What about 2008? Well, The Westler looks like it's going to be one of my favorite movies ever, I need to see Slumdog Millionaire again to dissect each and every shot/trick Boyle uses, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is starting to fascinate me, and The Dark Knight is climbing higher on my 'most seen' list. So, what were my favorite movies? First:
Movies that I missed/couldn't see:
Rachel Getting Married
Synecdoche, New York
Happy-Go-Lucky
The Visitor
Appaloosa
Religulous
Gran Tornio
Revolutionary Road
And now my honorable mentions, 20-11:
20. Cloverfield
Forget the viral marketing and the false promise of an actual background story of The Monster. The movie delivers quick thrills and doesn't stick around long enough (it's like 80 minutes) for it to become too repetitive.
19. Tropic Thunder
Proof that Ben Stiller is talented, when he tries. Here he gathers a fantastic cast, including Robert Downey Jr. in a role that might get him nominated for an Oscar. Ironic, yes?
18. Rambo
Sly Stallone continues his comeback tour that started with 2006's above average Rocky Balboa. Here he returns to the other character that made him famous and then proceeds to dismember the Burmese Army. It's quick and bloody and a great throwback to 80s action movies.
17. The Bank Job
Forget Transporter 3 and Death Race, the only Jason Statham movie worth watching is the one where the only brawl he gets into has him beating up a couple of old guys.
16, Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Jason Segel's penis stars along side Jason Segel in one of the funniest movies of the year. Judd Apatow's goal of making famous every single actor from Freaks and Geeks is almost complete.
15. Let The Right One In
Forget the tween garbage Twilight, Let The Right One in brings back the vampire genre in a big way. Cleverly directed and acted, this movie is the best thing the Swedish have done since...I'll get back to you.
14. W.
Josh Brolin delivers one of the best performances of the year which, unfortunately, has been looked over due to the film's poor performance. The rest of the cast, minus Condi Rice, does the job and Elizabeth Banks makes Laura Bush look hot. What?
13. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Guillermo del Toro brings his Pan's Labyrinth sensibilities to this beautiful sequel. He uses Ron Perlman so perfectly, too, a feat that deserves it's on special kind of award.
12. In Bruges
See Colin Ferrel karate chop a midget! See Ralph Fiennes be funny! See a well-made comedy/action/drama movie that takes place In Bruges! ...it's in Belgium.
11. Frost/Nixon
Ron Howard makes a sit down interview as thrilling as a Bourne action sequence. If the whole movie was as great as the final act then Frost/Nixon would've been in my top ten.
Speaking of which:
Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Sean Penn, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna
There's so much to be said about Harvey Milk. If you've got no idea how he is and what he did for the gay rights movement in the late 1970s then check out the Oscar winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. Gus Van Sant's Milk looks like your typical biopic, it chronicles Milk's last eight years where he ran for office in San Fransisco becoming the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. One of the things that elevates Milk from mediocrity is Sean Penn's excellent performance as the titular character. Penn does deserve all the accolade he's been getting for the movie, but he isn't the only actor giving it his all here. James Franco, Diego Luna, and Emile Hirsch make for a great supporting cast. Josh Brolin, though, is the stand out. Brolin's performance as Dan White is haunting. By the end of the movie, if you're not moved by the film in anyway then you're a poor hopeless sack, devoid of all human emotion.
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Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Wilard
I think it's safe to say that Pixar knows what they're doing. I was watching some of the special features on the DVD and found out that the production team of Wall-E saw every single Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movie for inspiration. It definitely shows. At a time when every other animated movie fills their cast with A-list actors, Pixar went the opposite direction and made a modern day silent movie. The first half of the movie is absolutely perfect. Not to say that the second half is horrible, but if the whole movie took place on Earth then I think this would've stood atop my list. But that's just a minor quibble. The whole movie is fun, heartwarming, and visually stunning. Pixar just keeps churning out greatness.
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8. Vicky Christina Barcelona
Director and Writer: Woody Allen
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall
This movie really clicked with me. I don't know, maybe it had to do with my infatuation for Penelope Cruz. She's one of my favorites, not just because she's attractive but I think she's got some true talent (do yourself a favor and see Volver if you haven't already). The only problem is that she's only great when she's speaking with her native tongue. Here she fits in perfectly, playing the crazy ex-wife of Javier Bardem's character. They, along with two American tourists, Vicky and Christina, breeze through the beautiful scenery of Spain to tell a little story about love. Johansson, as Christina, plays the same type of character she did in her other Allen movies (it works), Bardem plays the suave Spaniard, Cruz plays the crazy beauty, and Rebecca Hall, as Vicky, plays the part of the 'boring' American so well that I didn't even know she was English (I didn't even recognize her in Frost/Nixon). All this makes for a great tragic tale about love and complacency.
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7. Burn After Reading
Directors and Writers: Coen Brothers
Starring:George Clooney, Francis McDormand, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton
I guess after the dark tone of No Country For Old Men, the Coens wanted to try something a little light. For them a movie with bumbling idiots literally screwing each other, trying to sell top secret information to the Russians, and sometimes even murdering each other is what they consider light. To me this fits well into thier other work like Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Expecting a laugh out loud comedy or something as great as No Country... was the mistake a lot of people made. Did people totally forget the Coen's work before 2007? This is the type of stuff the Coens do right: nihlisism with great little performaces by Grade-A actors.
