BEAR on 17/12/2008 at 05:09
Quote Posted by Stitch
I find the above borderline offensive in how staggeringly wrong it is.
Does Stitch have any idea what an opinion is? I've no opinion on this movie, looked like the kind of thing I typically don't like, but this is something I've noticed in general.
Scots Taffer on 17/12/2008 at 05:16
To be fair, maybe billy boy just loves to giggle at penii.
Tocky on 17/12/2008 at 05:18
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Let me guess, you're one of those guys that thinks a Dracula puppet musical is funny.
ONE! One joke I don't understand! AH HA HA HA!
Angel Dust on 17/12/2008 at 05:41
1. The Vistor. A brilliant, heartfelt drama with the best closing shot of any film I have seen in quite a long time. Richard Jenkins, a face you would have seen countless times, is a revelation, as are most of the cast, and it's pity the film came out so early in the year since he will probably miss out on an Oscar nomination. Tom McCarthy needs to make more films!
2. WALL-E. An almost perfect film. Who would have thought that the greatest and most heartfelt romance of the year would be be between two CGI robots? The 'dance' around the spaceship captured that joyous feeling of being in love better than any scene from any other film in recent memory. The enviromental and consumerism messages are also well handled, feeling more like a gentle wake up call than a finger-wagging lecture. The only thing wrong with this film is the perplexing use of a live action Fred Willard. While these sequences didn't take anything away from the film but didn't exactly add anything either.
3.Happy-Go-Lucky. Mike Leigh is the most consistently great director alive and this film is an excellent addition to an already impressive canon. Containing the best lead female performance of the year 'Happy-Go-Lucky' is funny and thoughtful in that way that only Leigh's films can be. Sally Hawkins treads a fine line and manages to be both irritating and sweet as the eternal optimist Poppy and Eddie Marsen is also fantastic, with one particularly incendiary scene.
4. Kung Fu Panda. The biggest suprise of the year, for me, was this hugely entertaining film. Fantastic animation and fight sequences, jokes that exist in the same film, great voice work (particularly Hoffman and McShane) and a focus on building the relationship between the master and the student instead of shoe-horning in some romantic sub-plot elevate the admittedly simple story to a great time.
5. Persepolis. Yeah it may have come out last year for you guys but it only got it's limited theatrical release this year over here in NZ! Anyway it was, some pacing issues aside, a very engrossing, funny and beautiful looking film. This was my wifes #1 pick for the year.
6. The Dark Knight. A big bloated Hollywood epic that I am, on reflection, a little dissappointed didn't quite live up to the immense promise it showed. However it has moments of such iconic brilliance that it must be included here. Heath Ledger is, of course, flat out amazing and the rest of the cast is also very good, particularly Gary Oldman who I very much hope to see more of in subsequent films. Nolan has some of his finest work as a director here, the opening heist and the interrogation scene, but also some of his worst, the barge sequence and Harvey Dent's press conference ( where he 'confesses' he is Batman). Also the score for this film doesn't get anywhere near the love it deserves!
6. In Bruges. Yeah that's right Scots, bring it on! This was one of the funniest films of the year for me and it's always nice to see Brendan Gleeson get a decent role, one that I think he pulls off suberbly. Colin Farrell proves once again that he needs to stop fucking around in Hollywood where he loses much of his charm and Ralph Fiennes is a riot even if he does seem to be channeling Ben Kingsely's in 'Sexy Beast'. Certainly not a perfect film, the ending is stupid and the jokey banter is really streching credibility in the later half of the film, but one I enjoyed quite a lot even if it will most likely fall off the list once I start seeing the films that will be coming out in the next few months.
That'll do for now. The coming months look great with The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Revolutionary Road amongst others all tickling my fancy! I can hopefully get a chance to check out Herzog's and Allen's, what a weird combo, latest films 'Encounters At the End of the World ' and 'Vicky Christi Barcelona' respectively. I have a sneaking suspicion I might have missed the latters theatrical run though. :(
Scots Taffer on 17/12/2008 at 05:47
That's it. I'm watching The Visitor tonight. I knew that fucker would knock it out of the park!
Oh, and Encounters At the End of the World is an eco-documentary isn't it? I remember seeing/reading something about that months and months ago.
Angel Dust on 17/12/2008 at 05:49
Yeah, but what is great about Herzog documentaries is that he doesn't come in with some agenda that he's trying to prove. He basically goes to some place and observes the land and people, often with fascinating results. The man also captures some fantastic and unique images and I love hearing him talk.
ercles on 17/12/2008 at 06:08
Oh holy shit how could I forget In Bruges, that movie was fucking amazing. Despite the fact that it was bizarrely violent for the last 30 mins, the script was sublime, and the acting was top notch.
This is the problem with rating a years worth of movies, at least with music I am still listening to the stuff that came out throughout the whole year and reminding myself constantly. It is harder to remember which movies I saw this year.
But yeah, In Bruges without a doubt.
henke on 17/12/2008 at 09:05
Top 10:
10. Hancock
09. Wanted
08. Kung-Fu Panda
07. The Forbidden Kingdom
Jackie Chan and Jet Li, together at last and much more inventive in their fightscenes than either of them have been in a long while.
06. How to Loose Friends and Alienate People
A Simon Pegg comedy not directed by Edgar Wright that (gasp!) doesn't suck!
05. Cloverfield
04. Burn After Reading
Not Coen's best, but not their worst either.
03. Tropic Thunder
02. Wall-E
01. The Dark Knight
Biggest disapointments:
Be Kind Rewind
It just feels like Gondry came up with a brilliant idea for a movie then got so excited about it that he rushed off to film it without having time to write a proper script for it. I expected a lot more from him after the brilliant Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine.
Red Cliff
John Woo, back in China, surely he'll get back to making actionmovies like he did back in the day! Nope, instead he churns out a LOTR knock-off that's even more boring than The Golden Compass. AND I DONT CARE IF THE RED CLIFF STORY WAS WRITTEN WAY BEFORE LOTR
OH! AND FUCKING Hell Ride
Why does Tarantino put his name on this and why are all these good actors in it? This movie had no redeeming qualities.
Still to see: The Wrestler, JCVD, RocknRolla, Pineapple Express, Låt den rätte komma in (Let the right one in)
Angel Dust on 17/12/2008 at 09:20
Yeah, 'Let The Right One In' looks very interesting. I missed it when it was playing at the local festival, too many movies soo little time, so I'll have to wait until it makes it to DVD. :(
N'Al on 17/12/2008 at 09:51
Unfortunately, my list of movies I would have liked to see/ have seen this year* is much longer than my list of movies I have seen. At any rate:
Movies that were great
Dark Knight
Iron Man
Cloverfield
ChangelingMovies that were meh
Quantum of Solace
Indiana JonesMovies that were shit
Uh, dunno. Must have blocked those out.
* some of these might be 2009 releases, so ignore those:
Hunger
Burn After Reading
Waltz with Bashir ((http://mario.lapam.mo.it/ds9/gifs/bashir.jpg) ?)
Baader-Meinhof Complex
W.
Frost/ Nixon
The Wrestler
Wall-E
Teeth
Be Kind Rewind
The Counterfeiters
Paranoid Park
Hellboy II
Righteous Kill --> (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7786462.stm) D'Oh!
Zombie Strippers ;)
