As promised, here are some of the less financially successful movies of 2008 that I think you should check out. Some of them will be earning awards this season, some won’t, but I liked them all.
In Bruges elicits one of my favorite Brendan Gleeson performances ever, and a really fun Colin Farrell performance as well. It’s a funny, Murphy’s Law non-action action movie penned quite well from Martin McDonagh and it deserves more attention from a wider audience. Think a subtler Guy Ritchie film.
Funny Games is a shot-by-shot re-make of a 1997 Austrian film of the same title, with the same writer / director Michael Haneke. This movie evokes the type of horror found in The Last House on the Left. It is one of the creepiest, most well-done horror movies I have ever seen and the performances from Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet as the polite serial killers are phenomenal. See it.
Superhero Movie is a pretty low-brow release but I only mention it, because unlike Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, or Disaster Movie, this film was not the brainchild of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, and it’s slightly better.
The Visitor is a really heart-wrenching film that takes a unique approach to issues of immigration. It’s one of my shorter reviews, but this is in my Top 5 of 2008.
Anamorph wasn’t one of my favorite movies of 2008, but it was a really interesting release. You gotta love Willem Dafoe playing a detective, at least if you’ve seen The Boondock Saints (p.s. WHY are they making a sequel). The concept of anamorphism is really cool and you’ll find yourself wanting to press pause to reexamine many of the shots.
Son of Rambow is a really great action / kids comedy for adults about two boys who decide to make their own film as if one of them is the son of Rambo (I think they added the “w” for copyright purposes). It’s got such a great spirit that I found myself smiling the whole way through (except for the serious parts).
The Fall comes from director Tarsem Singth of The Cell fame. It’s more of the same super interesting images juxtaposed on a mediocre plot. I just loved the visuals and it was worth the iffy story to check it out.
The Wackness is the first real adult role for Josh Peck, and he shines. The film also features a strong performance by Oliva Thirlby of best-friend-to-Juno fame. It’s the summer of 1994 and Josh Peck is dealing with growing up, women, and therapy… it’s better than it sounds and has a killer hip-hop soundtrack.
American Teen doesn’t feel like a documentary because many of the shots are too perfectly planned – but it is the real stories of teenagers in high school while still having a She’s All That quality to the thing. It was likable.
Religulous: Already recommended it. See my earlier post.
Repo! The Genetic Opera has a 30% on rottentomatoes so this movie is clearly not for everyone. I liked it despite its flaws, and if you’re into Rocky Horror you’ll either think this dark musical is fantastic, or a failure.
Milk is a beautifully directed, beautifully acted biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician, and his untimely end. There were great performances from James Franco and Sean Penn, a really brilliant film.
The Wrestler was a really good effort by Darren Aronofsky and featured a really memorable performance from Mickey Rourke. The guy is a bad-ass who’s still got it, (have you seen Spun or Sin City? come on!) and The Wrestler is a great reflection of his abilities as an actor. I wouldn’t give him too much credit though, because I’m pretty sure the role wasn’t too much of a stretch emotionally. Only one real complaint: the final shot of the movie. Dumb. Overall… definitely worth seeing.
Some movies I have yet to see that are at the top of my list: Waltz with Bashir, Wendy and Lucy, Good, City of Men, Man on Wire, The Class.
There were a lot of other more commercial movies that I'm pretty sure you don't need me to recommend (Pineapple Express, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Blindness, Burn After Reading, and a personal favorite cute-teen movie: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist)
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