I never got around to writing an end of year retrospective on all the films I watched in 2008. There were only a few gems among the hundreds. Fortunately, there was just as few pieces of garbage as well. I was, for the most part, entertained by all the films I watched, rented, or went to the theater for. My most memorable films for the year were "The Kite Runner" based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini, the Israeli/Palistinian joint effort "The Band's Visit", and "The Last King of Scotland" with Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Uganda's Idi Amin. Also the South African film "Tsotsi" deserves a mention as well. The ones that made me laugh? "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan", Korea's "The Perfect Couple" and the really silly "Superbad" - Napoleon Dynamite - to take some notes.
1. BROKEN ARROW (1996) - I just can't resist John Woo movies when they're aired on a broadcast network, even if the ones he made in Hollywood can't compare to his Hong Kong action films that star Chow Yun Fat. This one pits Christian Slater against John Travolta and a stolen nuclear bomb.
2. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) - Well, it's not "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "The Last Crusade" but it was still fun to watch. At least it's more entertaining than "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" but then again, that's not saying much. Sixty year old Indy once again finds himself the pawn of others - this time it's our Cold War nemesis - the Soviets. And the search isn't for a religious relic but an alien one. Hollywood running out of idea maybe? Entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. Old fans will be happy to see Karen Allen back.
3. NEXT (2007) - Is what you should be choosing! Well, okay - I rather enjoyed this film where Nicholas Cage has the ability to see two minutes in the future. And it seems a woman who works for the FBI does not doubt is power and wants to use it to find some terrorists who've planted big bombs in our good ole U.S. of A. You see, I'm easily entertained. But when I'm not, you can be sure of me lambasting whatever flick that has tortured me. This is mostly for fans of Nicholas Cage and once again, it's a lot better than "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets". Can you tell there's a certain movie I found rather distasteful as it assumes it's audience are total morons! 
4. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) - Probably the best Batman movie of the franchise. One with the best villain anyway. Although Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker was closer to what we see in the comic books, it was the Heath Ledger's portrayal that made him a really evil character. Still, I'm particularly fond of the first movie with Michael Keaton. I loved the dark cinematography by director Tim Burton. How can you go wrong with that? Now, I'm just waiting for the latest "Hulk" movie to come out on DVD over here. Gotta keep up with my Marvel and DC Comic adapted movies. Oh, and I must check out Will Eisner's "The Phantom" that's directed by Frank Miller. That should be cool. 
5. THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM (2008) - What fans of martial arts movies have been waiting for. A kung-fu flick that features both Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Who cares about the rest of the movie or story for that matter. Well okay. Young kung-fu fan frequents Chinatown to buy old Shaw Brothers movies (and if you don't know who the Shaw Brothers are, you shouldn't be watching kung-fu movies). Anyway, he gets bullied by neighborhood roughs and as he falls from the roof of a building grasping a staff, he ends up somewhere in Ancient China. His quest is to give the staff back to it's rightful owner, the Monkey King. Fans of Saiyuki will love this flick as well. Oh, and there's a hot babe for the dork turned hero.
6. REVOLVER (1995) - I thought this had a lot of promise. It features the most current action star - Jason Statham and is directed by Guy Richie who brought us the incredible "Lox, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch". What a shame that this entire flick was one huge piece of doggy dung. Why is it that some directors who may have only one success think that whatever they make next is going to be there masterpiece. Take Gus Van Sant's pathetic snoozer that had absolutely no plot - "Gerry" that wasted the talents of Matt Damon. This was a waste of Jason Statham as well. It just tried too hard to be too clever - and failed miserably. I'm not even going to bore you with the details. Go rent "God of Gamblers" or "Ocean's 12" instead.
7. CLOVERFIELD (2008) – Hey, Hollywood must have taken notes on the success of the Korean film “The Host” and had to go and make their own monster film as well. A monster that destroys most of New York. The filming style may be a little hard on the eyes but it works with this film. Of course, I grew up with Godzilla and all the Japanese monster movies so they only thing I can think of is, why? Them critters in the subway tunnels were mighty nasty as well. So what else can I say about this movie – it’s part “The Host”, part “Escape from New York”, and the style itself owes much to “The Blair Witch Project”. Well, at least it wasn’t another death by virus, turn into flesh-eating zombie movie. Hurray for small miracles.
