My Films of 2008

Well what I mean is the ones I saw at the cinema last year. It's a bit late but here they are in reverse order:

8) Vantage Point- absolutely shocking. It allegedly looks at a terrorist bombing from different characters perspectives, though merely uses their stories to advance the plot than really engage with their point of view. For a film that does this properly watch Kurosawa's Rashomon.

7) Gomorrah- Unjustifiably praised. There really isn't a story per say and more like a docudrama. That said it is the most realistic film I've seen, for example the only incidental music is the music played by the characters in the scene, especially for the portrayal of a criminal family. Warning- the first five minutes is the most homoerotic I've ever seen.

6) Inkspleen (sorry, heart)- Like Gomorrah was Mark Kermode's Film of the week. A story about a book of the same title. The protagonist can read people in and out of actual stories. Due to this I expected jumping between the real world and lots of fictional worlds but they only read people from stories into the real world. Uninspiring and lame existential under current.

5) No Country For Old Men- possibly the most over rated film I've seen since Raging Bull. How it won the Best Film Oscar I'll never no. The main body of the plot revolves around one bloke trying to kill another for no particular reason. Flirts with ideas of free will and determinism but not in great depth. Javier Bardem is great though, as the personification of death.

4) The Dark Knight- not as good as Begins. I wrote a huge review of this- see here.

3) Iron Man- surprisingly good. Robert Downey Jr is great as the charismatic playboy billionaire. Good characterisation with an entertaining story. A nice little critique of American foreign policy to boot too.

2) Hellboy 2- better than Pan's Labyrinth. The story is generic and telegraphed a mile off. Yet the characters are brilliant, better than most films I've seen, and the visuals are so inventive; it also very funny too. What also marks it out is the strong thematic element of the film- through death comes life in a paganised Christianity way. Hence it actually meant something.

1) There Will Be Blood- absolutely fantastic. It went straight into my all time Top Ten films. A profound portrayal of an obsessed man dealing with themes of religion and greed. Daniel Day-Lewis rightly got the Best Actor Oscar but don't forget Paul Dano as the charasmatic Church leader. Some fantastic direction and cinemtography. The scene way the oil rig blows up is one of the beautiful I've seen.