Movies of 2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
director: David Fincher
starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng

I saw an advanced screening of this film tonight at an AMC in Toronto. I have to admit, I had high expectations from this film. What I am also glad to admit is that this film reached those expectations... and then some. David Fincher has created another permanently memorable film, in my opinion. This film had me on an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. It is brilliantly acted and wonderfully adapted by Eric Roth. I can't even explain how amazing the experience was.

One star of the film, Taraji P. Henson, was present at this screening for a question and answer session. She provided much insight into the production and her role along with what it was like to work with Pitt, Blanchett and Fincher. She's a lovely woman and her performance in the film is quite something, also.

However, the performance which I loved the most from this film was from the always magnificent Cate Blanchett. Her portrayal of Benjamin Button's normally aging lover, Daisy, was heart wrenching and sometimes hard to watch because it was so sad. The beauty she exudes is unbelievable and her powerful performance had me on the edge of my seat many times.

I will write more on this soon, but for now all I have to say is that when this is released on Christmas Day, you all have to see this. It's a must see movie and I have high hopes for it come Oscar time. I believe it definitely deserves many, many nominations.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
director: Danny Boyle
starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Freida Pinto

Seeing this film tomorrow (Dec 10th).
Review coming soon .

Milk (2008)
director: Gus Van Sant
starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Joseph Cross, Lucas Grabeel

Seeing this film tomorrow (Dec 10th).
Review coming soon .

Revolutionary Road (2008)
director: Sam Mendes
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon

Review coming soon .

The Dark Knight (2008)
director: Christopher Nolan
starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

-Before you read this review, know that there are many spoilers herein-

If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will get blown up, nobody panics. But when I say one little old mayor will die, everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey? It's fair.

As you all have heard by now, this is the greatest film of the year. If you haven't seen this movie, you're behind and if you have seen this movie, you must understand that this is a great cinematic achievement. What The Dark Knight brings to the table is exactly what Batman Begins did, but with much more detail, gloom and realism. If you thought Batman Begins displayed a strong sense of realism, you're right, but it doesn't even come close to even compare with the unstoppable force called The Dark Knight. This film is epic, revolutionary and groundbreaking. Comic book films have never been known to be deep, dark or poignant. The Hulk, Fantastic Four and Daredevil, to name a few, were examples of what Marvel transformed into film versions in order to capitalize on the titles and make a decent dollar (which is exactly what happened). In 2004, Spider-Man 2 was released. This was the first comic book adaptation to actually delve deeper into social and political issues and tackle a much broader subject. Iron Man was the next comic book adaptation to have such success in both the box office and with the critics. However, no comic book film in history has ever amounted to the success of The Dark Knight. This second installment in the revitalized Batman franchise is perhaps one of the greatest crime dramas I have ever seen. It displays self-awareness in terms of genre, strong themes which aren't usually associated with comic book films and corrupt characters which have such profound importance that you can't help but find inspiration in Christopher Nolan's filmmaking.

This is the first Batman film that doesn't actually have the word "Batman" in the title. This film's title, The Dark Knight, is more suitable than any other title this film could have received and it's better this way. If "Batman" was in the title, it would have made the film seem less mature than it is; this film is an exercise of societal understanding. Through it's blatant corruption and downfall, this film automatically becomes one of the most dark crime dramas ever made and giving this film a title such as The Dark Knight allows not only Batman to battle his character, but gives us insight into the other characters' battles as well. This quote that Harvey Dent says perfectly describes the outcome of the film: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Ultimately, what this film depicts in its finale is the destruction of society's trust in a hero. After Harvey Dent is killed as Two-Face, Batman decides to protect society by posing as the villain and letting Dent be recognized as the hero. Even though Dent was corrupted by The Joker and went on a vicious killing spree, Batman and Detective Gordon both understood what needed to be done in order to preserve the stability of society in Gotham; Batman let Dent be seen as the hero for he believed that a hero should have a face and relate on a human level to the citizens (even though Dent later destroyed his "white knight" reputation). Batman knows he can no longer be acknowledged as a hero and finds it hard to relate to the public through his costumed self. Batman lacks human qualities and this adds to the study of his identity crisis, but in this film, the one thing that allowed us to see the humanity in his character was his love for Rachel. When that was destroyed, Batman hit a dead end and became corruptible again. The deep character analysis of Bruce Wayne/Batman is lengthy, but it is one that's more philosophical than any other character out there.

