Yes, along with “Man on A Wire”, it indeed, was the best film of the year. Nolan created his version of “Heat” and it was a doozy. Ledger fully deserved the adulation he got and he probably will be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The opening was tense, beautifully directed and exciting, and the rest of the film held my attention. It became edgier as Ledger’s performance gained momentum. Set pieces were magnificent and cleverly mounted and directed. Bale wasn’t great as Batman- but the movie wasn’t about him; there was so much going on around his character, probably the least super of all superheroes, but Nolan updated it for these days and times and gave a blockbuster movie a rare intelligence and grace, making the violence not only repelant, as it should be, but also meaningful and with purpose. It has its detractors, but I’ve seen it four times and enjoy it more each time I see it. I would happily see it again. A superb, intense, exciting piece of cinema, that stood head and shoulders over so much dross this year, and previous years.
while it certainly is a great movie, it is not the best one of the year, there is Slumdog Millionaire, and there are movies that I have not watched yet so can’t judge yet – “Revolutionary Road”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Waltz with Bashir”
and there is no way people at the academy can get away without honoring the late Heath Ledger for his “joker” – monumental!
there you go…
“Waltz With Bashir” is a very good film too. It’s the end of the year from the UK’s point of view ( and the rest of the world) and all the possible Oscar buzz movies don’t open until early 2009, so “Dark Knight” IS the best film of 2008. “Waltz With Bashir” opened in the UK a while back. “Slumdog Millionare” should have opened in the UK before the U.S got hold of it- that was a shameful, craven response to get Academy backing and buzz; it’s a British film, made by a British director. I’m not doing this thing of judging movies from Oscar night to Oscar night. It’s not an end of year tax thing. The U.S always releases their tender choice loins of cinematic lamb now, so we all get hyped over what might win what in March. The quality films should always be staggered throughout the year, and British filmmakers shouldn’t have to bow down to U.S marketing pressure to given their films the best chance of doing well.
1. Synecdoche, New York
2. The Dark Knight
3. In Bruges
4. The Class
Maybe top five. I loved it but i my have enjoyed Iron Man more. As a whole DK was better film but….. IM was more enjoyable.
And why is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button so looked forward to?
How does the saying go; An optimist is one who asserts that we live in the best of all possible worlds, whereas the pessimist is one who resigns himself to the fact that, sadly, this is true.
I’m sure that’s not verbatim, but accurate to the topic at hand. And as regards DK, consider me a pessimist.
while it wouldnt make my top 5 of the year, in terms of blockbusters it was pretty much the best. i recently wrote in my blog how between them, wall-e, hellboy 2 and the dark knight really invigorated the usual stale blockbuster season. when you include lower tier films like iron man and hancock, both of which delivered hugely in terms of what they intended to i think its safe to say that this summer was indeed a great one. and then theres mamma mia and sex and the city (and to a lesser extent twilight), films which attracted women to the cinema in a similiar manner that is usually associated with blockbusters and young men.
Frankly, i think this has been a pretty bad year for movies, especialyl oscar worthy ones, there is nothing i am really looking forward to seeing. Synecdoche, New York looks pretty awesoem, but i know i wont see it until it comes out on dvd. Doubt also looks enticing. The Dark Knight will not end up being the best film of the year, but it is pretty damn good and entertaining.
This was a piss-poor year of movie viewing for me (the last movie I saw in theaters was “Bolt” with my younger brother, and before that was…well, “The Dark Knight” all the way in July). So of the movies I’ve seen, yes, “The Dark Knight” was one of the best. The acting was fantastic by all (Ledger has been rightfully getting all the kudos, but everyone was great) and the techs (sound, cinematography, art direction, etc.) were some of the year’s best. The movie was flawed, however, especially in the writing, so while “The Dark Knight” is one of my faves of the year I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the “Oscar” movies that come out near the end of the year surpasses it in quality.
For the record, if I were a voting member of the Academy and i HAD to make a vote based on the few movies I’ve actually seen this year, my best pic vote would go to “Wall-E.”
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (hopefully it is good). Australia, In Bruges, Man on Wire, The Fix, Dark Knight. You can’t take away its good performance.
I have to add Frost/Nixon, Happy-Go-Lucky, Slumdog Millionaire and Synecdoche, New York. I only knew about these movies thanks to online reviews as Roger Ebert says:
" I wrote to a reader about “Shotgun Stories,” “I don’t know if it will play in your town.” She wrote back, “How about my state?” This is a time when home video, Netflix and the good movie channels come to the rescue. My theory that you should see a movie on a big screen is sound, but utopian."
Man on Wire
Synecdoche, New York
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
my favorites of the year so far.
my winnipeg is probably the best film iv seen so far this year, discounting films like there will be blood which despite coming out here this year were released in the states last year so dont count. it does look like the best are still to come tho, with che, the wrestler, benjamin button, revolutionary road, doubt, the reader and a few others opening here in january.
Far from being the best film of the year. I’d even put it among the very worst of the year. Big bloated pretentious mess with one great performance from Heath Ledger, two very good ones from Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman, and a really dreadfully bad one from the block of wood formerly known as Christian Bale.
MY WINNIPEG, IN BRUGES, WALL-E, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY kick THE DARK KNIGHT’s over-rated ass.
Two thumbs down for asking a simple question? You bastards.
I’m trying to think of what blockbusters I even saw this year. Does Mamma Mia! count? Cloverfield counts, probably.
1. WALL-E
2. Dark Knight
3. tie: Mamma Mia! Cloverfield
i forgot about cloverfield, but as a blockbuster i think it succeeded really, really well, at least in attempting to reinvigorate the genre somehow.
I think no question is a bad question at auteurs.
so thumbs up to you SHOTZI
I think that Heath Ledger deserves a posthumous Oscar. Also incredible work with the IMAX cameras. I live in a small town and had to drive to an IMAX theater, it was well worth it.
Thanks, Film Andy! And a thumbs up to you! Everyone else, a thumb up your bum.
I just thumbed up everyone! (that said Dark Knight was in their top five mwahaha) I loved the Dark Knight and I felt it really captured the feel of the comic and was the best comic book adaptation I’ve seen. The only contest for Dark Knight (for me) was WALL-E, which I just wanted to give a shout out to for the WALL-E lovers.
Shotzi
Or that it at least deserves an Oscar nomination (which would make it one of your top 5 movies of the year – please clarify)? I’m not going to argue against you or tell you you’re stupid or anything, I’m just curious to see how many people thought it was that great. For the record, i thought it was an entertaining movie, just not, like, astoundingly good, let alone great. That’s just full disclosure, though; I’m not looking for a debate in this thread.
So, was it the best movie of the year? Was it one of the top 5 movies of the year?
…GO!