This is the second part (first part here) of a list that was initially conceived back in January. Since then it has been revised to include most of the titles I didn’t manage to see until later on, so as to ensure that those later releases were also given a chance. While managing to (just about) condense the list into twenty films, there are a number of films from last year that are also worthy of mention despite not making the cut:

Dear Zachary – Heartbreaking, terrible evil, is bound to make you cry.
Tôkyô! – Colourful, metropolitan, three unique slices of Tokyo life.
The Class – Bold, boisterous, the joys of opening up young minds.
Flame & Citron - War, intrigue, and the unstoppable breeding of mistrust.
Everything is Fine – Greyish land, crippling grief,  and bubbling teenage angst.
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures - Narcissistic, hilarious, untrue.
The Headless Woman – Slow, subtle, a dream-like portrait of self-destruction.
Speed Racer – Garish, sensational, like dusty Sunday morning cartoons.

Above are the eight honourable mentions that I believe to be worthy of… mention. Unfortunately, it’s been so long since I’ve seen most of them that they’ve simply been condensed into single sentence summations for now.  Though please feel free to add your own. Now, back to the rest of the list. Enjoy, and be sure to look out for the 2009 edition of this list which should be posted around January/February of next year.

10. Wendy and Lucy | Kelly Reichardt

Montana-born actress Michelle Williams has come a long way since her career-propelling turn on the hit teenage drama Dawson’s Creek. That was ‘98, and a bold move for a young actress who had already made her screen debut. As with many other young talents however, the stability of a six-season run on such a popular primetime show proved to be priceless. Since then Williams has made some… [MORE]

09. Flight of the Red Balloon | Hou Hsiao-Hsien

It’s always interesting to watch talented filmmakers move away from their native land to create in a new environment. Seasoned director Hou Hsiao-Hsien was born in China, grew up in Taiwan yet has also made films in Japan. Voyage du Ballon Rouge or Flight of the Red Balloon is his first film set and shot outside Asia and is inspired by Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 classic Le Ballon Rouge. Many words… [MORE]

08. Doubt | John Patrick Shanley

John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt is a film about faith and about uncertainty. Historically, the idea of doubt has been regarded very differently by those of faith, often both as a sin and as a virtue. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote that “Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declare even doubt to be a sin.” which can be seen in the poetry of Frederick William Faber; “For right is right, since God is God, … [MORE]

07. Revanche | Götz Spielmann

Götz Spielmann’s Revanche is named after the French word for “revenge”, and one would be hard-pressed to find a single word that could better sum up this slick European thriller. We open on the imposing tops of dark green trees reflected in a forest lake as the opening credits come and go, eventually leaving us with the most profound silence and stillness. After a few moments this calm is shattered… [MORE]

06. The Wrestler | Darren Aronofsky

As a concept, Darren Aronofsky’s latest outing The Wrestler is the closest this oft-misjudged director has ever been to conventional cinema, and it works for him. It’s an intelligent move. Not only will the film reassure all those fans of his that were alienated after The Fountain, it will also undoubtedly win western audiences over in the theaters. For what is more American than wrestling after all? The story… [MORE]

05. Synecdoche, New York | Charlie Kaufman

Attempting to explain the premise behind award winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut Synecdoche, New York is like rushing to unravel a new roll of sticky tape with stunted fingernails. You think you’ve got it but you never truly have. You scrabble at the most accessible point until you break through, but in your enthusiasm realise that this has only exposed a deeper and stickier layer of… [MORE]

04. Still Walking | Hirokazu Koreeda

Someone recently pointed out to me that 2008 was a year for the family film; not those intended to entertain adults and kids alike but those created to portray the family dynamic in modern society. This is true in a sense, we have been treated to such family-oriented titles as I’ve Loved You So Long, Flight of the Red Balloon and Summer Hours from France alone this year. Then again it is also true… [MORE]

03. In the City of Sylvia | José Luis Guerín

Many tend to forget that film is the only popular medium in which one may tell a story without actually telling it. We forget that our good friend dialogue wasn’t present at the birth of cinema, nor was he expected. These days it seems that the screenplay is a critical step in the production process of a film, rather than an optional one. Works of the cinematic orientation conceived merely from a whispered concept are… [MORE]

02. Milk | Gus Van Sant

It’s taken a long time for Kentucky-born filmmaker Gus Greene Van Sant Junior to step out of his oft-tagged “indie” comfort zone and tackle a project of size. With Milk, the director has not only found his feet in more conventional territory, but also reignited a passion that seemed somehow dampened during his recent efforts. Milk is the story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, and his… [MORE]

01. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | David Fincher

Which filmmaker do you believe best represents modern American cinema? Which filmography would you choose, if you could, to represent such a great country and its ever-increasing array of films? It’s a question that I’m sure many have thought about but, of course, there is no concrete answer. There is however a general consensus as to the recognised greats of American cinema and with The Curious Case... [MORE]

Thank you for reading.