The character relationships in this film are somewhat complex, but very understandable. The three main characters are Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent. In a detailed triangle of conflicts, all three of these characters are foils to one another. The most evident foil being between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. Aside from the main Batman storyline, Harvey Dent's storyline is probably the most important in the film. Dent is easily a character which we can sympathize with and feel his pain. Once Dent is transformed into Two-Face, he becomes an agent of vengeance and his character development deepens. Literally having two faces allows his character to openly battle his identity and dilemmas (good versus evil in most cases, which is why his coin is also an important symbol). He has incredible importance to this film in terms of exposing Batman's corruptibility and the degradation of law and order in Gotham.

The Joker is also a vital character in the film. His origin and motives are unnamed, but this is for a reason. The Joker doesn't need an origin for he illustrates mayhem and anarchy and isn't really that significant other than for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc and being a catalyst for the battle between Batman and Two-Face. Comparing The Joker with previous film villains might reveal other integral facts about his limited importance. Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men and John Doe from Se7en are two characters which come very, very close to The Joker in terms of origin and motive. Having none allows this character to be completely chaotic. As I said in my review of Se7en, the villain character completely goes against the normal conventions of cinema and takes it to another level. The same goes for this film. The normal film conventions of the villain are completely diminished almost instantly in the first scene of the film in which The Joker (masked as a bank robber), murders all of his accomplices and keeps the money to himself. Having no morals, values or ethics brings The Joker that much further in the state of corruption and evil that is being placed upon Gotham.

As an ensemble, this cast is excellent and as singular performances the cast is even better. Assembling a cast of great actors like this and having them all play characters with such vital roles could not have been easy to do. Utmost congratulations to Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer for creating such terrific characters and a masterful screenplay. The Bruce Wayne/Batman character was written with much more depth than it was in the first film. Allowing Batman to have such a strong character foil that is Harvey Dent gave him a huge obstacle to overcome, which only lead to a tragic ending for everyone. Aaron Eckhart was also fantastic as Harvey Dent. Dent is a character that takes a great actor to play and that's what we received with Aaron Eckhart. He takes his performance to higher levels each time we see him on the screen, especially when he is transformed into Two-Face and exudes a dying hope in humanity that makes it easy for him to be compared to one of Shakespeare's tragic leading men. Supporting performances from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are all fantastic and each of them have at least one scene in which they steal the scenes. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, the love interest of Bruce Wayne (and Harvey Dent in this installment). She is a vast improvement over the dull Holmes and gives an emotionally wrought performance that still sticks with me days after I've seen the film.

I've tried to leave the best for last and this is a better time than any to mention the powerhouse performance by Heath Ledger. The Joker is visibly an extremely tough role to play and Ledger not only played the role perfectly, he embodied the character and nailed every single intricacy. Talks of an Oscar nomination for his role are going around and I cannot help but support the campaign for a posthumous nomination. No one has ever played a villain with such commitment and Ledger's performance ranks up there with Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter and Perkins' Norman Bates. His portrayal blows Jack Nicholson right out of the water and makes him look like a fool for ever trying to play The Joker like he did. Not only is Ledger's performance the best of this film, but easily one of the best performances I have seen by an actor. I will continue to praise Ledger and spread news of his performance and I hope he gets the recognition he deserves for this performance which is truly haunting. Rest in peace, Heath.

In general, this film exhibits such mastery in its way of dealing with such topical issues. Christopher Nolan's direction is not only superior to that of his first installment, but superior to any other director that has attempted this kind of cinematic commentary before The Dark Knight. As Peter Travers stated, this film has come along way and breaks the barriers of being known as just a comic book film and delves into the depths of cinema and grounds itself with such masterpieces as Goodfellas, Heat and The Godfather. It's a crime drama like no other that not only displays an acute sense of social and political emphasis, but much more interesting relationships like that of William Shakespeare's tragedies. Many connections can be made between this film and Shakespearean plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth and even Romeo and Juliet. It would be ridiculous of me to even bother saying I highly recommend this, because that's obvious. This film is an epic masterpiece and a vehicle for success. It will go down in history and be praised for a long, long time, guaranteed.

The Wrestler (2008)

director: Darren Aronofsky

starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Judah Friedlander, Ajay Naidu, Mark Margolis



I plan on seeing this Saturday morning at the Toronto International Film Festival. Hopefully everything goes well and I get to see this. I cannot wait!



Review [hopefully] coming soon .

Rachel Getting Married (2008)
director: Jonathan Demme
starring: Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith

Seeing this film tomorrow (Dec 10th).
Review coming soon .

