2008: The Year in Review

This is an odd year in that it left me searching desperately for answers. It is the first period of the most modern era that clued me into the downturn in cinematic quality--the Hollywood studios seemed unwilling to do anything great, and so I had to search through indie output for a conclusion. The surprise ascension of Danny Boyle's ho-hum Slumdog Millionaire still leaves me with a feeling of "What the hell happened here?" So I had to rewatch the year's output all over again to find what production I really felt was the best. At first, I was ready to go with Tomas Alfedson's brilliant blending of horror and young romance Let The Right One In, but it didn't feel completely correct as a Best Picture choice. As much as I loved Charlie Kaufman's dazzlingly personal epic Synecdoche, New York, I also realized it's an incredibly odd film that probably would not connect with most viewers. Neither does Mike Leigh's most challenging work Happy-Go-Lucky, juiced by Leigh's unusual script and astounding performances by Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan. Meanwhile, the 2009 Best Picture winner, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, first revealed at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival and a recipient of a few 2008 Independent Spirit nominations, was terrific in its visceral recreation of the Iraq War, but is also not factually correct in its depiction of military operations; I wish the movie was more well-researched (many veterans had problems with the film's screenplay). But it is incredibly strong in its most tense moments, and so there was a big push to make Bigelow the first female winner of the Best Director Oscar the following year. But I consider The Hurt Locker to be a 2008 release, and as such, I have to deny Bigelow the top spot. And, also, I see The Hurt Locker as a terrific imitation of a male-oriented tale, and so I am in search of something else.

I definitely agree that a female director finally needed to be recognized. And in my recount of 2008's output, I uncovered the film I believe should've been roundly lauded. Kelly Reichardt's debut, 1994's River of Grass, was a black-and-white, beautifully low-key hit at that year's Sundance Film Festival, but it would be years before her real breakthrough landed with 2006's Old Joy, a minimalist masterpiece about the last gasps of a male friendship, all breathed during a tentative, woodsy reunion. With only two films under her name, Kelly Reichardt had already commanded a unique place in American cinema. But this position was cemented by her biting, totally moving tale of poverty and desperation Wendy and Lucy. Reichardt lent her own sweet yellow dog Lucy as the film's co-lead and, in doing so, she perfectly portrays the undying adoration humans can have for animals (a focus I find needs more support from filmmakers; this is the most affecting film on this largely unexplored subject since Paul Mazursky's 1974 movie Harry and Tonto).

