Film Year In Review--2008

Another year, another annual film roundup. There were a fair amount of decent films out there, but not too many really good ones.

As always, I will discuss only feature films released theatrically, or available for the first time in America theatrically, in 2008. I'll give out some awards, note some trends, and at the end, list my top ten. If you disagree, you can always leave a comment.

Overall, 2008--moneywise, anyway--was the year of superheroes, cartoons and chick flicks. Yeah, it always is (for the first two, certainly), but more than ever this year. Of the top twelve films, five were superhero films of one sort of another (including the top four), four were animated and three were chick flicks (Twilight being a teen chick flick). I've never seen such total domination.

It was also a year when I disagreed with the critics even more than usual, as you'll perhaps notice by what follows.


Special Awards And Private Thoughts

Good Sport Award: In 2008, beautiful and charming Elizabeth Banks got to be the love interest to a smart-ass loser, a chubby loser, a spaceship and George W. Bush.

Most Pro-American Film: Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay--really captures the open spirit of America.

Will Smith Saves The World (Again) Award: He goes from bad superhero to good superhero in Hancock, and then (spoiler, I guess, though the film was spoiled a long time ago) kills himself to save a bunch of others in Seven Pounds. Will Smith is one of the most likable stars around, but you can overdo it.

Umberto D Award For Melodrama With A Dog: Tie--Wendy and Lucy and Marley & Me

Most Memorable Moment: Let The Right One In, the pool

New Hottie Award: Tie--Rebecca Hall from Frost/Nixon and Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Ending: After a climactic moment, Burn After Reading has about ten more scenes to go. Instead, they cut to J.K. Simmons who wraps it up with a few funny lines.

Most Infuriating Film: Dear Zachary. You need to see it to know why.

Macbeth Award For Most Ambition: Charlie Kaufman tries to take on the entirety of life in Synecdoche, New York. Some fine moments, even if it doesn't work.

Worst Documentary Of The Decade: Maybe the century. I just can't see anything coming out that'll be worse than Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which manages to be dishonest in ways not even Michael Moore imagined.

Franco Still Dead Award: I've never been a fan of James Franco. To his credit, he stretched beyond pretty boy roles in 2008--he was an out-of-it drug dealer in Pineapple Express, and Harvey Milk's lover in Milk. But I still don't think he did much of a job.

You WANT Credit For This Award?: George Clooney lost a fight to get a writing credit for his film Leatherheads. Why? I saw the films about 9 months ago, but I can still remember every ridiculous story beat. It's the early days of pro football and George Clooney is trying to save his team. He makes an offer to a big college star (John Krasinski), but he brings nothing to the table, so why does anyone care? Later, he and love interest Renee Zellweger escape from a police raid. It's not clear why they need to, and even less clear why they keep on escaping after they seem to have gotten away. Next, Clooney and Krasinski have an unmotivated fistfight over Zellweger. Late in the film, we meet the newly named Commissioner of Football, a character we don't care about doing stuff that makes no difference to us. He calls in the main characters for a big meeting to resolve a dispute we don't care about, which is then settled by a pointless and unnecessary strategem by Clooney. But at least before then, we get to see the commissioner demand a retraction from the press, so apparently he's also been named Commissioner of Newspapers. Finally, it all comes down to the big game, where--I swear--there is nothing riding on the outcome and we don't care who wins.

Biggest Good Movie To Bad Title Ratio: Slumdog Millionaire.

Most Indelible Characters: Both from the same movie, Happy-Go-Lucky. Sally Hawkins plays, as it were, the title character, while Eddie Marsan is the angry, bigoted driving instructor. Needless to say, neither are nominated for Oscars.

Holy Fool Watch: Perhaps my least favorite character type is the holy fool--the crazy person who speaks the truth. In fact, he's been driven crazy because he knows the truth. This is a literary conceit that might work in a novel, or maybe a play, but is always annoying in a movie. (In real life, a crazy person is not your go-to go for piercing insights.) Former examples--Mark Wahlberg in I Heart Huckabees and Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton. This year's example, Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road. Needless to say, he's received an Oscar nomination.

