The (IMO) Best Movie of 2008 (so far anyway)

Cafe Society
1

I know there are a lot of big ones coming up (including Doubt, Revolutionary Road and Benjamin Button), but last night I saw what I think will end up being the best movie of the year:

Milk

This isn’t just an average biopic. It’s timely. Oh why oh why oh WHY didn’t this get released before the election? Well, not that the bigots who voted for hate in California, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida would see it anyway, but it could have started a national dialogue that might have helped. At the very least, I wish it had been released before last week, so it could have been in the theaters before the 30th anniversary of Milk and Moscone’s death.

Sean Penn is, as always, phenomenal, and will certainly get an Oscar nomination and possibly another win, if voters don’t mind voting yet again for another depiction of a real person. I hope the movie will be all over the awards season, because it deserves every accolade it gets. There may or may not be tiny flaws here and there. I didn’t see any on first viewing but that’s because I was so caught up in the story and getting to know this decent, committed and funny man who had such a big impact on history for such a short time on the local San Francisco stage, the dread of what I knew was to come and the mind-boggling sadness, and anger, of knowing what happened in some states in the 2008 elections 30 years(!!!) after he fought so hard.

Even before the movie was released, I’d been trying to find out more about Harvey Milk. I’ve kept some links in a text file and want to share them before they get erased.

Got Milk? - this short excerpt from a Harvey Milk speech is only two minutes long, and I’ve already watched it dozens of times, but it still makes me dissolve into a puddle of tears every single time. I just watched it again to test, and yep, sure enough. It’s very very VERY powerful.

News report - from the evening news the night the murders happened. It cuts off when the report turns to Harvey Milk but it was still fascinating to see.

Last Words - the movie is mainly flashbacks from his tape-recorded memoir. This is only a snippet

The Times of Harvey Milk

Siskel & Ebert - their review of The Times of Harvey Milk

Extras on the movie - some behind-the-scenes looks at filming the big rally. There are several more that I haven’t had a chance to watch yet.

Please see this film (though not at a Cinemark/Century theater, whose CEO supported Prop 8) and support it financially while it’s in the theater. At the very least I want to see it become an arthouse hit, but it deserves a wider audience.

Btw, my favorite movie of the year is still The Fall, so I’m differentiating between what’s my favorite and what I think is best.

2

Mine is Wall-E. Of course, that’s the only movie I’ve seen this year, so it kinda wins by default. That could change, though…we’re going to see Madagascar 2 this weekend.

Why yes, I do have a three-year-old…why do you ask?

3

The Dark Knight.

4

You mean you won’t take your kid to see Milk? :wink:

I wish good things for the film in general - if well done, it could be a part of an important dialogue. There have been a number of articles in various places I have read that discuss how the movie’s marketing team have been trying to figure out how to best position the film vis a vis the protests. I suspect that the marketer’s preferences won’t matter - the Prop 8 protests appear to only be gaining in solidarity and therefore the film will get swept up into that whether the film’s team likes it or not. I only hope the film is good enough to endure being used that way, and then to establish its own reputation over the longer term…

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There’s a lot of anticipation around here (the Castro) (obviously), but it certainly helps that pretty much everyone outside the Castro has raved about it.

Also (and I apologize for venturing into GD/Pit territory), I’d like to make this link known, for those of you intending to see it: http://www.nomilkforcinemark.com/

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I attended a protest in front of a Cinemark/Century theater last Saturday in Evanston, IL and there were a few hundred people there. There were lots of signs regarding Milk. My own sign said on one side “CINEMARK SUPPORTED PROP 8” and on the other “DON’T LET THEM PROFIT FROM HARVEY MILK’S DEATH” which could have been put in a more pithy manner, but it was just one of many.

Yes, it is, and yes, it will.
Edit to add, I saw the film at an AMC theater.

7

Here’s what was released so far:

I liked Miracle at St. Anna the best, and hold out high hopes for Australia.

8

Nonsense. The best movie this year so far is 10000 BC, hands down.

Ouch! Just kidding! It was a joke! Stop throwing things at me!

9

Right now, I liked Slumdog Millionaire, Man on Wire, Let the Right One In, The Dark Knight, and The Wrestler better (just did a top ten actually - I have it sixth). Sean Penn is great but I suspect he will get some recognition but eventually lose out to Mickey Rourke (and personally, I agree - Mickey was awesome).

This is definitely a well made movie and I am a huge Gus Van Sant fan (Heck, I’m one of the eight people who actually liked Gerry) but I’d seen the documentary before, which is great, so I don’t think I had the reaction I might have had were I to go in blind.

I’ll probably see it again at some point and I’ll get a better feeling of it then.

10

So far, “Wall-E.”

But Sean Penn is always a good bet.

11

I really liked “The Visitor”. Just one very good scene after another.

12

It has not been a particularly good year for film, IMO. So far the best I’ve seen is Tarsem Singh’s The Fall (released internationally in 2006 but in the US this year.)

I’m looking forward to Sukiyaki Western Django by Takashi Miike and Encounters at the End of the World by Werner Herzog. Both are already out but I haven’t seen them yet.

13

Haven’t seen the Van Sant yet, but my best films thus far are (in order): Man on Wire, The Edge of Heaven, The Unforeseen, WALL-E.

14

I just saw Milk tonight.

One word: phenomenal.

Can’t recall another movie I saw this year that even came close.

15

For me, it’s Speed Racer. I can’t believe I liked it that much, but I did. Dark Knight is a close 2nd.

16

Red, starring Brian Cox as a Vietnam vet who has his dog shot by a rich oik. Think Rambo for intellectuals and pensioners.

17

Another vote for Wall-E. Saw it 3 times.

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See WALL*E was a very good movie and technically it was almost flawless (if not entirely flawless). Terrific sound design, the music was incredible, shot it like an actual film and not a cartoon, they even took the time to consult with Roger Deakins, the story was sweet and although heavy handed at times, actually attempted to get a message across.

This is another movie that just didn’t resonate with me like it seemed to with most others who saw it. I definitely liked it, but in the end - for me - it was just a robot, as cute as it was. The emotional climax at the end just didn’t do it for me for that reason.

Still recommended it, even own it on DVD. Just not in my top 10.

Also, saw Milk again last night and I have to say, I liked it MUCH better than I did the first time (and I liked it a lot the first time).

The scene at the end after Dan shoots the mayor then hold on him the whole time as he walks toward Harvey. Even knowing what was gonna happen it’s really tense, really first rate filmmaking.

I was even more impressed with Sean Penn the second time. I’m still not sure he tops Mickey Rourke. They’re two decidedly different performances but both great. After thinking about things a little more, I suspect Sean Penn has the edge. His performance was bigger than Mickey’s and that tends to give people the edge a lot of the time.