More importantly, Reichardt expertly portrays the desperation of poor people trying to find their way to happiness without a cent in their pockets (making it a perfect film for 2008, where the US and world economy took an epic dive). Michelle Williams, in the lead, delivers a crushing show as a woman whose savior trip to Alaska, dog in tow, is interrupted by complications that will send any pet-loving viewer into a frantic, head-grabbing tizzy. The economical Wendy and Lucy is easily the year's most emotionally effective movie--one that I defy anyone not to weep at its conclusion. And so I ultimately had to find in its favor as 2008's best film. It has so much to say to us. To those who haven't seen it: be patient. This is miles away from the year's most popular movie The Dark Knight (a well-crafted superhero movie most notable for Heath Ledger's startling supporting performance). Wendy and Lucy carefully dramatizes the desolate places we are headed. Are you a pet owner? It makes me sad to say it, but you might have to get ready to really experience something like this in the future. Even if you don't share your life with an animal, anyone with any empathy whatsoever will be reduced to tears and to further understanding by Reichardt's remarkable movie, and by Michelle Willams' undeniably ravishing performance. I love, love, love the bravery of Reichardt's subtly profound film. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: WENDY AND LUCY (US, Kelly Reichardt)
(2nd: Synecdoche, New York (US, Charlie Kaufman)
followed by: Let The Right One In (Sweden, Tomas Alfredson)
Happy-Go-Lucky (UK, Mike Leigh)
The Hurt Locker (US, Kathryn Bigelow) (won in 2009)
Still Walking (Japan, Hirokazu Kore-Eda)
In Bruges (UK, Martin McDonagh)
The Beaches of Agnès (France, Agnès Varda)
WALL-E (US, Andrew Stanton)
Somers Town (UK, Shane Meadows)
The Wrestler (US, Darren Aronofsky)
Hunger (UK, Steve McQueen)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Canada, Sacha Gervasi)
Tropic Thunder (US, Ben Stiller)
Man on Wire (US, James Marsh)
Of Time and the City (UK, Terence Davies)
Julia (France/US/Mexico/Belgium, Erick Zonca)
Trucker (US, James Mottern)
Two Lovers (US, James Gray)
Vicki Christina Barcelona (US, Woody Allen)
The Promotion (US, Steve Conrad)
Nights and Weekends (US, Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg)
The Dark Knight (US, Christopher Nolan)
Doubt (US, John Patrick Shanley)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (US/UK, Marina Zenovich)
Role Models (US, David Wain)
Medicine for Melancholy (US, Barry Jenkins)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman)
Blindness (US, Fernando Meirelles)
Bronson (UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Idiots and Angels (US, Bill Plympton)
Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (UK, Jon Ronson)
Departures (Japan, Yôjirô Takita)
Pray The Devil Back to Hell (US, Gini Reticker)
W. (US, Oliver Stone)
The Class (France, Laurent Cantet)
Be Kind Rewind (UK/France/US, Michel Gondry)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel)
Iron Man (US, Jon Favreau)
Burn After Reading (US, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
35 Shots of Rum (France, Claire Denis)
Changeling (US, Clint Eastwood)
The Wild Man of the Navidad (US, Duane Graves and Justin Meeks)
The Bank Job (UK/US/Australia, Roger Donaldson)
Frozen River (US, Debra Granik)
Gran Torino (US, Clint Eastwood)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France, Philippe Claudel)
Frost/Nixon (US, Ron Howard)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (US, Nicholas Stoller)
JCVD (Belgium/Luxembourg/France, Mabrouk El Mechri)
Lovely Still (US, Nicholas Fackler)
Transsiberian (Spain/Germany/UK/ Lithuania, Brad Anderson)
Dying Breed (Australia, Jody Dwyer)
What Just Happened (US, Barry Levinson)
Baghead (US, Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass)
Revolutionary Road (US, Sam Mendes)
Che (US, Steven Soderbergh)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (US, Kevin Smith)
Rachel Getting Married (US, Jonathan Demme)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (US, David Fincher)
Shine a Light (US, Martin Scorsese)
Gran Torino (US, Clint Eastwood)
Wanted (US, Timur Bekmambetov)
Milk (US, Gus Van Sant)
Slumdog Millionaire (UK/India, Danny Boyle)
Australia (US/Australia, Baz Luhrmann)
Me and Orson Welles (US/UK, Richard Linklater)
Speed Racer (US, Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski)
The Reader (US, Stephen Daldry)
Twilight (US, Catherine Hardwicke)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (US, Steven Spielberg)
The Happening (US, M. Night Shyamalan)

ACTOR: Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER (2nd: Michael Fassbender, Hunger, followed by: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York; Tom Hardy, Bronson; Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers; Josh Brolin, W.; Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon)



ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, WENDY AND LUCY (2nd: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky,  followed by: Tilda Swinton, Julia; Michelle Monaghan, Trucker; Angelena Jolie, Changeling; Meryl Streep, Doubt; Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You for So Long)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT (2nd: Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky, followed by: Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder; Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road; Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading; Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker; John C. Reilly, The Promotion)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, DOUBT (2nd: Penelope Cruz, Vicki Christina Barcelona, followed by: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler; Tilda Swinton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Amy Adams, Doubt; Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, New York; Lina Liandersson, Let The Right One In)

DIRECTOR: Kelly Reichardt, WENDY AND LUCY (2nd: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche New York, followed by: Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In; Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (won in 2009); Andrew Stanton, WALL-E; Agnès Varda, The Beaches of Agnès)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden, Tomas Alfredson) (2nd: Still Walking (Japan, Hirokazu Kore-Eda), followed by: The Beaches of Agnès (France, Agnès Varda); Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman); Departures (Japan, Yôjirô Takita); The Class (France, Laurent Cantet); The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel); 35 Shots of Rum (France, Claire Denis); I’ve Loved You So Long (France, Philippe Claudel))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE BEACHES OF AGNES (France, Agnès Varda) (2nd: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Canada, Sacha Gervasi), followed by: Man on Wire (US, James Marsh); Of Time and the City (UK, Terence Davies); Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (US/UK, Marina Zenovich); Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman); Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (UK, Jon Ronson); Pray The Devil Back to Hell (US, Gini Reticker)))

ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL-E (US, Andrew Stanton) (2nd: Idiots and Angels (US, Bill Plympton), followed by: Waltz With Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman))



