Best of 2008

Doubt
I can't overstate how much I appreciated this film taken from the play by John Patrick Shanley, which rather than exploiting an issue so prominent in the public consciousness for social ends, forges a mighty spiritual and ethical parable. Much has been said of Philip Seymour Hoffman of late, but of course this is Meryl Streep's movie, which she commands with as much authority as Sister Aloysius does the Saint Nicholas school. The range of her shrieks, scowls and glances is well complimented by Hoffman's meek modulations of tone and expression. You must see this film.

Man on Wire
This little-known documentery is a beautiful film about a great acrobat and unsavory human being, Phillipe Petit, who in 1974 with a group of friends perpetrated a coup of guerrilla performance art by walking without a safety net on a high-wire strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. At turns sentimental, funny and thrilling, this documentary manages to entertain as few do.

Gran Torino
I will not say this is a great film, but it is a good one with an uplifting message. As you all know, Clint Eastwood directs himself in this tale of a retired widower confronting the realities of family relationships, immigrant neighbors and gang activity. With middle-of-the-road acting and directing where this movie dares is in dealing with what so few seem to treat honestly and convincingly: relationships.

WALL-E
Who could have guessed that one of the most poetic and telling meditations on the meaning of humanity in the midst of technology in recent years would be a kids movie? (If you have more adult fare in mind, you might be disappointed.)

Encounters at the End of the World
This even lesser-known documentary was the work of director Werner Herzog. Must I say more? Herzog is enthralled by Antarctica. Herzog goes to Antarctica. Herzog interviews and films assorted scientists and grifters in Antarctica. Herzog goes home. In addition to stunning footage and hilarious interviews, Herzog makes excellent use of the gorgeous soundtrack. A bagatelle of a film and an experience, it was dedicated to notable amorphous blob Roger Ebert.

Not of 2008 but in it simply because I first saw these for the first time this year:

Fitzcarraldo
This film is Werner Herzog's lyrical musing on the adventures of a man with impossible dreams. Famously featuring a riverboat dragged over a mountain, this film simultaneously enchants and alienates not only through the half-madness of its hero, but in its own execution. Klaus Kinski as the hero captures an innocence unseen in some of his other work

Le Hussard sur le Toit (The Horseman on the Roof)
Costume drama? Adventure movie? Set in 1832 and complete with Austrian spies, cholera and revolutionaries, this film manages to capture the flavor of July Monarchy France in its use of symbolism, portrayal of social customs and denial of romantic consummation to the lovely couple: a radiant Juliette Binoche and a frantic Olivier Martinez. A very fine film.