Addendum: I was just reminded that Milk really should be on this list. It just arrived a little to late for me to make this tally. Let’s consider it my Number 11. See my review. Simply put though Gus Van Sant continues to pontificate over death, Sean Penn became relevant again, James Franco finally gave a subtle performance, and we were all reminded of a martyr who I wish was around now to help us in these troubled times. Hey Ho Prop 8 Must Go!!!
TOP TEN
10) The Visitor
A story about cultural divides that remain impenetrable despite valiant efforts on both sides. No contrite, feel-good moments, but plenty of insight on our growing provincialism since 9/11.
9) Religulous
Bill Maher is profane, smart, and kind of a jerk, but that’s why we love him. He says the things we wish we could without one iota of compromise. Religious zealots need not buy a ticket!
Man on Wire
Philippe Petit’s 1974 walk between the World Trade Center’s twin towers on a tightrope possessed his imagination at an early age. He followed destiny in a reckless, circuitous path that left the world mesmerized.
7) Wendy and Lucy
Kelly Reichardt drops us into an American wasteland where the car, the supermarket, and the suburbs have become our enemies. The pull towards freedom still lies with a bag over our shoulder and a train to nowheresville. Michelle Williams gives a simple, gestural performance, that has all the wallop of a hurricane.
6) Son of Rambow
The adventures of Lee Carter and Will Proudfoot remind us of the impending doom and grave stakes that define pre-adolescence, at least as a raging imagination is concerned. Film, First Blood in particular, becomes a portal for these young boys to explore manhood.
5) Be Kind Rewind
Have you ever believed in something so badly that you gathered your neighbors together in a ragtag troupe to act out movies on VHS tapes that were accidentally erased because you were involved in a freakish electric accident that gave you rather useless tape-erasing powers. This is the type of breathless spontaneity that makes Black and Def my favorite duo of the year. Gondry still impresses as probably the second most famous community-organizer.
4) WALL-E
I saw this film twice, once to revel in the Chaplinesque comedy, the 2001: A Space Odyssey reverie, and the Harry Met Sally coincidence. The second time I realized that the world and all our future generations are in grave danger and we need to protect what nature we have left. If a chirping trash compactor can come to understand this, surely we can.
3) Encounters at the End of the World
A wondrous journey into the cold allure of Antarctica. Oh wait, I forgot this was a Werner Herzog film–apocalypse-loving marine biologists; foppish, guitar-playing volcanists; and suicidally depressed penguins abound.
2) Happy-Go-Lucky
No film this year has made me more hopeful for humanity. We need more Poppys in the world to counter the growing sarcasm and fear that drowns us. Oh, and Sally Hawkins, she deserves every award out there, and even some that don’t exist yet.
1) Silent Light
In this Mennonite family drama Reygadas creates an ideal distillation of what a film should be–beautiful and profound. He creates a modern fairytale where miracles can happen every day, as long as we beat our demons back into the dark crevices from which they sprout.
HONORABLE MENTION
Let the Right One In
Juju Factory
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
In Bruges
MOVIES I WISH I SAW BEFORE POSTING
Che
A Christmas Tale
The Edge of Heaven
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Class
Doubt
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