ANIMATED SHORT: LAVATORY--LOVESTORY (Russia, Konstantin Bronzit) (2nd: The House of Little Cubes (Japan, Kunio Kato), followed by: This Way Up (UK, Adam Foulkes and Alan Smith); I Am So Proud of You (US, Don Hertzfeldt))



LIVE ACTION SHORT:  THE WITNESS FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306 (US, Adam Pertofsky) (2nd: Next Floor (Canada, Denis Villeneuve), followed by: Toyland (Germany, Jochen Alexander Freydank); Signs (Australia, Patrick Hughes))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Martin McDonagh, IN BRUGES (2nd: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York; followed by: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky; Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Jim Reardon, WALL-E; Shane Meadows, Somers Town)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Ajvide Lindqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, Wendy and Lucy; followed by: John Patrick Shanley, Doubt; Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David Goyer, The Dark Knight; Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hoyte van Hoytema, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Frederick Elmes, Synecdoche, New York, followed by: Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight; Sam Levy, Wendy and Lucy; Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire)

ART DIRECTION: SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, The Dark Knight, Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

COSTUME DESIGN: REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, Australia, Synecdoche New York 



FILM EDITING: THE HURT LOCKER (won in 2009), Wendy and Lucy, Let The Right One In, In Bruges, The Bank Job

SOUND: THE HURT LOCKER (won in 2009), The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Wanted, Iron Man

 

SOUND EFFECTS: WALL-E, The Hurt Locker, Wanted, The Dark Knight, Speed Racer



ORIGINAL SCORE: Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, THE HURT LOCKER (2nd: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire, followed by: Thomas Newman, WALL-E; Johan Söderqvist, Let the Right One In; Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight)



ORIGINAL SONG: “The Wrestler” from THE WRESTLER (Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen) (2nd: “Down to Earth” from WALL-E (Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; lyrics by Peter Gabriel), followed by "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino (Music and lyrics by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens); “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire (Music by A.R. Rahman; lyrics by Gulzar))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE DARK KNIGHT, Iron Man, Synecdoche New York, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Speed Racer

MAKEUP: TROPIC THUNDER, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Film #133: Inception

It is difficult to transmit how much stress Inception caused me--and no doubt others--before seeing it. But I'll try.


Back when The Dark Knight was vying for a Best Picture Oscar, Kristopher Tapley, of In Contention, and I had a terrible, too-nasty (I love his site) quarrel about the merits of that film, directed by Christopher Nolan. You can see my opinions of that film here. Kris and I, on his website, went round and round on the merits of the Batman sequel, and even now, I remain unconvinced of its quality (even though I have always admitted that (a) I love Heath Ledger's performance and (b) I really enjoy Batman Begins).

Our argument turned way-too-mean, and I eventually apologized to him (though he did not to me, as is his right and wont), but I was truthful in steadfastly believing that The Dark Knight would not receive a Best Picture nomination. No sequel had ever gotten such a nod without its original getting a like nomination, no matter how much the public complained, so the possibility was out of the question. And when The Reader "stole" the nomination from The Dark Knight (I maintained that it "stole" it from The Fall), I turned out to be correct.

But Kris and his fellow fans ultimately were correct. In the following year, reacting to the Dark Knight snub, the Academy decided to expand the list of Best Picture nominees--for the first time since the 1940s--to ten nominees. This, instantly, made The Dark Knight into one of the most influential movies of all time. After all, no one was crying over the fact that the superior but less-seen Wendy and Lucy or The Fall got cheated out of a nomination, not to mention any of the countless movies left out of the race beforehand. This decision was clearly arrived at because the insanely popular Dark Knight, even with eight nominations, got left out in the cold. The Academy, always looking for ratings to boost its boodle, had to respond.

And so The Dark Knight, as undeserving a film as it was (beyond a delivery device for Ledger's performance, which went on to win the movie's only Oscar), had made its mark. And this decision to expand the field, in lieu of this unjust movie, made me angry. So angry that I kept my hairy eye out for Nolan's next film, a film that was called Inception. And then, all each of us had to do was wait.


Nolan was careful. When his film was about to hit, he let only the people who loved his previous film take a look at it. What I mean by this is that he let only ONLINE critics--for now and always, a sci-fi, horror and genre-loving crowd--take a gander at it first. And, predictably, they all loved it. I was immediately suspicious, because, as a former sci-fi fan, I knew how this crowd could be. In my mind, they were going to love this thing no matter what.