This end-of-year list was initially conceived back in January of 2009 as a rough guide to my favourites from the previous year. It has since been revised to include most of the titles I didn’t manage to get to until later on, so while it seems rather late in coming for those who’ve been following the blog, I assure you it’s worth it! While many opinions on the filmic crop of 2008 have already been divulged on these pages, I still find it rather exciting to lay them all out and come up with some kind of order. Some of you will notice that I won’t yet be mentioning the five (or so) honourable mentions; that info will be saved until the latter part of the list, just so as to keep things interesting. I hope you enjoy reading through it as much as I enjoyed creating it, and be sure to look out not only for the second part of this list but also the 2009 edition which should be posted around January/February of next year.

20. Man on Wire | James Marsh

The first thing we are greeted with when embarking on James Marsh’s Oscar-nominated documentary Man on Wire is the enthusiasm of its subject, French wire-walker Philippe Petit. His broken English, wild hand gestures and frequently-disappearing eyebrows are somewhat infectious, and it is this wonderful personality that raises Man on Wire from a documentary about a single passion to… [MORE]

19. The Chaser | Na Hong-jin

Based on a true story, the recent Korean box office smash Chugyeogja or The Chaser has caused quite a stir since debuting at the Berlin film festival back in February of last year. It took a while but the film finally made its European release in September and has already been picked up by Warner Bros. for a 2010 remake that will involve Leonardo DiCaprio and The Departed writer William Monahan… [MORE]

18. Waltz with Bashir | Ari Folman

As with James Marsh’s Man on Wire, Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir is an interesting and unique take on the documentary genre that positively shook critics’ circles upon release, scooping a truckload of awards and an Oscar nomination to boot. Man on Wire plays with the  genre to create something that could only be described as a heist-documentary film, whereas Waltz with Bashir refines it through… [MORE]

17. Lake Tahoe | Fernando Eimbcke

A father dies, a mother mourns. A son wanders the streets. This is not Lake Tahoe, but the Yucatán, Mexico – specifically a tranquil little peninsula town defined by its expansive pale blue horizons, crumbling architecture, weed-infested streets and curious, somewhat over-friendly locals. It is an unfortunate telegraph post just outside this small town of Chicxulub that our young protagonist, Juan, the Son… [MORE]

16. Snow Angels | David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green’s overlooked and under-celebrated fourth full-length feature Snow Angels is a film about adults lost – lost in love upon a landscape buried under never-ceasing snowfall. It is a tale as bleak as this pure white landscape; purity that violently contradicts the lives of our two central characters Annie and Glenn. Divorcees with a child in tow, their relationship has run aground upon rocky… [MORE]

15. My Winnipeg | Guy Maddin

“Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Winnipeg. Snowy, sleepwalking Winnipeg…” So begins Guy Maddin’s ninth feature film and quaint tribute to his home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba. My Winnipeg is by far the most personal of Maddin’s work to date, lacking the abstract blurriness of Brand Upon the Brain but excelling thanks to a certain breed of self-analysis that the director has long-since perfected. Indeed if… [MORE]

14. In Bruges | Martin McDonagh

It is a rare occurrence when a modern playwright turns his hand to film directing, and rarer still when said candidate has not yet escaped his thirties. British-born Martin McDonagh is rather an emphatic exception to this notion it would seem. After scripting numerous acclaimed theatrical and radio plays (and being nominated for a Tony Award on four separate occasions), the playwright shifted his gaze to film… [MORE]

13. The Fall | Tarsem Singh

Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is one of those filmic curiosities that come along every so often and at the same time not often enough. An elaborate project that has been years in the making, it has struggled to find investment and, subsequently, an audience to which it could be marketed to, before becoming stuck in a seemingly never-ending run of festival screenings. Since its conception almost half a… [MORE]

