48 - Thursday, January 31, 2008 k The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com FILM: The best of the year "The Namesake" is a pick for best adaptation. Other bests: alternative i Individual movies that made an impr but didn't make the list From Page 1B 6. "ONCE" (JOHN CARNEY) Not too many movies on this list can really be considered "heart- warming." An oil tycoon, a hit- man, a doomed romance - not exactly a good pick-me-up. "Once" is unique in that regard, and it's the most uplifting film of the year, if not the last few years. The story of an Irish street guitarist and his female musical counterpart, their whirlwind week spent playing, recording and almost, almost fall- ing in love. PAUL TASSI FOX SEARCHIGHT 7. "MICHAEL CLAYTON" (TONY GILROY) Quiet, disturbing and yet per- haps the most riveting film of the year, "Michael Clayton" isn't always easy to follow. Symbols, gestures and seemingly nonsensi- cal asides form the engine driv- ing an energetic, forceful plot to a natural (if predictable) climax. F ' Unlikely dark performances by 1 George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson power a film at once more and less than it first appears to be. cession IMRANSYED 8.-"BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD" (SIDNEY LUMET) remise into Some people call this a Sidney top smiling Lumet masterpiece, some call it justhorribly, fatalistically depress- IMRAN SYED ing. Can't it be both? Lumet's story of a jewelry-store robbery gone aby: terribly wrong features raw per- formances from Phillip Seymour sweet as the Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in gonist (Keri service of a vicious screenplay es, "Wait- that spares no one. However you ickly over- respond, you definitely won't for- y the more get it. I 0 oURTESY OF PARAMOUNTvANTAGE Nicole Kidman in Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding." Better-than-expected: "American Gangster" Ridley Scott's mob epic "Ameri- can Gangster" was the most talked about movie of the year back in early fall, but it's largely been forgotten since. A bit preachy,; overly long - and over- acted, the film is still a jarring, ambitious and intriguing foray into the life of a crime boss who was a little too perfect, even for Denzel Wash- ington to pull off. IMRAN SYED Niftiest movie: "Disturbia" An air-light thriller that appropri- ates the technology of the YouTube generation, "Disturbia" fashions one of the year's swiftest and most economic narratives based on the classic there's-something-wrong- next-door template. While on house arrest for the summer, Kael (an expertly cast Shia LaBeouf), joined by the resident hot blonde and his best friend, is out to expose his next-door neighbor as a killer. JEFFREY BLOOMER Coolest monster movie: "The Host" The brilliance of the Korean monster film "The Host" is that it doesn't really seem like a monster movie. Detailing a quirky clan's desperation to save their young daughter from the clutches of a - what else? - chemically-spawned mutant, the film's focus on familial relationships and honest-to-God human emotions gives it far more impact than had it been just another escape-from- the-city-before-the-mon- ster-eats-us action fest. BRANDON CONRADIS Not just for the kids: "Enchanted" Light-hearted, hilari- ous and as obliviously charming as its star, Amy Adams, "Enchanted" is easily the most fun Disney film in years. Implausible plot aside, the real magic here is in the film's abil- ity to morph a tired pr something you can't s about, Best unwanted be "Waitress" A movie as pies its prota Russell) bak ress" was qu oshadowed b 10. "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY" (KEN LOACH) Ken Loach's Palme D'Or winner was criminally under-seen follow- ing its U.S. debut. It's unusual to call a film about guerilla revolu- tionaries somber and atmospheric, but Loach is more interested in the mood of the IRA resistance against the British than the horrif- ic violence that pervaded it (though that's here, too). Intelligent and lei- surely paced, the film offers a truly singular perspective on an oft- revisited history. BLAKE GOBLE 11. "HOT FUZZ" (EDGAR 12. "RATATOUILLE" (BRAD BIRD) It's not that the computer-gen- erated animation is astonishingly good - though it is. And it's not that "Ratatouille" is perfectly sweet, perfectly funny and per- fectly charming - though, yes, it's that too. It's because this film is smart and it challenges institu- tional.wisdom. Remy is a gifted chef. He's also a rat. If a movie can make the audience hungry for food cooked by vermin, then Disney-Pixar has clearly crafted another extraordinary