...to the finish line (pt. 9)

2008

The Wrestler

Flight of the Red Balloon

A Christmas Tale

Encounters at the End of the World

Let the Right One In

In the City of Sylvia

Cloverfield

Hunger

Dark Knight

Synecdoche, NY

10. Cloverfield (4)

9. In the City of Sylvia (5)

8. Silent Light (n/a)

7. The Wrestler (10)

6. The Good, The Bad, The Weird (n/a)

5. Let the Right One In (6)

4. Hunger (3)

3. Martyrs (n/a)

2. The Dark Knight (2)

1. Synecdoche, NY (1)

Farewell to the lovely Flight of the Red Balloon, A Christmas Tale, and Encounters at the End of the World to be replaced on the 2008 list by the stunning Martyrs, the gorgeous Silent Light, and Kim Ji-Woon’s awesome Leone redux The Good, The Bad, and The Weird. Two of these never had an official American release, of course, meaning basically that according to the terms of these lists, they don’t exist. For me, though, starting in earnest in 2008, the way that we see films becomes firmly fixed, as they say, in sand. Netflix becomes a major player in how films that no one thinks to distribute are seen – eBay, too, as films released international receive high-quality subtitles and official releases from comparable distribution houses overseas. Kim’s also-awesome A Bittersweet Life for instance, is only available through alternative sources – meaning essentially that if you want to see some of the best movies in the world, you need to be creative. All of that’s not to say that you need to be really creative. With digital streaming the near-future of all media, we’re up against a situation in 2009 where something like five of the top twenty movies I saw, I saw outside of the theater. That number’s only going to go up as critic screenings decline, public screenings blip out altogether, and studios get wise to the notion that just as critics have centralized, so too can publicity.

Anyway – Martyrs is astonishing stuff, a torture porn flick from the country that reconstitutes American entertainments through the prism of deconstruction and critical theory. Then Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light that works for me better than the also-great Battle in Heaven; and then the balls-out Kim flick with three of the biggest stars in South Korea taking over for Eastwood, Van Cleef, and Wallach while adding a dash of distinctively Asian flair. Hunger, which many critics have placed on their 2009 lists, falls a slot to accommodate Martyrs while In the City of Sylvia and Cloverfield slide several spaces, in part so that The Wrestler can slide up. Let the Right One In grows while The Dark Knight and Synecdoche continue to give 2008 an impressive 1-2. Now to the mothersite in the next couple of days for the best of 2009 and then back here for the fanfare-conclusion of the best of the aughties.

Phew. Breaking a sweat, here.