12. WALL·E | Andrew Stanton

In this day and age where theatrical releases are commonly referred to as ‘international events’, it baffles me that the staggered release is still so widely implemented. Pixar, just like their parent company Disney have always made their money in the hot summer months. A time when kids are experiencing a waning need to be entertained, and their parents are looking for the perfect way to fulfil… [MORE]

11. Let the Right One In | Tomas Alfredson

It’s a shame that the expression ‘knocked for six’ is largely unknown outside England and Australia, for it describes rather well the feet-swept feeling one may experience with a well-made thriller every so often. “Stunned, shocked, astounded or overwhelmed” are some of the synonyms offered for this cricket-oriented idiom, which is exactly how I felt after sitting through the Swedish vampire flick… [MORE]

The second part of this list can be found here >>>

Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a 1980s-era pro wrestler, has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again. In an effort to build a new life, Robinson takes a job at a deli, moves in with an aging stripper and tries to build a relationship with her son. But the prospect of a rematch with his old nemesis, the Ayatollah, proves too tempting to resist, even if it means risking his life.

Movie Poster

ตัวอย่างหนัง Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
เป็นภาคต่อจากภาคแรก พบกับการกลับมาของเหล่า หุ่นยนต์ หัวใจรถสปอร์ท แปลงร่างรวดเร็ว
กว่าเดิม ทีกำกับ โดย ไมเคิล เบย์ ลองดูหนังตัวอย่าง มันส์มากเลย..
http://365boxstv.com/moviesclip_transformersrevengeofthefallen.html

Yesterday, I got a copy of this movie. I’ve been intrigued by it since most of my friends had been plurking about this recently. I watched it and the movie is fascinating. No wonder it garnered numerous awards. I love the story and how the sequence of events where presented. It’s amazing how events in Jamaal’s life helped him with the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire questions.

Oscar nominations have been out for two weeks now, and there’s only so much speculating one can do before the big show on February 22nd.  So after writing the obligatory “The Academy Got It Wrong” column (or it’s more world-weary cousin, “The Academy Always Gets It Wrong, So This Year Shouldn’t Come As A Surprise To Anyone”), one of the only things left to talk about are the Oscar “Snubs.”  This is an interesting distinction, because the snubbees most written about aren’t usually those that did the best work, but rather those that offered the same old, middlebrow Oscar bait and somehow failed to get recognized for it.  The result is an odd phenomenon where the writer expresses regret that one solid performance in an unloved, mediocre film took the place of another solid performance in an unloved, mediocre film .  Oh, the outrage!

I’m not calling out every snubbee as undeserving.  In fact, before I go any further, let’s get this out of the way.  Sally Hawkins , you’re excused – though honestly, for a movie as un-Hollywood as HappyGoLucky, she was fortunate just to be in the conversation.  Bruce Springsteen, you too were legitimately snubbed – much as the aging-rocker-wins-Oscar thing is played out (Bruce has even done it already for Philadelphia), it’s a solid song and I really don’t understand why it didn’t make the cut.  And finally, those of you in the Wall-E and/or Dark Knight for Best Picture camps, I’ll concede that you’re entitled to your anger – mainly because that’s a whole other argument I don’t want to get into.

What really seems ridiculous to me is the likes of, say, Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cate Blanchett, to name a few, eliciting pity for not being nominated for work that would’ve been seen as Exhibit A in Oscar-Getting-It-Wrong had they actually earned the expected nod.  The only reason Eastwood’s omission came as such a shock is because he always gets nominated – he’s already won four (four!) other Oscars, all for better movies.  DiCaprio’s never won (though he too seems to be always get nominated), but seriously, it’s an OK performance in an OK movie, Revolutionary Road, that didn’t really belong in the conversation in the first place.  And Blanchett in Benjamin Button?  Here’s a frightening thought: if she had garnered the expected nod for Best Actress, that would’ve brought the movie’s total to 14 nominations, tying for MOST OF ALL TIME with All About Eve and Titanic.  Ugh.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the three Greatest Movies of All Time, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: All About Eve, Titanic, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Weird.

OK, enough hatin’.  The original goal of this post was to call out some work that I thought was actually really great, and despite earning widespread acclaim in films that had support in other categories, never really entered the conversation of possible nominees and thus doesn’t really qualify as a snub.  Behold the Unsnubbed of 2008.  

