Top 10 Films of 2008
Devin Thomas
Issue date: 12/11/08 Section: Entertainment
Devin Thomas is a senior English major and the SAB film executive. He once overheard Uma Thurman ask to use the bathroom at a Manhattan restaurant, thus qualifying him to tell you what movies to watch.
10. Låt den rätte komma in [Let the Right One In] (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
If Twilight had been made by the Swedes instead of the Mormons, it might have looked like Let the Right One In: a vampire film only in the strictest sense, it's really a coming-of-age tale of two lonely, desperate adolescents--one of whom happens to be undead.
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (dir. Woody Allen)
At first, I didn't warm to Woody Allen's steamy travelogue of the sensible, soon-to-be-wed Vicky, the impetuous, hot-blooded Cristina, and the fiery Spanish painter who stirs their passions. But the film's vivid performances (particularly Penelope Cruz's turn as the painter's unstable ex-wife) and dangling denouement haunted me for weeks afterward. Without a doubt Allen's best film in years.
8. W. (dir. Oliver Stone)
Leave it to controversial director Oliver Stone to cobble together the first George W. Bush biopic, a cinematic tour-de-force that vacillates from SNL-style farce to psychotropic fantasy to intimate character study. Josh Brolin's even-handed portrayal made me want to hug and simultaneously slap our beleaguered 43rd President.
7. In Bruges (dir. Martin McDonough)
You probably forgot about In Bruges, a darkly comic thriller that cropped up in theatres this February. The film's familiar genre (if you liked Guy Ritchie's brilliant Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, you'll love In Bruges) veils its depth: a tale of redemption so dark and so total that the light, when it finally appears, simply flickers.
6. Wall-E (dir. Andrew Stanton)
An animated film that's also an environmental cautionary tale? A children's movie that contains no dialogue for its first forty-five minutes? The best-yet offering from the studio that brought us Toy Story and Ratatouille? Yes indeed.
5. The Visitor (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
Renowned character actor Richard Jenkins finally takes center stage as the unlikely protagonist Walter Vale in Thomas McCarthy's eloquent The Visitor, a profound film that cares deeply about its characters.
4. Burn After Reading (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
It may seem like a wild departure from their 2007 Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, but Burn After Reading is perfectly consonant with Coen Brothers classics like Fargo and Blood Simple--quirky, dark, and threaded with ambiguity. George Clooney is wonderfully slimy as lothario Harry Pfarrer, the American answer to James Bond.
3. The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan)
What can I say about The Dark Knight that hasn't already been said? Ledger's performance is brilliant and deserving of a posthumous Oscar. Nolan's direction is crisp and efficient. It's Hamlet and Michael Mann and Bob Kane all rolled into one mind-blowing, genre-defying spectacle.
2. Young@Heart (dir. Stephen Walker)
Populated by hilarious and heartwarming characters, this film follows a senior citizens chorus that charms audiences with covers of contemporary pop-rock hits (Coldplay's "Fix You," The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated"). You'll laugh and cry in equal measure. A truly beautiful film.
1. Rachel Getting Married (dir. Jonathan Demme)
The Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs offers this tale of family dysfunction, human fragility, and the power of redemption. Kym (a remarkable Anne Hathaway) is a chain-smoking former drug addict who has left rehab to participate in her sister's impending nuptials. Hiding personal trauma behind a façade of self-deprecating wit, Kym struggles to simply co-exist with her harried sister (Rosemarie DeWitt), peace-maker father (Bill Irwin), and icy mother (Debra Winger).
Demme films Rachel Getting Married like an avid documentarian, his camera capturing every intimate detail and broad gesture. His vérité style imbues the film with a minimalist beauty, reflecting the rawness and poignancy of this small story.
