A few of my favorite 2008 movies

I like award season, year-end lists and all that. There's so much that goes on in the year, much of it frankly much more important than entertainment, that it's easy to forget some of the great stuff we've seen, heard, and read. And in the scheme of things, there's not that much that's THAT much more important than entertainment, is there? :-)

I hope to get around to other categories, but I've been thinking about movies. Oscar nominations get announced this week, and as I've mentioned before, the Oscars are as close to a holiday as my wife and I celebrate, so I'll start with movies.

In Bruges
Even though this was only (only!) my second-favorite movie of the year, I was inspired to write this column by the fact that both of the lead actors were nominated for Golden Globes. Even though I've never liked him in a movie before, I was delighted that Colin Farrel won a Golden Globe for his part in this remarkable story.

It's got enough profanity and enough accidental violence that it suggest what might be possible if Tarantino had a really gentle touch because he was so sentimental....but who wants Tarantino to be gentle and sentimental? But it's so original that, rather than compare it to anybody else, I'll say that the comedy gives way to a careful meditation on ethics, responsibility, honor, sacrifice, and the hope and redemption found in the best relationships.

Did I mention that I'm no Farrel fan? But in this, he was funny, warm and ultimately heartbreaking, definitely deserving of his Best Actor Golden Globe. I can't imagine anyone else having won...with the exception of his co-star Brendan Gleeson. How cool is that the two leads of a very small independent feature are both nominated for such a prestigious award! And how full of integrity that the producers didn't throw Gleeson into the supporting category to give him possibly a better shot. (More about that later.)

Mostly, I wish they both could have won. In fact, Ralph Fiennes should have won a Best Supporting Actor award for his role in this. I've never seen him better.

So even if you hate two of the actors and have never heard of the third, stop whining. See the movie. You'll see I'm right on all counts.

This is actually just about the second best movie I've seen in the last COUPLE of years. I've already seen it 4 times, and will be watching it again later today. LOVE that HD DVR my friends.

The Visitor
The best movie I saw this year, and the last several.

Richard Jenkins is one of those "oh yeah, THAT guy" actors, most notably as the dead father in Six Feet Under. He wasn't in every episode, and as a ghost, didn't always have much to do. But he was featured in an episode called The Room, perhaps the best hour of TV I've ever seen. Absolutely indelible.

The Visitor was another small indie movie about a widowed man who sees the end of his life much more clearly than his life now, which he also recognizes as empty in every way you can imagine. It's sweet, and quiet, and deeply human, as some things fall apart, and others are put together in surprising ways.

It turns out that the writer/director Tom McCarthy created this part with Jenkins in mind -- absolutely understandable if you'd seen The Room, I swear. This was Tom's second picture. The first was another understated gem, The Station Agent...which he wrote for lead actor Peter Dinklage.

Anyway, Richard said that this was the role of a lifetime, and it would have been no less true if the film hadn't been written for him.

The tragedy: that The Visitor was such a small film, so early in the year, that Jenkins is an incredibly long shot to even be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He should win.

The good news: he has been nominated for 4 other major awards, including the Independent Spirit Award. He was given a special award by one critics association for "Best Year," for his roles in this, Burn After Reading, The Broken, The Tale of Despereaux, and Step Brothers. (A pretty good year.) It was Step Brothers star Will Ferrell who suggested Jenkins to the producers. They agreed that he was the guy, and held up the production until he was available.

A remarkable guy. A remarkable movie.

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight. Even after all the hub-bub about what an amazing performance he gave, I still wasn't prepared for how good it was. I'm just going to leave it at that: however good you've heard he was as The Joker, he was much, much better. I think you have to go back to Cagney to find such a compelling anti-hero.

Not my favorite scene, but the only one I could find an individual clip for:

But here's the thing: he's nominated as Best SUPPORTING Actor, which is ridiculous. He's on screen more than Batman! I'm glad he's going to win (which I say with absolute certainty before the nominations are even announced), but it still ain't right. Some other actor in what really IS a supporting role is going to get shut out, and that's a shame.

As long as it isn't Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, who many believe might win. I liked that movie more than I thought I would, but all that fuss about Tom Cruise as a foul-mouthed movie exec in makeup and a fat suit? Yawn. I really do think obnoxiousness and obscenity can be funny, but this was just tedious.

In any case, re: this Best "Supporting" nonsense, my man Michael Schaefer says "STOP THE OBSCENITY!" A little strongly stated, but he makes a really good case.

Iron Man
I think the last Robert Downey Jr. movie I saw was Sixteen Candles. Do you remember him in that? Didn't think so. My point being that I held off seeing Iron Man because I didn't have any particular interest in either character or the actor.

Boy, was I an idiot! (Again.) This is the best comic book movie EVER, by a ridiculous stretch. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Iron Man a SEVENTY FIVE, and the second best comic book movie ever, The Dark Knight, a SIX. Yeah, I really thought it was that much better. But Heath Ledger was still amazing.

Death at a Funeral Another indie movie, another first time writer, directed by the great Frank Oz. It's a really funny movie about a funeral that runs off the rails. It was a teensy bit squirmy for folks who've just been through a really tough one (my wife's mother passed away what seems like a few weeks ago, but it was late September)...but once it got going, it was impossible not to laugh. HARD.

My point in bringing this up is to mention Oz's commentary, the second best I've ever heard. (The best, now and forever, will be the commentaries on the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.) The writer and the funniest of the actors were on one commentary, and it was fun. Frank had his own, though, it was a shimmering wonder. You'll see and hear exactly how he works as a director, and the things you have to juggle to make a movie happen. We found it riveting. It's worth renting the movie for this 94 minute film school.

And for what it's worth, Frank was the voice of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and other Muppets, and you can definitely hear it when he laughs. Which he does a lot. The actors threw him off the set for one scene because he was making it impossible to finish without THEM laughing.

Needless to say, after such an amazing, insightful tour, we were ready to watch it again. Needless to say, we did.

Best commentary, Honorable Mention. While not the second best ever, and dropped to honorable mention because it was from 2007, the two commentaries on The Simpsons Movie were as funny as the movie...which was REALLY funny.

My guess for the Oscar for Best Picture? Even though the nominations won't be announced until later this week? And even though I haven't seen the movie? Slumdog Millionaire.

I could be wrong...but I don't think so.