Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Not much can be said about this film besides the brilliance of Michelle Williams as Wendy. After all, the story is rather limited - in so many words, it's basically Wendy screaming for her dog the entire time - yet, somehow, thanks to Williams and the director, Kelly Reichardt, it works so well. Williams is SO effin' good in this movie! Add her to the growing list of horrible Oscar snubs in 2008, because she gives one of the best performances of that year, if not the entire decade. She inhabits so completely this character - even the way she walks is brilliant. It's really remarkable, how wonderful Williams is. Also, I think something should be said for all the bit-part actors. I feel like in these one-man-show indie films, the supporting players are usually not that good, but in this film, they were all quite impressive! So, despite being somewhat limited, it works so, so well and everything feels so real. What an achievement.

9/10

Tropic Thunder (2008)

This was easily one of the funniest movies I saw in a long time. Also, it was extremely creative - the way that it began with the faux-trailers was just brilliant, and though it's a narrative cop-out it works just perfectly. The entire cast works with each other perfectly, and Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise were definitely worth the buzz. Of course, sometimes I feel like the humor went just a bit too far over the top - when Ben Stiller was messing with the dead director guy's head, for example. I'm also just not the hugest fan of Stiller in general. Nonetheless, though this is no life changing work of cinematic magic, it completely achieved its goals as a crazy comedy with a cinephilic sense of humor.

9/10

Frost/Nixon (2008)

I had no idea this was going to be a mockumentary! That totally caught me by surprise...and despite my affectation for mocks, I felt like it was not the right decision for this movie. Unlike something like "District 9", this film didn't quite transition the documentary parts to the non-documentary parts too well. However, it's still impeccably written, so sharp and exciting. Nixon was portrayed so humanely that it was hard not to feel sorry for him. And the acting is phenomenal. I swear sparks were flying when Michael Sheen and Frank Langella were onscreen together! Yikes! And the supporting cast was fantastic as well...Rebecca Hall is always lovely and Sam Rockwell was stellar. So all in all, it's a thrilling and exciting movie that is brought down by its bizarre structure.

8/10

Best Score Ranking: 2008

This was a ridiculously strong year. Really, any of these could have won and I would have been happy, but the top three are especially wonderful. On any other given day their order could be completely switched around. :)

5. Defiance - James Newton Howard


The problem with this score is that it feels like it's trying too hard to be "Schindler's List". But, I mean, it works because it is still very beautiful.


4. Milk - Danny Elfman



I would have thought Danny Elfman a strange choice for this movie but he's actually perfect. The score was probably one of my favorite things about this movie - it's subtle, unique and lovely. Perhaps not the most memorable score ever, but still quite effective.


3. Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman



It's sad putting this as number 3 because I LOVE, love, love love this score. So exciting, so unique, and so perfect for the movie which I also love. Latika's Theme is the best. I just don't really think it deserved to win the Oscar - a lot of it is a "song" score, which is against their rules right? And some of the best moments use themes from classical music as well. Plus, I can't imagine this was much of a challenge for A.R. Rahman... Still, it's amazing.


2. Wall-E - Thomas Newman



Perfect, absolutely perfect in every single way. It's futuristic, the sweeping strings are gorgeous and I just melt when I hear the music for the scene where Eve and Wall-E are dancing in space.


1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat



Oh, so wonderful. Magical, beautiful and enchanting just like the film. Alexandre Desplat is probably one of my favorite composers working today and this is just an absolutely amazing score.


Should Have Been Nominated...

Maybe The Dark Knight (Hans Zimmer) or Departures (Joe Hisaishi) would probably have been better fits for Defiance's spot, but really this is such a strong lineup that I think the music branch might have been almost perfect with this one.

What was your favorite score of 2008? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is a really weird movie for me because I have extremely mixed feelings about it. I've seen it twice and I felt very differently about it both times.

Regardless, "VCB" is the story of two girls, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) who go for a summer in Barcelona, and end up meeting the very romantic and charismatic Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), whose rather mentally unstable ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) spices things up.

The story is extremely fun, and I really like how it works. The interactions between all the four main characters, along with the smaller characters, and all their expectations, works so well. The acting in this movie is also absolutely fantastic - of course Penelope Cruz is great, but I really think the standout is Rebecca Hall. She takes her character and makes her so interesting, and her character arc is really believable. Why the f*@# is she listed at the bottom of the poster? She's Vicky for goodness sake! Sigh. Oh and I really like Johansson in this. She's so funny/sad/seductive and it really works.

Oh, and the scenery and music are gorgeous!!! I almost want to say that's why I like this movie as much as I do.

However...there are things about this movie that annoy the heck out of me. Namely...that godforsaken narration. That narration really, really bugs me. It gets a wee bit better near the end (and sort of works for the ending, which I really like) but really, is it necessary for this monotonous voice to tell us how much Vicky liked her meal at dinner? Or how nervous Cristina was? It's really redundant and should have been unecessary.

And on that note, some of the dialogue is pretty lame, and I really didn't like the way that Penelope Cruz's character "departed" the film...that shooting scene seemed so...incomplete!

But...overall, it's a satisfying movie. The really, really good acting and the redeeming parts of the screenplay make up for the narration which I hate to no end, and my other complaints. It's also worth seeing just for the music and scenery!

7/10

(I was originally leaning towards 6/10 but I actually enjoy this movie...it just makes me angry sometimes. Hm...perhaps a third viewing is in order.)