Frozen River (2008)
director: Courtney Hunt
starring: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Michael O'Keefe, Charlie McDermott, Mark Boone Junior

Review coming soon .

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
director: Mike Leigh
starring: Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman

Mike Leigh is a brilliant director and his talents have never let me down. Ever. From his masterful film Naked, his Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies, his eccentric Topsy-Turvy to his heartbreaking Vera Drake, Mr. Leigh has always hit the right chord. This time around, Leigh has given us another gift. Its name is Happy-Go-Lucky and I cannot say that any other film this year has made me happier. The heart and soul of this film comes from the stunning performance from Sally Hawkins. She is a wonderful performer and has a unique style of humour that could win over anybody.

Mike Leigh certainly knows how to direct his women. To me, he is the British version of Pedro Almodóvar. They work with women as if they were women themselves. They know women, they understand women and they appreciate women. This is all evident in their films and it is not left out in this one. This film has a heart and it really made me laugh, cry and feel good about myself. Sally Hawkins gives the best female comedic performance of the year and she should be remembered for a long time for being one of the cutest movie characters ever.

The scenes between Poppy (Hawkins) and her driving instructor, Scott (Marsan), are brilliant. They work together so well and their final "showdown" is one of the best scenes in any film this year. The juxtaposition between the characters is what makes this film thrive and I give great congratulations to Mike Leigh for his fantastic direction and screenplay. This film is being recognized for its originality, its direction and its actors. Zegerman and Marsan won British Independent Film Awards for their performance and Sally Hawkins has been raking in the awards for her performance as well (most notably the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and a recent Golden Globe nomination).

This is similar to Mike Leigh's previous films, but altogether different at the same time. This holds a lot more humour than some of his previous work, but does have its moments of drama. If you're a fan of Leigh, you need to see this. It's a vital part of his repertoire now and he should be proud of this film. Watch for this film come January when the Oscar nominations are announced. Be sure to see Sally Hawkins on the ballot because this is a performance to be never forgotten!

Grade: A-

Burn After Reading (2008)
directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins

Review coming soon .

[Rec] (2008)
director: Jaume Balagueró, Luis Berdejo
starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Pablo Rosso, Manuel Bronchud, Maria Lanau, David Vert, Pep Sais

Review coming soon .

Changeling (2008)
director: Clint Eastwood
starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Colm Feore

2008 turned out to be another spectacular year for director, actor, writer, composer, ballerina, Pope, trapeze artist and veterinarian Clint Eastwood. With two critically acclaimed films already generating Oscar buzz, you can be sure to see his name on the ballots come January. Changeling, a film which premiered at Cannes in May, was hyped to be a front-runner for this year's Best Picture Oscar. Now that the buzz around that has died down, all we have left to talk about it the stunning performance from Angelina Jolie. She just earned a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of a distressed mother who lost her son, only to have him replaced by an impostor.

Eastwood has had success in directing women in the past and I can confidently say that he knows what he is doing when working with his actors. He has directed Gene Hackman, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and himself (twice) into Oscar nominated and winning roles. With any luck, Jolie will hop on that bandwagon and have another bout of success with the Academy Awards.

The screenplay for this film is strong and the cinematography, costume design and original score (by Eastwood) are all stunning, but the true essence of this film comes in the form of its actors' performances. Not only does Jolie grace us with a marvelous performance, but we get wonderful performances from the supporting cast, also. John Malkovich, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Donovan... they are all great. One supporting performance stood out from the rest, however, and that was from Jason Butler Harner. He played the convicted child murderer in this film (which was based on true events) and he gave one of the eeriest performances of the year.

Eastwood's other film of 2008, Gran Torino, is a completely different film and he showcases his diversity in directing with the two. Since his big directorial comeback in 2003, Eastwood has achieved a new found success and he has kept it alive for five years now. I don't see why he should stop because he keeps on producing high quality film that is recognized for its excellence year after year. Kudos to him for his direction and kudos to Jolie for her stunning performance. If she's lucky, she may have some more gold to add to her shelf come February.

Grade: B+

Blindness (2008)
director: Fernando Meirelles
starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alica Braga, Danny Glover, Sandra Oh, Yusuke Iseya, Don McKellar, Maury Chaykin

I saw this last night at its Toronto Film Festival premiere. It was such an amazing experience for me because it was my first film festival screening. All the stars were there as was the director and being able to sit in the second row only feet away from them was so great. I never thought I'd ever be starstruck, but I was wrong. Seeing Fernando Meirelles, Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal and other celebrities that night like John Malkovich, Geoffrey Rush and Adrien Brody really made me feel starstruck. The film itself was a little disappointing. It was still great, but I was expecting a lot more. Blindness is one of my favourite novels, but I was trying not to compare it to the Nobel Prize-winning book from ten years earlier.

