Lists and awards, 12/29.

Acquarello introduces her list of "Favorite Films of 2008" (plus Honorable Mentions and Discoveries) by revisiting her top two: "During the introduction for the screening of La Question humaine, Nicolas Klotz talked about the film in the context of a 'trilogy of modern times' with La Blessure (my favorite film of 2005) and Paria - a means of taking a step back to examine the state of our humanity some one hundred years after the mechanization and technological advancement ushered by the Industrial Revolution. In a sense, Jia Zhang-ke's 24 City poses the same fundamental question at a time when the soul of the state-run factories - its community of displaced, obsolete workers - is being dismantled in the name of modernization, where structural steel and antiquated machinery are salvaged for scrap material destined to shape the landscape of a new China, while the workers who once inhabited their spaces are discarded. Like Klotz's film, 24 City is also searching for the traces of abandoned humanity within the murkiness (or rather, pollution) of history."

SF360 editor Susan Gerhard: "As has been our habit, we asked a variety of critics, programmers, exhibitors and filmmakers about their favorite films of the year." And throughout the week, there'll be more: "[W]e also asked them what trends are affecting them most, what technology has helped them along, and what films we've all been missing."

Dana Stevens goes alphabetical at Slate.

From Michelle Orange at IFC, "The Recession Jam... is a list of films that provide a little company for your misery, a little escapism for those that prefer it, and a couple of laughs, if you can manage them through your broke-ass tears."

Matt Riviera presents way more than a top ten (#1: A Christmas Tale); he's also got the "Top 5 documentaries," a string of bests in his own categories (many thanks for one of those, Matt), "10 moments of cinema which I can't (and won't) get out of my head" and nods to 10 actors under 30.

Following his list of the Top 25 Films of 2008 and a collection of "dream world" nominations and awards ("they don't entirely follow Oscar category ways"), Peter Knegt looks back on how 2008 played out for him, personally.

"After the embarrassment of riches that was 2007, the cinematic year of 2008 was closer to being just a plain embarrassment," writes Peter Sobczynski, introducing his list of "the 10 best films of 2008, along with a list of the 10 runners-up" at Hollywood Bitchslap. His #1: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Scott Weinberg's decided how he wants to look back over the highlights of the year in horror: "I love chronological order. My life, for example, is lived chronologically, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Also at Cinematical, Eugene Novikov's list of seven "Overlooked Indies of 2008" Elizabeth Rappe's list of the seven "Best Ensemble Casts of 2008."

Topping Harry Knowles's list at AICN: Let the Right One In; and Father Geek goes for The Dark Knight.

At PopMatters, Bill Gibron lists the "Top 10 Films of 2008 That You Never Heard Of." Actually, you'll have heard of his #1, [REC], but a good handful of the others were new to me.

Alex Billington lists the "19 Best Movies That You Didn't See in 2008" at FirstShowing, "a hand-picked selection of the best independent and mainstream feature films that were either quietly dumped by studios, ignored by audiences, or just not marketed well enough."

At Screengrab, Andrew Osborne's #1: Young@Heart. And Scott Von Doviak's: Synecdoche, New York. Also: the "Top 10 Unwatchables of the Year."

"Today I'm feeling more magnanimous than usual and have made a list that runs to a baker's dozen," writes Leonard Klady at Movie City News. "Ironically, only a handful are films that I consider truly distinguished but the rest fall a rung below and spill over the obligatory minion that has become the standard."

Nathaniel R begins his review of the year with a look at a handful of "Over-Appreciated Films" and the grand opening of his "2008 Cinematic Hall of Shame."

Vince Keenan picks five favorites and notes that "not only are none of these films year-end prestige releases, all five are already on video. You could watch 'em tonight if you wanted. In fact, you should." Also listed are "A Half Dozen Thrillers That More People Should Have Seen."

"Looking over the past year's standout DVDs I see two interesting trends," notes Josef Braun: "a steady stream of compelling westerns and fresh opportunities to appreciate the astonishing presence and emotional dexterity of the great actresses of Hollywood's studio era—sometimes both in the same title."

At the Parallax View, Sean Axmaker lists the "Essential DVD Debuts of 2008.

Kyu Hyun Kim offers a list of "Favorite DVD/Blu Rays of 2008."

Sweeneyrules at Rocket Video goes for Man on Wire before listing favorites (and least favorites) in several other categories.

Chicagoist Rob Christopher lists "10 Movies We Wish We'd Seen This Year."

"It was a very vigorous year indeed and, best of all, rich in surprises," writes Jonathan Romney in the Independent, where Nicholas Barber recalls a few more notable moments.

In conjunction with his other 2009 Blog Project, "which will document the 10th anniversary of all the great films from 1999," Jason Sperb lists the best American films of this decade.

"If there was ever a new year mixed with both misery and hope, it is this one," blogs Anthony Kaufman. "Many of us have high expectations for President Barack Obama, an economic turnaround and an indie film biz able to resurrect itself via new distribution models, but man, were the last 12 months a downer or what? Always a glass-empty kind of journalist, I took a moment to look back at my key articles of the year, and what they say about the state of things."

In the Independent: "Books of the Year: An all-star line-up of writers give their verdict on 2008's best."

Stuart Elliott in the New York Times on the year in advertising: "The best-laid marketing plans of mice and men - or Mad Men with mice - proved no match for a historic presidential race and an enormous financial crisis."

"Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House." From Cullen Murphy and Todd S Purdum (with Philippe Sands) in Vanity Fair: "The threat of 9/11 ignored. The threat of Iraq hyped and manipulated. Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. Hurricane Katrina. The shredding of civil liberties. The rise of Iran. Global warming. Economic disaster. How did one two-term presidency go so wrong? A sweeping draft of history - distilled from scores of interviews - offers fresh insight into the roles of George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and other key players." All together now: Worst. President. Ever.

Online browsing tip. The New York Times presents "2008: The Year in Pictures."

Online viewing tip. In six minutes, the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, Andrew Pulver, Catherine Shoard, Xan Brooks and Kira Cochrane look back over the year in film.

Online viewing tips, round 1. Matt Bradshaw picks the seven best trailers of 2008 at Cinematical. More from Paul Clark at Screengrab.

Online viewing tips, round 2. The "Best Political Comedy of 2008" at the Daily Beast.

Posted by dwhudson at December 29, 2008 11:59 AM