TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2008

Ok, I realize this list is coming about a month and a half (or more) too late for anyone to really care. Even with the extra time I still didn't get to every movie on my to-see list. This may not be among my strongest top 10 lists, but those top four can hold up to any other year. Let's get to it.

1. The Dark Knight
The Academy may have dropped the ball, but The Dark Knight is still the movie of 2008. Sure, Heath Ledger's Joker is already one of the greatest movie villains of all time, and yes, Christopher Nolan managed to make perhaps the most politically resonant movie of the year using comic book characters. But the real reason The Dark Knight is my #1 is because when you rewatch it, and see how all the instantly iconic scenes build and build for two and a half hours, it's clear what the movie is: a classic.

2. Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog may just be the straight-up most enjoyable movie of the year. Blending Dickensian storytelling, Bollywood dancing, and just the tiniest dash of neorealism, it ends up transcending all labels. All those torture and eye-removal scenes just make the fairy tale ending all the more satisfying.

3. Wall-E
The other brilliant blockbuster of 2008, Wall-E somehow managed to be a biting critique of civilization while simultaneously showing hope for humanity...and did so with robots in love. With only a few well-placed "Waaaall Eee"s and "Eeeeeeevaaaas" for dialogue, Wall-E and Eve were the most touching couple of the year. Pixar has animated many things - fish, cars, toys - but it was the low-vocabulary robots that really came alive.

4. Milk
How often does a movie make you want to go out and take action at exactly the right moment in history to do so? The passing of Proposition 8 may have given a somewhat tragic air to Milk, showing how little has changed in the past 30 years. But there's just so much hope, and belief in the power of the political process, that you know Harvey Milk's story isn't over yet.

5. The Wrestler
For me, The Wrestler is at its most powerful in that final scene. We've gotten to know Randy so well and seen so much of his life in the past two hours, that we know exactly what that final Ram Slam means to him, heading into that heartbreaking Springsteen title song. A look at the fakery of pro wrestling and a career-best Marisa Tomei add to the movie's greatness, but it's Mickey Rourke's incredible performance that anchors it.

6. Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road may be the anti-Titanic, bitterly showing the dissolution of love instead of its beginning, but what better way to take advantage of the chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet? Forget Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt, this was the powerhouse acting battle to watch in 2008. With beautiful production values and a scene-stealing turn by Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road shows how to turn an unadaptable literary novel into a great film.

7. Synecdoche, New York
This movie is so deeply flawed that I can't wholly stand behind it. The second half doesn't even make any sense. But the parts that do work are just so brilliant that it's impossible to ignore. Whether a surrealist comedy, a serious meditation on life and death, or a brainteasing puzzle, Synecdoche, NY was easily the most original movie of the year. And confusion goes down a whole lot easier with such a talented ensemble cast.

8. Rachel Getting Married
It's not just the handheld camera that makes you feel like you really attended this wedding. As dysfunctional as it may be, the family feels more believable than in any Hollywood wedding movie I've seen. Black sheep Kym could easily shatter that authenticity, but Anne Hathaway plays her so genuinely that you believe every drug-addled story about her you hear. Playing against type never felt so good.

9. Frost/Nixon
The better of the two theatrical adaptations, Frost/Nixon wins by taking advantage of the screen. The "how he did it" before the interview is engaging enough, but it's the key moment when Nixon falters that makes the movie. Like all good history tales, it works past and present: Frank Langella will make you completely rethink Nixon while letting you imagine what it would be like if someone nailed Bush the same way.

10. Burn After Reading
The Coen Brothers love to play with old Hollywood genres, replacing Bogart with The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Well, here the concept was "what if we took a spy movie and made the McGuffin worthless?" Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and the rest of the top notch cast take that concept and run with it, making for one of the Coens' funniest movies. CIA Chief JK Simmons' line pretty much sums it up, "Report back to me when it...you know...makes sense." That wouldn't be nearly as fun.

Best Picture: The Dark Knight
Runners-Up: Slumdog Millionaire, Wall-E, Milk

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Runners-Up: Sean Penn, Milk; Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road

Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Runner-Up: Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Runners-Up: Emile Hirsch, Milk; Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Runners-Up: Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, NY; Viola Davis, Doubt

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Runners-Up: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight; Gus Van Sant, Milk

Best Original Screenplay: Rachel Getting Married
Runners-Up: Milk, Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Runners-Up: The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon

Best Animated Film: Wall-E

Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Runners-Up: The Dark Knight, Milk

Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Runners-Up: The Dark Knight, Wall-E

Best Original Song: "The Wrestler," The Wrestler
Runners-Up: "Down to Earth," Wall-E; "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire

Movie Review: The Wrestler

Grade: A



If you love the '80s like I do, then you'll agree The Wrestler has one of the best opening credit sequences this year. As the camera pans across newspaper articles, ticket stubs, and programs documenting the career of popular pro wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), the '80s are in full force. The background is colorful, the credits font is comic book cheesy, and the music is such roaring '80s rock ("Bang Your Head" by Quiet Riot) that you can't help but shake your head with it. But after a "twenty years later" placard, it's all gone. The first real shot, in grainy, handheld digital, shows an old, beat-up looking Randy, slumped down on a locker room bench after a match. It's a pretty startling way to show those twenty years did not serve him well.

