-horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation). This is an internal terror of another kind: disquietude that haunts as it defies categorization veering into absurdism, comedy and other inexplicable areas, finally settling on a graceful, quivering and jaw-dropping solemnity.
12. “Doubt” – U.S. – Miramax
High grade acting sparks and fireworks go off when a cold, stringent, but principled nun (an amazing Meryl Streep) accuses a priest (an equally incredible Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting a young black boy. An astonishing Viola Davis makes her indelible mark in one unforgettable 12 minute scene and Amy Adams hold her own in this gripping tale of moral ambiguity.
13. “Voy A Explotar” – Mexico (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
The Bonnie and Clyde story as told by the urgency of the French New Wave via a Mexican spirit of emo-adolescent rebellion. A super passionate love on the run, road tale infused with immediacy and sonically youthful velocity.
14. “The Counterfeiters“ – Germany – Sony Pictures Classics (yes, an Foreign Oscar 2008 winner, but only released Stateside in the winter). Colluding Jewish Holocaust prisoners try and outwit the Germans forcing them to create counterfeit money to collapse the Allied economy in a devious, longtale subterfuge. Wonderful.
15. “Anvil! The Story Of Anvil“ (*2009; Currently Undistributed)
Uplifting, but never corny documentary about the under-appreciated and underachieving Canadian heavy metal icons, Anvil, a real-life Spinal Tap-esque band. The story of these lovable buffoons will make you pump devils horns in the sky, cringe with embarrassment, laugh and weep in celebration.
16. “The Wrestler” – U.S. – Fox Searchlight
A very soulful, human and unexpectedly funny drama by normally high-concept head-swirler Darren Aronofsky, signaling a new and brave direction in his filmmaking. Raw, modest and austere, Mickey Rourke’s naked performance puts it all over the top like a powerslam.
17. “My Winnipeg” – Canada – IFC
Guy Maddin’s “docu-fantasia” about his Winnipeg hometown is part propaganda piece, part civics history lesson and part imagined fabrication, the film is infused with his trademark wintry aesthetics, a drunken sleepwalking milieu and dysfunctional autobiographical elements that are eroticized and creatively embellished.
18. “Wendy & Lucy” – U.S. – Oscilloscope
Microscopically modest, Kelly Reichardt’s superb sophomore effort tracks a women besieged by poverty living on the fringes who loses her beloved dog. The emotional stakes are devastating as Wendy struggles to survive on a few hundred dollars and her last shreds of dignity. A whispering and ravaged performance by Michelle Williams is heartbreaking.
19. “The Class” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
The improvised-feeling, documentary-like picture about a French gradeschool classroom and its prickly, but compassionate teacher, crackles with spark and vim. Tackling issues of race, gender, social status, economic class within the confines of the school room, the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes this year fortunately never feels like a didactic lesson.
20. “Ballast“- U.S. – Self Distributed
Lance Hammer’s self-distributed this stark, rough-hewn, deeply rich and emotional tale of a fragmented African American family in a poverty-stricken Memphis delta. Michael Smith Sr. plays a twin quietly devastated by the suicide of his brother and the fractured poetry of the film is viscerally gut-wrenching.
Here’s a list of solely 2008-Released Films for those picky bastards that will complain. We’ve removed the four 2009 picks from above and added four more.
01. “Reprise” – Norway – Miramax
02. “Che” – U.S./South America – IFC
03.”I’ve Loved You So Long” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
04.“4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days“ – Romania – IFC
05. “Happy-Go-Lucky” – U.K. – Miramax
06. “Silent Light” – Mexico – Palisades Pictures
07. “Slumdog Millionaire” – U.K./India – Fox Searchlight.
08. “The Edge Of Heaven“ – Turk/German – Strand
09. “Man On Wire” – U.S. – Magnolia
10. “Doubt” – U.S. – Miramax
11. “The Counterfeiters“ Germany – Sony Pictures Classics
12. “My Winnipeg“ – Canada – IFC
13. The Wrestler” – U.S. – Fox Searchlight
14. “Wendy & Lucy” – U.S. – Oscillioscope
15. “The Class” – France – Sony Pictures Classics
16. “Ballast” – U.S. – Self Distributed
17. “Secret Of The Grain” – France – IFC
Forget the fraudulent “Rachel At The Wedding,” the true family drama via roving cinema verite cameras is the wonderful portrait by French Tunisian director Abdel Kechiches. Characterized by intense logorrhea and scenes that linger far beyond most filmmaker’s patience, the films fish cous cous restaurant narrative might not develop until far deep into the picture, but the director is more interested in the humanity of intimate observation.
