21st
Lara’s Best Films of 2008
Here is the very professional, Lara Morgan’s top films of 2008 list. Obviously I haven’t seen everything. But I have tried my hardest to see as much as I can.
10. The Wrestler: A painful yet good movie. It makes me: never want to recognize a has-been, never see wrestling again, never become a stripper, and never end up alone. If I didn’t know any of those things before. I love that Darren Aronofsky sees potential in actors that many others don’t, and his confidence in casting them in moving roles. He did it first with Hugh Jackman in The Fountain, who before was a Tony award winning, comic book and crappy romantic comedy starring actor, and transformed into the most raw actor I have ever seen. Now he’s done it again with washed up wrestler, Mickey Rourke. But I guess that’s kind of the point of the movie, too. I found Marissa Tomei’s story line to be a lot more tragic, though. But hers wasn’t the best “supporting” performance of the year. Mickey Rourke will likely win the Oscar and I’m okay with that.
9. High School Musical 3: “What the?!” You exclaim to yourself, “She must not have seen very movies in 2008 if that cheesefest is on her list.” Au contraire, monsieau bastardeaux. I saw PLENTY of 2008 movies. I simply love High School Musical; from it’s O.C.-like misrepresentation of high school to it’s blatant gender stereotypes to its wonderfully poppy songs that get in my head for hours. I was having a real crap day this fall and my wonderful roommates showed up at my school and told me that they, along with Seth, were going to take me to see High School Musical 3 to cheer me up. Prior to this they had refused. After this experience, they never were the same.
8. Pineapple Express: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. What more can I say? I don’t love it as much as I love Superbad, but still. Hilarious.
7. Doubt: A film that should have received more love. Chilling performances by every actor involved. Meryl Streep had me shaking, Philip Seymour Hoffman had me mistrusting, Viola Davis had me crying, Amy Adams had me… well, just amazed by Amy Adams. I love this movie because after two viewings I still don’t know anything, I just have my unfounded suspicions. Oh and the sermons in this movie are better than any I’ve heard in church in years.
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: I am bound to love anything and everything associated with Judd Apatow and the gang (with the exception of Walk Hard). This film is not as high quality as Superbad or Knocked Up, but it still is funny as hell and continues to push the envelope of discomfort as well as the male-nudity-being-more-acceptable-in-movies envelope. While it could have been mediocre, all the side characters (Jonah Hill, Jack McBrayer, Paul Rudd, Russell Brand, and the ever funny Bill Hader) being clever rather than just stupid kept it from being an Adam Sandler movie.
5. Slumdog Millionaire: Here’s what. I love Danny Boyle and all films I’ve ever seen by Danny Boyle. I love India and all films I’ve ever seen about India. And yet, I don’t think this movie is quite what everyone else has cracked it up to be. I definitely don’t think it’s a “best picture.” BUT, as I stated before I love Danny Boyle and I love India, so I’m happy for both of them that they’re getting as much attention as they are. In ways. Danny deserves some overdue credit. But I’m afraid from now on he’ll be “Danny Boyle” and signing on for big blockbuster movies and losing all his actual credibility. It’s funny to think of his last movie, Sunshine, which was amazing but got no love from anyone. I mean, even it’s amazing score that has been used as the song for many trailers didn’t get made and sold because no one cared. And now look, two songs from his Slumdog have been nominated for best song and he is the ultimate shit. I guess I shouldn’t hold all this against Slumdog. It’s a really good movie. A bit cheesy, but a good movie. I actually like it a lot. It will win best picture tomorrow and that is a fine thing. And, though it will come with some consequences, Danny Boyle will win best director and that is a great thing.
4. Milk: A movie that the first time disappointed and the second time floored me. Our preconceptions of a film shape our opinions of them as much as the quality of the films themselves. The first time I saw this film I was not as happy with it as I had hoped. I believed the homosexuals were too flamboyant, and there was an underrepresentation of both lesbians as well as gay-friendly Christians. Before going into viewing the second time I realized that this was likely because of the time. Homosexuals who came out were likely to be more in-your-face because it’s the only way they knew how to react to “normal” society. Lesbians were not as prevalent in the Castro as gay men. And, sadly, Christians who love homosexuals are still hard to find today. This film had amazing acting and an amazing message. The issue of Prop 6 of thirty years ago was so relevant and reflective of the continual victimization of homosexuals today with Prop 8. Penn did an amazing job in this film as did Brolin and Emile Hirsch, which surprised me because prior to this movie I wasn’t much of a fan. I don’t think Van Sant utilized James Franco as much as he could have, the amazing actor that he is. Oh and same goes for Ryan from High School Musical.
3. Waltz with Bashir: A thought-provoking piece of art. Rather than push an agenda for either Israel or Palestine, the film does not focus on the massacres themselves, but on memory: what we choose to hold on to, what we choose to forget, and how we fill the gaps.
2. The Dark Knight: This year’s phenomenon. A movie that probably should have been nominated for Best Picture as it will be discussed for years and years, regarded as one of the best movies ever, and I doubt that some of the other nominations will be remembered as long. I had no desire to watch the new Batman movies, hadn’t seen Batman Begins, and then in fall of ‘07 I saw the trailer for this new installment. Heath Ledger’s performance just in the preview astonished me and made me go and rent Batman Begins almost immediately. While he did an amazing job, the focus shouldn’t solely be on the Joker, as Aaron Eckhart was fantastic as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Maggie Gylenhall kicked Katie Homes’ ass as Rachel Dawes, and Christian Bale as Batman was good as always. My one complaint about this movie is that I think there should have been more Bruce Wayne. I feel as though he was such a side character and I certainly could have done with less Batman growls and more playboy Bruce. But let’s not focus on the negatives. Nolan did it again (he should have been nominated) and Heath gave a performance to remember (he should and likely will win).
1. Wall-E: This generation’s E.T. and that’s the best compliment I can give a movie. Our friends at Pixar always succeed at anthropomorphing anything. First it was toys, then bugs, then monsters, then fish, then washed-up superheroes, then cars (I guess), then rats, and now little robots. The most wonderful and loving little robots you ever did see. How they were able to make the first half of the movie so entertaining and interesting with almost no dialogue is an amazing feat. Especially for a kid’s movie. I love this movie with all of my heart. Best Picture Of The Year.
