And what better way to kick off my return from my long absence than to recount my favorite movies from last year?
THE DARK KNIGHTInstead of doing the usual "countdown-to-number-one" style (meaning from, say, number ten, counting down to number one) in enumerating what I think are the best films from last year, let me already start at the top. And, without a doubt, The Dark Knight is the best movie I'd seen for '08! Although, I have to admit, the first time I watched it, because I had very high expectations for the film, I wasn't all praises for it - 'til after I saw it a second time; and by then, I couldn't stop watching it over and over. I had several repeat screenings of TDK, which totaled to around twenty (or a little over that).
The Dark Knight has proven (again) that films based on a (super-hero) comic book can be made into a movie that's taken seriously, and not just some watered-down, "campy film". In fact, this is the way super-hero movies should be made : gritty, serious, and something that isn't (just) necessarily for kids.
The movie is filled with superb performances all around, especially that of the late Heath Ledger. I know that everyone has already shouted about his "Oscar-worthy" performance to the high heavens, but, I don't care, I'll ring that bell as well and jump on board the Ledger bandwagon. Before Heath, it was assumed that the greatest Joker performance would belong to Jack Nicholson (as he was excellent in visionary director Tim Burton's Batman). In fact, when I first heard that Ledger was cast as Batman's arch-nemesis, The Clown Prince of Crime, my reaction was that of doubt. I was going "What the heck was (director) Christopher Nolan THINKING?!?" But now, I've seen the error of my ways and have nothing but "I'm not worthy" praises. Hehe.
Ledger's Joker was his own. I especially loved how Nolan (or whoever came up with the idea) decided to make the Joker a "normal" criminal (well, as normal as insane criminals go that is) - meaning, there was nothing supernatural involved in how he became the Joker (as opposed to falling into a into a giant vat of chemicals, resulting in his pasty-white skin) - and that his "permanent smile" was nothing more than a scar (and Ledger's Joker gives the audience two versions on how he got it - in short, never really revealing the true origin for the scar - which i also loved; the whole flicking-of-the-tongue-to-graze-the-scar added to the uniqueness of Ledger's Joker as well). Heath was just...chilling as The Joker. In fact, there was this one scene in the movie in particular that gave me goosebumps : the scene where Joker, via a videotape, tortures a faux Batman, and he shouts "LOOK-AT-ME!!" Whew. That sent a chill down my spine.
Even Aaron Eckhart did justice to the role of Two-Face. He also has one of those "Oscar-moments" in The Dark Knight, and it was right after the accident that turns him into his villainous alter-ego, in the hospital, as he comes face to face with Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). I was also worried that adding Two-Face to the mix would overcrowd the movie, plot-wise, as sequels often have the mistake of committing that particular "crime" (the need to have more of everything, just to be able to top its predecessor or the movie that came before it), but you realize, after watching The Dark Knight,that he is integral to the story as well.
But there are actually a lot of things happening in The Dark Knight, plot-wise. Fortunately, in the capable hands of director Christopher Nolan, you don't get to feel overwhelmed by the plot(s)/sub-plots of the movie. The running time, which is around two and a half hours (or two hours and forty minutes), is enough time for Nolan to wrap things up neatly, without it feeling like everything was rushed.
Now The Dark Knight may not be the kind of movie that a film critic would consider as the top pic for '08, but hey, I'm not a movie critic. In my opinion, this was the number one movie (that I'd seen anyway) from last year.
Besides The Dark Knight, other films from the previous year worth mentioning as part of my "Best Movies of 2008" list are :
SWEENEY TODDForget all the blood and gore (because there's a lot of it in this movie), this latest Tim Burton masterpiece is just that - a masterpiece. Despite its dark theme and look, it just somehow feels so colorful and beautiful to look at.
I heard that the studio didn't have Johnny Depp as their first choice to play the title character, but director Burton insisted that he was the right actor for the part. Though Depp may not exactly have a professional background when it comes to singing (and his vocal chops, as well as that of co-star Helena Bonham-Carter, is obviously not a match to some of his other, more seasoned singing co-stars), he still pulls off the right key in his "musical scenes."
Already considered to be, currently, one of the greatest actors in Hollywood, Depp has had the reputation of taking roles that are usually out of the norm, and this is no different. And just like most of his other "unusual" roles (Willy Wonka, Captain Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, etc), he convincingly succeeds as The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Sweeney Todd is not a feel-good movie, and yet, it is just so much fun to watch.
