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Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

seely — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:56:02 GMT

Just a heads up, we've compiled and posted lists under the Spout username for the top critics association picks of 2008. Theres a lot of similarties, and a lot of differences among the lists--some very interesting picks and a few surprises too.

Check it out.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

seely — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:54:13 GMT

Thats exactly how I felt. If they needed a film to fill-in the "action" category on their list, I feel The Dark Knight more than sufficed. Part of the criteria for the AFI's selections is that a majority of the film must be made in the US... perhaps the US films were just that bad this year?

rjsprague:

All I could think was "What the hell? Iron Man?" Who are these idiots? Iron Man was NOT a great film. It was a mediocre action film based on a marvel comic book series, which basically guarantees its mediocrity. Who is this AFI person anyway!? (=D)

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:52:26 GMT

QFLW:

Religulous - Bill Maher asking people questions about what they believe and warning that religion is dangerous when used to run the world in place of common sense. Funny, not as obnoxious as he might have been. I wanted to join in the conversations!

I've really been wanting to see Religulous. I was a bit concerned that Maher was just trying to find the biggest religious nutjobs he could in an effort to ridicule religion in general instead of doing something worthwhile, but it sounds like he didn't resort to such low-brow, and probably amusing, tactics.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:48:42 GMT

seely:

Maybe this is old news already, but AFI just release their Top 10 of 2008, which I've copied and linked-up below. I have a thread about it going over in Its a Wonderful Night for Oscar, but thought it might add some fuel to the discussion here too!

seely:

Just came across this page over on AFI's site... its their top 10 of 2008.

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR-OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

THE DARK KNIGHT

FROST/NIXON

FROZEN RIVER

GRAN TORINO

IRON MAN

MILK

WALL•E

WENDY AND LUCY

THE WRESTLER

Theres a few rather obvious selections on there but a few I find rather baffling. AFI offers no explanation/rationale for the selections but Ironman and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I saw Iron Man, and thought it was good, but not exactly what I would consider to be a truly "great" film. I haven't seen Benjamin Button, but its gotten mixed reviews at best and not what I would consider a runaway pick for a best of list.

Any thoughts? Maybe a few titles that should have been on here but arent?

All I could think was "What the hell? Iron Man?" Who are these idiots? Iron Man was NOT a great film. It was a mediocre action film based on a marvel comic book series, which basically guarantees its mediocrity. Who is this AFI person anyway!? (=D)

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

seely — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:25:25 GMT

Maybe this is old news already, but AFI just release their Top 10 of 2008, which I've copied and linked-up below. I have a thread about it going over in Its a Wonderful Night for Oscar, but thought it might add some fuel to the discussion here too!

seely:

Just came across this page over on AFI's site... its their top 10 of 2008.

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR-OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

THE DARK KNIGHT

FROST/NIXON

FROZEN RIVER

GRAN TORINO

IRON MAN

MILK

WALL•E

WENDY AND LUCY

THE WRESTLER

Theres a few rather obvious selections on there but a few I find rather baffling. AFI offers no explanation/rationale for the selections but Ironman and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I saw Iron Man, and thought it was good, but not exactly what I would consider to be a truly "great" film. I haven't seen Benjamin Button, but its gotten mixed reviews at best and not what I would consider a runaway pick for a best of list.

Any thoughts? Maybe a few titles that should have been on here but arent?

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

QFLW — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:44:12 GMT

"... I'm usually the first to declare my distaste for Hayden Christensen and everything he's done he's ruined, but somehow in this I was able to ignore that loathing and enjoy the movie."

This is how I feel about Kiera Knightley, hahaha. The film I found her tolerable in was Domino...I've heard other people say Jumper might not be the best movie but it's entertaining. Am curious to see it now.

Wasn't able to see all the films I wanted to this year. Am looking forward very much to Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and The Brothers Bloom. And Doubt.

So from the new films I did see this year, my nominations for best:

Henry Poole Is Here - Low-key, sort of off the wall (er, pun not intended); a slightly predictable ending, but not quite in the way you'd think. Some food for thought on faith.

Iron Man - Excellent fun; Robert Downey Jr. is The Man.

Ghost Town - Stupid title that doesn't represent the film well; perhaps your standard formula romantic comedy, except that the lead is Ricky Gervais. Very funny.

Religulous - Bill Maher asking people questions about what they believe and warning that religion is dangerous when used to run the world in place of common sense. Funny, not as obnoxious as he might have been. I wanted to join in the conversations!

Body of Lies - Interesting Middle East thriller; handsomely filmed as is Ridley Scott's wont.

