Film Journal's Top Ten Films of 2008

By Sarah Sluis

2008 has come to a close, prompting critics to sort and rank the films they've seen over the year, both as a form of mental cleansing during those slow news days post-New Year's, as well as in preparation for awards season. The Village Voice offered its annual survey of dozens of reviewers, and NY Mag took it upon themselves to poll critics on their ten worst films. Stop Smiling, a Chicago-based arts and culture magazine, also posted a list of their favorite films. Now it's our turn.

Our Executive Editor, Kevin Lally, shared his list of top ten films of 2008 in January's magazine, so I've re-posted them online, along with (often prescient) excerpts from our critics' original review:

Wall-E: "a tale that's equally satisfying as science fiction, cautionary satire, gentle love story and purely visual comedy," "its first half hour of beeps and blips "[evoking] classic silent comedy, setting up innumerable clever sight gags and achieving surprising expressiveness within the physical limitations of their adorable mechanical lead." - Kevin Lally

The Class: "a work of jaw-dropping intelligence, humanity and the most subtle cinematic bravura." - David Noh (who also stated it was "probably the year's best film")

Slumdog Millionaire:"a bracingly energetic and original story of struggle,

survival, upward mobility and romantic yearning that should be [and turned out to be] a

major art-house crossover hit." - Kevin Lally

Man on Wire: "a stunning adventure and a study in the ultra-weird, as embodied by the driven hero" - Doris Toumarkine

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days: "a ragtag tour de force, a low-budget, high-drama independent marvel that reinvigorates cinma-vrit." - Rex Roberts

The Edge of Heaven: "takes several German and Turkish families and turns their stories into a mesmerizing philosophical meditation on cultural displacement, how history repeats itself, and the ways in which parents want the best for their children." - Lewis Beale

My Winnipeg: "Maddin delivers another unique, phantasmagorical, handcrafted spectacle that again confirms his place as one of independent film's wittiest, wildest and most singular talents." - Kevin Lally

Frost/Nixon: "one of the most breathtaking bits of acting you are likely to see this year" - Daniel Eagan

Be Kind Rewind: an"unusual, heartfelt valentine to community and creativity, a true movie for the YouTube era" - Kevin Lally

The Visitor: stars Richard Jenkins as a "depressed hero,...hardly the most upbeat of traveling companions. The bumpy road means that this cinematic trip may not generate the kind of word of mouth a film like this needs." (redeemed by its inclusion on this, and other,Top Ten lists) - Doris Toumarkine

The list includes three well-represented Golden Globes nominees (Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, Wall-E), as well as probable nominee Man on Wire (the Globes no longer award documentaries). Be Kind Rewind hasn't been showing up on many lists, but the "Sweded" films were some of the most enjoyable comedic send-ups this year. Director Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg) remains a critical/cult favorite, not a crossover one. The Visitor has landed a spot on many Oscar projection lists, but 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and The Edge of Heaven were voted out of the foreign-language bracket last year. The Class, France's Oscar submission, will likely receive an Oscar nod.

Risky Business blogger Steven Zeitchik commented yesterday on the need for a critic to balance mainstream/niche films on their Top Ten list in order to maintain street cred (my words, not his). "Too many blockbusters," he said, "make you look preening." If that's the case, let's notice the film appearing in many Top Tens that's left off this list--a little Batman movie, anyone?

O Box Office, O Box Office: Christmas Releases

By Sarah Sluis

What better holiday gift than a quality, award-baiting film at the box-office? With a Forrest Gump-type storyline and a bang-for-your-buck running time of 167 minutes, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

(2,900 screens) hopes to entice its audience with the special effects of Brad Pitt aging in reverse, the exploitative inclusion of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina (sooo worth the $27 million tax credit), and its "must-see" marketing push. Sifting through the critical responses, it seems tackling the start-to-finish of Button's life forced a Catch-22, where either pacing or length would have to be sacrificed. Many reviewers grumbled about the long length of the film, but, as our Ethan Alter notes, "a shorter cut may have made the studio and theatre owners happier, but it would have robbed Benjamin Button (and those of us in the audience) of a rich, full life."

Tom Cruise wears an eyepatch and attempts to kill Hitler in Valkyrie (2,500 screens). Sure he's a Maverick, but I don't know if I, or anyone else, will be able to sit through one more WWII or Holocaust film. While I can appreciate how the slightly unhinged nature of Cruise's star persona would make him a perfect candidate to portray Colonel von Stauffenberg, I'm just not interested.

In the feel-good section, funnyman Adam Sandler stars in Bedtime Stories (3,500 screens). The "what-if" concept has Sandler's niece and nephew in control of his future: each contribution they make to his bedtime story comes true the next day. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston team up for Marley & Me (3,300 screens), about a couple's adoption of a lovable dog. All the press about the film seems to be

more about the rats the cat dragged in. Wilson--whose agent must have desperately searched for anything lighthearted after his drug overdose--walked out of interviews when the subject was brought up, and Aniston's tie-only GQ photo shoot seemed to be a pointed message toward her ex-husband. Still, despite all this noise about the stars, dog-lovers are a demographic in themselves, and with Beverly Hills Chihuahua a box-office slam-dunk, not one to be underestimated.

Fanboys will have The Spirit (2,400 screens) to watch after they unwrap their video games. Frank Miller wrote and directed the film, but his intensive involvement seems to have worked against him, since our Frank Lovece found him "truly unsuited" to film Will Eisner's comic book. With the crowded market, this film's success will depend on the eagerness of Eisner/Miller fans.

Releasing on 3 screens with an eye to expand, Revolutionary Road opens the day after Christmas. A solid, star-draped film, our Executive Editor Kevin Lally enjoyed watching "two gifted stars surpassing themselves, especially in those fierce scenes of confrontation where their grievances turn corrosive," and noted it offers the chance for the audience to "connect with their failed dreams." Last Chance Harvey, another favorite of Lally, also opens on Christmas on 6 screens. About a couple that finds romance in an airport bar after Dustin Hoffman is snubbed from walking his daughter down the aisle, the hopeful story will offer encouragement for those experiencing even mild familial estrangement.

Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli documentary of remembrance, will also roll out in NY and LA around Christmas, although its guilt-ridden exploration of violence does not make it the best choice for those wanting to remain in the holiday spirit. Happy holidays from the staff of Film Journal, and we'll see you next week!