I AM LEGEND*warning : spoiler up ahead*
I never got to see the original and the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's book The Last Man On Earth. All I know about that movie is that it starred Vincent Price. The only other remake (or adaptation) that I'd seen was The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston (I saw it on tv in the 80s, when I was a kid), and my only memory about that movie, other than Heston's character dying in the end, was that I was so depressed; I was probably too young to "appreciate" it and should not have seen a movie like that.
So after several failed attempts to bring back Matheson's book to the big screen (one of said attempts involved Arnold Schwarzenegger starring in it), along comes director Francis Lawrence, hot on the heels of his success on Constantine. And he's made one superb movie in I Am Legend!
Will Smith is terrific in this movie as Robert Neville, the lone survivor in New York City, who struggles to find a cure for a plague that kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters. Smith is convincing as a man wrought with guilt, as he literally takes the world on his shoulders and tries to save it from man's mistake and "over-eagerness" to play God (you know, the usual - create-a-cure-that-turns-out-to-be-humanity's-downfall). I know it's just a movie, but it does feel like a "realistic" look at a post-apocalyptic world, and of one man's struggle to survive from his lone existence (I mean, if you were the last person on Earth, wouldn't you go insane?), trying to keep some semblance of a normal life (e.g. putting up mannequins, pretending that they were actual people he could talk to as he goes about some of his daily routines, one of them being a visit to the video store to rent out DVDs).
One of my favorite parts in IAL, and one of the most heart-pounding scenes, was when Neville goes into this building filled with the movie's antagonist, the so-called "Darkstalkers" (the monstrosities that man is turned into because of the plague), to go after his only companion, a German Shepard named Sam. Director Lawrence decided that the only lighting that he'd use in the scene was the one mounted on Smith's machine gun. And so it made that scene even scarier.
It's got action, suspense, and heart-wrenching drama courtesy of the excellent Will Smith. I Am Legend was the first movie I got to see for 2008, and I'm glad I was able to start off my movie-watching that year with a bang.
IRON MANOf course, not all my choices for (my) fave flicks of '08 are all doom-and-gloom or "serious" movies; though not better than The Dark Knight, Iron Man was definitely the movie that i had the most fun watching.
I gotta admit, just like with Christopher Nolan's casting choice with the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, when I first heard that Robert Downey,Jr. was going to play the Golden Avenger, I was skeptical too. Was this going to be ala-Michael Keaton as Batman (cool in costume, but as alter ego Bruce Wayne, blech)? He's never struck me as the big screen leading man/super-hero type (I kept thinking more "comedian"; I also heard that there would be a lot of humor in the movie, which had me thinking "Oh no, this is gonna turn out to be too silly). In fact, even director (and co-star in the movie) Jon Favreau wasn't exactly jumping for joy in the beginning about Downey,Jr. being cast as well. Actually, Favreau was the other reason why I was thinking that Iron Man would be a so-so movie. I mean, he's never really directed a big-budget movie of this magnitude, let alone directed any film that's wowed me (well, those that I've seen anyway). But, just like me and everybody else, Favreau did eventually change his mind about Robert Downey,Jr. After watching Iron Man (about twenty times or more), I still can't help but be amazed at the perfect casting choice of Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, specifically that of his alter ego Tony Stark. He is Tony Stark! Can you seriously imagine Tom Cruise in the role now (because when news first got around that an Iron Man movie was going to be made, there were reports that he was up for the part)? No. It's a casting coup that kind of reminds me of Brandon Routh getting the part of Superman. Perfect.
One adjective that is best used to describe Iron Man is cool. And seeing the armor on the big screen definitely gave all the geeks 'round the world (I do fall under that category too) something to rejoice about. With this kind of movie, it's a given that you'll see a lot of CGI. But one of the (other) things I have to give Favreau credit for is his insistence in building and using an "actual armor", rather than simply rely on all-out CGI for when Robert Downey Jr. is in his Iron Man suit. Which was good, because it made seeing Shell Head (for those who aren't familiar with "comic book speak", that's one of the nicknames of Iron Man) on the big screen in full body armor way cool beyond words. Can't wait for the sequel.
And, oh yeah -- even before news about it got out on the 'net, I was probably one of the very first people (the only person perhaps?) who noticed Captain America's (unfinished) shield in Tony Stark's workshop. I just had to mention that. It's a geek pride thing.
