Spring Break
Seven movies to celebrate
by Ben Strassfeld
Staff Writer
Arts | 1/13/09
Posted online at 1:08 AM EST on 1/13/09
Around this time every year, without fail, film critics across the country trot out their year-end retrospectives on the highlights of the past 12 months, usually in the form of a top-10 list. It is time-honored ritual, as critics love the chance to laud popular films from the past year as well as inform readers of great films they may have missed. Of course, the idea that there are 10 movies every year worth celebrating above all others is more than a bit arbitrary, and even famed critic Roger Ebert has moved away from a formal top-10 list to a top-20 list this year, which is a number no less capricious.
In truth, year-end recaps should be a chance for critics to celebrate those films that are truly great, films which will be remembered long after the year's awards are handed out. Each year there are a huge number of bad films, a bunch of very good films, but only a select few great films. Perhaps there are 10 of them in a year, but perhaps there are five or 15. So without further ado and in no particular order, here are my picks for the seven best films of the year, the seven films I feel elevate themselves from the pack to achieve greatness.
This year was one filled with violent movies, from the sheer brutality of this year's crop of superhero movies to the now almost routine violence of Saw V and other like-minded horror movies. Therefore, it is somewhat ironic that a film about wrestling is easily the most brutally violent.
Starring Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler tells the story of an over-the-hill wrestler clinging to the sport even as his body fails him. To call Rourke's one of the best performances of the year does not nearly do it justice, as Rourke inhabits the character's every breath, every movement; you don't feel like you are watching an actor's performance, but rather the movements and actions of an old wrestler whose body is breaking down. Though painful to watch at times, The Wrestler is perhaps the year's most fully realized film, effectively telling the character's story without resorting to cinematic trickery or Hollywood melodrama.
In truth, year-end recaps should be a chance for critics to celebrate those films that are truly great, films which will be remembered long after the year's awards are handed out. Each year there are a huge number of bad films, a bunch of very good films, but only a select few great films. Perhaps there are 10 of them in a year, but perhaps there are five or 15. So without further ado and in no particular order, here are my picks for the seven best films of the year, the seven films I feel elevate themselves from the pack to achieve greatness.
This year was one filled with violent movies, from the sheer brutality of this year's crop of superhero movies to the now almost routine violence of Saw V and other like-minded horror movies. Therefore, it is somewhat ironic that a film about wrestling is easily the most brutally violent.
Starring Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler tells the story of an over-the-hill wrestler clinging to the sport even as his body fails him. To call Rourke's one of the best performances of the year does not nearly do it justice, as Rourke inhabits the character's every breath, every movement; you don't feel like you are watching an actor's performance, but rather the movements and actions of an old wrestler whose body is breaking down. Though painful to watch at times, The Wrestler is perhaps the year's most fully realized film, effectively telling the character's story without resorting to cinematic trickery or Hollywood melodrama.
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posted 4/20/09 @ 6:48 PM EST
The Wrestler was a great movie! Rumor has it Mickey Rourke is going to be in the upcoming Iron Man movie.
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