Review coming soon .

Iron Man (2008)
director: Jon Favreau
starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Shaun Toub, Leslie Bibb, Faran Tahir

This is undoubtedly the best Marvel adaptation since Spider-Man 2 in 2004. Something went right with this film that completely failed with other Marvel films like Daredevil and Hulk. I wasn't too thrilled to see this film when it was being advertised, but I gave it a chance anyway because I figured it would have some redeeming qualities and if nothing else, Robert Downey Jr. is in it. I was completely blown away by this film and it was not at all what I expected. This, like most of the other superhero films, shows the hero's origin and life before his super-days. Politically aware and very topical, this film tackles themes and elements that most films wouldn't normally get away with. Being a comic-book adaptation, Iron Man uses its fictional elements and combines them with topical political themes and pulls off a great story (for the most part).

Tony Stark, a billionaire inventor and popular playboy, is on a trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate his new missile for the American soldiers. While he is there, his car is attacked and he is taken prisoner. His captors force him to build the same missile he was promoting for them. While in captivity, Stark meets an Afghan doctor who builds a piece of equipment that is used to prevent the shrapnel in his chest (from the attack) from reaching his heart and killing him. Also, Stark uses the time to assemble not a missile, but a high-tech suit of metal that will allow him to escape. After his escape, he holds a press conference at his company's headquarters in the US and announced that Stark Industries will no longer produce weapons. He begins assembling a new suit of armour with updated features, but soon realizes that his business associate, Obidiah Stone, has been selling Stark produced weapons to the enemies behind his back. Stone also steals Stark's plans for the Iron Man suit and builds his own. Stark now has to destroy the weapons used by the Afghans and prevent Stone from producing his own Iron Man.

The screenplay was very good for most of the film, but I felt that the story became a little weak about three quarters of the way through. When Obidiah Stone assembled his own Iron Man and began wreaking chaos on the city I couldn't help but think of Hulk and Nick Nolte's transformation. It was a very similar plot point and seeing as how I thought Hulk was a big piece of garbage, that really irritated me about this film. Otherwise, I thought the screenplay was very well written and the characters were very well developed.

Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice for Tony Stark. He and Stark are one in the same and the similarities between them are uncanny. A lot of people have a negative view of Downey Jr. for what has happened with him in the past, but I do believe he is one of the greatest actors working today and has lost a lot of credit for some stupid things he has done. He continues to give stellar performances and this is, by far, his best. He had exactly what the character needed; arrogance, brilliance, sarcasm, humour and the look. He is Tony Stark and I cannot commend the casting of him more.

The supporting cast was also impressive, most notedly Gwyneth Paltrow. I've spoken to a lot of people who didn't care for her "damsel-in-distress performance", but I disagree 100%. I don't think she played a damsel-in-distress at all. In fact, I think she was a very independent character and great female lead who wasn't exactly the main focus of the film, but did prove to be important in not only the plot development, but also the development of Stark's character. This is one of her better supporting performances since The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. Jeff Bridges was misused in some scenes and played the typical villain which didn't impress me at all, but he did excel in the scenes that weren't with Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard had little screen time, but his one scene at Stark's house in which he [indirectly] confirms that there will be a sequel made me smile.

Jon Favreau has never really done anything great before having only directed some mediocre films (Elf, Zathura), but here he did some fine work. He isn't exactly experienced with directing an action film, but he did great with Iron Man and even managed to give himself a small part in the film (go figure).

Iron Man is one of the best Marvel films I have seen and easily the best since 2004's Spider-Man 2. It is in a different league than Hulk, Elektra, etc. Having some topical political scenes didn't hurt this film's excellence either. What made this film, however, was Robert Downey Jr. His performance was amazing and that alone makes me want a sequel. Iron Man 2 sounds like music to my ears especially after seeing the hidden scene with Samuel L. Jackson after the credits. If you've seen it, you know what I mean and if you haven't, you're missing out. So now, I await the sequel, but I am hoping Michael Bay stays miles away from it.