experi- Sence.R SARAH SCHWARTZ mainstream "Knocked Up" and "Juno." But Russell's smile lights up the screen as she deftly plays Jenna, a wait- ress who unhappily gets pregnant with her abusive husband's baby. See it for the delicious pie ideas, the hot doctor and writer/direc- tor/co-star Adrienne Shelly, who, in an ironic twist, was tragically mur- dered before the film's release. SARAH SCHWARTZ Overlooked adaptation: "The Namesake" Beautiful, evocative and breath- takingly genuine in both narrative and aesthetics, Mira Nair's "The Namesake" is a stellar adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel. An immi- grant's story in a time when immi- gration has become commonplace, the film stays true to the signature unsettling oddities of Lahiri's novel. IMRAN SYED 9. "ZODIAC" (DAVIT A film based on ast real ending is no easyI makes its lack of a con evant by putting the center of the mystery in favor of a single of time the case is opene examined and re-ex film gets more intric engrossing. Added bo solvingJake Gyllenha ANA NOTEBOOK From Page 1B out of Hollywood sought to ensure th has only caused the: surface damage, th term security of th( the forthcoming ye But with a virtual c lock in the past se and the chilly rece movies that premier. dance Film Festiva month, it seems p urgent, to solidify so right this year a went astray. Aheadr observations, becaus insistently eclectic a impossible (believer extol all of the trium trations in one essay THE NEW BLOC In a blockbuster s ous for its week-aft of sequels to movie require them, man in spectacle filmn dominant (the painf admirably persisten PAUL TASSI WRIGHT) Just as "Shaun ofthe Dead"skew- D FINCHER) ered the zombie genre, "Hot Fuzz" ory without a takes on the American actionblock- feat. "Zodiac" buster: blown-up cars and shoot- nclusion irrel- outs galore. In truth, with its hefty viewer in the running time and bizarre eccen- 'and arguing tricities, the movie really shouldn't utcome. Each work. It's a British action movie. d and closed, But the film has more wit and more camined, the energy than any of the films it sends ate and more up, and let's face it: High-pitched nus: a crime- squeals by grown men sound better al. with a British accent. NIE LEVENE SARAH SCHWARTZ by directors who started as part of distinct subcultures outside of the Hollywood mainstream but have begun to carve a new niche in the major-budget market. studios have I'm talking about David Yates at the strike ("State of Play"), whom produc- most obvious ers hired out of nowhere to direct at the long- "Harry Potter of the Order of the e industry in Phoenix" and who proceeded to ars is sound. make the only film in the series reative dead- effective both aesthetically and veral months emotionally. Or Paul Green- ption to the grass, the director of movies like ed at the Sun- "Bloody Sunday" and "United 1 earlier this 93," who solidified his talent for rudent, even action with "The Bourne Ultima- what went tum," the second in the series he nd also what directed and by far the most suc- are just a few cessful. A series like "Bourne," e in a year as with no real hook to distinguish s this one, it's it, has benefited enormously from me, I tried) to his microscopic touch, and has phs and frus- also generated serious discussion outside popcorn circles. (Manoh- la Dargis of The New York Times KBUSTER even suggested it for a best pic- eason notori- ture nomination.) By the time er-week slate Christopher Nolan's "The Dark s that didn't Knight" opens in July, no Holly- y old names wood studio will be able to argue naking were the benefits of snagging a former ully inane but independent maverick for its next t clanking of triple-digit movie. 13. "JUNO" (JASON REITMAN) Once "Juno" went from quirky comedy to mega-success and Oscar nominee, it was only a mat- ter of time before it was labeled as overrated. Look closer and you'll find a film more than deserving of the praise it's received. Anchored by an exceptional and mature per- formance from Ellen Page ("Hard Candy"), along with that fantas- tic screenplay by Diablo Cody, no other film in this year's crop of Oscar contenders will leave you television hero has become a suc- cess that major studios are will- ing to finance. He and his creative class, which includes the writers of "Superbad," have the ability to crush the crass, hopelessly repeti- tive frat-pack movies that have long dominated this genre on pure good will alone. His movies strike a chord not just because they're funny, though they really are, but because they're not (just) about making fun of their characters. No, he's not flawless. If