Six Down, Six to Go
I was going to skip a middle of the year recap, but then Alexander Coleman got me to thinking about how well this year stacks up with last year in terms of quality. Mr. Coleman rightfully points out that 2008 is shaping up to be a solid in its own right.
On the other hand, Variety’s Timothy M. Gray puts his finger into the Oscar winds and finds this year coming up short by comparison. He might be right as far as awards go, but if you ask me that says a lot more about Oscar than it says about the quality of the movies.
Let’s do our own comparison and see how 2008 is going so far.
Here’s a semi-chronological list of movies from the first half of 2007 that I’d consider excellent. The movies that ended up on the LiC Top 10 list are in bold:
The Lives of Others*
Inland Empire*
Zodiac
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Black Book
Death Proof (Grindhouse)
Syndromes and a Century
Away From Her
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
Once
Paris, Je t’aime
Paprika
Ratatouille
Sicko
And here’s the same list from 2008:
4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days*
The Band’s Visit*
Chop Shop
Priceless
Shotgun Stories
My Blueberry Nights
Shine a Light
Young@Heart
Roman de Gare
Speed Racer
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
Stuck
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
WALL•E
*The Lives of Others and Inland Empire were both 2006 releases in LA, but since they got a wider release in 2007, I’m including them. Same for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and The Band’s Visit which were technically released in LA in 2007.
I don’t know how many films from the first half of 2008 will end up in the Top 10, but they’re all worthy and it depends on just how good the second half is. Either way, I’d say the first half of 2008 has shaped up very well. What do you think?
Note: 2007 might have a larger number of movies that fall just short of excellent than 2008 does, but until I reconstruct the last 3 months of the movie log I just lost, it’s difficult to compare for sure.
Filed under: Miscellaneous
Related Posts: - Thank You Roger Ebert
- Living in Cinema 2007 Readers Top 10
- LiC Goes to 11: It’s one louder, isn’t it?
- Coming Soon: The 2008 LiC Readers Top 10
- More Relentless ‘Shotgun’ Plugging
My top 5 right now are:
1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
2. Standard Operating Procedure
3. WALL-E
4. Be Kind Rewind
5. The Band’s Visit
with honorable mention to In Bruges, Paranoid Park, Indiana Jones, My Blueberry Nights, Reprise, Stuck, and (yes) Doomsday.
Top titles I missed so far were Shotgun Stories, Flight of the Red Balloon, Mister Lonely, and Funny Games (which I expect to hate).
Wow, Craig, I’m glad to have had a hand in inspiring you with this. I like the different approach you took as well.
I must admit, I really goofed in not giving 2007 the very significant benefit of Away From Her, a film that was in my own Top Ten for last year, and which I saw in mid-May. Syndromes and a Century, another Top Ten pick for me, was a film I saw in the late summer at a special “late” screening.
For this year, I need to see Chop Shop, Reprise, Shine a Light, Stuck (which came to Berkeley but not yet to Marin–perhaps I should have made the trip to see it), Standard Operating Procedure, Shotgun Stories, Flight of the Red Balloon and Mister Lonely. Oh yeah, and that Wall-E thing.
I’ve seen nothing really that I have wanted to, in terms of stuff that you lucky [insert word that I don’t want to use because it ain’t pretty]s have all had pleasure of seeing, most notably “Reprise,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” and most of your documentaries like “Young@Heart” etc…
Anyway, here’s my top 5 so far:
1. WALL-E
2. Paranoid Park
3. Water Lilies
4. My Blueberry Nights
5. The Band’s Visit
** So, I respect your post Craig, but mostly it makes me feel horribly behind and unfortunate. But that’s cool too ;)
As for Todd at Variety, picking Oscar possibles in July is like trying to predict the NFL playoffs breakdown in July: you may have some lucky guesses, but it’s a fool’s errand.
I’ve already missed a lot on your individual lists, but of what I’ve seen, the Top 5 so far:
Wall-E
The Band’s Visit
Young@Heart
Taxi to the Dark Side
Standard Operating Procedure
In addition to all the other honorable mentions already mentioned, I’d include Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which I was lucky enough to see on HBO (it’s coming to theaters soon). Very interesting documentary.
I’d say Speed Racer, The Edge of Heaven, In Bruges, Wall E, Encounters at the End of the World and Chicago 10 for me.
.
Still waiting for Encounters and Edge of Heaven here…dammit.
Ditto Joel, ditto…
Jeff, I’m not sure which is more shocking, Be Kind Rewind which I liked, or Doomsday which I hated.
