Heffie's Top Ten... er, I mean, TEN films of 2008! Part 1: the troublesome # 10-6!

[thehefner]

So as I said before, I wanted to do my usual list of "Heffie's Top Ten Films of 2008," but then I realized that I hadn't even seen ten! Well, actually, I'd seen eleven, but three of them I didn't love, and two of them I didn't feel entirely comfortable rating objectively in a "Best Of" list

Comments

Re: No *real* spoilers here

[thehefner]

Yeah, I think it found a nice balance between grit and sentiment without going overboard onto either. No small feat, that. Well, the hummingbird might have been a little much...

But I think it really shows growth for Fincher as a director, which is always gratifying. I expect to feel that way even more so when I finally see Aronofsky's THE WRESTLER.

It's funny, I haven't seen ZODIAC yet, but most of the geek critics pretty well adored it while others, you, my brother and sister-in-law hated it (but then, they're picky and also hated KISS KISS, BANG BANG, so their taste is suspect). I'm gonna need to see it myself sometime, so I can know either way. But I'm in no rush to get there.

Re: No *real* spoilers here

[thehefner]

hahahaha, that's exactly what my brother did!

[swimpenguin]

I need to rent The Visitor-I loved the director's previous movie (Station Agent, with Peter Dinklage.)
If you liked Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which I have not seen yet), you should check out the book The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer-exact same plot setup (Greer got his story idea though not from F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story but the line of a Bob Dylan song: "Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."

[thehefner]

Definitely check both out, yeah. And I absolutely plan to see MILK once it hits DVD, rest assured.

I'll keep the book in mind! My reading list is too massive at present, but I'm always up for stories like that.

[swimpenguin]

I'm still pouty that I'm probably not going to be able to see The Wrestler before I put up my top ten list, and definitely not Wendy and Lucy before then.

[beanie_platypus]

The theme for the lower half of the list seems to be "Close, but no cigar

[thehefner]

Do see it, and do take someone with you. Also, tissues.

Well, I'm in the geek minority regarding HELLBOY II, it's pretty well beloved in our circles, so you might well dig the film. There's an awful lot to like, and it's definitely worth seeing. But your comparison to a Sunday newspaper comic strip is very, very apt, at least in terms of my feelings. Totally agreed. That said, I do love that werewolf comic I linked to, I thought that one really did have emotional resonance and heart.

Ha, well, wait until Part 3, when I give my final (for now) thoughts on TDK, after having seen it for a fifth time a couple days ago.

[tompurdue]

I just finished HULK a minute ago. I was underwhelmed. I liked the Ang Lee movie better. Maybe it's just the small screen, but this film seemed to have no ambition. It had some very talented actors, and they seemed to wonder why they were there.

[thehefner]

Thank you for finally nailing what I've been trying to put into words ever since I saw it: it had no ambition.

That said, have you seen the deleted scenes? I've been meaning to. I understand Edward Norton pulled an AMERICAN HISTORY X and commandeered the film for awhile, adding whole extended scenes intended to focus purely on character development, all of which were ultimately cut from theatrical release. I've been meaning to see them, to see if they would have added anything of value or if the studio's call was the best.

I'm tempted to believe the former, as doing so actually made the director's cut of DAREDEVIL a more-than-passable superhero origin movie, even with the flaws.