Biggest Anti-Climax (or I see more dead people): From M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Here's the plot: plants (we're led to believe), responding to overcrowding, make humans kill themselves. After there's a lot of death in the Northeast of America, it stops. Then....it happens again in Europe? Why wouldn't it?

I Want To Like It, Honest: Two films about 50s music which I love, Cadillac Records (why use real names of artists but not call it Chess Records?) and The Dukes, just don't cut it. The Dukes especially promises to be about an old bunch of doo-wop singers getting back together, but instead it's all about a crime they pull.

Least Romantic Love Scene: Zack And Miri Make a Porno. In a huge miscalculation (though I'll give him credit for trying), Kevin Smith has two people realize they've always loved each other when they have sex for the first time while appearing in a porno.

Parody Award: Late in his career, John Wayne had a huge hit when he parodied himself in True Grit. Now it looks like Clint Eastwood has his biggest hit ever when he parodies his old character (which I never liked that much to begin with) in Gran Torino.

Comeback Award: Guess it has to go to Mickey Rourke, who really is quite good in The Wrestler.

Don't Bring 'Em Back Award: Rambo IV, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Get Smart

Romance Can Be Boring At Any Age Award: Last Chance Harvey

Let's Go To The Tape: What do you do when you base your film on something that not only happened, but happened for all to see. It's one thing for Oliver Stone to commit to film his fever dreams about George W. Bush's personal life. But Frost/Nixon shows what allegedy happened in TV interviews and we sort of know it didn't work that way. (Actually, Oliver Stone did the same thing with The Doors on Ed Sullivan.) It's the kind of thing that can work onstage, but in the more realistic setting offered on film, it's weird to see things that didn't quite happen.

Most Pointless Film: A tie. 1) Smart People. What a good idea, make a film about people who are intelligent and articulate. Now if they only had a story where they did anything you'd care about. 2) Funny Games. Michael Haneke does a close remake of his film where two psychopaths torture a bourgeois family.

Unexpectedly Gruesome Award: Paranoid Park. You've been warned.

Unofficial Remake Award: No, not Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump. In Thomas McCarthy's first film, The Station Agent, a quiet guy withdraws after the closest person to him dies. He moves and is slowly drawn out of his shell by the new people he meets, an unusual groups of friends with problems of their own. This also describes his second film, The Visitor.

Double Dip Of Woody: Woody Allen usually releases one film a year, but his 2007 product, Cassandra's Dream, was such a stinker (despite a stellar cast) that it was dumped in January 2008. On the other hand, Vicky Cristina Barcelona was one of his biggest hits, even though, like most of his stuff lately, it seemed more like an outline for a film than a film.

Bigger Isn't Better Award: A good comedy is usually light on its feet. Tropic Thunder lumbered around, twice as big as it needed to be. The premise was okay, and with a lighter touch (and maybe half the budget and a smaller cast) it could have really worked.


Trends

Surprisingly Violent Comedies: Burn After Reading, Pineapple Express

Protagonists Named Harvey: Milk, Last Chance Harvey

Innovative Stage Directors Stuck In A Bad Marriage With Catherine Keener: Hamlet 2, Synecdoche New York

Do-It-Yourself Filmmaking: Be Kind Rewind, Son Of Rambow

Huge Flops From Popular Comedians: Meet Dave, The Love Guru

Films From Popular Comedians That Should Have Been Huge Flops: You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Four Christmases

Environmental Allegories (replacing anti-Iraq War movies?): The Happening, The Day The Earth Stood Still

British Capers: The Bank Job, Rocknrolla, In Bruges


Rankings

Bad Comedy: Meet The Spartans, First Sunday, Semi-Pro, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, The Love Guru (though not as bad as everyone said--if he'd called it Austin Powers 4 it would have made $100 million), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (it is a comedy, isn't it?), How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (had high hopes till I saw they were dumping it), Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Four Christmases

