Best Movies of 2008

The Year's Top 10 Best

1. There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson's epic tale about an obsessive oil tycoon who is willing to exploit everything, including his own adopted child, all for the single purpose of oil wealth, made the biggest impression on me.
The movie's subject matter is inherently dark; all the dark side of humanity is deeply casted here: greed, corruption, and above all, hatred.
Daniel Day-Lewis gave a tour-de-force perfomance as Daniel Plainview, the obsessive tycoon who, in his own words, 'hate all men'. When he speaks, his voice sounds greasy with oil. Day-Lewis's character carried much of the dark theme of the movie, but what I found even more disturbing is the hypocrite priest Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). Nothing is more hideous than a hypocrite wearing a religious mask. Seeing that, we somehow emphatise with Plainview's hatred towards men.
The movie plays like a nightmarish tale of the American dream. As in Scorsese's 'The Aviator', the unrelenting obsession eventually spiralled down to madness. Some viewers may hate the ending, it is pure madness. It is however, oddly appropriate given its subject matter.

2. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
A sharp, edgy crime thriller, skillfully helmed by the great Sidney Lumet, who now in his 80's is still crafting great movies.
It tells the story of 2 brothers who's plotting a crime against their own parents. Unspeakable crime it may be, Lumet told it with such skills that the crime seems relatively innocent enough to the 2 brothers at the beginning. The execution by the brothers went terribly wrong, Thereafter the brothers tried to salvage the damage done, however each decision and action take them deeper and deeper into crisis, it eventually all end up in a family tragedy.
The film is intensely acted by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke who played the brothers, and Albert Finney as the father whoose hurt is unberable. It is the kind of movie which strongly reminds the viewers that crime never pays, and it does so in a classy, subtle way without the single hint of being preachy.

3. The Dark Knight
With this film, Christopher Nolan has defies the normal scope of the superhero genre to a whole new level never seen before. Superhero movies is no longer confined to the boundary of light popcorn blockbuster made for teenagers. 'The Dark Knight' changed that. It is an epic crime drama with a villain so relentless that the whole Gotham City is surrounded in gloom.
It is rare for a superhero movie to incorporate thought-provoking philosophical subtance amidst the action-packed adventure. 'The Dark Knight' did just that. It put Bruce Wayne into moral dillema so deep, that we sympathesized with him. It posed hard question on what really defines a hero, the way Zhang Yimou's martial art masterpiece 'Hero' (英雄) does.
Within the superhero genre, perhaps only 'V for Vendetta' came to that level of sophistication before. 'The Dark Knight' has more to it, the technical production is top notch, and the late Heath Ledger as Joker, what an awesome performance.

4. Eastern Promises
David Cronenberg's gangster drama is not made on an epic scale, the way Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather Trilogy and Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in America' were. It clocks at only 96 minutes, and by that I don't mean it as a criticism.
The story is told through an event encountered by Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife who decides to protect the surviving infants whose mother died in delivery. The dead mother's diary lead Anna to a mysterious Russian mafia family in London.
Unlike the other epic gangster drama who tells the life story of mob families, Cronenberg's work plays more like a thriller. It has a central mystery, which is gradually unravelled with grace. Viggo Mortensen shines with one of the notable performance of the year, so engrossed is he into the character that for a moment, you wonder whether he is a Russian in real life.

5. The Happening
I am in the minority in praising this film. Many hate this film for its lack of 'explanation' for the strange events that took place. I don't see it as a problem. To me, its intention as a wake-up call to human kind is all the more effective by this deliberately ambiguous arrangement. If it is supplied with a logical explanation as most conventional mainstream movies do, viewers will have 'solution' in their mind, and the effects will thus be subdued. As human, We fear about an unexplained event that arrives when we least expect it to happen, and things are at its most distressing when there are uncertainties abound. Shyamalan knows that and he exploited that with good effect.
The great Alfed Hitchock too used the same style in 'The Birds', in his version of nature gone berserk tale. Shyamalan is obviously paying homage to Hitchock's 'The Birds' here, and he did so with his trademark quiet, spooky tone. He demonstrated again he's a master in evoking fear out of the simplest set-up. Consider the scene where a woman is speaking to a child over the phone, out of sudden, the child was murmuring words that doesn't make sense, 'I see calculus....I see calculus...'
Most natural phenomenal is still unexplained. The extreme, unpredictable weather condition we are experiencing now, is it really due to the so-called global warming? Are we entirely sure? What we had is a bunch of scientist giving out their theories as explanation, just as the way Shyamalan's 'The Happening' ends.

6. Rendition
What do you do if you are forced to do something that is aginst what you preached for? You outsource it. This is the subject matter of 'Rendition'.
In the movie, the American, who prides themselves as the gurdian of human rights, found themselves in the situation where they need to use torture in interrogating terrorist suspect. But doing that is aginst their principle, so to speak. Hence, the solution will be to 'outsource' the interrogation to another country.
Anwar El-Ibrahimi is an egyptian born American who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Suspected as a terrorist, he was transported to an annonymous country where horrible torture was used against him in order to extract information out of him.
This policy, known as the 'extraordinary rendition' in the US, is gien a intellectual treatment here in the film. Resisting the temptation of making a one-sided political statement, the filmmaker make us think through the 2 sides of this policy, and through the ordeal went through by Anwar and his helpless wife, we were distressed watching it.

7. Atonement
Adapted from a Ian McEwan's novel, director Joe Wright infused the film with a strong sense of literature. So strong that even the movie's oscar-winning score was insipred by the mechanical sound of a type writer.
It is a story about a life-long guilt and the struggle to redeem it.
The film is divided into 3 parts: pre-war (or rather the interval between the first and second world war), war time, and post-war. The first thrid is the crowning moment of the film; Briony (the excellent Saoirse Ronan), who was 13, in her childhood naïveté, wrongly accused Robbie (James McAvoy) and condenm him to jail. Briony's sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley), who was Robbie's lover, was heart-broken, and left the family. It's a family tragedy, and it is delicately executed by the filmmakers. Good Stuff.
Alas, the film grinds to a halt in the second thrid. The war-time poetry here feels detached from the excellent first thrid, loosing critical coherence and focus. Even the much talked-about five-minute tracking shot of the beach of Dunkrik came about as merely a great technical achievement that however, does not blend well into the movie.
The film regained focus in the final thrid. What a pity, it would have been a masterpiece if not for the lame second thrid. Still, for the sheer class of the first thrid, 'Atonement' is too significant to be missed.

8. Iron Man
The year 2008 saw 2 superhero films made it to my top 10 list, a rare phenomena indeed. One is the increadible 'The Dark Knight'. The other is the exhilaratingly fun 'Iron Man'.
Unlike 'The Dark Knight' which had leapt beyond the normal scope of the superhero genre, 'Iron Man' works very much within the conventional formula of the genre. No, it doesn't have deep, philosophical substance and social commentary. It is a simple tale of one-dimensional good guys and bad guys.
Nevertheless, the film works tremendously well, mainly due to the likable central characters. Downey played the hero Tony Stark with such charm and humour that we can't help liking him. when he escaped from his kidnappers, upon arriving in America, he said to his assistant, 'Two Things, a press conference, and...cheeseburger'. He then adds on, 'Cheesebruger first'. Seeing this, we can't help but screaming, 'This guy is cool!!!'
Gwyneth Paltrow played his loyal assistant and made us care as much about her as to Tony Stark.
From time to time, a movie came and reminds us that a movie doesn't have to be complex, deep and unconventional in order to be good. 'Iron Man' is one of such film.

9. Ip Man (叶问)
He is a charismatic, revered wing-chun master, a reluctant hero. Yet, he is soft-spoken, modest, and he shuns the limelight. He is not interested in fame, nor is he after political power. He'll rather satisfy his child-like passion for martial art in closed door. When he has to fight, he does so in a fearsome manner. And above all, he respects his wife.
Over the years, HK martial art genre has presented to us a host of Kung Fu master characters. It is not often that we are given someone who's this likable as Donnie Yuen's Ip Man.
Like 'Iron Man', this is the kind of movie with a template-based story, unashamedly formulaic, yet it works mainly due to its highly likable central character. Originality isn't its strength, one can easily grasp the shadow of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (精武门), Jet Li's Fearless' (霍元甲) here. Characterization is one-dimensional with the stereotyped devil-like Japanese army. Despite all these 'flaws', the movie is hell of a ride. We like Donnie Yuen's character so much that we go along with him, gasping when he's in danger, rejoicing when he triumps, and the action chereography is top notch.
Another prime example of a critical success factor for goodcommercial movie: carfting likable, convincing central characters whom the viewers care for

10. American Gangster
Many called it the 'The black Godfather', or 'The black Scarface', Ridlet Scott's 'American Gangster' delves into Fank Lucas (Denzel Washington)'s career with keen interest in the mechanics of the working of Lucas's empire. It is loaded with the kind of materials a MBA business class covers: sourcing materials from a low cost supplier, striking a exclusive deal with the supplier, building a brand, and, no kidding, even corporate social responsibility (CSR) by handing out turkeys on thanksgiving.
It's a admirable production as a whole. However, the temptation for me to compare it to David Cronenberg's 'Eastern Promises', another excellent gangster drama is inevitable. The 2 films can't be more different, although they both revolves around gangster, mafia and mob.For that matter, I like Cronenberg's film better. Its thriller approach came across as more refreshing, its leisurely pace lends a certain poignancy amidst the dark mystery looming around the corner.
'American Gangster' fast pacing came across as a little too fast for my liking. It has the feel of a typical holywood serious drama that comes out during the year end, ahead of oscar season. The kind of movies with a complex story, substansial ground to cover, and yet somehow trying to keep the running time under 160 minutes (for commercial reason?)
Somehow, I feel that materials like 'American Gangster' would have been told better with a running time of say, 3 hours and above.