Bill Irwin, Best Supporting Actor, Rachel Getting Married

Sure, nominee Anne Hathaway and legitimately snubbed Rosemarie DeWitt were great, but for me, Irwin was the standout.  He’s the perfect embodiment of the movie’s unique blend of warm-hearted sentimentality and indie miserabilism (that was intended as a compliment, by the way).  His sweet and sensitive Paul seems like the kind of dude you would totally want as your dad, until you realize that the same permissiveness and “everything’s OK here” understanding that made daughter Rachel (DeWitt) grow up to be such a sweetheart, have helped turn Hathaway’s Kym into a self-absorbed monster.  Not a lot of actors could’ve pulled off that odd balancing act between World’s Greatest Dad and enabler, yet, with the exception of a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the Chicago Film Critics’ Association, Irwin went completely unrecognized by critics’ groups and other award-givers.  

Robert Downey Jr, Best Actor, Iron Man

I’m not the biggest fan of blockbuster acting being held up as greatness, but in a universe where Johnny Depp gets recognized for that way-too-long pirate movie, Robert Downey Jr. deserves a shot for his turn as Tony Stark in Iron Man.  Honestly, with the possible exception of Heath Ledger, can you think of any other performance this year that was as universally beloved by both critics and mainstream audiences?  For most of the 93% of critics and $318 million worth of moviegoers who touted the film, Downey’s performance was the number 1 reason why this movie worked so well.  I know he was nominated for Tropic Thunder because it’s kind of been his year, but isn’t Iron Man the reason that it’s his year?

Darren Aronofsky, Best Director, The Wrestler

The fact that Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei are both Oscar-nominated for a movie about professional wrestling should give you some indication that Aronofsky is up to something unique here.  Yes, I give Rob Siegel’s script a share of the love (as well as a lot of the blame for the movie’s faults), but credit Aronofsky for turning a subtly ironic sports tragedy into an intimate, bare-bones acting exercise.  He makes the heavy aspects of the film work without ever sacrificing the comedic moments and gives the behind-the-scenes wrestling stuff a totally authentic feel.  All this from a guy who, after Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, nobody would’ve pegged as an actor’s director.

OK, so it’s a short list, but I have no interest in digging up sketchy examples just to fill out a top ten list.  Feel free to post your own examples in the comments section below.  Keep in mind I’m trying to stick to the criteria of work that, had the  film’s marketers seen its potential or the critics’ awards broke differently, might have had an actual shot.  So great stuff like Arnaud Desplechin’s direction in A Christmas Tale or Anamaria Marinca’s performance in 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days doesn’t really count, because, you know, the Academy always gets it wrong.

ตัวอย่างหนัง  X-men4 Origin Movie trailer
เป็นเรื่องเกี่ยวกับกำเนิดของ Wolverine และที่มาของ กงเล็บ
เหล็กกล้า แต่ความว่องไวดุจหมาป่า และจะได้พบกับ มนุษย์กลายพันธุ์
และ แหล่งกำเนิดของ เพื่อนๆของเขา ลองดูหนังตัวอย่าง มันส์มากเลย..
http://365boxstv.com/moviesclip_xmenoriginswolverine.html

Slumdog Millionaire, a movie which made its way to win four Golden Globe Awards, is a globalized indian movie. Each and every prospect is going to be indianized in the 21st century. Motion pictures is not an exclusion from that.

My Prediction – My View:
I expected this scenario last year which made me to write an article in Ezine – “Indian Cinema on Global Arena”. However, its a new feeling that an international movie everywhere stuffed with indian content winning the Golden Globe, most possibly the second highest award in international film industry.

India – An Ore for Content:
We, indians have a lot of potential as script writers, directors and creative artists, but it is a well known fact that our producers are barely going for money, not with a conviction to make a good movie. In case of Slumdog Millionaire, we would not see any commercial aspect – no romance, no comedy, no scenic beauty depiction, no great dialogues, but a heart touching script as well as facinate screenplay and direction.

We are Content Creators – They are Content Developers:
As we, indians have great content in terms of script writing and capability to direct things, but we don’t have a convicted persons. Aamir Khan is trying his level best to bring an Oscar to India, hewever he failed in case of Lagaan at the door step. This time with Taare Zameen Par he failed even to get in to the Queue.

The west side people are very accurate to judge and to utilize our grey matter. I am not criticizing them, but we have to utilize our own talent to make our way to bring Oscar to India, at least once.