I don’t have the time right now to make a list of movies I should’ve seen, though a bunch of them are probably documentaries like SOP.
Shit, that reminds me, today is the last day to catch Encounters at the End of the World in LA….oh wait, no it’s moving to Landmark next week. Cool. I’ll catch it this weekend.
I feel like I’ve been slacking, and haven’t seen enough to make a list. But, off the top of my head, the films of this year that I considered good to great (including festival films, but excluding films that were clear 2007 releases in the US, like Juno)
- Water Lilies
- Be Kind, Rewind
- In Bruges
- Estomago (Brazilian film)
- The Band’s Visit
And the runners up:
- My Blueberry Nights
- Iron Man
- Die Stille Vor Bach
- Paranoid Park (does that count as 2007 or 2008?)
- Un Baiser S’il Vous Plait
Also, I’m quite sure it doesn;t count as a 2008 release as it was originally made in 2006, but I recently saw This Is England (part of a “previously unreleased” series at the film museum in Amsterdam. I need to find time to get to Syndromes and a Century in the same programme), but it’s only playing for a couple of days more), and I thought it was incredibly well-made. Naturalistic yet lyrical. Romanticizing but not idealizing. Very specific and because of that universal. On par, I think, with Water Lilies in terms of capturing what a certain age (and a certain gender) can feel like.
Paranoid Park better be a 2008 release, which it is for me, because there is no way I could make it fit in my 2007 list….which is still incomplete, I suck at lists.
And I recently saw “This is England” on DVD, and loved that too Hedwig.
I meant to catch This is England last summer, but late July and all of August was a slow time for me as you can probably see from the low number of posts back then.
Craig, I have no problem agreeing that Doomsday was trash, but I thought it was highly enjoyable, well-made trash that was totally attuned to my frequency.
I think Paranoid Park played pretty extensively in Europe and Asia in 2007, but I’m counting it as a new movie for 2008-listmaking purposes anyway.
Right now my top ten are:
1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
2. The Band’s Visit
3. WALL-E
4. XXY
5. The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
6. Reprise
7. Beaufort
8. The Visitor
9. Young @ Heart
10. Water Lilies
With honorable mentions to In Bruges, Battle for Haditha, Up the Yangtze, and The Fall.
Matt, I have seen 6 films you list there, in your top ten and in your honourable mentions, for the first time over the past few days.
This is England is a truly terrific film, and one of my favorites from 2007. Great to hear you really liked it, Hedwig and others.
Since everybody else is doing it here… Like I said at CCC, my favorite films, in elastic order (the very observant will note that I’ve already changed a few things since my own blog posting)…
The Fall
OSS 117: Cairo–Nest of Spies
The Band’s Visit
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
In Bruges
Priceless
Roman de Gare
The Orphanage
My Blueberry Nights
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Paranoid Park
Eh, that’s eleven…
Jeff, I totally buy your trashy but enjoyable argument. Well made? I’m not so sure. I couldn’t get over how much less I liked it than any of the movies it was ripping off and cobbling together so poorly.
But then I really enjoyed the hell out of Forbidden Kingdom and this is not a movie I would consider good on any cinematic level. Call it my guilty pleasure of 2008. Please feel free to vomit on it.
Alexander, I’m glad someone appreciated The Fall. I wanted to like it, I really did, and I find a lot to admire about it so I’m glad it worked for someone whose opinion I respect. Perhaps I’ll catch it again down the road and reevalutate it.
Matthew, good call on Reprise. It should’ve been in my best of ‘08 list as well.
Kudos Alexander! I completely forgot about The Orphanage, which was quite good.
Although I’m a bit late to the party…
1. Speed Racer
2. The Band’s Visit
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
4. The Orphanage
5. Young@Heart
6. Jar City
7. Iron Man
8. In Bruges
9. Priceless
And I couldn’t find a 10th one I felt like putting on a list. Also, I haven’t seen WALL-E yet, so I figure that will muscle it’s way somewhere into the list.
I’m not surprised that none of you picked Jar City (hardly anyone has seen it), but I am surprised no one has mentioned The Orphanage yet. I would have expected it to at least have snuck its way onto the bottom part of somebody’s top films.
Ok, so Alexander did mention it. My bad…whoops.
Yeah, Craig, I suspect that maybe I’m just an oddball because so many people I respect felt completely cool towards The Fall–and I think I totally understand why, but Tarsem’s dual narrative just worked for me in a way it seems to have not for many others.