Randy is, in many ways, the ultimate has-been. He attends "fan fests" to sign '80s relics, give out old action figures, and take pictures with the few fans that still know his name. He invites kids from his New Jersey trailer park over to play an old NES game of his most famous Madison Square Garden match. He's traded MSG for high school gyms, destroying himself for often thin crowds. But as little as he may have, he still loves it. He clings to every fan that praises him and lives off of the roar of the crowd as they chant for him to do his signature move, the "Ram Slam." On top of all that, he's a genuinely nice guy. He's gracious to all of his fans, compliments the younger wrestlers he works with, and is polite to everyone around him.

But if he seems comfortable enough in his has-been lifestyle, that all ends when he's forced into retirement by a heart attack. Suddenly, this "one trick pony" (per Bruce Springsteen's moving credits song) has to figure out life without wrestling. He tries through two women. The first is Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), an aging stripper who wants to make a fresh start. She provides his only real human connection and his best shot at a real life. Usually the part of Cassidy would be a male wish fulfillment role who in real life would have no interest in Randy. But Tomei's terrific performance somehow makes her still feel real. The second is Randy's long-estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), who he left back in his wrestling days. But even at its best, the real world can't compare to the allure of the ring.

The movie rests on the character of Randy, and Mickey Rourke does a quietly phenomenal job. As loud and flashy as the sport of wrestling may be, Rourke's performance is so subtle and sympathetic that you can't help but feel for him. In showing Randy's everyday activities, Rourke's performance seems incredibly natural. Rourke makes getting inside the head of someone who risks his life for others' entertainment seem effortless. And he can break your heart with just a few sad smiles. Of course, it helps that a lot of the details of Randy's life describe Rourke's as well. Rourke was also successful in the '80s then disappeared for twenty years, letting drugs and bad behavior ruin his life. Rather than distract, the real life history makes Randy's story hit twice as hard.

The Wrestler marks somewhat of a comeback for director Darren Aronofsky as well, who returns to the scaled-back production style of his first feature, Pi, after the big budget flop, The Fountain. This "student film" style shooting is used a lot in independent film, but here the style really compliments the story. Not only does it allow for the effect of that first post-credits shot, but it fits the working class New Jersey neighborhoods the film shows. Aronofsky also leaves behind the auteury flourishes that characterized previous film Requiem for a Dream for a much more simple, straightforward approach. But if the directing is simple, it is also unyielding. When there's violence, you can count on Aronofsky to cut to a close-up of the wound. He lingers on Randy's face and body, letting the images and acting show what has happened to him.

The script, by Robert Siegel, is filled with great characters and dialogue, but it comes dangerously close to sentimentality. The father-daughter scenes in particular could fall into schmaltz in the hands of a lesser director. Aronofsky's low-key style keeps these scenes feeling real, so that the emotion always rings true. It also helps that the movie shines a light on a world rarely captured in film, that of working class New Jersey. From the supermarkets to the strip malls to the strip clubs, it's an area that, like Randy, has seen better times. New Jersey usually only comes up as a punching bag for New Yorkers, but here it is treated respectfully. And the '80s nostalgia lives on well beyond those opening credits, with '80s music playing in every bar.

The realistic style stands in contrast to the fakery of wrestling. Wrestling is a very different sport than boxing, so the movie constantly reminds you this is not Rocky or Raging Bull. Instead, every match is preceded by the wrestlers discussing step-by-step how the fight will go. This puts a nice spin on the sports genre, as the winner of the match is never in question. Every match has to end with Randy doing a "Ram Slam" for the win. But if the competition is fake, the pain is still very real. In one scene, Randy uses a razor blade to slice his forehead to give the audience more blood. In a particularly brutal battle, a staple gun is used to alarming effect. These scenes are often hard to watch, but it is violence with a purpose. I myself can't understand the appeal of wrestling, but the movie makes it clear Randy does it to make others happy. His pain gets him in the spotlight and lets him do what he does best. And if that pain causes this "one trick pony" to lose some blood, at least he gets to feel the glory.