Choke (2008)
director: Clark Gregg
starring: Sam Rockwell, Kelly Macdonald, Anjelica Huston, Brad William Henke, Clark Gregg, Joel Grey

Review coming soon .

Gran Torino (2008)
director: Clint Eastwood
starring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley, John Carroll Lynch

One critically acclaimed and highly successful film in one year clearly isn't enough for Clint Eastwood. After his Cannes premiere of Changeling, a wave of acclaim flooded over Eastwood and Jolie. Now, with his latest film, Gran Torino, Eastwood can be sure to brace himself this time because another smash-hit is born. When the trailer for this film came online for the first time, I didn't know what to think of this. I was intrigued by the plot, thrown off by the unknown actors and kind of iffy about Eastwood's acting. I have to say that this trailer does the film no justice. The film should not have a trailer because it just ruins the film's impact, in my opinion.

The first twenty minutes or so of this film felt long, dull and all-in-all... horrible. I was worried because I expected a lot. Once the film picked up, however, it kept going and didn't stop. What saved the beginning of this film for me was Eastwood's performance. I can see why he won the National Board of Review's Best Actor award for his work in this film. His character was interesting to watch; a strong, manly man, yet heartfelt and sincere. His chemistry with the two supporting children was well developed, also. This film had many similar scenes and themes as Taxi Driver. To me, they were blatantly obvious, but I guess through Nick Schenk's screenplay, they were masked well. This isn't a flaw I'm pointing out because I think the Taxi Driver-related sequences enhanced the film's story and character development.

Eastwood's direction here wasn't as good as his direction of Changeling, but his performance in this film is the highlight of his year. I can easily see him being nominated once again for Best Actor. However, he will have trouble winning if he is up against Penn, Langella and Rourke. These four male performances are some of the best I have EVER seen and they are all from the same year. I would like to say this is unfortunate, but I am very glad to have seen such fine acting done withing the span of a mere twelve months.

Already having two NBR awards and a Golden Globe nomination in its pocket, this film should have no trouble with the critics. I have hope for this film and I can see it being widely loved by people of different ages. It's not appropriate for children, but I do think that its message is universal. The film tackles a subject which is pressing in today's society and very graphic in its depiction. Gran Torino is topical, emotional, original and beautiful. The story is inspiring and the outcome is heartbreaking. It leaves you shocked, sad, yet pleased. It's definitely a crowd pleaser. Once again, kudos to Clint Eastwood on a marvelous film.

Grade: B+

The Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
director: Vadim Perelman
starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Brett Cullen, Gabrielle Brennan

Review coming soon .

I've been waiting for this film to be released for a whole year now and it still hasn't been to theaters. It won't be until my birthday (April 25th) 2008. However, luckily for me, I was able to see a screener of this film early. Then She Found Me premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2007 to mostly positive reviews. Most of them said this film isn't anything special or new, but it definitely is worth seeing. They praised Helen Hunt for her directorial debut and also applauded the supporting performance of Bette Midler. I agree with both of these points and I think those are the two best things about this film.

This film can be added onto the pile of romantic comedies/dramas that keeps on growing higher and higher each year. It's a film that isn't very original, but definitely has strong morals and is a great way for a woman to make her directorial debut.

Adapted from the novel by Elinor Lipman, Then She Found Me is the story of April Epner (Hunt), a school teacher who hits a midlife crisis when her husband (Broderick) leaves her, her adoptive mother (Cohen) dies and her real one (Midler) appears out of no where to start a relationship.

To me, the story seemed real enough so I left it up to the actors to win me over. It was moving along slowly in the beginning, but picked up when Bette Midler appeared as Bernice Graves. Her enthusiasm and delivery makes her character very addictive and I wished that she would stay onscreen for the rest of the film. She played her character well (an eccentric television personality from New York) and provides the comic relief in many scenes. She becomes a problem in April's life at first (when she appears suddenly and tells her that her real father is Steve McQueen), but in the end, Bernice becomes an important part in April's journey.

I was more impressed with Helen Hunt's directorial job than her acting in this film. That's not to say her performance was bad, because it wasn't at all, it was actually very impressive. Her directorial job, however, was very good. It's better than something Gary Marshall would do with a film like this, let's put it that way.

Overall, it's a film that I felt I've seen before, but still left an emotional impact. The performances were good, especially Midler's and the directorial debut by Hunt was impressive. I do recommend this film to those who are looking for a good romance/drama. It's better than most from that genre and you'll most definitely be pleased.

The Spirit (2008)
director: Frank Miller
starring: Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King

Review coming soon .