Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Back Ten Top Ten

It's that time of year--my friend Jesse Walker is announcing his top ten film list. Not for 2018, but for every year before that ending with an 8.  So his first list is the best of 2008:

1. I Am So Proud of You
2. The Dark Knight
3. WALL•E
4. Burn After Reading
5. The Wrestler
6. Wendy and Lucy
7. Man on Wire
8. The Class
9. The Order of Myths
10. The Headless Woman

I'm a big fan of "I Am So Proud Of You," and Don Hertzfeldt in general, but this is a short, and I don't put shorts on my movie lists.

Heath Ledger is memorable in The Dark Knight, but I don't particularly care for Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Don't understand the fuss.  Why?  Because they're better than the previous series?

WALL-E is good, maybe good enough for the top ten list.

I didn't like Burn After Reading when I first saw it, but it's grown on me.  I guess once you understand it's going nowhere, it's easier to enjoy it for the quirkiness and weird performances.  Especially good are a couple of scene with David Rasche and J.K. Simmons as CIA bigwigs.

The Wrestler probably makes my top ten. (I vaguely know the writer, Robert Siegel, who attended the University of Michigan--also the alma mater of Jesse and me.)

Wendy And Lucy might sneak onto my top ten list.  Certainly Kelly Reichardt's best.

Man On Wire deserves to be here.

I found The Class highly annoying, and haven't seen #9 or #10.

11. The Baader Meinhof Complex
12. Bronson
13. The Wire 5
14. Mock Up On Mu
15. In Bruges
16. Lies
17. Civilization
18. A Matter of Loaf and Death
19. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
20. The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow

I thought #11 was okay, and might put #15 in my top ten.  #13 is a TV show, so shouldn't be here (and, by the way, as almost everyone admits, season 5 is the worst season of The Wire).  I'm a little shocked, but I don't believe I've seen any of the others.

Other films that would (or could) make my top ten:

Encounters At The End Of The World

Happy-Go-Lucky

Iron Man (the most significant film of the century so far, commercially speaking)

Let The Right One In

My Winnipeg

Slumdog Millionaire  (Jesse didn't go for this Oscar winner, but I thought it was a lot of fun)

Tell No One

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie (I'd never even heard of the TV show, so this one was a real surprise)

Other films I liked:  Bolt, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (the best of the series), Hancock, Synecdoche New York (didn't like it at first, but has grown on me), Paranoid Park, Hamlet 2 (didn't like it at first, but has grown on me), Be Kind Rewind, The Bank Job, The House Bunny, The Visitor, Frozen River, Role Models, Anita O'Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer, Frost/Nixon, Wanted

Other film of note: Seven Pounds, Dear Zachary, Leatherheads, Rambo IV, Smart People, Funny Games, Milk, Four Christmases, Meet The Spartans, First Sunday, Semi-Pro, Rocknrolla, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Strange Wilderness, OSS 117, Horton Hears A Who, Rachel Getting Married, I've Loved You So Long, The Dukes, Waltz With Bashir, Cadillac Records, Diminished Capacity, Journey To The Center Of The Earth,  Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, Mama Mia!, Madagascar 2, Quantum of Solace, Cassandra's Dream, Cloverfield, Fool's Gold, Charlie Bartlett, Funny Games, Stop-Loss, Prom Night, Street Kings, 88 Minutes, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Baby Mama, Deception, Redbelt, Speed Racer, What Happens In Vegas,
Sex And The City, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, The Happening, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, The Love Guru, Garden Party, Meet Dave, Step Brothers, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, Swing Vote, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Rocker, Death Race, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, Towelhead, The Women, Ghost Town, Eagle Eye, Blindness, Flash Of Genius, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Religulous, Body Of Lies, W., Passengers, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Soul Men, Twilight, Milk, Cadillac Records, Nobel Son, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Gran Torino, Doubt, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Last Chance Harvey, Marley And Me, Revolutionary Road,Valkyrie, Defiance, Prom Night

5 Comments:

Blogger Jesse said...

My Winnipeg and Encounters at the End of the World were on my 2007 list, and Tell No One made my 2006 list.

And yes, the fifth season of The Wire was the weakest, which is why it's the only season that only made it to the honorable mentions.

8:06 AM, December 26, 2018  
Blogger LAGuy said...

I guess I often say the year of the film is when it was first widely available in America.

Just by chance, I recently rewatched The Wire. It was as good as I remembered, and I rank the seasons as I did before. Season 1 is the best simply because it creates the situation and most of the great characters. Then Season 4, followed closely by Season 3. (It's pretty clear, not knowing they would be renewed, that the show could have ended after Season 3, which closes the Barksdale arc.)

Then Season 2--it was a brave but somewhat mistaken decision to move the plot so far away from the streets (though some claim they did it to get more white people on the show). And finally, way below the rest, is Season 5, where clearly David Simon is trying to get something off his chest about his original profession (and in doing so creates the most annoying character yet, even though he's supposed to be the good guy).

12:33 PM, December 26, 2018  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There should be more support for Tropic Thunder, Benjamin Button and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

1:01 PM, December 26, 2018  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You've forgotten Forgetting Sarah Marshall. One of the best comedies of the decade. Also, I agree Tropic Thunder is a classic.

10:03 PM, December 26, 2018  
Blogger Bream Halibut said...

I really liked everything will be okay but felt a little let down by the second and third installments.

I also have My Winnipeg on my '07 list.

Here's my list:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Immokalee U.S.A. (amazing, obscure documentary of agricultural labor in Florida)
3. Breaking the Maya Code (another great documentary)
4. Il divo
5. Slumdog Millionaire
6. In Bruges
7. Ponyo
8. Be Kind Rewind (uneven but the high points more than make up for it).
9. The Dark Knight
10. Synecdoche, New York

11. Tropic Thunder
12. Leatherheads
13. Speed Racer
14. Love Exposure
15. Blindness
16. Frost/Nixon
17. Waltz With Bashir
18. Pineapple Express
19. The Forbidden Kingdom
20. Rembrandt's J'Accuse (hilariously crankish, but the non-documentary version from the year before is much better)

12:51 PM, January 05, 2019  

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