So I waited. Waited for the first level-headed reviews. And David Edelstien, bless him, as wrong as he was, came first. I knew, deep down inside, that this was a movie to reckon with when his piece landed. And I felt sorry for Edelstien when he couldn't get with it. In fact, I took his review as a notation that I, myself, wouldn't able to get with it, either. I did, however, see Rex Reed's obviously mean-spirited and frankly stupid review of the film to be obvious bunk (that guy really need to retire--in fact, ouside of the NY Times' square Bosley Crowther and the New Yorker's hip Pauline Kael--a writer disliked by Kris Tapley, by the way--do movie reviewers EVER retire?).

Before I saw Inception, I read virtually no good reviews of it, and almost all middling or bad reviews of it. Frankly, in my mind, I was still battling Kris over The Dark Knight.

And when I sat my ass down in the very front rows of the Empire 25 on 42nd Street in NYC, with the 2nd week crowd crunching in on either side of me, after seeing the obviously different The Kids Are All Right and Winter's Bone, I was sure I was going to hate this movie.

And now, I can tell you. It only took five minutes, and this image:


and I was hooked. I never even questioned things later. There was something about all that water flowing in on this one man, overwhelming him--water, the stuff of life, is very important in this movie--and that's all it took. I gave myself over completely to Nolan's work, and kept on adoring it top to bottom (with Wally Phister's photography, Lee Smith's incisive editing, and Guy Dyas' gorgeous art direction in assistance).

I knew some things going in. This helped. When I saw Ken Watanabe in extreme old age makeup at the outset, I understood some things. Indeed, when I saw Leonardo DiCaprio's face first planted in the sand, I understood some things, too. With this, I knew that this is a movie that is spoiler-proof. In fact, spoilers might HELP the viewer, though I wouldn't necessarily wish them upon anyone.

Inception is a masterwork, a film of ideas, of emotion, of action and excitement, of character and believability. It is a film that left me with a feeling unlike any movie I have ever seen before,

I am a musician--a drummer--and after drumming, after practice, there is a certain sense with which your brain is buzzing. It's difficult to put into words, but it's a rapier sense that your brain has been putting mathematical equations into practical, definable, tonal use. Inception, with its insanely air-tight timing, is a film that exercises that very part of your brain. You need not be a musician to feel this; in other words, if you've ever wanted to experience what it feels like to play music, Inception is the movie for you (for sure, this is Hans Zimmer's most clever score). Now, what other movie in the history of movies has led you to feel this? It's a unique work.

I'm not going recount the plotting of Inception here. See it for yourself to get this. However, I am going to talk about other REVIEWERS' perceptions of the plot here. Here we are, almost a month after the film's debut, and even though Nolan's film has earned only a fraction of what it deserves at the box office (at this writing, about $215 million). Still, there's no need to talk about what the movie's about. If you're reading this, you already know.

Lemme take a look at David Edelstein's review primarily, because it's his that I defended BEFORE I HAD SEEN THE MOVIE. His first jab comes when he recounts some of the plot: "Why is an “inception” more difficult than an extraction? “The subject’s mind always knows the genesis of an idea. {True inspiration is impossible to fake.}” explains one character—which strikes my unoriginal and highly suggestible mind as dead wrong." However, the dialogue continues:

Cobb: That's not true.
Saito: (to Cobb) Can you do it?
Cobb: Are you offering me a choice? Because I can find my own way to square things with Kobold.
Saito: Then you do have a choice.
Cobb: Then I choose to leave, sir.

If you haven't seen the movie, then you don't know where we are. This proves that the movie is more detail-laden than your average (or, at least, this average) film review can cover. And thus it's instantly worth much more inspection than the average one-time film viewing can offer.


I'm not going to try and explain Inception here, either. Maybe I'll try that some time in the future. But, while watching it , getting all the nooks of the story takes away some of the fun you could have while watching it unfold on the big screen (which is where it NEEDS to be seen). I tried to explain what I thought Lynch meant with Mulholland Dr., and at the same time accepted what others thought the movie meant. And I refused to explain what Kubrick meant with 2001, though I know without a doubt what the movie means to me. That I lump Inception in with these two landmark films lets you know what I think of it (though, truthfully, it doesn't achieve absolute greatness to a degree matching those two cinema landmarks; let's don't go overboard, here).

