The Best (and Worst) Movies of 2008 - Page 3

5. Waltz with Bashir – A movie that uses animation to expand the possibilities of the documentary genre, Ari Folman’s self-critical account of the Israeli involvement in the 1982 Lebanon war makes an even more hallucinogenic companion piece to the great Apocalypse Now. The animated medium plays with and stretches perspective and accurately reflects the psychological concept of selective memory in the horrors of wartime. Then, after the interviewees’ memory dances around the central tragedy in the film, the final two-minute archival footage of the real-life massacre is a cold reality slap to the face. Alongside WALL·E, which could not be more different than this movie, as well as other lighter but skillful entertainments such as Kung Fu Panda, this year was a remarkable one for the animated field.

6. Flight of the Red Balloon – Now this is the way to honor a classic. The director, Hou Hsiao-Hsien does not stop at paying homage to the French children’s classic, The Red Balloon but makes a simultaneously light yet larger portrait of youth, theatrical artistry and how we utilize film and photography as our limited tools to “freeze” time and take snapshots like visual time capsules. Yet another film that has a leisurely pace and rhythm but it touches straight for the gentle, peaceful side in all of us. And still the red balloon metaphorically “watches” through the busy hustle of life to remind us that we need to step back from some of its pretenses.

7. The Dark Knight – The most popular movie of the year and it was a worthy one. The director, Christopher Nolan, surprised everybody with his 2005 reboot, Batman Begins, but it turned out to be a warm-up compared to this sequel that expands on the comic book movie genre in character, philosophy, and sheer epic scope. That is in no small part due to the late, great Heath Ledger’s wholly distinct and scary interpretation of The Joker, which leaves the audiences with sadness at the loss of a great actor, much like James Dean half a century ago. His character’s new breed of villainy challenges the will of the good in Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon, and D.A. Harvey Dent, as they are forced to make complex moral choices and deal with the inexorable consequences of tragedy. The terrific, more improved action sequences, namely with the Batpod, of course, provide some nice, extra icing on the cake.

8. The Wrestler – Featuring the performance of the year and the best comeback story from Mickey Rourke, Darren Aronofsky’s film unflinchingly shows the duality of the wrestling sport between play-acting and brutality, fame and the injurious price for it. The story also has a crucial counterpoint in Marisa Tomei’s character who is a stripper, which provides a savage commentary on how both professions of wrestling and pole dancing involve selling one’s own body as a product targeted towards the juvenile nature of men (whether physical violence or sex). The real-life baggage that surrounds Rourke no doubt helps in completely blurring the line between actor and character but the sublime nature of his acting is what really surprises and engages us.

Article Author: moviejohn

Joo-Wang John Lee is a computer programmer at Binghamton University by day and a movie critic by hobby. Upon insistent suggestion from people around him, he finally decided to start critiquing movies in writing instead of just verbal form among his friends. …

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