February 3, 2009 --
I don't know what meds Roger Ebert is taking these days, but when he proclaims 2008 to be such a good year that he had to make a Top 20 List -- and an alphabetical one at that (the ultimate critical cop-out) -- I have to wonder. It took me 13 months (and 3 days) to fill-out my Top Ten List this year, and even then it was a struggle. [Ebert's list contains the 'blink-and-you-missed-it' "The Fall", directed by Tarsem, hence my concern about his pharmaceuticals.]
More troubling is the fact that foreignfilmguy's Foreign Film List has been reduced to 3. Tres! Trois! (and tre, in a nod to two of the entries). So, without further griping (and no cop-outs), here are, in order ....
Top 3 Foreign Films of 2008
I don't know what meds Roger Ebert is taking these days, but when he proclaims 2008 to be such a good year that he had to make a Top 20 List -- and an alphabetical one at that (the ultimate critical cop-out) -- I have to wonder. It took me 13 months (and 3 days) to fill-out my Top Ten List this year, and even then it was a struggle. [Ebert's list contains the 'blink-and-you-missed-it' "The Fall", directed by Tarsem, hence my concern about his pharmaceuticals.]
More troubling is the fact that foreignfilmguy's Foreign Film List has been reduced to 3. Tres! Trois! (and tre, in a nod to two of the entries). So, without further griping (and no cop-outs), here are, in order ....
Top 3 Foreign Films of 2008
1. REPRISE (Norway)
2. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden)
3. I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (France)
TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2008
1. MILK
2. THE READER
3. THE DARK KNIGHT
4. FROZEN RIVER
5. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
6. FROST / NIXON
10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Tropic Thunder
U2: 3D
The Visitor
The Wrestler
"Saw & enjoyed"
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Choke
Doubt *
The Duchess
Funny Games (starring the lovely Naomi Watts, who can be seen in The International, opening February 13th!)
In Bruges
There you have it: now it's on to the Oscars, where none of what I just wrote matters one whit!
U2: 3D
The Visitor
The Wrestler
"Saw & enjoyed"
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Choke
Doubt *
The Duchess
Funny Games (starring the lovely Naomi Watts, who can be seen in The International, opening February 13th!)
In Bruges
There you have it: now it's on to the Oscars, where none of what I just wrote matters one whit!
And I now bow down before you for selecting MILK as the best film of the year. I could watch it on a loop and it never gets old.
ReplyDeleteEcho Goldie! MILK is my choice as well. Glad you touted Happy Go Lucky, a charming little movie that has gotten lost in the Year of the Holocaust Movie. I also liked The Reader, though, so I am not slamming any particular Holocaust movie. Curious how Benjamin Button made your top ten, and Slumdog got an HM,given your one-second slams. Really, how can a movie that is anything reminiscent of Titanic (a disaster almost as large as the one that inspired it) make a top 10 list, even in a bad year? Just make a top 10 list of nine -- now there's a statement. Curious if you have seen Wendy and Lucy? Saw it last night and liked it a lot!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Goldie; welcome back, Tim! I am not averse to a Top 9 List (or even a Top 7), and this year was as close as I have come to it, but slots 8 through 10 are interchangeable with any of the H.M.s, so I wanted at least to single a few out. Up until last night at 10:55pm, "Slumdog" WAS in the Top Ten, but I couldn't justify it after my review. FFG is not averse to a big Hollywood production: TITANIC DID make my Top Ten List that year (#10), so that spot is reserved for ambitious epics, I suppose.
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