Back to the bad reviews. I had absolutely no problem with the characterizations, as Edelstein did. DiCaprio gives his best, truly adult performance as Cobb (he may be dumb, or at least not very self-reflexive, but I forget the first name, unlike Mr. Edelstein; however, the first name may be important). DiCaprio has never seemed so insistant before. I have loved him in many films--and Edelstein praised him outright. However, even if you don's believe in this actor, he is indeed this work's persona.


Ellen Page delivers the film's most difficult role as the receptor of all rules with great aplomb; her wide eyes and determined delivery do it all, and always when the film most needs it. In fact, she is the film's true brain.


Tom Hardy as the Counterfeiter is funtime superb. He provides the humor that Inception has been accused of not having. How could one miss it? This is the definable sign that he is, after his indescribable show in Bronson (is this the goddamn same guy?), the Next Big Thing. He is the film's swank.


And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is absolutely perfect as the second in the story. His performance is the film's most physical, and yet he is ever-present as both a caring and an active participant in the story. If it's not a breakthrough role, then it's right near close to it. He is the film's muscle.


And here we get to Rex Reed, who said...well, fuck, I don't wanna quote his shitass review. But he didn't even know what Gordon-Levitt was doing in the elevators. He was looking for the drop, dimwit! Here, I become the one of the fanboys whom I previously slammed. Wake up, man. It's there right in front of you! You dismissed so much of what the movie had to offer! Yeah, it's a rich movie--so rich, it can withstand two, three viewings. But just because that's the case, don't give it the heave-ho, Rex. Actually, I was glad I read something about Inception before I saw it; it gave me so much more insight. I would not have felt right about reviewing it before I'd seen it twice (which I have now). This just lets you know that most movies you read something about beforehand, they're so shallow that they're blown apart because of it. Inception is not one of these movies. No amount of pre-knowledge can ruin it for you, And than includes knowledge of its final moments. (NO SPOILER ALERT: The spinning top in important.)


Then we get into another problem many reviewers had: that of the content of the dreams themselves. They noted how the dream portrayed didn't have many of the qualities that their dreams, or film dreams had. There were no strangenesses, no sexual notes, no absurdities. But why was this a problem? This was explained, too, and very lightly. These guys chasing our heroes with machine guns, they were PLANTS that were put there to upset the "normal" yarn of the dream. This seems simple to me; I don't think I would've needed previewing to understand this.


Now I think we should get into the time travel element of Inception. If you can't get this, even on a subliminal level, while watching it, I'm sorry. But I'll try and help. The meat of the film takes place in four different time positions. This is where the "music" of the movie comes into play. SPOILERS EVERYBODY!: There is the first level, where the sleeping heroes are in the falling van; there is the second level, in the hotel with the elevators; there is the third level, with the snowy climbs, and there is the fourth level, with Cobb's subconscious (and here I can praise Marion Cotillard's singular performance as Cobb's confused and dead wife; I'll never forget that pool of tears upon her eyes). She is the film's soul.


And with that, I'll finally address the most insulting exclusion of those reviewers who disliked Inception: the accusation that this is a cold, unfeeling movie. By no mean is this the case. This is a movie that is ABOUT emotion. It is about one man's inability to let go. And it is about another man's inability to let go. (Cillian Murphy, the nominal "villain," who becomes one of the heroes, may own the most moving moment of the film.) And it begins with yet ANOTHER man's inability to let go (the always reliable Watanabe). In fact, in the end, it is about the audience's inability to let go of whatever they are holding on to. It is, also, about the filmmaker's inability to let go of his past success (which I think he thinks he doesn't deserve). Inception is remarkable because it is about so many things. It really comes from the heart.


What a movie. What an experience!!! What a great gift! I hate to do this, because it can seem corny. But thank you, Mr. Nolan, for proving so many, and me, wrong, and so many fans correct. Inception is proof that genius cannot be ordered up, a la The Dark Knight. It is a quality that must be massaged.

NOTE: Inception is so multi-leveled, so superb, it deserves a more detailed review, which is forthcoming, after a few months have passed. A link will be provided here.