Zack & Miri Make a Porno - Tacky, yes, but funny and touching. Perhaps I'm just a Kevin Smith junkie, but I enjoyed this a lot.

I saw The Dark Knight and Burn After Reading as well but came away more dissatisfied than pleased with both. The action in TDK was too hard to follow; after awhile all the chasing and exploding got tiresome. Alfred is more interesting a character than Batman/Bruce Wayne; Heath Ledger stole the show. BAR started out brilliantly, has much in it that's funny, but the way the plot crashed and burned was too strange and not so funny, left me shaking my head. But the closing conversation was good.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

Risselada — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:35:44 GMT

leeroy711:

Risselada:

Whatever you put in your last post fucked everything up again Leeroy.

All I see is:

"It should first be noted that although I am a ridiculous"

then everything below that is blank

Is anybody else experiencing this?

I just removed the majority of the first paragraph... not sure if it was something in there.

Must have been something in that first paragraph! I don't know what it was. My computer didn't like it though. It's all good now! Thanks. :)

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

tadiv — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:21:45 GMT

tadiv:

For me, the list is:

The Dark Knight;

Slumdog Millionaire; (review here)

Wall-E; and

Let the Right One In.

There are others I want to see, but have not yet done so.

Tom

Having now seen Man On Wire, I must add it here - it's fantastic!

Tom

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:15:47 GMT

leeroy711:

Here's a list of '08 releases that I think you should see. I really think that this was a year for fun movies.

6. Wanted – Director Timur Bekmambetov is very quickly gaining a reputation of way over-the-top action with this one and his previous Night Watch and Day Watch. If you pay too much attention to this one, you undoubtedly fall into one of the many plot holes. Just watch it. It’s pretty fun.

Also worth noting are recent Criterion Collection dvd releases of Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket and Costa-Gavras’ Missing. Older films with new material... good stuff.

Okay. I really can't believe you put Wanted on your list. I literally wanted to strangle the screenwriters of this film after watching it. Perhaps it's my uncanny affinity for the laws of physics, or the complete lack of explanation for "regular" people who are able to completely break such laws, but I hard a hard time stomaching this film. If you're at all like me, then you will undoubtedly want to stab the main character in the face after you see the last scene. No really, I wanted to go "Psycho" on the guy.

The news about Bottle Rocket is great! :) I haven't seen that one yet. :(

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:12:18 GMT

Risselada:

Whatever you put in your last post fucked everything up again Leeroy.

All I see is:

"It should first be noted that although I am a ridiculous"

then everything below that is blank

I'm not sure what's going on Brian. I am not having that problem. Please try clearing your brower's cache and doing a hard refresh of the page. :)

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

leeroy711 — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:13:44 GMT

Risselada:

Whatever you put in your last post fucked everything up again Leeroy.

All I see is:

"It should first be noted that although I am a ridiculous"

then everything below that is blank

Is anybody else experiencing this?

I just removed the majority of the first paragraph... not sure if it was something in there.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

Risselada — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:14:43 GMT

Whatever you put in your last post fucked everything up again Leeroy.

All I see is:

"It should first be noted that although I am a ridiculous"

then everything below that is blank

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

leeroy711 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:33:57 GMT

Here's a list of '08 releases that I think you should see. I really think that this was a year for fun movies.

1. The Fall – This was probably the best movie watching experience I’ve had this year. I went into this expecting not much more than eye-candy and was completely blown away. This was a beautifully told children’s story that rivaled Pan’s Labyrinth….Keep in mind, no special effects were used in this film.

2. Sukiyaki Western Django – I used babelfish to translate this title from Japanese to English and it came back with “Suck On This, Stephen Chow.” Takishii Miike teams up with Quinten Tarentino for his first English language film and it superfreakin’ coooool. Hot girls, martial arts and some guy running around carrying a gatling gun; I’m getting a bit teary-eyed just thinking about it.

3. Doomsday – “Hey Neal Marshall, you can’t make a full length movie without a plot!!” say the naysayers. “Who needs a plot? I’ve got decapitations, explosions, cannibalism, fast cars, tattoos, cleavage, tattooed cleavage and medieval knights.”

4. The Strangers – I’m not really into the horror genre usually but I thought this movie did a great job of setting a terrifying mood.

5. In Bruges – This was a tragic drama disguised as a British dark comedy. It really surprised me how much I liked it.

6. Wanted – Director Timur Bekmambetov is very quickly gaining a reputation of way over-the-top action with this one and his previous Night Watch and Day Watch. If you pay too much attention to this one, you undoubtedly fall into one of the many plot holes. Just watch it. It’s pretty fun.

