11 janvier 2009

My Cinema: Best of 2008


Bellow is the list (in no particular order) of the best films I saw during 2008. I prefer not to select any best film, always hard to do. And even though 2008 was not one of the best cinema years (for me) it was definitely the year of the Coen Brothers. With their (very different) films NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and BURN AFTER READING they were definitely the best!

My special thoughts and respect also to some great cinema people we lost in 2008, in particular to Heath Ledger, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman.

As regards actors 2008 confirmed the good moment of Javier Bardem (who won his Oscar), of Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz (who we all saw in Allen’s film VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA). And not forgetting Shia LaBeouf, continuing his great career. And Josh Brolin!
Also to mention the come back of Brazilian cinema, with some interesting films and directors! To be followed!

And among other films from 2008, which I haven’t had the chance to see yet, I would like to mention Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER (Mickey Rourke’s comeback) and Gus Van Sant’s MILK (with that dream-cast bringing together Sean Penn - playing Harvey Milk, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna and James Franco, among others…) which I am more than eager to see. And also AUSTRALIA (by Baz Luhrmann) which I will see today.

So here’s the list:

Best films 2008 (in no particular order)

INTO THE WILD, Sean Penn, US 2007
THERE WILL BE BLOOD, John Paul Anderson, US 2007
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Ethan and Joel Coen, US 2007
BURN AFTER READING, Ethan and Noel Coen, US 2008
J’AI TOUJOURS REVÉ D’ETRE UN GANGSTER, Samuel Benchetrit, France 2007
GOMORRA, Matteo Garrone, Italy 2008
XXY, Lucia Puenzo, Argentina 2007
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, Paul Haggis, US 2007
LA ZONA, Rodrigo Plá, Mexico 2007
THIS IS ENGLAND, Shane Meadows, UK 2006
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Woody Allen, Europe 2008
TOKYO, Joon-ho Bong, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry, France, Japan, South-Korea, 2008
BLINDNESS, Fernando Meirelles, Canada, Brasil, Japan 2008
TROPA DE ELITE, José Padilla, Brasil 2007
THE BAND’S VISIT, Eran Kolirin, Israel, France 2007
IT’S A FREE WORLD, Ken Loach, UK 2007

And a special mention to the following films:

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, Mike Nichols, US 2007
CAOTICA ANA, Julio Medem, Spain 2007
JUNO, James Reitman, US 2007
ENTRE LES MURS, Jerôme Cantet, France 2008
THE VISITOR, Thomas McCarthy, US 2007
THE SAVAGES, Tamara Jenkins, US 2007
CALIFORNIA DREAMING (“Nesfarsit)”, Cristian Nemescu, Romania 2007
>>

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