Best of the Movies: 2008

For me, this past year was all about:

The Fall (Tarsem Singh)
Synecdoche, NY (Charlie Kaufman)
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)
The Wrestler (Darrin Aronofsky)
Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant)
Wall-E (Andrew Stanton)
Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
In Bruges (Martin McDonagh)
Smiley Face (Gregg Araki)
The Promotion (Steve Conrad)
Doubt (John Patrick Shanley)
Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller)
JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri)
Dying Breed (Jody Dwyer)

With honorable mention to Man on Wire, Revolutionary Road, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Iron Man, Vicki Christina Barcelona, A Christmas Tale, The Wild Man of the Navidad (yet to be released), The Strangers, Empire II (yet to be released), and The Autuer (yet to be released).

Three worst films: Bart Got a Room (yet to be released), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Pineapple Express (there were MUCH worse movies this year, I'm sure, but I don't waste effort on movies that look bad from the get-go--these were just the two biggest disappointments to which I gave my time).

WORST FILMS I DIDN'T SEE AND THAT'LL BE PLAYING IN MY OWN PERSONAL HELL: Righteous Kill, The Happening, Sex and the City, The Hottie and the Nottie, The Love Guru, Mamma Mia!, 88 Minutes, Meet Dave, The Punisher: War Zone, Over Her Dead Body, Speed Racer, Semi-Pro, Meet The Spartans, Saw V, 10,000 BC, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Street Kings, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Eagle Eye, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Miracle at St. Anna, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, Space Chimps, The Women, Rambo

IF I WERE PICKING THE OSCARS:
Best Picture: The Fall (Tarsem Singh and Nico Soultanakis, producers)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt
Best Director: Tarsem Singh, The Fall
Best Animated Feature: Wall-E
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Best Foreign-Language Film: Let The Right One In (Sweden)
Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, NY
Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let The Right One In
Best Cinematography: Colin Watkinson, The Fall
Best Art Direction: Mark Friedberg, Adam Stockhausen and Lydia Marks, Synecdoche, NY
Best Costume Design: Eiko Ishioka, The Fall
Best Original Score: Thomas Newman, Wall-E
Best Original Song: Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, "Down to Earth," Wall-E
Best Sound: Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood, Wall-E
Best Film Editing: Robert Duffy, The Fall
Best Special Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Sound Effects: Ben Burtt, Dustin Cawood, Teresa Eckton, Wall-E
Best Makeup: Kate Biscoe, John Blake, Roland Blancaflo, Michèle Burke and Barney Burman, Tropic Thunder

Film #100, and The Best Movie of 2008: The Fall (and Its Most Overrated Movie: The Dark Knight)

In the spring of 2008, I was wandering around New York City when I saw a stunning poster plastered all over a city wall.


Always on the lookout for new movie posters (which trump trailers as my preferred way of being notified about new films), I saw this masterful work of art glued to these battered bits of particle board and exclaimed inside "WHAT IS THIS??" I read the fine print. At the top, it said "David Finscher and Spike Jonze Present." Two heavy-hitter directors, that's for sure...but they just were generously lending their names as helpful "presenters" of the project, much like David Lynch did with Terry Zwigoff's Crumb, for instance. Still, I was impressed they liked this movie enough to do that.

And I read on. No one I knew was involved...and then I got to the writer and director credits. Tarsem Singh (pictured below), acclaimed director of arguably the best music video ever, REM's "Losing My Religion," was at the helm. I then knew The Fall was going to be an event. Singh's 2000 release The Cell was a flawed but strangely beautiful movie. However misbegotten it was (and I did have many problems with it), I knew when I saw The Cell that at least a new and ambitious autuer was upon us. But, by 2008, I had totally forgotten about Tarsem (as he was known earlier, in his MTV-Award-winning days). He had seemed to have disappeared from the moviemaking scene in the intervening years. So I got a rush when I saw that The Fall, after a long 2-year run as a film festival staple, was soon to hit theaters. I knew nothing about the movie's plot, and wanted to know nothing about it. I knew only that it had to be seen.



The Fall is the best movie of 2008 for a number of reasons. It reminds us of the power of imagination. It highlights an unusual relationship, beautifully played by two largely unknown leads. It is visually stunning (to say the least). And, though it is a period piece, set in the 1920s, it has a lot to say about the sickly current state of movies.

Now, I must go off on a tangent.

In a year that gave us not only the coddled, overrated The Dark Knight, but also Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Punisher, another James Bond movie (Quantum of Solace), another Indiana Jones movie (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), and The Spirit, (not to mention TV's Heroes), I think its safe to say that the Superhero meme has taken over moviedom. And there's more to come, with Watchmen now being touted as the movie we should be most looking forward to in 2009 (yawn).

