Consider this a soap box, and rather than raging on about some political or religious agenda you have the opportunity to endorse or make a case for a particular film that for one reason or another appears to have gone under the radar of the hoi polloi. This is serious business. Each person is allowed one film out of the year to put their voice behind, and that act of endorsement is to be weighted as such, something distinct from the hyperbole of random commenting. If a new film comes up and it is conceivably better than the last endorsed then one can overturn the prior for the new one. By now most of us have come to form some kind of personality on this site, and as observers this decision poses a certain weight behind it. For those lurking or occasionally adding their voice to the discussions now is the time to define your taste. Naturally this act of endorsement while benefiting us all as a means of discerning what films may be worth checking out could also go a long way to generating buzz, perhaps even get the ball rolling when Oscar season is upon us. I am personally less interested with that level of recognition but it is a consideration.
At least for the time being I would like to limit this to films of 2008, although if successful another campaign could be initiated that looks at films of all time. I would like to place the emphasis on underdog films here, films not getting enough attention, but hey, whatever, you decide which film is worth endorsing.
Let the campaigning begin!
Great idea! I sat alone in a theater watching the charming film Son of Rambow this summer. Out in DVD, I endorse this film for anyone who likes a film with a British edge for humor, that deals with friendship, family, dreams and growing up. I left this film with a spring in my step, and a smile on my face.
Return to Sleepaway Camp
Boarding Gate
Blindness. Need I say More? Check our Archives for massive coverage of this film that died an ignoble death at the box office.
I would like to endorse ‘Choke’. Sam Rockwell is one of the most talented actors in the biz and the supporting cast was about as charming as they could be in a movie about a sex-addicted con-man. Clark Gregg did an excellent job staying true to the source material (I don’t care what anyone says. When you’re ripping off one medium – literature – to translate to another – film – to me, it’s important to stay as true as you can to the source) and had an outstanding directorial debut. Chuck Palahniuk isn’t one of the easier authors to translate to film. I think his literature is some of the most influential and expressive American lit written today. The more of his novels that are turned in to films, the better. ‘Choke’, following in the footsteps of ‘Fight Club’, could be the big cult-followed movie of ’08.
I endorse Rachel Getting Married, this year’s Little Children, this year’s Once, as that film that comes out of nowhere and reinvigorates my love of film.
The Malaysian film “Sell Out!” The film is Malaysian, but all the dialogue is in English, and so were the subtitles. I doubt this will get a wide release anywhere in N. America which is too bad, because I was laughing so much during this film, my ears ached.
Takes a real jab at corporate culture, Reality TV.
Still giggling.
I would avoid festival films in this unless they are scheduled to premiere in 2008. These recommendations need to be someway accesbile. I have never heard of Sell Out or Boarding Gate, definitely under the radar films!
Harmph. All the films I would include were only in limited release!
I’d go with “Synecdoche NY”. Though I saw it at TIFF, it is scheduled to come out (in November?) and I’ll be right there in line again.
I was bowled over by the film, even if I’m not completely sure what I saw. Phenomenal performances, jaw dropping moments and a wide variety of ways to interpret it.
I hear ya Bob. and that film will drop like a rock, it needs some serious campaigning.
@Shannon, well what is the one you would pick above all else for 2008?
Add my voice to the Synecdoche, NY chorus, I think it is rapidly becoming my favourite film of 2008 and I’ve only seen the movie once. It is sticky on the brain.
Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns
It’s such a beautiful film… quiet, moving and just a tad haunting.
NEW Films that got me excited to talk about them in 2008:
Tell No One (2006)
The Wrestler
Tokyo Sonata (festival)
Synecdoche, NY
Tears for Sale (festival)
The Skycrawlers (festival)
Blindness
Let The Right One In
From Inside (festival)
Wall-E
I’m sure there is a couple more that’ll pop into my head
After Rachel Getting Married, I would definitely encourage everyone to see The Visitor, Man on Wire, In Bruges, and a little Argentine film called XXY. I really hope Richard Jenkins gets a nomination for The Visitor.
I endorse Mongol even though it came out in 07 technically, but for all intents and purposes to most of us its an 08 film. To me it was the antithesis of 300, in that it was telling an improbable historical tale featuring over the top violence, but kept it gritty, not much on style but high on an actual feeling of brutality that 300 didn’t have at all.
Let me get my hands on Love and Honor before I decide to endorse anything.
Goon: Well said, and interesting point. I liked Mongol a lot because it defied expectations of how that type of film is generally made.
I really disliked XXY. Didn’t sit well with me though it is a gorgeously shot film.
And Love and Honor….missed it when it played these parts a few months back. By all accounts, really good.
My endorsement is with Ballast. One of, if not the best, film I’ve seen all year.
Ok we really need to set this thing up as a shrine of discoveries because a lot of these films I have never even heard of… Ballast, XXY, Love and Honor, Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, Sell Out, Boarding Gate. I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of cinema today but apparently not.