Honorable mentions:
Tropic Thunder (dir. Ben Stiller), Bigger Stronger Faster* (dir. Christopher Bell), Man on Wire (dir. James Marsh), Ballast (Lance Hammer), Son of Rambow (dir. Garth Jennings), Iron Man (dir. Jon Favreau), Appaloosa (dir. Ed Harris), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (dir. Nicholas Stoller)
10. Låt den rätte komma in [Let the Right One In] (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
If Twilight had been made by the Swedes instead of the Mormons, it might have looked like Let the Right One In: a vampire film only in the strictest sense, it's really a coming-of-age tale of two lonely, desperate adolescents--one of whom happens to be undead.
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (dir. Woody Allen)
At first, I didn't warm to Woody Allen's steamy travelogue of the sensible, soon-to-be-wed Vicky, the impetuous, hot-blooded Cristina, and the fiery Spanish painter who stirs their passions. But the film's vivid performances (particularly Penelope Cruz's turn as the painter's unstable ex-wife) and dangling denouement haunted me for weeks afterward. Without a doubt Allen's best film in years.
8. W. (dir. Oliver Stone)
Leave it to controversial director Oliver Stone to cobble together the first George W. Bush biopic, a cinematic tour-de-force that vacillates from SNL-style farce to psychotropic fantasy to intimate character study. Josh Brolin's even-handed portrayal made me want to hug and simultaneously slap our beleaguered 43rd President.
7. In Bruges (dir. Martin McDonough)
You probably forgot about In Bruges, a darkly comic thriller that cropped up in theatres this February. The film's familiar genre (if you liked Guy Ritchie's brilliant Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, you'll love In Bruges) veils its depth: a tale of redemption so dark and so total that the light, when it finally appears, simply flickers.
6. Wall-E (dir. Andrew Stanton)
An animated film that's also an environmental cautionary tale? A children's movie that contains no dialogue for its first forty-five minutes? The best-yet offering from the studio that brought us Toy Story and Ratatouille? Yes indeed.
5. The Visitor (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
Renowned character actor Richard Jenkins finally takes center stage as the unlikely protagonist Walter Vale in Thomas McCarthy's eloquent The Visitor, a profound film that cares deeply about its characters.
4. Burn After Reading (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
It may seem like a wild departure from their 2007 Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, but Burn After Reading is perfectly consonant with Coen Brothers classics like Fargo and Blood Simple--quirky, dark, and threaded with ambiguity. George Clooney is wonderfully slimy as lothario Harry Pfarrer, the American answer to James Bond.
3. The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan)
What can I say about The Dark Knight that hasn't already been said? Ledger's performance is brilliant and deserving of a posthumous Oscar. Nolan's direction is crisp and efficient. It's Hamlet and Michael Mann and Bob Kane all rolled into one mind-blowing, genre-defying spectacle.
2. Young@Heart (dir. Stephen Walker)
Populated by hilarious and heartwarming characters, this film follows a senior citizens chorus that charms audiences with covers of contemporary pop-rock hits (Coldplay's "Fix You," The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated"). You'll laugh and cry in equal measure. A truly beautiful film.
1. Rachel Getting Married (dir. Jonathan Demme)
The Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs offers this tale of family dysfunction, human fragility, and the power of redemption. Kym (a remarkable Anne Hathaway) is a chain-smoking former drug addict who has left rehab to participate in her sister's impending nuptials. Hiding personal trauma behind a façade of self-deprecating wit, Kym struggles to simply co-exist with her harried sister (Rosemarie DeWitt), peace-maker father (Bill Irwin), and icy mother (Debra Winger).
Demme films Rachel Getting Married like an avid documentarian, his camera capturing every intimate detail and broad gesture. His vérité style imbues the film with a minimalist beauty, reflecting the rawness and poignancy of this small story.
Honorable mentions:
Tropic Thunder (dir. Ben Stiller), Bigger Stronger Faster* (dir. Christopher Bell), Man on Wire (dir. James Marsh), Ballast (Lance Hammer), Son of Rambow (dir. Garth Jennings), Iron Man (dir. Jon Favreau), Appaloosa (dir. Ed Harris), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (dir. Nicholas Stoller)
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