THE BEST OF: 2008

Monica Temmuz 31, 2021

THE 3 BEST FILMS

Slumdog Millionaire

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Genre: Drama; Romance; Action;

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, MadhuR Mittal and Anil Kapoor

"The tough look at poverty and crime at all levels of society shoves the occasional coincidences and questionable plot developments firmly to the side, and the rush Boyle manifestly got from shooting such an intense story on these locations is fully felt in the film. The logistic considerations alone must have been mind-boggling, as a majority of scenes include what seem like hundreds of bystanders. Lenser Anthony Dod Mantle’s camera is often on the prowl or the run, and it sometimes dashes through jammed streets and shantytown alleys at the speed of the sprinting kids themselves. Images are stunning sans arty posturing, and Chris Dickens’ editing is breathless without being exhausting. (...) As drama and as a look at a country increasingly entering the world spotlight, “Slumdog Millionaire” is a vital piece of work by an outsider who’s clearly connected with the place. Musical elements provide a major kick, as does a rousing and unexpected end-credits dance number at a train station."

by Todd McCarthy in Variety

"The film uses dazzling cinematography, breathless editing, driving music and headlong momentum to explode with narrative force, stirring in a romance at the same time. For Danny Boyle, it is a personal triumph. He combines the suspense of a game show with the vision and energy of "City of God" and never stops sprinting. When I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" at Toronto, I was witnessing a phenomenon: dramatic proof that a movie is about how it tells itself. I walked out of the theater and flatly predicted it would win the Audience Award. Seven days later, it did. And that it could land a best picture Oscar nomination. We will see. It is one of those miraculous entertainments that achieves its immediate goals and keeps climbing toward a higher summit."

by Roger Ebert in Chicago Sun-Times

The Dark Knight

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Genre: Drama; Action; Crime;

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman

"Our comic-book-movie culture is 30 years old (it kicked off in 1978, with the Christopher Reeve Superman), and in those three decades of speed and light and destruction, of well-coiffed demigods in bodysuits zipping through the air and shimmying up walls, comic-book films have yielded more than their share of spectacle and thrills yet virtually nothing in the way of mystery. But in The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's ominously labyrinthine and exciting sequel to Batman Begins, good and evil aren't just separate forces — at times, they're a whisper away from each other — and the movie exudes a predatory glamour that makes the comic-book films that have come before it look all the more like kid stuff. The Dark Knight is jammed with thorny underworld conspiracies, obscenely oversize tank-cars, and action scenes that teeter madly out of control, all blanketed by the psycho-anarchic musings of a villain so warped he turns crime into a contest of Can you top this? At two hours and 32 minutes, this is almost too much movie, but it has a malicious, careening zest all its own. It's a ride for the gut and the brain."

by Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly

"The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's second chapter in his revival of the DC Comics franchise, will hit theaters with all the hoopla and fanboy avidity of the summer season's earlier movies based on comic books. It's the fifth, and three of the first four (Iron Man, Wanted and Hellboy II) have been terrific or just short of it. (The Incredible Hulk: not so hot.) It's been one of the best summers in memory for flat-out blockbuster entertainment, and in the wow category, the Nolan film doesn't disappoint. True to format, it has a crusading hero, a sneering villain in Heath Ledger's Joker, spectacular chases — including one with Batman on a stripped-down Batmobile that becomes a motorcycle with monster-truck wheels — and lots of stuff blowing up. Even the tie-in action figures with Reese's Pieces suggest this is a fast-food movie. But Nolan has a more subversive agenda. He wants viewers to stick their hands down the rat hole of evil and see if they get bitten. With little humor to break the tension, The Dark Knight is beyond dark. It's as black — and teeming and toxic — as the mind of the Joker. Batman Begins, the 2005 film that launched Nolan's series, was a mere five-finger exercise. This is the full symphony."

by Richard Corliss in TIME Magazine

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Directed by: Woody Allen

Genre: Comedy; Drama;

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz

"When great artists maintain their health and energy into their 70s, amazing things can happen - and they're happening with Woody Allen. His new film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," could not have been made by a young person. Though the characters are young and the film teems with directorial energy and innovation, the film's freedom and control, its inspiration and focus, announce it as the work of a confident and mature artist. With movies, creativity tends to come in waves. Preston Sturges had one perfect wave, and we still know his name 60 years later. Truffaut had two and might have had more had he lived. The lucky ones - Bergman, Hitchcock - do get more, and Woody Allen is in the midst of his fourth. His first wave began his film career. His second began with "Annie Hall," his third with "Hannah and Her Sisters" and his fourth with "Match Point." The latest wave is characterized by an economy of storytelling, confident digressions and a relaxed use of all the narrative devices at his disposal. The screenplays have a flow, as though they were written for pleasure in one draft and just happened to come out perfect."

by Mick LaSalle in San Francisco Chronicle

"Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” has a natural, flowing vitality to it, a sun-drenched splendor that never falters. (...) Allen can be literal-minded about his thematic polarities, but, in this movie, he has put actors with first-class temperament on the screen, and his writing is both crisp and ambivalent: he works everything out with a stringent thoroughness that still allows room for surprise. And, through all the twists and turns, the ochre beauty of Barcelona (as photographed by Javier Aguirresarobe) plays a major role. The characters make maybe one or two more touristic stops than is necessary, but it’s a minor flaw. You can feel Allen’s excitement in the sensual atmosphere. Spain! A seventy-two-year-old man has warmed his bones."

by David Denby in New Yorker

BEST ACTING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight