meteordust | Movies of 2008

Better late than never, right?

In 2008, I saw 16 movies at the cinema, up from 6 the previous year.

The highlights

Juno - Charming, funny, and heartwarming, with nuanced performances from all the cast. And the soundtrack is fantastic - I ran out and bought it the very next day.

Iron Man - Witty and fun. And yeah, Robert Downey Jr *owns* this movie.

Sukiyaki Western Django - An awesome fusion of spaghetti western and samurai epic, this movie is jawdroppingly cool, highly melodramatic, and frequently hilarious. If you like these things and can take liberal bloodshed, you *must* see this movie.

Appleseed Ex Machina - It has even more glorious animation than its predecessor. But more than that, it actually has characters that are likeable, complex, and have interesting arcs. And yay for not taking the expected route with regard to resolving the love triangle.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Gorgeous, nostalgic, and heartbreaking. The story of a high school girl who discovers how to travel into her own past. Hijinks ensue - as well as bittersweet lessons learned.

The Dark Knight - This movie should have been called "The Joker (also featuring some guy called Batman)". Heath Ledger fully deserved his Oscar - his performance is absolutely mesmerising.

Wall-E - It's Pixar. What more need I say? Except that stories about robots always seem to touch so deeply on our humanity. And the stunning detail of the animation makes you forget you're watching animation.

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone - New Eva! And it is awesome.

The disappointments

The Golden Compass - I don't know if it's fair to record this as a disappointment, considering my expectations were low going in and I wasn't actually disappointed. But I wasn't thrilled either. Just like the Narnia movie, it went through the motions, but it never made me feel. Oh, but the armoured polar bears were cool.

Vantage Point - I think this movie wanted to be Rashomon, but managed to completely miss the point. The first fifteen minutes are brilliant, but you can stop watching after that, because it never gets as good again.

The Happening - A great thriller let down by the deus ex machina in the last ten minutes.

The rest of the crop

I Am Legend - A haunting and beautiful portrayal of the life of the last man left on Earth, fighting to survive in a city where the monsters come out after dark.

Be Kind Rewind - A gentle, whimsical comedy about two video store clerks who have to remake movies themselves when all their tapes are accidentally wiped. Their homemade efforts are wonderful to watch. Jack Black is Jack Black, which means slightly irritating but tolerable.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - A fun romp as long as you suspend your disbelief at the door. (The fridge scene? Come *on*.)

Vexille - An intriguing story and stunning animation, but this movie suffers in comparison to Appleseed, whose warmth it lacks.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - A gorgeous and absorbing depiction of one man's very unusual life. Although by the end of it I was wishing his life had been 90 minutes long instead of 150 minutes.