Just like last year, I'm not regurgitating the entire list of everything I watched in 2008. These are just movies of note - films that were especially enjoyable, or old movies that I re-watched or watched for the first time in 2008, or perhaps they're just films I think you may not have heard of before that are worth checking out.
Man On Wire (documentary)*. In 1974, a crazy Frenchman walked a tightrope strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Seriously.
Cranford (miniseries). Masterpiece Theatre at its best. I think every single actor in this series had appeared in another adaptation of an Elizabeth Gaskell novel, or a Jane Austen novel, or perhaps two different adaptations of the same Jane Austen novel.
Dresden (miniseries, German TV)*. I don't know if I would have liked this one so much if it hadn't been in German. It's the story of the town of Dresden in the days before, during, and after its bombing in World War II. It's not often that we Americans get to read or watch a dramatic narrative of WWII from behind enemy lines. This was not a fantastic movie, but it was a unique, interesting one.
Edward Scissorhands. This movie informed my early adolescent years, even though I had never seen it until now. What a strange little movie. Tim Burton is clinically insane, right? And Johnny Depp? And Winona Ryder, for that matter?
Touching the Void. Reviewed here.
Doctor Zhivago. Reviewed here.
The Italian (Russian)*. It took me a while to recover from watching this movie, which is about a Russian orphan's search for his birth mother. It is pure, raw humanity, exposed - very moving, but not without taking its toll.
Son of Rambow. Reviewed here.
Penelope. Reviewed here.
Far and Away. Remember this movie? It is dang good. They don't make films like this anymore. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned American epic?
To wrap up, here are the movies I saw in the theater this year:
1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2. Twilight
What were your favorites and least favorites? Did I miss anything good, or loved something you hated?
*may require editing for some objectionable content.
Man On Wire (documentary)*. In 1974, a crazy Frenchman walked a tightrope strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Seriously.
Cranford (miniseries). Masterpiece Theatre at its best. I think every single actor in this series had appeared in another adaptation of an Elizabeth Gaskell novel, or a Jane Austen novel, or perhaps two different adaptations of the same Jane Austen novel.
Dresden (miniseries, German TV)*. I don't know if I would have liked this one so much if it hadn't been in German. It's the story of the town of Dresden in the days before, during, and after its bombing in World War II. It's not often that we Americans get to read or watch a dramatic narrative of WWII from behind enemy lines. This was not a fantastic movie, but it was a unique, interesting one.
Edward Scissorhands. This movie informed my early adolescent years, even though I had never seen it until now. What a strange little movie. Tim Burton is clinically insane, right? And Johnny Depp? And Winona Ryder, for that matter?
Touching the Void. Reviewed here.
Doctor Zhivago. Reviewed here.
The Italian (Russian)*. It took me a while to recover from watching this movie, which is about a Russian orphan's search for his birth mother. It is pure, raw humanity, exposed - very moving, but not without taking its toll.
Son of Rambow. Reviewed here.
Penelope. Reviewed here.
Far and Away. Remember this movie? It is dang good. They don't make films like this anymore. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned American epic?
To wrap up, here are the movies I saw in the theater this year:
1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2. Twilight
What were your favorites and least favorites? Did I miss anything good, or loved something you hated?
*may require editing for some objectionable content.