7. Burn After Reading – This is the part where I get called a “Coen Brothers apologist.” I can’t help it. I love their films and this one is no exception. Again, it was fun and I loved the dialogue.

8. A Dirty Carnival – This one, like The Fall, was made in ’06 but I don’t think anybody in the states actually saw it until its dvd release in October of ’08. It’s a Korean gangster story with a soft and a times comedic side. It’s a bit long but well worth the time.

9. Horton Hears a Who/Kung-Fu Panda – Both of these were a hell of a lot of fun. I think I liked Horton a bit more but Who’s counting…… he he.

10. Hellboy II: The Golden Army – I’ll be honest, I missed about half of this movie and still have yet to find the time to sit through it but what I saw was pretty damn incredible. Guillermo del Toro is on my short list of directors in which I’ll see everything they come out with.

Also worth noting are recent Criterion Collection dvd releases of Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket and Costa-Gavras’ Missing. Older films with new material... good stuff.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

Risselada — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:27:14 GMT

leeroy711:

I just copied and re-posted. see if that works. I'm not sure what's wrong. I can see everything fine.

It's still messing things up. All I see in one of your posts is this

"It should first be noted that although I am a ridiculous  "

And then there's nothing below it. No more posts, not even the links and categories that are normally at the bottom of every Spout page.

Weird.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

leeroy711 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:25:09 GMT

Risselada:

One of Leeroy's posts is still fucking things up in this group.

Other than that, I haven't seen too many movies from this year. I'm usually watching older stuff.

Burn After Reading was certainly my favorite of the few I've seen.

I just copied and re-posted. see if that works. I'm not sure what's wrong. I can see everything fine.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

seven-ate-9 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:31:05 GMT

Delighted me: (Sorry if a bunch of these are 2007, I have a one-year old and I'm just getting caught up)

Redbelt (2008)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

JCVD (2008) (In my opinion, Van Damme's "CopLand")

Rocket Science

The Fall

The Promotion (SWS really impressed me)

Chop Shop (Shows you a part of NYC I guarantee you haven't seen before)

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (hysterical)

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Eagle vs. Shark

Iron Man

Let me down:

Pineapple Express

Zack and Miri

All the boys love Mandy Lane

The Wackness

Sex and the City

Wanted (atrocious is too light a word)

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

Risselada — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:12:39 GMT

One of Leeroy's posts is still fucking things up in this group.

Other than that, I haven't seen too many movies from this year. I'm usually watching older stuff.

Burn After Reading was certainly my favorite of the few I've seen.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

seely — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:30:31 GMT

Very interesting. I was actually thoroughly repulsed by this film. My girlfriend and I sat through the first half hour of it and exchanged simeltaneous "are you kidding me's" when the whole secret religious sect came into the storyline. Maybe I'll give this film a second shot...

mercurial:

rjsprague:

mercurial:

Jumper

Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes.

Really Chris? I mean, I might have to kick you out of the maven group for liking this one. :p

Haha, NOOOO! I really can't understand it, but I really liked Jumper. It just seemed to appeal to my comic book geek side. I'm usually the first to declare my distaste for Hayden Christensen and everything he's done he's ruined, but somehow in this I was able to ignore that loathing and enjoy the movie.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

mercurial — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:37:58 GMT

rjsprague:

mercurial:

Jumper

Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes.

Really Chris? I mean, I might have to kick you out of the maven group for liking this one. :p

Haha, NOOOO! I really can't understand it, but I really liked Jumper. It just seemed to appeal to my comic book geek side. I'm usually the first to declare my distaste for Hayden Christensen and everything he's done he's ruined, but somehow in this I was able to ignore that loathing and enjoy the movie.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

mciocco — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:43:37 GMT

A couple years ago, I started putting together top 10 lists. I had no problem in 2006... indeed, several of my honorable mentions could easily have made the list. 2007 was more difficult, but there were some great late year entries and discoveries that made the list easier.

2008 has been difficult so far, but I'm still holding out hope. I only have two definites for this year's list:

The Dark Knight

Timecrimes

As far as some other films I enjoyed and am considering for the list:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

And some movies I want to see before finalizing my list:

The Counterfeiters

Slumdog Millionaire

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Doubt

The Brothers Bloom

Kung-Fu Panda (got the DVD this week!)

Frost/Nixon

Man on Wire

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Wrestler

And probably 15 others:p I think I'll be able to put together 10 that I consider worthy...

~Mark

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

Risselada — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:26:44 GMT

Something is screwed up in this discussion. I can't see any of the posts.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:32:18 GMT

mercurial:

Jumper

Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes.