8. 88 MINUTES (2008) – If you really want me to be honest, the only reason why I rented this film is because it was set in Seattle. But this turned out to be a pretty decent choice. Especially if you love films like “Seven” and “The Silence of the Lambs”. Al Pacino plays a college professor who also happens to be a forensic specialist for the FBI. With his testimony, a jury has convicted a man who was sentenced to death. But much like Ted Bundy, the killer is a very bright man. And with new victims of another killing spree, the convicted man claims his innocence, which of course Pacino doesn’t buy. Hey, but the start of the flick is exciting as well as Pacino receives a phone call and an anonymous voice tells him he only has 88 minutes left to live.
9. 僕の彼女はサイボーグ (2008) English title [CYBORG GIRL] – Although the director is Korean, this has nothing in common with the Korean film, [I’m a Cyborg, but That’s Okay]. A good thing too, because that Korean movie really, really sucked. This is a little science-fiction love fantasy starring the beautiful Haruka Ayase. Lonely boy meets with cyborg and falls in love. Its as simple as that. It would have been a great movie if they did a better job on the ending, which was so confusing, you would have wished that it ended when the big Kanto earthquake finally hit. Oh, cyborg lives with lonely boy and learns about emotions. 
10. 少林少女 (2008) English title [SHAOLIN GIRL] – [Shaolin Soccer] replaced with a female lead (the beautiful Ko Shibasaki) and lacrosse. Hell, it was a lot better than “Kung-Fu Kun”. Oh, and it’s a Japanese film, not Chinese, even though the director is Chinese. For fans of Japanese films, this also stars Yosuke Eguchi and Takashi Okamura. Girl who studied Shaolin in China returns to Japan and wants to spread the word (hm, very similar to “Shaolin Soccer” don’t ya think? But this flick also messes up with its silly ending which features a very silly tribute to Bruce Lee and “Enter the Dragon”. But if you’re a martial arts film fan, then you will probably watch this as well.
11. TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY (2006) - Jack Black and Kyle Gass are two starving musicians who come across the secret of all the great guitar heroes. They all used the same pick - the "Pick of Destiny" made from the tooth of the Devil and they go in search of it. Cameo by Ronnie James Dio. Unfortunately, it wasn't as funny as Black's "School of Rock". 
12. THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2008) – I have a friend in the States who loves Wes Anderson films, noted for such flicks as “Rushmore”, “The Life Aquatic”, and “The Royal Tanenbaums”, but for the life of me, I don’t see what the appeal is. I find his films pretentious and boring and have decided not to watch another as long as I can help (although my friend did recommend checking out “The Royal Tanenbaums” with much praise for Gene Hackman). I like Gene Hackman so I may give Anderson at least one more chance. For me, he has topped my list of worst directors and shares the spot with Sophia Coppola (who shouldn’t make any more films PLEASE!). Although I agree with my friend’s assessment of the cinematography. With the movie mostly being set on a train in India (thus the “Darjeeling Limited” title), I couldn’t resist not renting it. I’m a sucker for movies featuring exotic locations. The story – estranged brothers take a spiritual journey to India (but the real reason which eldest brother held out – was to go in search of their mother who’s a few cans short of six-pack). Take my advice and rent the French film “Saint Jacques…La Mecque”. Similar story but much more entertaining. 
13. 恋空 (2008) – English title (Singapore) – [SKY OF LOVE] –Tear jerker of a love story that you would imagine seeing on “ABC’s After School Special”. Stars popular Japanese idol Yui Aragaki. It was aired on television. You didn’t think I’d really go out and rent it did you?So, not including the music videos and DVDs I watched, I viewed a total of 159 movies for 2008. I just love having a computer at home so you can make lists and graphs and keep records and then look back on them and see what kinds of films you've watched, what books you read, and whatnot. I have yet to watch a feature film for this year. I have watched the entire box set of Eureka's Season 2. Looking forward to watching Season 3 sometime in the future. Darn, I should have asked my sister or father for the second season to Heroes as well. And my mother might be surprised, but I watched an entire Korean drama in one day with Mikako - the Japanese title is "Furyo Kazoku" which would translate to something like "Wild Family". Mighty entertaining though. I'll try to be a little more consistent with my movie posts.
Until next time!
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