18. “Revolutionary Road” – U.S. – Paramount Vantage
Ocean-liner sized drama within the pint-sized and incarcerating confines of the dreaded suburbs. Leonardo DiCaprio has never been better (or believable) and Kate Winslet is impeccable once again. Sam Mendes helms this ship with theater-like poise and grace.
19. “A Christmas Tale” (“Un conte de Noël”) – France – IFC
We once called this film mildly infuriating, yet here it is, because the benefits outweigh some of the sometimes, jarring, dyslexic filmmaking and irritating characters. The important part is that it stayed with us forever and bore a hole in our head. Plus let’s face it, it’s about a difficult French family, so some characters are rightly prickly and challenging. Arnaud Desplechin’s home for the holidays picture is honest and brutal like no other and joins the pantheon of great Christmas films. Just don’t ever watch it with loved ones.
20. “A Girl Cut In Two” – France – IFC
At times Claude Chabrol’s elusive drama about a woman (the comely Ludivine Sagnier) figuratively pulled apart by two men almost seems unintentionally comedic, but the wry cruelty, patheticness and pettiness of all the characters was purposefully crafted and unforgettable with shades of the “Dangerous Liason” character’s despicableness.
Honorable Mention:
“The Dark Knight,” “The Visitor,” “Hunger” (though most audiences didn’t get to see it until 2009), “Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane That Crashed in the Mountains,” “Tell No One,” “A Secret” “Mister Foe,” “The Go-Getter,” “Let The Right One In,” “Waltz With Bashir,” “Mister Lonely“
These are my personal picks. Some of the other Playlist members will post their picks in due time. Not all of them live in New York and Los Angeles and some are still trying to catch up on all the films of the year (give ’em a break). One last footnote: We wanted to wait til we saw Jia Zhang Ke’s “Still Life,” cause it ended up on many critics lists, but a) life is too short, b) we wanted to move on and c), we really didn’t care for Zhang Ke’s “24 City.” [ed. note: Saw “Still Life” a few weeks later and while it was good, it would not crack our top 20.]
Wow, a list of entirely foreign and independent films…too artsy for my taste. Maybe you should do a Mainstream Best of the Year list.
What does that mean? Not American enough? Geez, Movies are movies.
I would assume if i were to do this list, I couldn’t omit the Wrestler, because even though it is technically a indie film (something you didn’t like), to you it’s probably an “mainstream” film because they speak English, it has a star and there are no subtitles.
Broaden your horizons.
I really like your list. A couple of your honourable mentions, The Go-Getter and Mister Lonely, went straight to DVD in Australia. Pity. The Go-Getter was in my top 10 of this year as well.
Of those you mentioned I saw Slumdog Millionaire (after I’d done my end-of-year list), Edge of Heaven, The Wrestler (omitted from list because it comes out in Oz in ’09), Happy-Go-Lucky (got an honourable mention from me), My Winnipeg and The Counterfeiters (in my top 10).
Doubt comes out very soon and I’m looking forward to seeing that and Man On Wire is on DVD soon.
I hope that a lot of the films you mention get released here – I imagine most will be picked up by the Sydney and Melbourne international film festivals. Hopefully! Particularly Reprise.
Thanks for a great year of blogs! Happy New Year
There were only a few surprise picks I saw in here, the rest seemed to fit what you were saying the entire year and you can’t argue with that.
Biggest surprise was to see Man on Wire that far up on the list. To me it seemed more like an 15-20 spot. But, to each their own.
Also, glad to see the Visitor grab an honorable mention here, I was afraid this film was going to be forgotten by almost everyone. Maybe it’s my love for music that really elevated this film’s message for me personally but it really struck a chord with me and has resonated fairly well.
Love it, for sure, and look forward to many of those myself.
I actually found Man on Wire to be overrated. I mean, I’d reccommend it, and it was interesting to watch to be sure, but I was expecting something along the lines of American Movie or Grizzly Man (my two fav docs). But like you said…the music was good.
And I wasn’t knocking your list above, I was just surprised the ENTIRE thing was foreign or independent, when at least 75% of your discussion on films on this blog has to do with the mainstream ones. And no, The Wrestler is still an independent film, but I’m not saying it should be omitted from the list for this. Every list should have a couple indie, foreign, or docs…I’m just not used to the whole thing being that way. But then again, I have never seen a top ten list from you guys before. And that’s what’s great about it. Everybody has their own. I don’t want to see yours look exactly like someone else’s, but I haven’t heard of half of the films on your list (outside of this blog I guess), so all I can do is shrug it off.
Circusfolk. Not sure if you were paying attention all year? We did a mid-way Best of list and half of these films were there.
I’m not sure how you couldn’t have heard of half these films if you were paying close attention (which you seem to be since you comment every day. Many of our picks came from the NY film festival in late Sept, early Oct. or TIFF.
