Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Best films of 2008

Although I'm still waiting to see Milk, Let the Right One In, Synecdoche, The Wrestler, The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Gran Torino, Changeling and Frost/Nixon, I've seen a lot of very good films this year. Up to now, here are the best:

  • The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button
  • Doubt
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • Iron Man
  • Wall-E
  • The Visitor
  • The Dark Knight
  • In Bruges
and in a close second:
  • Vicky Kirstina Barcelona
  • Burn after Reading
  • Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
  • Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Who says 2008 wasn't a good year for films?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Best FSF Films

It's the time of year for making lists. 2008 proved a mixed bag for SF films, ending with a disappointing remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. But the year also brought us the very strong Benjamin Button, the surprisingly good Iron Man, the luminous WALL-E and the DVD of Satoshi Kon's mind-bending Paprika. So in the spirit of year-end lists, and in no particular order, here's my all time top science fiction films:

  • Lost Horizon (1937)
  • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Blade Runner
  • Young Frankenstein
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
  • WALL•E
  • Forbidden Planet
  • Metropolis
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Aliens
  • The Thing from Another World (1951)
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • Children of Men
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
  • The Road Warrior
  • The Terminator
  • Twelve Monkeys
  • The Invisible Man
  • Dark City
  • Paprika
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • The Fifth Element
  • The Matrix
  • Jurassic Park
  • Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan
and best fantasy films:
  • Wizard of Oz
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
  • The Princess Bride
  • Ugetsu
  • Princess Mononoke
  • Groundhog Day
  • Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  • Spirited Away
  • Howl's Moving Castle
  • Kiki's Delivery Service
  • My Neighbor Totoro
  • Fantasia
  • Pan's Labyrinth
  • The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
  • Harvey
  • Field of Dreams
  • Labyrinth
  • The Wolf Man