Film Update – 20 July 2008

This is my first film update on this blog. In these film updates I will be talking about the films I have seen in the past few days, what reviews are coming soon and some brief thoughts on the week film-wise and otherwise. Lists will undoubtedly be common to these posts, too.

This past weekend (18 July – 20 July), I’ve seen some very amazing films. Some new ones and some that I decided to re-watch.

On July 18, I went to the local Cineplex to try and buy tickets for The Dark Knight. I knew I was going to be unsuccessful, but I thought I’d try anyways. There was over 1,000 people in line and it was way passed the sold out point. So I just bought tickets for the Saturday night show (10:30). I came back on Saturday and waited in line for forty-five minutes. I must say it was worth the wait. The Dark Knight is not only the greatest film of 2008 thus far, but one of the best films I have seen. It had everything I was looking for and it blew my expectations right out of the water. It was brilliant and I will definitely be seeing it again very soon.

Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)

Apparently The Dark Knight has set two box office records, also. It has the highest opening day numbers with well over $67 million and the highest three-day weekend numbers with well over $155 million. It just surpassed Spider-Man 3‘s numbers by a few million dollars to take the record. The Dark Knight was also successful on www.imdb.com. As of July 20, it has been voted by its users to be the #1 film of all time. Naturally, it will drop back down on the list, but this is quite the achievement. The Godfather has been holding that position firmly for many, many years and only one film has come close to dislodging it; The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in early 2004 (which peaked at #2). I wish the film good luck and I hope it will break more records and be successful not only in North America, but worldwide.

I also have to mention the late, great Heath Ledger. His performance in the film as The Joker was absolutely phenomenal. Talks of a posthumous Oscar are undeniably possible. He makes Jack Nicholson look like Betty Boop and brings a new meaning to “comic book villain”. I will write more on Heath in the upcoming review of the film (which I am very excited about).

So far, this year has been good. Not as impressive as 2006 or 2007 yet, but we still have Awards season to get through which I have high hopes for.

My ten most anticipated films of 2008:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Fincher, USA)
2. The Dark Knight (Nolan, USA)
3. Revolutionary Road (Mendes, USA/UK)
4. Blindness (Meirelles, CAN/BRZ/JAP)
5. Burn After Reading (Coen, USA)
6. Vicky Christina Barcelona (Allen, USA/SPN)
7. Changeling (Eastwood, USA)
8. Australia (Luhrmann, USA/AUSL)
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Yates, UK/USA)
10. Iron Man (Favreau, USA)

Also, here’s a list of what I consider to be the ten best films of the year so far. Keep in mind, I haven’t seen many films. I’ve only seen a few, but these ten stood out.

Top 10 of 2008 Thus Far:

1. The Dark Knight
2. [Rec]
3. Funny Games (U.S.)
   
4. Kung Fu Panda
5. Iron Man
6. Wanted
7. Be Kind Rewind
8. The Life Before Her Eyes
9. Charlie Bartlett
10. Then She Found Me

I also re-watched the following movies this week (and updated some ratings):

• Fight Club (1999, Fincher) [10/10] ♥30
• The Usual Suspects (1995, Singer) [10/10] ♥50
• Paris, je t’aime (2007, various) [9.5/10] ♥150
• Hable con ella [Talk to Her] (2002, Almodóvar) [10/10] ♥30
• Goodfellas (1990, Scorsese) [10/10] ♥20

* ♥s indicate the placement of the film on my favourite films list (eg., ♥50 means the film is in my top 50 of all time)

That’s it for this update. A review of The Dark Knight will be coming soon along with reviews of Taxi Driver and The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite).

-j.taylor