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6. Pineapple Express
Director: David Gordan Green
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco
After seeing it few times now I can safely say Pineapple Expressdeserve to be on list, in between a Coen brothers movie and a Robert Downey Jr movie. It's got everything I like: explosions, Gary Cole, death by Daewoo, a stoned Bill Hader, and a song by Huey Lewis. There's so much in the movie that works for me. James Franco is the best thing in the movie, really. The Golden Globe people weren't completely out of their minds when they nominated Franco for play Saul Silver. Like any other good Apatow-produced movie, Pineapple Express has fantastic replayability.
Here's a handful of lines that still make me laugh:
"It's time to suck today's dick."
"Fuck Jeff Goldblum, man."
"Has anyone seen my bigger knife?"
"Fuck the police!"
"What's down there? A fucking Rancor?"
"Pandora doesn't go back in the box."
"You shot me in my stomach! I'm gonna die now, probably."
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5. Iron Man
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard
He's the comeback kid, they said. But 'they' haven't been paying attention. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Good Night and Good Luck? A Scanner Darkly? Zodiac? Iron Manonce again reminded us what we already knew: Robert Downey Jr is great. I can't imagine the movie being as good as it is if the studio succeed in ousting Downey. Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark. But, hey, the rest of the talent involved holds their own. Gwyneth Paltrow is beautiful and low key as Pepper Potts. Jeff Bridges brings the right amount of crazy playing 'The Villian'. And Terrance Howard, poor Terrance Howard, it's going to be strange seeing Don Cheadle as Rhodes/War Machine in Iron Man 2 after Howard was so good in his role. Jon Fareau did not disappoint here in his first big blockbuster movie (Zathura doesnt count). He did the right thing and cast it as if it were an independent movie. And that ending, that's got to be the best final line uttered in any movie this year.
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4. The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart
Everyone on the planet has seen The Dark Knight, I'm sure. And I haven't meet a living, breathing person who didn't like it. So, instead of me stating obvious and saying how great the film is, let me tell you my two favorite moments.
The Batpod Chase Sequence
Yeah, some of it is poorly edited and Nolan isn't the best action director, but overall it's thrilling and smartly constructed. It being entirely shot in IMAX, Hans Zimmer's score, the Batpod, and that amazing truck flip all turned it into the best action sequence of the year.
The Interrogation Scene
Fun Fact: This was the first thing Ledger filmed as The Joker. You wouldn't know it because he plays it like he's been doing it for months. Nolan himself said the movie is influenced by Heat and this scene had to have been influenced by the De Niro/Pacino coffee shop scene. It's the good guy and the bad guy just talking and it makes for the best scene in the movie.
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3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett
David Fincher, again, delivers an outstanding visual movie. After so many years of playing in the sandbox (Fight Club, Panic Room) Fincher finally matures here. Don't get me wrong, I love it when he gets crazy and squeezes the camera through the handles of coffee pots, but you've got to appreciate his toned down style in Benjamin Button. There's a fantastic little sequence in the movie where Button speaks of fate and a series of events that lead to an unfortunate accident. The movie has a lot of little great moments like this. But it's not all about the technique. Brad Pitt gives a great performance, but it's the women who take the cake. Cate Blanchett is amazing, from young girl to old woman. Yes, I do believe Blanchett provides the voice of her character as a young girl and it just goes to show how smart/crazy Fincher is. Taraji P. Henson surprised me as Button's mother she deserve whatever honors she has coming. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is beautiful and continues to prove that David Fincher is a talented S.O.B.
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2. Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the slums of India, director Danny Boyle manages to find beauty and genuine human emotion from the two of them. It's a story about fate and true love, so you'd think the movie would be sappy. No. Slumdog Millionaire doesn't hit you over the head with sentimentality. All three of the main characters face real hardship through the each stage of thier life. It doesn't get at all 'sappy' until the end but by then you feel like everybody gets what they deserve, good or bad. The movie is amazing and it does what every great movie should, it gives you a glimpse into a another world. Boyle really does deserve the shiny little award for best director, because he uses almost every little trick in the book. One thing: he comes up with the best transition I've ever seen, ever. I won't ruin it but if you see it then you'll know. The film has it all and was a breath of fresh air. It was nice to see a movie that actually made you feel so good.
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1. The Wrestler
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
At first glance this looked to be a Rocky-type of movie, something brimming with sterotypes and cliches. No, by the end, it's everything but. The Wrestler is a brilliant character piece, something along the lines of my favorite movie last year, There Will Be Blood. Rourke's Randy "The Ram" does things only he would do for his own reasons. They may not be what's entirely right but it's what makes him feel like he's worth a damn. And it's Rourke who does deliver 'the performance of his career' as many critics have been saying. The man does just about everything. He actually gets into the ring and performs those pro-wrestling moves, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Aronofsky deserves just as much credit as Rourke, though. Here he delivers the best movie of his career. Much like Fincher, he leaves behind his flashy style (Requiem for A Dream, The Fountain) for a more stripped down movie. Man, I think the movie pretty much speaks for itself and it's as close to perfect as any other movie on this list. Well done.
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The End.
