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George Sawer January 6, 2009

George Sawer's Top Films of the Year 2008

15 Changeling
Yet another entry in the Clint Eastwood canon of stoic American films about ordinary decent citizens caught up in unfortunate situations. This one is an improvement on the rather under whelming Million Dollar Baby (2005) but doesn’t quite match the emotional nerve so subtly tapped by Mystic River (2003), finishing up somewhere between the two. Thanks though to the intriguing story and a surprisingly competent performance from Angelina Jolie, it never fails to hold the attention thoroughly, and whilst you always know what you’re going to get with an Eastwood film – solid, professional, absolutely no moral ambiguity or shades of grey – at least you also know you’re not going to be too disappointed.

14 Julia
Uneven but well intentioned Tilda Swinton drama about a shrieking alcoholic who kidnaps a young boy in a half-baked attempt to get some fast cash. Great first half, but tails off towards the end.

13 The Baader-Meinhof Complex
Lean, professional biopic of the terror group that dominated Germany in the 70s and 80s. Directed by Uli Edel (Christiane F [1981], Last Exit To Brooklin [1989]) with efficient, stripped down, muscular style.

12 Persepolis
Charming and educational animation seen through the eyes of a young girl who grew up during the Iranian revolution.

11 Brideshead Revisited
The unfairly maligned version of Evelyn Waugh’s novel about gentlemen at Oxford in the 1920s. Comparisons with the TV series are shortsighted and unnecessary – that was a once weekly serial, this is a two-hour film. Far from shredding the essence of the novel, this version condenses it but keeps its spirit, and the performances – especially Emma Thompson’s as the steely matriarch – are first class.

10 There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson’s return to form after the appalling misstep of Punch Drunk Love (2003). Whilst not as good a film as either Boogie Nights (1997) or Magnolia (1999), this is an epic in every sense of the word: sprawling, lengthy, endurance testing, single minded. As it turns out, these qualities are both its strengths and its weaknesses, but it’s still a gripping watch.

9 Juno
Cute comedy drama about teenage pregnancy which tells the story with warmth and positive spirit.

8 No Country For Old Men
Arguably the finest film of the esteemed Coen brothers’ career; a slick, cool, witty thriller about the tough as boots world of the sun bleached American outback. The first film I can remember seeing by the Coen’s that is neither derivative screwball comedy or post-noir homage, this is a profoundly serious drama in which the – for lack of a better word – oddity of Texas is laid bare.

7 My Blueberry Nights
An unexpectedly engrossing romantic drama. Wong Kar Wai (directing for the first time in English) gets a surprisingly tolerable performance from Jude Law in this sensitive story of a New York diner owner who bonds with a solitary female customer over slices of the eponymous blueberry pie – the pleasantly meandering story develops from there. The low-key surprise of the year.

6 Savage Grace
Grimy, heavy-duty drama about the dysfunctional Bakelite family and their journey towards self-destruction. Not for the faint hearted or squeamish.

5 Quantum of Solace
Daniel Craig’s second Bond effort exceeds his first, stripping away the fat and occasional TV movie feel of Casino Royale (2006) and leaving only the bleak, trenchant misery. The first Bond film I’ve seen where I was constantly on edge, featuring some genuinely horrible moments and a real sense of threat throughout.

4 Adulthood
Noel Clarke (who wrote Kidulthood [2006]) follows that up with this equally good sequel, which he also directs. Picking up the characters five years on, Clarke returns to the streets of Notting Hill for another mean, of-the-moment slice of young life.

3 I’m Not There
Todd Haynes returns to Velvet Goldmine (1998) territory with another loose biopic of a 20th century pop music legend. Featuring five different lead characters, each of whom represents one of the many images that Bob Dylan presented to the world at different points in his career, this is a brilliant, beautiful, poetic, moving and enthralling study of a special time and the special man at the centre of it, loaded with mischievous wit and astounding imagery.

2 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Proof that Romanian cinema can hold its own on the international map, this clear eyed, unsentimental drama pulls back the lid on the waning days of the Ceacescu era, focusing specifically on two women’s attempt to secure an illegal abortion in late 80s Bucharest.

1 Happy Go Lucky
Hugely entertaining, educational, inspiring and informative Mike Leigh drama about the need for more love and kindness in the world, and the small but significant details that make a fulfilling life.

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Glenn Watson January 6, 2009

Glenn Watson's Top Ten Films of 2008

Bond was back. So was the Bat. Both were disappointing. Depression was the name of the game in the heavyweights There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, both let down by their endings. It took a Greek island and some Swedish songs to send people back to the cinema in their millions. And the year also pivoted on children in peril – lightly, in Prince Caspian and much more seriously in Changeling and The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas. But fresh spins on familiar genres added some sheen to an otherwise lacklustre year at the cinema.

So here’s a personal selection of favourites from 2008:

10 Happy Go Lucky
Freewheeling schoolteacher Poppy is happy. But is her relentlessly optimistic take on life infectious, inspiring or irritating? In Mike Leigh’s upbeat comedy, the answer is all three. Virtually plotless, it’s people that count. Friendship, feelings and fun are crayoned in the boldest of colours. But Poppy’s driving instructor – the uptight Scott (Britain’s best kept secret, Eddie Marsan) – can’t cope with her effervescent ways. Happy-Go-Lucky isn’t froth. But nor is it the runaway feelgood film you might think. But Leigh’s penchant for getting to the heart of relationships is given a fresh and colour-fast spin.