But what do superheroes mean to us moviegoers? Do we or should we care about them as characters? Take, for instance, Bruce Wayne--in my view, this is hardly a person about which we should give two shits. Honestly: it's hard to muster up any feeling whatsoever for spoiled rich boy Bruce Wayne and his dim, ineffective grappling with mental illness, and with the admittedly unfair and bloody death of his parents. Even The Dark Knight itself is clearly uninterested in him; unlike in the vastly superior Batman Begins, there's not one shining moment for its star, Christian Bale. Let's face what we all know to be true: The Dark Knight would not be memorable at all were The Joker not in it. Subtract the late Heath Ledger's truly incredible supporting performance from the mix and The Dark Knight melts into a shapeless mess. But this should come as no surprise. At its heart, in whatever form it takes, the Batman franchise is REALLY all about its villains; this makes Christopher Nolan's new take on Batman not so far away from its campy 60s-era TV progenitor, for which millions of viewers tuned in each week to see Vincent Price as Egghead, Cliff Robertson as Shame, Cesar Romero as The Joker, or Burgess Meredith as The Penguin (the show's impressive guest star roll call could go on and on). Already, love-blinded fanboys all over the net are frothing at the mouths as they speculate about who'll be cast as Batman's next big screen nemesis, with Marion Cotillard (Oscar winner for last year's wonderful La Vie En Rose) intriguingly being submitted in some corners as the perfect Catwoman.

See, the villain is definitely the thing. All the movie's irritating fans crow about is how "relevant" The Dark Knight is to our present socio-political climate, comparing it ridiculously to The Godfather Part II in terms of highbrow quality. Namely: they like to make correlations between the chaos-loving Joker and the terrorists bedeviling our collective psyche these days. But the terrorists aren't in this thing just to create upheaval (though it might seem as such by the less attentive among us); they've got they're own reasons for creating the mayhem that they do--some of them are even understandable (if reprehensible). To match their politically- and culturaly-motivated efforts up to The Joker's merely-for-sick-fun actions proves a particularly dim worldview is endemic amongst Batman fans.

I have to posit this thought as well: if Bruce Wayne is such a great guy, instead of spending all his money on thrillseeking battles with nasty people, why doesn't he give some of his trillions to the more downtrodden denizens of the world? The fact that so many movie fans hold the "hero" of The Dark Knight up to such high regard tells me one depressing thing: they think make-believe guys in tight suits who kick the asses off bad guys are MUCH more interesting than guys who might direct their efforts and their cash in much more conventionally constructive directions.

The amazing thing about Christopher Reeve as Superman was that, throughout his charming and heartfelt performance, he convinces us that Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same person. Therefore, we cared. Not so with anyone who has played Batman in the movies. Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Michael Keaton as Batman? Two different people. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Christian Bale as Batman? Two different people (and, yes, I realize that, in both cases, this is by design, but so what? It still distances us from the character, and stands as a fundamental flaw in the Batman persona). Dismissing the Val Kilmer and George Clooney Batmans outright, this makes Adam West the ideal Batman, 'cuz he's a campily square, unctuous ass with or without the blue leotard. But let's remember: Chris Reeve as Clark Kent and Chris Reeve as Superman? Same lovable, idealistic, moral guy. Thus, Superman (Richard Donner, 1978) and Superman II (Richard Lester, 1980) remain, for me, the best superhero movies made to date (not including Indiana Jones and James Bond movies; both are superheroes, yes, but cut from differing cloths).

With that in mind, Iron Man remains the finest all-out superhero movie of 2008--much more comprehensible and enjoyable than The Dark Knight--because it convinces us that Tony Stark is identical both outside and inside the Iron Man suit. This is only one reason why Iron Man is superior to The Dark Knight. And also: again, The Dark Knight would be a blah movie without The Joker. But who remembers the villain in Iron Man? No one. Why? Because the villain isn't the point there. The point is Tony Stark, our hero (humorously flawed as he is). He's the center of attention. And Robert Downey Jr's funny, gutsy, smarty-pants performance is the jewel in the movie's crown.

Now, why am I talking about Iron Man and The Dark Knight so much in a review that's ostensibly about The Fall? Simple. The Fall, too, is about superheroes. But it casts them as vulnerable humans. AND it takes care to recognize what worth such characters add to our lives. These are exactly the elements that superhero movies need to survive and thrive.

