Some of the biggest movies of any year aren’t in wide release until January, so some of us don’t see all them until much later. As of this week, I think I’ve seen what passes for “everything” from 2008. Herewith, my list of the Top Ten for the year just passed:
10. Sex Drive. Hilarious, under-seen, low-budget comedy starring the creative partner of the funny Michael Cera. Defeated at the box office because of its name, it features a few show-stopping scenes with Seth Green and a live-action pair of Beavis-and-Butthead types who steal the whole thing. This’ll do great on DVD.
9. Appaloosa. Another under-seen gem, this time a Western. Ed Harris directs.
8. Revolutionary Road. Most saw this as a nasty swipe at those of us who live in the suburbs, and I’m sure that’s how it was intended. Yet the picture was an even more powerful statement about the challenge of and virtue in pursuing dreams. Read my original review here.
7. Forgetting Sarah Marshall. A hilarious romantic comedy from the Judd Apatow mafia.
6. Burn After Reading. A Coen Brothers comedy. Funny, tight, message-free.
5. Gran Torino. Walt Kowalski isn’t a bad guy or even particularly bigoted. He’s just a certain kind of typical person in changing times. The point of the picture: people do adjust, sometimes heroically so. Bonus: The theme was the best movie song of 2008, criminally ignored for an Oscar in favor of some PC world-beat junk. Clint Eastwood is a national treasure–for his entire body of work, not just because this picture is popular with those of us on the Right.
4. Iron Man. What a treat. Action, excitement, humor, snark. Pure joy. For big fun, there was nothing better all year. Nothing.
3. Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The best comedy of the year. Anathema to some because of the title and the crudity, Zack and Miri nevertheless promotes the most wholesome, life- and love-affirming message since, well, Knocked Up. (Dissonance doesn’t play too well in some circles, does it?)
2. Wanted. Biggest surprise of the year: an actioner that pulls you along every second without a pause to catch your breath. Special effects built around a supernatural kind of physics. Directed by the Russian Timur Bekmambetov, who made the equally wonderful Night Watch, another bizarre action picture that was at one time (might still be) the highest-grossing picture in Russian history.
1. The Dark Knight. For the first time, the superhero story as allegory carries all the heft of real literature. Plus–and this is what matters in movies–the thing is wildly entertaining and completely engaging at every turn. Among the best pictures I’ve seen in the past several years.
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