Silent Light and Secret of the grain were two films release in NY in mid December.
I’m surprised someone has chimed in saying Reprise is a 2006 (or maybe a 2007) flick since a lot of places got it much earlier than us poor U.S. folks.
Yup, “Reprise” is old, but hey, we got it when we got it. In some cases we’re lucky we got it at all, because it looked there for a minute as if it would languish in non-U.S. distribution territory that happens to a lot of great films. I’m STILL trying to remember the name of a great German Foreign film that I saw in 1997 at the Toronto Int Film Festival that never got picked up.
And btw, every top 10 always changes, like I said, that’s natural especially when you look back on lists from a decade ago.
Things like Secret of the Grain and Silent Light i tried not to rank too high because they came in late in the year and then they become weighted because they’re fresh, new and exciting, but with Silent Light, it’s so magnificent, I couldn’t help it.
And Man on Wire is not overrated. In many cases, I wish I woulda put it in my top 5, it’s so good! But god, there was so much good stuff that i felt a bit more loyal too because i saw them earlier in the year (MOW i saw very late in the year, early Dec i think; it passed me by).
The Oscar nominations have yet to be announced, but if the Golden Globes are any indication of what’s to come, my personal picks won’t be on it.
It was gratifying to see a list with so many of my favorites on it. (My two faves were Reprise and The Edge of Heaven.) It’s a shame that many of these movies will not be acknowledged because of politics and lack of marketing.
I know I’m not alone in my view that many filmmakers from other countries are taking over where American filmmakers left off in the 70’s–with innovative, adventurous, controversial themes that make you re-think your conceptions about life and human nature.
Kim, you’re absolutely right on all counts. But who cares about the Globes or Oscars. They’re fun to track, but at the end of the day, it’s just what mainstream culture endorses and shouldn’t be taken too seriously by a true fan of film.
This list is an enlightening pleasure. I agree with many of your picks and especially appreciate the way you describe Happy-Go-Lucky. The closing dialogue between Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan is nearly devastating. I’m always impressed with the great Mike Leigh.
Just wanted to say I checked out reprise based on your recommendation, what a great film – this has been traveling well below the radar, maybe because of how inconvenient its release schedule has been. Either way, great stuff. Also, having just finished watching Encounters at the End of the World just a few days ago, I’ve been wondering how it didn’t even muster a honorable mention on your list. To me it was really captivating (I mean, damn, that Penguin going delusional and leaving the rest of the pack toward certain death is still just stamped onto my brain.)
Yeah, that Penguin scene was drop-dead stellar, right? I liked and enjoyed Encounters a lot, but being a big Herzog fan, I think it was one of his lesser works. It is good though. Go see Little Dieter Learns to Fly or My Best Fiend.
I cannot believe Sean Penn’s critically-acclaimed “Into The Wild” doesn’t even get a honorable mention. The film was beautiful and Emile Hirsch gave a haunting performance, I’m sixteen and I could tell the difference between this beautifully crafted movie and some of the not-so-great ones on this list (not that it has bad films on here) but Into The Wild was worth the mention at least! Emile lost 40 kgs to do justice to his character and the living legend “Alexander Supertramp”
Into the Wild? Try 2007 dude.
Did you see “Flight of the Red Balloon”? That was my favorite film of last year, and I’m a huge Hou guy so I’m always a little disappointed when I don’t see that flick show up on one of these lists, especially one as extensive as yours (though, admittedly, I’ve been disappointed a lot this season).
Other than that, you need to see “Still Life.” I can see you not liking “24 City,” though I liked it quite a bit, but “Still Life” is a really excellent film, and the best Jia has made in, oh, like 5 years or something (“The World” was mostly underwhelming).
Props for giving the top spot to “Reprise” though, which falls just outside my top 5, and is in my mind the best debut film of last year by a pretty significant margin (in fact, I really can’t think of any competition). And I’ve heard some great stuff (and some bad stuff, that I don’t trust) about “The Headless Woman,” which is the only thing on here that I haven’t seen, I think.
Bah @ ‘Slumdog,’ ‘Doubt,’ ‘Road,’ even ‘Wrestler,’ really, though, I guess a few of those are “ok.” I can’t get behind ‘Slumdog’ however, as much as I’d like to because I think Boyle is a talented guy. But that movie just tears through its runtime at an absurd speed, never slowing down enough for me to feel anything. Every sad moment in that film (the death of the mother, the crazy eye-socket burning posse, and the death of the SPOILER brother) is handled with no tact or nuance. That and the fact that each of the three principals were played by three different actors (did we need the middle ones?) just made it too hard to latch onto these people, and so I got zilcho emotional fulfillment in the end– there are some pretty colors though.
