Wednesday, December 24, 2008

A Year of Movies (From Beginning to End)

I used to be superstitious to a point. I used to think that the first movie I would watch in any given new year would be indicative of how the year was going to go. If it was good/noteworthy, it would be a good year; if it was terrible, well, not even a positive nod from the Farmer's Almanac could save that year. This would cause so much anxiety the year I watched City Slickers 2, and so much confusion the year I watched Aliens and Alien Resurrection back-to-back. I obviously don't still believe that this is true, but I do make a big deal out of what movie will be my first of any new year. It's been hit an miss the last couple of years, but some highlights have been The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and After the Wedding.

Speaking of movies, I felt a little disappointed with what the film world had to offer us this year. Last year was stacked with a bunch of strong movies, especially from this side of the world (surprising, I know). But this year has been a bit weaker. I'm struggling to think of who's going to get a best picture nod this year, whereas last year seemed to overflow with possibilities. That being said, I saw Slumdog Millionaire a couple of weeks ago, and I'm now rooting for it to do well in this upcoming awards season. I'll finish off the year watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and look forward to whatever the first film of next year will be.

My picks for films of the past that I enjoyed thoroughly this year is a list that could go on and on and on, but I'll narrow it down to three. The Seventh Seal stands out immediately. I have waited years and years to see it, and it did not disappoint. Then there's La Jetée. I saw it in my film class (it was the inspiration for 12 Monkeys) and was quite intriguing. Finally, even though I've seen it before, Gregory's Girl gets a nod from me. I just watched it a couple of days ago, and in all honesty I wrote this entire post just so I could put a picture of the poster up. It's a Scottish Wes Anderson-esque film made before Wes Anderson had even left junior high. I'm sorry you had to read all of this posting just so I could talk about this film - but seriously, it's awesome!

I'm really just killing time until the new year on here. I've got some big plans for what's going to show up here come January. I've been working on it for a while, and still am over the holidays. I hope that once it's revealed all will be well with your soul. Until then, let Christmas sooth thy soul.

3 comments:

Annie said...

Uh oh. What about video clips? Video clips on Youtube? Video clips on Youtube shown to you on New Year's day by Luke Allen? ... uh oh.

thedavestonelimited said...

well believe it or not, those clips might actually be more respectable than the other possibilities. i'm trying to determine whether part of a film or a whole film constitutes the first film of the year.

melissa said...

after the wedding is great! i saw that last year too, well i have been slightly impressed by some of the films that have been nominated for oscars, changling was up there for me, and am yet to see Ben button, althought i think the real winner is Hotel for Dogs, man that movie is going to take like all the awards!