The Fall takes place at a Los Angeles hospital in the 1920s. Roy (Lee Pace) is a different kind of superhero--a silent movie stuntman. But he's been explosed to a glum reality: he's not indestructible. He's been seriously injured while performing superhuman feats for the camera. Now he's in this hospital, recovering not only from paralysis, but from a broken heart as well. It is the latter malady, in fact, that has festered and become more serious. Jilted in romance, Roy now wants to take leave of life by suicide. Only problem is, his damaged legs won't allow him to procure the morphine needed to ensure his death.

The Fall is very much also about lies and their intrinsic relationship to storytelling, so it shouldn't come as a shock that Roy feels forced to LIE to someone in order to get his precious morphine. That someone is Alexandria, played by the mesmerizing Catinca Untaru. Alexandria is a vivacious, intelligent 6-year-old with an arm that may or may not have been broken by an abusive father. While poking around the hospital, she strikes up a conversation with Roy, and the two become fast friends. Desperate to connect with someone, Roy also targets Alexandria as someone who can be easily manipulated. So he regales and slyly blackmails her with episodes from a floral fairy tale involving six incredible men: The Blue Bandit (played by Emil Hostina at first, then later by Pace); explosives expert Luigi (Robin Smith); master of knowledge Charles Darwin (Leo Bill); an all-powerful Indian (Jeetu Verma); a mystical swordsman (Julian Bleach); and a muscular African slave (Marcus Wesley). This unforgettable team of heroes band together on a hunt for the head of the evil Spanish Governor Odious (Daniel Caltagirone), who's horribly (and humorously) wronged them each.

Roy's telling of this story -- or, more specifically, Alexandria's imagining of it -- provides The Fall with its most stupendous imagery. Some reviewers faulted the film for not making this part of the movie more clearly plotted. But the fact is that the fantastical portions of The Fall do not constitute the film's point; they are, after all, representations of a story that's being made up on the fly, for ulterior motives, and as such the story's holes intentionally appear. These are lusciously fun scenes to watch, but Tarsem Singh clearly wants to interest us more in how the bond between Roy and Alexandria is to play out. That said, just take a look at this gorgeous gallery of images from the fantasy sequences in The Fall and tell me, with a straight face, that this is not a movie that NEEDS to be seen.

Pace and especially Untaru are mesmerizing in their roles. In reading about The Fall, I've discovered that Singh actually tricked Untaru--who was too young to take direction--into delivering much of her performance, filming when she wasn't aware that the cameras were rolling. This doesn't make her showing here any less perfect. Untaru, with her chubby face and big eyes, delivers for me the single best bit of acting of 2008. And Pace is nearly her equal! Their funny, quirky, emotional scenes together are unforgettable.




I love how The Fall ends up being a movie about the movies. It makes the connection between the wonder moviegoers must have felt at watching the world's first films being projected right in front of them, and the wonder most of us present-day moviegoers want to feel again. And I love how, even though it's a superhero movie, it's quick to remind us that even superheroes must die. And I love that the film is basically an extended homage to The Wizard of Oz (each of the fantasy characters also appear in Alexandria's "real" life--just like The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, The Wicked Witch, and The Wizard were "played" by people in Dorothy's Kansas).

Here at 2008's end, I'm wondering still why I'm not hearing more about The Fall. Why is it not on more year-end top ten lists? And why is it not in serious contention for the Best Picture Oscar? It's the year's biggest independent movie, fully financed by the money Singh made by directing TV commercials and music videos (the globetrotting Singh worked for four years on the film, and must have set a record for the number of locations used: the hospital scenes were filmed in South Africa, and the fantasy scenes were filmed in--get this--India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Brazil, Los Angeles, France, the Fiji Islands, China, Romania, Bolivia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Nepal, Egypt, Argentina, and the South Pacific's Andaman Islands). It clearly sports the year's most opulent production design (by Ged Clarke), costumes (by Bram Stoker's Dracula Oscar winner Eiko Ishioka), music (by Krishna Levy), makeup (by Leon Von Solms), and photography (by Colin Watkinson). And, written by Singh, Dan Gilroy and Nico Soultanakis, it easily stands alongside Charlie Kaufman's also-underseen Synecdoche, NY as 2008's most original movie (even if it is a remake of an little-seen 1981 film called Yo Ho Ho). It's a mystifying crime of colossal magnitude that The Fall isn't being seen and loved by more people. It certainly has more brains, heart, and pure gumption than that lazy ol' Dark Knight.