you saw "Walk Hard" last month, you probably understand why most people didn't. But the honesty he imbued in the last two mov- ies he helmed, "The 40-Year- Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," helped turn two modest, partially improvised comedies into instant contemporary touchstones. He's attached as either a writer or pro- ducer to four movies scheduled for 2008 - including "The Pine- apple Express," already famous for a brief preview that blazed the Web late last year - and there's every reason to be hopeful that his brand becomes a new conven- tion. feeling quite so joyous. SHERIJANKELOVITZ 14. "CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR" (MIKE NICHOLS) A film about war that isn't dark or dreadful (at least not on the sur- face), "Charlie Wilson's War" is sharpsatire thatstrikes asmoother rhythm than we thought possible for a "war comedy." An absurdist romp on one face, a dire premoni- tion on another, the film asks ques- tions and gives answers that we've heard before, butnframes it all in an addictively enjoyable narrative. IMRAN SYED 15. "MARGOT AT THE WED- DING" (NOAH BAUMBACH) Director Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale") pens an incendiary exploration of two sis- ters (Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the best we've seen them) reunited at their childhood home and the stunningly cruel interplay between them. Laced with Baumbach's asphalt-black comedy and generational insight, it's a surprising, often inexplicable masterpiece of the mind. JEFFREYBLOOMER The answer is not easy to pin down. There's big talk out of most of the major film festivals about how liberating the international scene has been lately - Romania is apparently a very good place to be a filmmaker these days - but the movies in question have often opened in NewYork and Los Ange- les to earn praise inthose elite cir- cles only to disappear before they expandto other markets. (The few people who have seen "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" have her- alded it as a modern masterpiece; a few days ago I discovered its dis- tributor cut a contract to make it available on Comcast OnDemand so people will actually have the opportunity to see it) There is also the conundrum of the studio specialty division, labels like Paramount Vantage, Focus and Fox Searchlight, which have released some of the very best movies of recent years but increasingly look to ostensibly viable product (think "Revolu- tionary Road") rather than truly independent work ("The Wind That Shakes the Barley"), even as they occupy an increasing per- centage of the art-house business. Whatever it is, these movies are out there, and the recent glut will hopefully inspire distributors to use whatever media necessary to fill the appetite for them. THE ENIGMA Up to the end of the year, there was a huge question mark on every filmgoer's map of the year, the movie no one had seen but everyone wanted to. Paul Thom- as Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" is an absolutely stunning movie, arresting in every aspect and yet deeply difficult to watch. There has been a definite shift in recent years away from this sort of grandstanding, challenging and brazenly enigmatic filmmak- ing, and watching it recalled the great auteurs - the ones who led to that title being coined - doing work that invigorated audiences by taking their trained-eyed feet out from under them. There were many great movies this year, but none that so boldly ripped into us as this one. It's Anderson's first film that hasn't ended on a note of awkward whimsy, and the only one in which he has activelytried to interrogate his audience. It's an electric experience, one which his generation of filmmakers will see and, I suspect, revive. l/' 0 WHERE ARE THE MOVIES? MichaelBay's "Transformers"still For every new American suc- echoes somewhere in my subcon- THE APATOW REVOLUTION cess there was this year, there scious). More interesting were the There has been no shortage of was an equal puzzlement why names no one expected to ever be ink spilled about Judd Apatow, the the independent and foreign film attached to a movie that cost more new mythic figure to emerge from markets have been so stagnant. than $10 million to make. The the Hollywood comedy machine, The movies have been made just most accomplished blockbusters and I'm not about to interject. It's as before, and American films are - or at least the ones that earned difficult to understate how big of earning bigger returns than ever the best reviews - were the ones a deal it is that the former folk overseas, so what gives? 0