Really Chris? I mean, I might have to kick you out of the maven group for liking this one. :p

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

tadiv — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:41:58 GMT

For me, the list is:

The Dark Knight;

Slumdog Millionaire; (review here)

Wall-E; and

Let the Right One In.

There are others I want to see, but have not yet done so.

Tom

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

dibot — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:55:16 GMT

I'm hoping that the end of the year push will offer some better films, but there have been a few movies from earlier this year that I loved:

The Fall (though Spout has it listed as 2006)

The Strangers,

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The Dark Knight

That's all I've got so far.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

mercurial — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:30:49 GMT

Liked these (in no particular order):

Cloverfield

Incredible theatrical experience. Might be hampered watching at home.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Cutesy teen flick. Had a great 80's feel to it.

Hamlet 2

Perverse and just plain hilarious throughout. Great original music.

House Bunny

I'm a sucker for Anna Faris and she plays a ditzy Playmate perfectly.

The Dark Knight

A comic geek's wet dream.

My Winnipeg

Immensely creative, original film. A flurry of emotions in a bizarre little package.

WALL-E

Heartbreakingly sentimental love story; action packed galactic adventure.

Iron Man

Another comic geek's wet dream. And Robert Downey Jr. Nuff said.

The Fall

Just insanely wondrous film. Deserves the comparisons to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

Speed Racer

Seizure inducing fanboy fun.

Savage Grace

Frightening 'Based on a True Story' film. Amazing performances.

The Strangers

Nothing new, but executed perfectly. Dark, abysmal terror.

My Blueberry Nights

Subtle, nuanced performances and beautiful direction. Packed with emotion.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day

Carefree, fanciful period flick. Amy Adams and Frances McDormand are a perfect slapstick duo on screen.

Jumper

Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes.

Watching the Detectives

Made for cinephiles about cinephiles. Hokey fun.

Movies that might be on my list that I haven't seen yet:

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Rachel Getting Married

Fear(s) of the Dark

Synecdoche, New York

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Towelhead

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The Wackness

Brideshead Revisited

Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

JScott — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:47:59 GMT

I actually really enjoyed Speed Racer unlike most.

My other obvious winners for this year are Slumdog Millionaire and Milk.

The Good The Bad and The Weird (played at Telluride, comes out Summer 09 I think)

The Dark Knight I enjoyed.

I'll come back with more but I think in 2008 I saw more old films than I did new releases..

I thought Nobel Son was lame.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

pippin06 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:10:05 GMT

I'm still working through many a past year, but I saw two films in the movie theaters this year that immediately went to my Wish List: The Dark Knight and Wall-E. They were both smashingly fantastic. So, vote 2 for TDK, and Pixar may have constructed its greatest if not one of the greatest with the cute little garbage-collecting robot.

Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

JimBell — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:07:43 GMT

I make no effort to go to the cineplex and see the latest movies. Also, this year, many of the most promising movies are coming out in December (instead of earlier like October and November). So I have a meagre list. Consequently, I've included every 2008 production I've seen, and I've divided them into Top, Middle, and Bottom.

Top

The Dark Knight—well done!

Get Smart—intelligently updated, quite funny

Middle

Australia—too long and too influenced by other films but a rousing story

Quantum of Solace—not nearly as good as the previous Bond movie; too much action and not enough substance and/or sophistication

TransSiberian—powerful thriller with an ending that was a let down for me

Redbelt—good acting and what could have been a powerful story are undermined by confusing action and a disjunction between the first and second halves of David Mamet’s story

Encouters at the End of the World (documentary)—competent and interesting but does not pack a punch

Bottom

The Other Boleyn Girl—a soap opera masquarading as a historical drama; factually inaccurate; irresponsibly using the names of historical people

Gonzo: The Life and Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (documentary)—a homage rather than a probing documentary.

I'm sure I'll see a couple of really good ones by January.

Collaboration - Best Films of 2008

rjsprague — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:27:48 GMT

As the title of this thread indicates the point is to suggest all of the really great films from 2008. After we get lots of great contributions, or not so great ones, we can debate about which ones to keep and which ones to throw away. If someone suggests a film that you feel doesn't belong among the best of the best of 2008 please say so, and explain why.

(The 2007 list is still in progress so if you haven't contributed your own picks yet feel free to do so. Also, please keep in mind a number of films will be released in December that could potentially garner a spot in this list so this particular list will probably not be finalised till after the new year. :)

I am going to refrain from adding my own worthless 2 cents at this point. :)

Have at it folks!