The REEL Addict 

Call this the underdog list.  There’s no THE DARK KNIGHT, MILK orFROST/NIXON.  To be honest, I haven’t seen those films yet (though hear they are great).  Instead, you’ll find foreign movies, animation, documentaries and comedies.  There are films here that were in the theatres for 10 minutes, but deserved better.  Only one selection was a true Hollywood blockbuster.  Wherever they come from, I love them all. So for me, 2008 was the year of the underdog–or slumdog.

Best Film 

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

This is a modern-day Dickensian tale set over the past 20 years in Mumbai, India.  In that time we witness the rise of a megapolis and the maturity of an orphan named Jamal who survives a harsh street life to mature into a decent young man.  Adapted from Vikras Swarup’s novel, this harrowing fairy tale is structured around the TV show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, with each question illustrating a specific point in Jamal’s life.  Director Danny Boyle serves the story well by lending imaginative style and pacing, but never distracting from his slumdog characters.

And in no particular order:

UP THE YANGTZE

Few films, dramatic or documentary, have captured the social upheaval of today’s China better than this feature-length documentary made by Montreal’s Yung Chang.  It follows two teenagers, one poor, the other privileged, who work on a cruise ship that carries American tourists up the famed Yangtze River. Meanwhile, poor peasants flee their shacks resting on the ever-rising banks while the authorities remove the others by force.  This wide-scale dislocation belies the government’s shiny happy promise that everyone in China is content.

WALTZ WITH BASHIR

Blending documentary interviews with animation, Ari Folman’s recalls the Israeli-Lebanese war of the early-eighties. Folman, who served for Israel, can’t sleep, for he’s chased by dogs in his dreams.  A friend suggests his problem is connected to his battle days, but Folman can’t remember anything from that period.  So, he interviews soldiers who piece together the events leading up to a civilian massacre that forms the ugly heart of this true story. WALTZ WITH BASHIR revolutionized filmmaking in 2008, making a splash at Cannes and then Toronto.  It works because it pulls no punches in assigning blame for the civilian massacre, and its ending will haunt those who see it.

KUNG-FU PANDA

Jack Black leads an all-star cast who lend their voices to this fable about a lovable loser who learns to believe in himself when he accidentally (or fatefully) joins the Furious Five.  That’s a squad of martial arts legends made up of various creatures and voiced by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, David Cross and Seth Rogen.  Altogether they battle the lethal Tai Lung (Ian McShane) who escapes prison to avenge his teacher, the Yoda-sized Shifu  (Dustin Hoffman) who denied him the esteemed Dragon Scroll. The icing on the cake is the amazing animation.  Fun for kids, smart for adults, charming to all.

THEN SHE FOUND ME

Helen Hunt’s directorial debut came and went last spring as it got lost in the corporate sale of its distributor, THINKFilm. That’s an injustice that DVD may rectify.  THEN SHE FOUND ME is adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel about a 40-something woman named April who discovers her blood mother, Bernice (Bette Midler). Bernice is a flighty talk show host who likes to bend the truth.  (Is Steve McQueen April’s father?)  Mercifully, the film avoids any melodrama or cheesiness while keeping this daughter-mother relationship rocky and unpredictable.  It’s a film about choices and trust done in an eloquent, sometimes funny, and thoughtful way.  A hidden gem.

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Woody is back with another comedy of love, sex and manners, this time set in Spain. Javier Bardem plays Juan Antonio, the suave linchpin in a triangle featuring New York friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson).  Juan is a painter and his bohemian charm seduces both women, even though Vicky is engaged.  To complicate things, Juan’s crazy ex, Maria (a wicked Penelope Cruz chewing up the scenery) returns into Juan’s orbit to destabilize everybody.  There’s no universal truth or Great Message to be found here, just a lot of laughs and fun.

ANVIL!

If SPINAL TAP! were real, it would be Toronto’s Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner, of the old metal band, Anvil.  Sacha Gervasi’s documentary follows these middle-age headbangers as they launch an unlikely comeback against all the odds: a botched European tour, a well-meaning but incompetent manager, failed recording sessions, and a lifeline tossed from Japan.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll, er, rock!

TROUBLE THE WATER

One of the most memorable images for me last year was home video footage of a family trapped in their attic as the waters of Hurricane Katrina rippled beneath their feet.  In this searing documentary, directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (who’ve produced Michael Moore’s films) follow rap artist Kim Roberts who, too poor to flee New Orleans, gets stuck in New Orleans to face the terrifying hurricane.  However, the rising waters are only part of the battle.  Finding government relief is another battle as George W. fumbles his way to aid its citizens who happen to be poor and black. “It’s going to be a day to remember,” Kim says hours before the storm hits.  Indeed.

DOUBT

Arguably, playwright John Patrick Shanley would have made a better film if he had passed the directorial reigns to more experienced hands, but that’s quibbling in light of the outstanding performances from Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis.  This drama is a power play between a repressive nun (Streep) and a liberal priest (Hoffman) set in a 1964 Catholic school in New York.  Did Father Flynn molest a black student?  That’s the question, and the film leaves you guessing.  But it’s more than a whodunit.  Doubt is a complex morality tale where the writing and acting keep you mesmerized.  Expect Oscars in February.

TOWELHEAD

The studio was scared off by the title and subject matter and buried this black comedy in September.  Pity, because Alan Ball’s directorial debut deserves to be seen.  Ball adapted Alicia Erian’s novel about an Arab-American adolescent girl whose ditzy mother sends her to live with her authoritarian father in Houston during the 1991 Gulf War.  She encounters a flirty white neighbour, her bratty son who calls her a “towelhead,” her first period and a black boyfriend that her father despises ironically because he’s black.  Perhaps race and sex are too volatile for American audiences to handle, even in the age of Obama.  Perhaps the sex scenes made too many squirm (though they are faithful to Erian’s book and in the same ballpark as those in AMERICAN BEAUTY). However, I suspect that in years to come as Americans grow used to their Arab citizens, that this film will find an audience.