I read an interview online with Tarsem from a fellow who didn’t care for The Fall much, but Tarsem’s general attitude was, “Well, I’m sorry if you didn’t like this film but it was a film I had to make and make it when I made it. If you didn’t like this film, I hope you like my next one.” It was like the complete opposite of Shyamalan, and that makes me like Tarsem’s film just a tenth of a percentage point more.
What this thread shows is that there are a bunch of films I’ve still got to see. I’m interested in the Brazilian and Dutch films Hedwig mentions as well and so many others that I already mentioned… oy…
And Craig, I’ve got your back on The Forbidden Kingdom. Dumb, unironic fun.
Thanks, Joel and Evan. The Orphanage keeps getting better for me as the months go by and though it may be classified as ‘07 technically, I consider an ‘08 entry.
Orphanage was one of my near misses. Didn’t it come out in LA in 07?
I hate that. I wish all movies were released at the same time everywhere.
Alexander, there was an article on The Fall in the NY Times that I linked to and read after I’d seen the movie that made me respect it a lot more. I really appreciate what Tarsem was going for, it just never quite grabbed me. Most of the compelling drama was in the fantasy sequences I knew to be made up, whereas the real life segments felt kind of inert.
I had 4 MONTHS on last year’s list. I will add to this post later in all probability, but for now the top 5 films of 2008 so far (in no order as of this point, I need to ponder that):
The Edge of Heaven (Akim)
The Dutchess of Langleis (Rivette)
WALL-E (Stanton)
The Visitor (McCarthy)
Alexandre (Sokorov)
I will add the runners-up later. I saw the Czech film BEAUTY IN TROUBLE this afternoon, and am seeing the Chinese TAKE-OUT tonite at 8:30 EST. I will have my reaction’s on Monday’s Watercooler.
hmm whatever… ;)
1) meduzot/jellyfish (yep i’m starting the bandwagon…)
2) in bruges
3) the babysitters *yes the babysitter* take that pixar nation…
4) priceless….
hmm 2 and 3 could change spots tomorrow or depending on the weather or what i eat…
and how knows maybe number four will be something else…
so hey not set in stone or other cliches but that’s sort of list for you…
i’ve been trying to pat attention to things more…uh than i ever have. blame a.d./lic/cin passion and you…
and i really wish i dragged myself to see a couple of ’smaller’ films that played in ‘rock out town’
because that seems to be here my heart seems to leaning…i mean who else has the babysitters or meduzot/jekkyfish on their list ???
and what chance to either of these have of getting much more when ‘oh no here comes the oacar stuff ‘ talk hits. hmm none (ok maybe meduzot/jellyfish)
meaning as usual(sorry) i should just ignore you. (well you know what i mean) ‘and with me/ i was me’
*la la la*
Actually REPRISE would displace one of the other 5 but I’m not sure which one just yet.
Rub it in people…rub it in…. ;)
Completely understood, Craig, about the issues that didn’t allow you to get wrapped up into the conceit of The Fall. That’s great, though, about you reading that bit from The New York Times.
Sam, excellent point about Alexandre. It’s very high up for me as well, and should probably be represented in my list of favorite films…
I also liked Mongol, though it would probably fall under the “honorable mentions” umbrella. The Dutchess of Langleis never came around here; maybe it will eventually. Hope so.
I saw The Dutchess of Langleis at AFI last year - great movie. Since it came out this year in theaters I’d say it’s easily one of the best so far. And interestingly enough, I saw Beauty in Trouble at AFI 06. Another great movie.
I absolutely loved The Orphanage, but I was counting it as a 2007 movie.
Yeah according to Box Office Mojo, the official release date for “The Orphanage” was 12/28/07.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=orphanage.htm
Jeff, now I’m on the other side of the coin with THE ORPHANAGE which I saw early in the year at Manhattan’s Landmark. I felt it was a pale imitation of PAN’S LABYRINTH—pretentious and predictable. But I know it does have its adherents and I respect that.
Here is my top ten list, but I will resist doing it numerically. I will wait until December or early January to do that, although I love high drama and respect everyone who has done that on this thread.