Passable Comedy: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (rare case where an American gets to do a British accent--almost always other way around), Baby Mama, Get Smart, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Meet Dave (barely passable, but I was in a good mood), Tropic Thunder, Hamlet 2 (the big song should have been better)

Good Comedy: Strange Wilderness, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, OSS 117, Kung Fu Panda, House Bunny, Burn After Reading (though it should have been better), Ghost Town

Not As Bad As Feared: Valkyrie (how could it be?), Definitely, Maybe, 21, Hancock, Wanted, Kabluey, Transsiberean, Sixty Six, Hellboy 2, Bottle Shock (still a wasted opportunity), RocknRolla, Doubt, Revolutionary Road

Not As Good As Expected: Cloverfield (good idea, dumb characters), Be Kind, Rewind, Horton Hears A Who, Reprise, Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist (has last year's big star Michael Cera peaked?), Religulous, Rachel Getting Married, What Just Happened, Synecdoche, New York (good in small doses), The Dukes, I've Loved You So Long (could have saved a lot of time if she just admitted her problem at the start), The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (looks great, though), Gran Torino, Milk (surprisingly uninvolving), Waltz With Bashir

Big Disappointment: Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (as noted by South Park), Cadillac Records, Quantum Of Solace

No Fun: Rambo 4, Charlie Bartlett, Leatherheads (great idea for a film--someone should do it some day), Redbelt (Mamet continues his streak), Smart People, Diminished Capacity (can't go a whole year without a mentally damaged protagonist), The Happening, Eagle Eye, Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Seven Pounds (though it's not as bad as what the critics said), Funny Games, Last Chance Harvey, Cassandra's Dream, Marley & Me, W.

Fun (in the sense of it being an enjoyable movie, even if it's about misery): The Visitor, Wall-E (though I thought the stuff on the ship was a letdown), The Dark Knight (I still got a lot of problems with it--too long, confused story, muddled message, some weak action sequences), Anita O'Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler


Bubbling Under The Top Ten:

Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay--Call it dumb drug humor, it was high-spirited and fun. And it had more insight into George W. Bush than Oliver Stone.

In Bruges--Martin McDonagh brings to the screen the first full-length example of his patented mix of wit and mayhem. I predict he'll do even better if he makes another.

The Bank Job--A solid policier based on a real story (though I'm guessing most of it's made up).

Paranoid Park--people preferred Milk, but I've always liked my Gus Van Sant straight.

The Visitor--quiet, but affecting, much like The Station Agent (see above).

Frozen River--I felt cold watching it.

Role Models--Didn't expect to laugh so much.

Wendy And Lucy--I wasn't sure if I even liked it when it ended, but it's stayed with me.


Top Ten (In Alphabetical Order)

Bolt--There were higher profile animated films, but this one was the most solidly entertaining.

Encounters At The End Of The World--It may be at the end of the world, but the beauty that Werner Herzog found in Antarctica is otherworldly.

Happy-Go-Lucky--No one makes films like Mike Leigh. Maybe not his best, but good enough.

Iron Man--Finally, they do a superhero film right.

Let The Right One In--If you see one Swedish teenage vampire film this year, make it this one. Spooky, but beautiful.

Man On Wire--Years before they were destroyed, one man (with help) did a crazy, lovely thing with the twin towers. Wouldn't if be great if they could be remembered for that?

My Winnipeg--I'm becoming a believer in Guy Maddin. I'm not sure how much of this documentary about his hometown is real, but it's a haunting vision.

Slumdog Millionaire--A crowdpleasing fairy tale, and what's wrong with that? (Though the questions are too easy.)

Tell No One--Since Hollywood has stopped making Hitchcockian thrillers, it's good to see one coming out of France.

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie--the surprise of the year. I had no knowledge of this Canadian cult TV show about Nova Scotia trailer trash, so I wasn't prepared for how delightful the travails of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles would be.