The Best of 2008

Of the movies I wanted to see but didn't have a chance to I missed Doubt and Milk.

Top 10 Films of 2008
1. The Wrestler - Darren Aronofsky
2. Shotgun Stories - Jeff Nichols
3. Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher
5. Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard
6. The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan
7. The Fall - Tarsem
8. Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle
9. The Vistor - Thomas McCarthy
10. The Changeling - Clint Eastwood

Best Documentary
Encounters at the End of the World

Best Animated Feature
Wall-E

Honorable Mention
W.
Tropic Thunder
Iron Man
Apoloosa
Burn After Reading

Not that it matters...

The Golden Globes are coming up a week from Sunday and they will officially kick off awards season. I don't really care much for the Globes and the nominations actually came out nearly a month ago, but without further preface, here are the film nominations for this months Golden Globes.

Best Motion Picture, Drama
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Actor, Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Actress, Drama
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - The Changeling
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Actor, Comedy or Musical
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Ferell - In Bruges
James Franco - Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman - Last Chance Harvey

Actress, Comedy or Musical
Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson - Last Chance Harvey

Supporting Actor
Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
Robert Downy, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Ralph Finnes - The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road

Screenplay (Original and Adapted)
Simon Beaufy - Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare - The Reader
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanely - Doubt

Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I've Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Original Score
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - The Changeling
James Newton Howard - Defiance
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer - Frost/Nixon

Original Song
Down to Earth - Wall-E
Gran Torino - Gran Torino
I Thought I Lost You - Bolt
Once in a Lifetime - Cadillac Records
The Wrestler - The Wrestler

More Nominations and Wins coming within the next couple of weeks. Oscar Nominations are to be announced on January 22nd (Thursday instead of Tuesday due to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama). Predictions will follow the nominations within the day or two following the announcement.

Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle

If I haven't missed my guess, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millioaire could very well be the belle of this year's awards ball. That could mean a couple of different things. It could mean that the little Indie that could may finally be awarded by big cold Oscar, and it could mean that its just another Little Miss Sunshine or Into the Wild destined to clean up the precursors but not make a big splash with the academy.

Now, with awards comparison aside, its time for brass tax, simply put: Slumdog Millionaire is no Into the Wild though it would probably be right on the same level as Little Miss Sunshine. The film tells the story of Jamal, a boy who lost his destined love, Latika, and got onto an Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in hopes that she'd be watching and they could reunite. Jamal is accused of cheating and most of the film is played in order for the audience to determine whether this accusation is fitting or not.

The film concludes on a very high note, and one may even call it the "feel good movie of the year." And, as one blogger pointed out. Just because a movie has a happy ending doesn't mean its bad. I cannot agree with this statement 100%, I am very excited about the audacity the film showed in some parts of the film, and the storyline as a whole. I would, however, amend his statement by saying this, just because a movie is good doesn't mean its great. Slumdog Millionaire is a very good film, one of the best of the year, probably even worthy of its buzz; but it is not the best film of the year, and I will leave it there.

The Wrestler - Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky is far and away one of the greatest directors of the young American wave. In 1998 he took a guerrilla crew through New York City and took the Independent film world by storm with his directorial debut, Pi, a Sci-fi thriller about...math. His follow up was nothing short of a genuine masterpiece. Requiem for a Dream showed a skill for the technical side of film making that is truly first class, and he had the vision of a born story teller. Well, Aronofsky is back ten years after his debut with his fourth feature, The Wrestler, this is the kind of film that comes along only a couple of times a year.


Although it is guised as a wrestling film, it is only such as much as Scorsese's Raging Bull or Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby were boxing films. There is plenty of in the ring action going on here, to be sure, but it is not Rocky VII; because, unlike the Rocky franchise (which I mean starting with Rocky II) the heart of this film is not found in the ring, but outside. Wrestling is what Randy "The Ram" Robinson does, and in many ways, it is who he is; it does not, however, define his entirety.


Randy has an estranged daughter, beautifully portrayed by the angelic Evan Rachel Woods, and a stripper would-be girlfriend played masterfully by Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei. The drama of the film revolves around Randy's incapability of being an everyday, normal human being. Coupled with an ailment that may not allow him to wrestle forever.


The Wrestler may very well be the best film of 2008, and Mickey Rourke's performance is one of the best of the decade. It is nothing short of a force of nature. He may not win an Oscar for the role, though he should; but, he will undoubtedly be nominated for it. And, I hope that he wins.

Some of the best of 2008

Today, I went with a friend of mine for a good old fashioned home made double feature. We went down expecting to see some good movies and have a good time, when we left the second movie we both realized that we had seen two of the best movies that this year had to offer.

The first film was David Fincher's Coming (and Going)-of-Age Tale, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the film is beautifully woven together by Fincher, who is quickly becoming a Grade-A director. On top of that the cast is pitch perfect from Brad Pitt to Cate Blanchett to the find of the year, Taraji P. Henson. There is only one flaw in the film, but if you see the film you will recognize it yourself. I didn't find it to be a true detractor, just a slight distraction.

The second film, Frost/Nixon, tells the story of the David Frost interviews with Richard Nixon. The film plays slightly more like boxing film than a political thriller, but it works. Ron Howard's direction is slight and down played perfectly for the David versus Goliath story he was weaving. And, speaking of Goliath, Frank Langella's powerhouse performance as the 37th President of the United States was nothing short of the giant's stature.

These two films are two of the best films released this year, and I had a ball watching both of them.

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

Best Leading Actor
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Leading Actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - The Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downy, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Cast in a Motion Picture
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Top 10 Favorite English Speaking Actors

*no order*

1. Marlon Brando
2. James 'Jimmy' Stewart
3. Robert de Niro
4. Jack Nicholson
5. Cary Grant
6. Phillip Seymour Hoffman
7. Daniel Day-Lewis
8. Tom Hanks
9. Al Pacino
10. Paul Newman