The Dutchess of Langleais (France)
The Edge of Heaven (Turkey/Germany)
The Visitor (USA)
WALL-E (USA)
Alexandre (Russia)
Reprise (Norway)
My Blueberry Nights (USA)
The Band’s Visit (Israel)
In Bruges (UK)
When Was the Last Time You Saw Your Father (UK)
The following films push very close to the 10 best list, and (some) might actually make it on another day, meaning they are very much still in contention for the final list in December:
My Father My Lord (Israel)
Encounters At The End of the World (USA)
Mongol (Russia)
Beauty in Trouble (Czechoslovakia)
Paranoid Park (USA)
The Unforeseen (USA)
Roman de Gare (France)
Son of Rambow (UK)
Chop Shop (USA)
Kung Fu Panda (USA)
Ari, I am definitely on your page with both of those, and THE DUTCHESS is a strong contender for my #1 at this point, and Alexander, I simply cannot shake the Sokorov–it has a great deal of emotional power, and its beautifully made.
Ari, I wonder if we were at the same screening of Duchess at AFI…
Sam, those are terrific lists. Kudos to you.
You also make me wish sometimes I lived in New York. :)
Alexander, I very much appreciate that compliment!
But I would venture to say that LA is just about as good as NYC, even if in a few instances there may be a week or two delay on some titles. You live in the LA area, right?
Nope, I’m in the North Bay part of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sam. Craig frequently makes me wish I lived in LA, too.
We’re pretty close to you guys on the list for films getting here, but there are still some releases that just never quite get here, and probably as many that only briefly do.
NYC owns LA in terms of new releases. Joiks!
I’ll take our weather (or lack thereof) any month of the year however.
I agree we are lucky over here, but the downside is that you need a wallet that can walk a distance…….LOL! You live a paradise there, and yes Craig the weather by you wins hands down.
Wow, but i think Seattle comes in third. Between SIFF’s snazzy year round film series, the Festival in May, and all those Landmark and indie theaters they’re kicking some ass up there.
If only gas wasn’t so damn expensive.
http://www.siff.net/index.aspx?startdate=7/1/2008
Not to mention SIFF itself which is among the best festivals around
A late list, in no order and no specific number, heavy on the documentaries (8 of them):
WALL*E
Surfwise (d)
Young@Heart (d)
My Blueberry Nights
American Teen (d)
Encounters at the End of the World (d)
The Grocer’s Son
Up The Yangtze (d)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (d)
City of Men
The Fall
The Edge of Heaven
Reprise
Blindsight (d)
Stop-Loss
Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) (d)
Chop Shop
OSS 117
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Priceless
Even with all those documentaries, it’s still a solid year so far. I’m putting 4 Months and The Band’s Visit in 2007. They would otherwise be cemented here.
Seems like I listed everything I saw? I wish. Here are some other selections:
Hopefully soon to forget:
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
The Happening
Semi-Pro
The Incredible Hulk
21
Smart People
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Jumper
Middling in the middle:
Jellyfish
The Visitor
Planet B-Boy
In Bruges
Chicago 10
Daniel: Kudos on one terrific list!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Sam. Mostly the run-of-the-mill stuff compared to your own fare, but I’ve clearly found a lot to enjoy. Maybe spent a bit too much time and money, but I don’t have many other vices so I’m not too worried at the moment. How you’re able to see so many with a large family is a feat for the ages - and a service to humanity, raising cinephiles and such.
The Grocer’s Son is one standout that I hope will continue to be discovered as it slowly makes its way around. Nerakhoon is an important documentary that hasn’t received much attention either. I saw both only because they were featured in MSPIFF. Speaking of which, Dry Season remains one the best films I’ve seen all year, even though I think it was technically released a year or two ago. Not sure why it was at the festival now.
I get away with it because my wife is beyond flexible and agreeable, and because she acknowledges the fact that I was single until age 39/40, so it’s tough to break one of their old habits! LOL! Actually I bring the kids whenever I can–of course subtitled films don’t cut it with them at this stage–I have a bunch of friends who share a love for film, so I often them on hand for the trips. Thanks so much for your kind words.
THE GROCER’S SON is playing here at the Cinema Village in Manhattan, Dan, and I also would love to see it. Perhaps later this week. I am not honestly familiar with NERAKHOON yet, and I don’t know DRY SEASON, but you’ve issued some most worthwhile choices here—I will be sure to keep a look out for them!
“too much time and money” Nonsense!
There are soooo many worse things you could be doing. Plus, don’t you find now that you’re blogging about it that it’s even more rewarding?
I just think of some of the cool people I’ve met and I think “awesome, finally there’s some value to my weird, anti-social hobby”
Amen, Craig, Amen…………
Yes, it’s true, Craig. My lack of real-world friends who are as obsessed with movies as I am forced me online. And it’s been great.
I wait with baited breath for your reaction to The Grocer’s Son, Sam, if it does end up happening.
Daniel, it will definitely happen over the next few days. I have made a decision to see it based on your glowing appraisal.