KUNG-FU PANDAI also happen to love watching cartoons, and there were a few that I got to see last year : Horton Hears A Who, Wall-E and Kung-Fu Panda. Horton (which featured the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell) was very funny, and Wall-E was sweet, but I pick Kung-Fu Panda as my favorite animated film of 2008 because, besides the fact that it was also very funny, it was the one that really stuck to my mind more than Horton (which I hear will have a sequel) and Wall-E. This a movie that both the kids and adults can enjoy. The characters are memorable, with Jack Black born to voice the role of Po, a porky panda who daydreams of one day joining the ranks of The Furious Five, a group of animal martial artists that he idolizes. Kung-Fu Panda could/should become the next big animated movie franchise.
THE INCREDIBLE HULKJust like with Robert Downey, Jr., I wasn't all that thrilled at first when I heard that Edward Norton was taking over Eric Bana's shoes to play Bruce Banner. I mean, sure, Norton is a good actor, but I've never really been that big a fan. But Just like with Iron Man and The Dark Knight, after watching The Incredible Hulk, Norton did prove me as well as other "ubelievers" out there that we wrong; that he was right for the role of the troubled scientist, Banner, who is still trying to find a cure to the genetic accident that tranforms him into the titular character.
The Hulk movie (directed by Ang Lee) that preceded this one wasn't actually all that bad (I kinda liked it). But a lot of fans did voice out their disappointment over it (too much angst, not enough screen time of the Hulk, etc), and comic-book-giant-now-successful-superhero-movie-making-company Marvel wasn't exactly all too thrilled with the way the Ang Hulk turned out as well. So this time around, they've done away with the artsty-fartsy directing and storytelling, hired French director Louie Letterier (Danny The Dog, The Transporter 2), and made sure there were lots of action and a lot of The Hulk! Marvel says that The Incredible Hulk isn't quite a remake or retelling of the first Hulk movie, as the movie doesn't really recount too much about the how and why's of the Hulk's origin anymore, except in a bit of a montage at the beginning. And then, it was pretty much full steam ahead!
Other major characters have also been recast, with William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (way better than Sam Elliott's cowboy-like portrayal -- Ross in Incredible... is a bitter and battle-hardened individual, whose obsession with the Hulk can sometimes blind him, even endangering his own daughter) and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross (Tyler wasn't terrible, but I still somehow prefer Jennifer Connely as the love of Bruce Banner's life). Miscast though is Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, who turns into the very bad-ass Abomination ; he just seems too short. I guess thank goodness then for the CGI that renders the Abomination, as he does look like someone (or something) that could kick Hulk's butt.
There are fun cameos, from Stan Lee (no Marvel movie is complete without a cameo from Stan "The Man" Lee after all, the man responsible for creating Hulk, Spider-Man, The X-Men, Captain America and many more iconic comic book superheroes) and from Lou Ferrigno (fyi, he is the original actor who first played the green goliath on the small screen, back in the days when there were no CGIs). And does Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man also make a cameo in the movie (there were all those rumors before The Incredible Hulk came out about Stark making an appearance)? Well, I'm not going to spoil it for those who somehow have not yet seen the movie.
And, as a geek, one of my favorite parts from the film, other than the funny scene where Banner screws up the classic Hulk line "You wouldn't want to see me angry" in another dialect, is when audiences get to hear Hulk utter a line associated with him, "Hulk...SMASH!" (I couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement when Hulk uttered those words on the big screen... I knew it was coming, and with a big, geeky smile on my face, I silently said those words along with the Hulk)
The action is loud and fierce, particularly the final battle between Hulk and Abomination. The Incredible Hulk is... well, incredible.
Other films worth mentioning...
ATONEMENT -- excellent, heart-breaking tearjeker-of-a-movie.
JUNO -- "the little movie that could..." ; adorable, funny and heart-warming.
KITE RUNNER -- good ol' fashioned drama.
BODY OF LIES -- scene-stealer Mark Strong is more than enough reason alone to see this movie.
THE MIST -- the twist at the end will have your jaws drop.
CLOVERFIELD -- except for the almost-nausseating camerawork, this is good "monster movie" fun.
QUARANTINE -- just like Cloverfield, it's shot ala-(faux)documentary style, so the camerawork will also most likely have you hurling chunks, but this will scare the piss out of you.
'Nuff said.
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