op 10 films of 2008

1. “Hunger” (Steve McQueen)
2. “There Will Be Blood” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. “WALL-E” (Andrew Stanton)
4. “Gomorrah” (Matteo Garrone)
=5. “A Christmas Tale” (Arnaud Desplechin)
=5. “The Class” (Laurent Cantet)
7. “Of Time and the City” (Terence Davies)
8. “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Mike Leigh)
=9. “The Headless Woman” (Lucrecia Martel)
=9. “Let the Right One In” (Tomas Alfredson)
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Yes, it was. It'd have solidly been behind Gomorrah as frontrunner.

Wall-E!

The Fall!?

The more I think about The Fall, the more I like it. It has its short-comings in plot, but the film is just visually one of the best films I've seen in a while. And the little girl is SOOOO cute!

Though its still not 'A' level material.

Not sure if there is already a thread for this, but here's Ebert's:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 59997/1023

Alphabetical Order (Top 20):

"Ballast"
"The Band's Visit"
"Che"
"Chop Shop"
"The Dark Knight"
"Doubt"
"The Fall"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Frozen River"
"Happy-Go-Lucky"
"Iron Man"
"Milk"
"Rachel Getting Married"
"The Reader"
"Revolutionary Road"
"Shotgun Stories"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Synecdoche, New York"
"W."
"Wall-E"


Special Jury Prize:

"My Winnipeg"


5 Documentaries:

"Encounters at the End of the World"
"I.O.U.S.A."
"Man on Wire"
"Standard Operating Procedure"
"Trouble the Water"

In these hard times, you deserve two "best films" lists for the price of one. It is therefore with joy that I list the 20 best films of 2008, in alphabetical order. I am violating the age-old custom that film critics announce the year's 10 best films, but after years of such lists, I've had it. A best films list should be a celebration of wonderful films, not a chopping process. And 2008 was a great year for movies, even if many of them didn't receive wide distribution.

Look at my 20 titles, and you tell me which 10 you would cut. Nor can I select one to stand above the others, or decide which should be No. 7 and which No. 8. I can't evaluate films that way. Nobody can, although we all pretend to. A "best films" list, certainly. But of exactly 10, in marching order? These 20 stood out for me, and I treasure them all. If it had been 19 or 21, that would have been OK. If you must have a Top 10 List, find a coin in your pocket. Heads, the odd-numbered movies are your 10. Tails, the even-numbered.

I have composed a separate list of the year's five best documentaries. They also may be described as "one of the year's best." And this year's Special Jury Award goes to Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg," which stands between truth and fiction, using the materials of the documentary to create a film completely preposterous and deeply true. Another of "the year's best."

Wall-E could very well be the critic's #1 of the year. Insane.

I see these making the global top 10:


Entre Les Murs (The Class)

I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment but do we know what the situation is for WALL-E and the BFCA.

I know that there are different categories for Picture, Comedy, Animated, and Family. And I remember Hairspray and Juno showing up in 2 categories.

I wonder if WALL-E can as well?