I’m just starting to follow The Playlist, because my staff seems to think I’m too ‘out of touch’ with film news and stuff, so it’s nice to see that there is a bastion of taste on this site filled with news I could really give a crap about (and I mean that with the utmost pretension). – Sam C. Mac
@Sam from In-Review.
“Flight of the Red Balloon” was a little ponderous for my taste. It was ok, but not a top 20 film.
“Still Life” was beautifully shot, but would have been better served on the big screen, it just couldn’t really hold my attention on DVD.
“Bah @ ‘Slumdog,’ ‘Doubt,’ ‘Road,’ even ‘Wrestler,’ ” Congratulations at purposely not liking anything mainstream?
I like your list a lot. “The Wrestler” was my favorite film of the year. Number two was “Waltz With Bashir,” a fantastic film. Other than the omission “Bashir,” your list is very good. One other thing: I believe Kristin Scott Thomas was phenomenal in “I’ve Loved You So Long” but I believe the film was a little bit heavy-handed, especially towards the end. But seriously, The Playlist Top Twenty was pretty great.
BTW, not that this is a backpeddle on Slumdog Millionaire, AT ALL, but i put it where i put because i had to honor how thrilled I was with the first and only viewing i had. Does it hold up? I have no clue, i have not seen it since the first week of September at the Toronto Film Festival, but that’s how I felt at the time and I would never apologize for that. I sometimes wrestled with putting it both higher and lower just based on that original feeling and it ended up where it ended up.
“Bah @ ‘Slumdog,’ ‘Doubt,’ ‘Road,’ even ‘Wrestler,’ ” Congratulations at purposely not liking anything mainstream?”
Thanks for that, but no. I like quite a few “mainstream” things, in fact I like ‘Hellboy II’ and “The Dark Knight” both quite a bit more than the three of those.
It’s the formulaic, cliche-ridden plot of “The Wrestler” that got to me (though I readily admitted in my review that Rourke was quite good, and the filmmaking itself was excellent).
I did LIKE that film (just, as you said, “not top 20” or anywhere near, in my case). Just as I LIKED “Doubt” (they’re probably about the same for me), but couldn’t stand the heavy-handed nature elements (they said “a wind is coming” a good 5 times, I think). Again though, performances are good, and the screenplay is quite strong too, I just think that everything they added to the stage play (because they COULD) brought the film version down.
‘Slumdog’ I don’t particularly like, though I think i thought it was “OK” when I first saw it in Toronto. I’ve seen it three times since, however, and it’s just become grating (I prefer Boyle’s “Millions” actually).
And, as for ‘Flight,’ I obviously love it but being the optimist that I am I’ll encourage you to check out some of his earlier, narrative-driven stuff: “A Time to Lives and a Time to Die” and “A Summer At Grandpa’s” are particularly good. As is the “Mean Streets”-like “Goodbye South, Goodbye,” his ‘gangster picture’. I’m not sure if you’ve seen any of his other films besides ‘Flight,’ but I’d give a guy The Village Voice has called “our greatest living director” another chance. -Sam C. Mac
I really liked your list. Similar to mine. For example we both included Reprise, and Happy Go Lucky. But what about Be With Me, The Singing Revolution, and Blindsight. What did you think of them?
Best,
David
globalaroundtown.blogspot.com
where is ponyo – the new animation by studio ghibli- miyazaki? That was a good film.
I agree with pretty much the entire list, except for "4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days", which did absolutely nothing for me. I don't know if I'm missing some part of my soul, but I just don't see why people think that it's the greatest film ever.
Go back in time, see it again. Only this time go see it on the big screen instead of DVD. It was hella powerful.
I didn't see most of these but I definitely agree with "Doubt" and "Slumdog." You can't top Meryl.
Your choice of these movies are excellent. These movies aren't meant to be blockbusters and what not, they are meant to change minds, "broaden horizons", and let us view the world we live in much more differently. Thanks for posting these movies, i'm definetly watching them all!
thanks playlist!
Like your Top 20 List
I love your list. My favourites were Happy-Go-Lucky (Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan were soooo great! I saw it a thousand times), The Class, I've Loved You So Long, Doubt, Man on Wire (excellent!), A Christmas Tale (oh, yes) and Slumdog Millionaire.
I haven't seen a lot everybody mentioned, though, so I still have to find that out:).
Half these movies I've never seen, but to put Slumdog on there, you got to be kidding me! That movie SUCKED! I mean it sucked, it was boring, terrible, and the love story was probable, but not intriguing enough. It was overhyped and overrated, sorry, but the boredom of that movie attacked me in my sleep!
I have to get out more.
Great to see A Christmas Tale on your list. We thought it was superb. And, we liked it even better when we watched it a second time a year later.