I hate to say it, but 2008 has been a pretty droll year in search of great films. I can name four films--WALL-E, Pineapple Express, The Dark Knight, and In Bruges--that I believe were truly great. The rest that I've seen have been sincere but mediocre (The Wackness or Smart People), or just plain awful (The Happening or Drillbit Taylor). All that being said, there are still plenty of films being released in the remainder of the year that have me truly excited, but these ten are the ones that I'm looking forward to the most.
BURN AFTER READINGSept. 12
The Coen Brothers are kidding themselves if they think that they can match the industry success they had with their first Oscar darling No Country For Old Men. This film is a throwback to the glory days of zany comedies. Their dramas win them accolades, but it's those wonderful comedies (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski) that has made the Coens household names. Burn After Reading seems like prototype Coen Brothers, a group of inept peoples caught up in a truly dangerous situation that they'll never be able to understand. The film includes a wonderful cast that includes George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt, and they all look like they're having fun. I think the audience will be having tons of fun as well.
BLINDNESSSept. 26
Jose Saramago's Nobel Prize-winning novel about the world's destructive response to a blindness epidemic seems like a difficult translation to the screen. Few filmmakers are mentally tough enough to take on such a burden, but this film is in the hands of Federico Merielles, who has also handled complex novels in the two masterful films City of God and The Constant Gardener. Merielles knows how to take on these kinds of tales, and he knows how to make them into meaningful films, and with a cast equipped with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Danny Glover, I have complete trust that this film will do justice to Saramago's masterpiece, even if the early word from Cannes wasn't favorable.
HAPPY-GO-LUCKYOct. 10
Oh, that Mike Leigh and his little indie films. His unorthodox style--relying mostly on improv, and not even writing a script most of the time--has made him one of the most interesting filmmakers of the last two decades. Most of his films fall by the wayside, but he also was behind the much-lauded Secrets and Lies, the cult favorite Topsy-Turvy, and the surprise Oscar success Vera Drake. Of coarse, the adjective usually associated with Leigh is "natural", and with a glimpse of the trailer for Happy-Go-Lucky, his technique still seems intact. The plot involves Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a forever light-hearted young woman, whose constant cheerful demeanor frequently clashes with the depression of others. Hawkins won the Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival and is getting serious Oscar buzz. A must-see for me.
RACHEL GETTING MARRIEDOct. 17
I'm sure everyone is tired of the dysfunctional family dramedy, and even I have to say that this film looks like a carbon-copy of last year's Margot at the Wedding. But I must say I trust this film's director, the brilliant Jonathon Demme, more than I trust Margot's Noah Baumbach. And with a fiery lead performance from Anne Hathaway this film could sneak in and become the indie surprise of the year. The film co-stars Rosemary DeWitt, Deborah Winger, and Bill "Mr. Noodle" Irwin. Sure, this premise has been beaten to death ever since The Royal Tenenbaums perfected it in 2001, but there is a reason that this theme keeps on getting revisited, and that's because everyone knows the tortures and the virtues of family, and when done well in film, it could create wonders.
CHANGELINGOct. 24
I've never seen a 78-year-old who works as hard and as frequently and with as much skill as Clint Eastwood. His newest film, Changeling, was the biggest American darling at the Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Angelina Jolie as a mother who finds her missing son, only to suspect that the boy may not be who she thinks he is. The film takes place 20's or 30's (don't know for sure), but it strikes modern issues of espionage and strange intervention. Clint is red-hot if we're thinking in terms of Oscar attention (woah, Space Cowboys seems like such a long time ago), and this film seems to hold the same balance of intensity and romanticism that he's had during this "Golden Years" stretch of his career since 2003's Mystic River and up to 2007's Letters From Iwo Jima.
THE ROADNov. 28
Much like Blindness, The Road is an adaptation of a superb, heavily awarded novel from a seemingly unadaptable author. The author in this case, Cormac McCarthy, had already scared off spooked screenwriters when the Coen Brothers won an Oscar for adapting No Country For Old Men, so in a way, this is actually much different than the situation with Blindness. Still, this story of a strong-willed father trying to guide his introspective young son through the wasteland that is now the world may seem like a dull movie preposition if not done perfectly. The film is helmed by rookie John Hilcoat and has Viggo Mortenson as Father, and those seem like wise choices. Truth is, The Road may be the best book of the last ten years, and I find it extremely exciting to see how it holds up as a film.
MILKDec. 5
Gus Van Sant has talent as a filmmaker, proven by his Oscar nomination for the earnest Good Will Hunting and the Palme D'Or-winning Elephant. He's also shown the talent to make awful movies like the horribly misguided Gerry and the completely unnecessary, almost avant-garde remake of Psycho. But in 2008, Van Sant takes on the story of Harvey Milk, California's first openly gay elected official, and his subsequent murder by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White. Being a homosexual, some have sighted this picture as a personal project for Van Sant, though he has never been a major player in gay cinema. What the film does have is a cast that includes Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, Josh Brolin as Dan White, and also includes Emile Hirsch and James Franco as Milk's numerous lovers. So, whether or not it's personal, it has a swell chance of being very good.
DOUBTDec. 5
This is yet another film based on award winning literature. John Patrick Shanley's play both won the Pulitzer Prize and completely devastated the Tony competition, so where else to go but to the big screen. Shanley wrote the screenplay and has even directed the film using a cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams. The play involved a young nun in the 60's who suspects a priest is abusing a young, black student, and attacks many taboo themes throughout which usually gain a lot of attention around Oscar consideration time. All that being said, one of the hardest things to do is sufficiently adapt a very talky play to a truly entertaining movie, but Doubt seems like a good enough play to give it a shot.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTONDec. 19
David Fincher is truly one of the most talented young filmmakers right now, but his films usually mire in obscurity. Last year's Zodiac was lauded by critics, but forgotten. Fight Club is a cult classic amongst many angst-y high school boys. Even Se7en, his biggest hit, is usually watered down as a horror film, even though it's a truly horrifying suspense tale. So, it seems, Fincher refuses to take any kind of Hollywood approach, but instead delves even deeper into strangeness. Based on the mildly amusing short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bejamin Button is about a man who is born over a hundred years old and grows backwards, getting younger and younger. Brad Pitt stars as the title character at what might be the peak of his career (watch Assassination of Jesse James if you don't think so), and him and Fincher seem bound to make this film a magical journey.
REVOLUTIONARY ROADDec. 26
The last time Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio starred together in a film, it was the biggest box office hit of all time. Now, eleven years later, the two star as a troubled couple in a film helmed by Winslet's husband Sam Mendes. Based on the novel of Richard Yates, the two star as a couple struggling to stay faithful and struggling to keep their family together in the 1950's. There is something very baity about that plot, but with DiCaprio, Winslet, and Mendes all on board, it seems nearly impossible that this film will be less than superior work. Like I mentioned before, the dysfunctional family seems to be growing tired as a popular movie staple, but it is the responsibility of these three artists to make it work, and I feel confident in their ability.
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORKT.B.A.
I don't think I'm the only film nut who adores Charlie Kaufman. Every story he creates is beautiful, strange, and best of all, perfect in its imperfection. With Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman gets his first chance as a director with yet another tale of nervous love and neurotic personalities. The story involves a man attempting to build a life-size stage of New York in a warehouse for his new play, while also trying to juggle the numerous women in his life. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman in the lead role, and stars Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Weist, and Hope Davis as the women. If we're going based on names, this film should be a knockout. The release is still a mystery, though the Weinsteins promise it'll be before the end of 2008. I don't know how much longer I can wait.
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