I came across this document today, 11/11/19, written late 2008. Quite interesting given perspective and time. In the days before films were readily available online, so these would been cinema viewings or dvd hires.
1. The Fall – Largely passed over, but word of mouth will bring this to the classic status it deserves. Simply brilliant. The Wizard of Oz for a new generation. A visual feast without the CGI. Pure storytelling. The little girl is magical.
2. The Dark Knight – more layered than it probably needed to be, but it’s what lifts it above standard comic book fare. You almost forget it’s a Batman movie. Ledger is good, no doubting that.
3. WALL-E – good, simple visual fun.
4. Iron Man – Downey kept it fresh.
5. In Bruges – Hilarious, frightening and well acted.
6. The Spiderwick Chronicles – Great for kids, an old fashioned story.
7. Starting out in the Evening – A love story about writers, but then again, I’m biased.
8. Mister Lonely
9. Towelhead
10. Mongol
Unseen due to late Australian release but getting lots of good reviews:
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
Milk
The Wrestler
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road
Any thoughts? Those later films were all great, but at year's end, I hadn't seen them. Perhaps they would have made the list. I remember being very impressed with Milk and Revolutionary Road.
What have been your favourites over the past 20 years?
The Fall is an incredible film, which was never given a proper release. If you can track it down, I highly recommend it. It's an original. I contacted the young girl who starred and we exchanged some emails for a time. She was hoping to be an actress but it didn't look promising.
(post note: She was on my email list for my weekly posts for quite a few years. She eventually unsubscribed. Last I heard she was at university).
A stunning film, and how it was made is quite a story unto itself.
(Post from 2008).