9 Prince Caspian
Four years since the last one – 1300 in Narnia time – was it worth the wait? Dealing with darker matters than its predecessor, Caspian’s about growing up into an adult world of deception and responsibility. Happily, Shrek director Andrew Adamson injects a degree of humour to ensure there’s lightness amid the dark. Too strong and too slow for tinier audiences, it’s less cutely magical. Two epic battle scenes, thrillingly done, are bruisingly violent by PG standards. A blockbuster with brains, for all its badgers and mice, it’s still men and their menace that feature the most.

8 Mamma Mia
Mammia Mia confounded critics and packed multiplexes across the country. Making so much money, money, money it became the nation’s most-seen film. A blockbuster to its toes, it’s a dazzling movie with scintillating scenery, clever choreography and a knowing wit. A fabulous Meryl Streep curve-balls her career again and invests Abba with gravitas. Bjorn and Benny’s songs are as revved-up and fresh as ever. And the film uses its cinematic potential perfectly, being both ear- and eye-catching.

7 The Forbidden Kingdom
In 2008, everybody was kung fu fighting. Kung Fu Panda packed in the popcorn. Jet Li was (sadly) born again in The Mummy 3. Best, though, was The Forbidden Kingdom – a family-friendly martial arts movie and the first on-screen pairing of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. A bullied lad, who sucks at kung fu, is transported back to ancient China and helps a drunken warrior and a mysterious priest save the Monkey King from the Jade Warrior. Happily, the ho-hum plot plays second fiddle to ravishing photography, stunning kung fu choreography and to funny, self-deprecating humour. And Jackie and Jet? Those cats are as fast as lightning.

6 Juno
Teen sex flicks are ten-a-penny. But this tale of teenage pregnancy is quirky, funny and thoroughly grown-up. After a silly seduction of her nice-as-pie schoolmate, Juno decides to go through with the pregnancy and let a local childless couple adopt it. Cue all manner of feather-light insights into the grown-up world of complexity and consequences. Gifted with a sparkling script and a perfect, Oscar-winning performance from Ellen Page, Juno rightly out-grossed (in box office terms) what gross-out films can only dream of.

5 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
A near-perfect film, this is no cat-in-the-hat holiday movie - it’s a child’s eye Schindler’s List. Hypnotically filmed, and with performances of real power, director Mark Sherman’s adaptation of John Boyne’s novella is as shattering as Schindler without any of the violence. Young Bruno, the son of a concentration camp commander, innocently befriends Shmuel, an incarcerated Jewish boy beyond the fence. Sweet and tender, it’s an unsettling, ultimately devastating portrayal of innocence in the face of evil. Somehow, the inevitable ending is also a surprise.

4 Female Agents
Lost in translation – somewhere behind enemy lines – is French action thriller Female Agents. SOE resistance fighter, Sophie Marceau, recruits a misfit band of ballsy women for a special mission. Energetic action sequences, thrilling chases and nail-biting moments sit alongside moments of characterful longeur. A heady mix of sweat and perfume, it’s an excitingly old-fashioned adventure – a cinematic bouquet of blood and roses. It deserved a wider audience than its French language and fatuous title (from Femmes Des Ombres) allowed.

3 Dan in Real Life
A quietly engaging antidote to the current glut of teen comedies. Widower Dan (Steve Carell) falls for a woman (Juliette Binoche) only to meet her again at a family party - as his brother’s girlfriend. Unusually pitched, with fortysomething protagonists, it’s still a winning and winsome portrait of love for any age. Romance and responsibility, hopes and dreams, all come together in one neat film - a left-field lesson in movie making where a small-scale story can pack a deftly delivered emotional punch.

2 Changeling
Emotional, compelling and gorgeously shot, Changeling is a pearl of a film, grippingly paced by Clint Eastwood. Angelina Jolie confounds her critics with a credible portrayal of a mother campaigning to find her lost child. Weeks later, when the police claim to have found him, Christine says the boy’s not hers – and is incarcerated for mental instability. The truth will out – or will it? And at what cost? An exhausting yet satisfying journey, the emotional stakes just get higher and higher. With a cracking performance and outstandingly paced direction, Jolie and Eastwood make a perfect partnership.

1 Definitely, Maybe
The year’s best surprise, Definitely Maybe was sadly overlooked. Three rom-coms in one, it’s certainly value for money. A soon-to-be-divorced dad reluctantly spins a story to his daughter about the three loves in his life, leaving his daughter to guess which one became her mum. Whether that’s the woman he should have ended up with is another question. With a level of complexity missing from most romantic comedies, and spanning the nineties and noughties, it cleverly upends expectations. The ‘is-she, isn’t-she’ mystery is a cunning device – and the ending itself is unpredictable, unusually so for a romantic comedy. Light and fluffy it isn’t. A classy cast and a twisty script bring a fresh spin to the romcom genre.

– and here’s to 2009, kicked off by the superb Slumdog Millionaire.

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