Special Jury Prize
(Not quite there in the Top 10 but too good to be omitted)

1. Tropic Thunder
A sharp, intelligent satire disguised as a dumb, slapstick comedy. Ben Stiller's 'Tropic Thunder' takes a troop of Holywood actors into a dense trpical jungle to shoot a Vietnam war movie, the likes of the great 'Apocalypse Now'.
Along the way, Stiller takes a dark swipe at Holywwod. All things Holywood: actors obssesed with winning award, greedy film studio chief, egoistic celebrities, award-winning actors who 'lose' themselves in roles, over-the-hill action star wanting to prove that he can act by tackling serious roles, drug, gay celebrities......you name it, you get it here.
The blending of the smart substance with the dumb surface isn't exactly seamless. Nevertheless, Stiller third directorial effort has come a long way.

2. Cape No.7 (海角七号)
'Cape No.7' came with the reputation of a box office record breaker in Taiwan. Having watched that, it is a box office miracle to me, as the movie is not at all commercial. it is a coming-of-age movie given an art treatment.
The movie will be particularly endearing to the Taiwanese, for its strong sense of place and local culture. The tempo of the movie is slow and leisurely, one has to be patient watching it, but the patience will be well rewarded as the movie strolls through the bittersweet story of a group of ordinary Henngchun residents forming a warm-up band for an up-coming beach concert.Along the way the director refrain from any attempt in over-dramatising the story, no dramatic twist and turn, no weeping moment, just a down-to-earth story told with honesty and sincerity.The movie ends on a touching climatic mood. Strangely enough, it is not climatic in the mainstream Holywood way, it is climatic in a......musical way.
A special mention must be made of the influence of the supporting characters to this movie. As a unit, their role is much more than just 'supporting'. They are colourfully painted, from a young 10-year-old keyboardist right down to a charming 80-year-old who still holds the ambition of going on stage, each of them reflects on the ordinary people in real life who's just, well, ordinary, neither too beautiful nor too ugly, and far from being famous.
The movie is not without its flaws. I don't think the melodrama-ly worded literature element integrates well with the movie (See 'Atonement' for how it should be done). As far as coming-of-age movies go, there have been many exceptional works: Cameron Crowe's 'Almost Famous', Gurinder Chadha's 'Bend It Like Beckam', and Nkiki Caro's 'Whale Rider'. 'Cape No 7' probably can't be categorised as among the best, but it is a notable entry for its sincerity.


The Year's Worst

1. 10,000 B.C.
The whole movie is a mess. It has a haphazard sense of time and place. In one moment, you are in vikings land. In another, you are in sci-fi era middle east. What??? It is as if the filmmakers using the lamest of excuse to parade a diverse cross-genre spectacles to the viewers, so as to show off the cash that they have splashed on the production. Oh please......
They got the tone wrong all over the movie. A supposedly romantic scene between the hero and heroine is so...corny that I have to hold myself from chuckling out loud in the cinema. Ooppss...excsue me.
I am finding it hard to write on further, I must confess that I don't remember much about the movie anymore. Yes, it is that forgettable.

2. Esacpe From Huang Shi
The kind of movie with a noble subject matter, casting the likes of Chow Yun-Fat and Datuk Michelle Yeoh, a very promising prospect, no? The result is however, just a plain...boring movie.
What it lacks is a theme. Perhaps it could have put some focus on the political side of things on the Nanking Massacre. Or perhaps they could have explore the inner struggle of the main characters. Now, that would have been interesting.
The movie, however, sidestepped all that and just moves along the event religously. It's like reading a history textbook, really.

3. Kinta
The first Malaysian Chinese-language mainstream film is a production went haywire. According to the director's interview, what started off as a noble intention of telling the life story of the Chinese immigrants to Malaya in the early days, is however forced into aspectacular u-turn of chopping, re-editing into a 90 minute no-brainer martial art film, due to 'commercial' reason.
The result is a movie that is neither here not there. It is way too thin as a serious drama, it is also not there as a no-brainer martial art film, due to its lingering art element, such as the non-linear narative structure that does not fit in a material this thin.
A no-brainer martial art film can be good, as 'Ip Man' shows. Let's hope that director CL Ho moves on and make a better movie in his next project. Malaysian Boleh!