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Opinion

Best 2008 Films Not Mentioned on (Cool) Shite

I live in Toulouse, France. It’s a pretty boring place but it has two great features. The first one is that I’m about 2 minutes walking distance from 4 different cinemas and the second one is that a ticket costs 3 Euros (about 4 USD). So I’ve become a movie junky and the cinema is like a second home to me.

I was quite satisfied with the top five list chosen by the coolshite listeners. “The Dark Knight” was definitely the best movie of the year. I loved it to bits and saw it 5 times in the theatres. But seeing “In Bruges” on the list, which had been a little forgotten on the podcasts this year made me think.

I loved “In Bruges” and there are many other movies I watched this year that I loved but were never mentioned on the show. I just thought it would be nice to give these films the regards they deserve.

So here’s my top five movies of 2008 never talked about on coolshite.

NB: Some movies are listed as being from 2006 or 2007 on IMDB. These were very limited releases in certain countries or in festivals but all these films have 2008 release dates in France and in most other countries.

5. LA ZONA (The Zone)

  • Mexico

The Zone is very wealthy neighborhood surrounded by slums. It’s constantly protected by a huge wall and private security guards. On a stormy night a billboard falls down and creates an opening in the wall. 3 kids from the slums enter and break in to an old lady’s house to rob her. One of them kills her but the woman’s housemaid manages to call security. As the intruders escape two of them are shot dead by the security guards. The third one, Miguel, an all round good guy who didn’t even want to go in the first place, manages to hide. He ends up trapped in the Zone while the inhabitants go out on a manhunt seeking revenge. A very powerful movie about the economic realities of Mexico. It’s tense, well shot, and well acted.

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4. JOHNNY MAD DOG

  • France

Johnny Mad Dog is a 16 year old, coked up child soldier fighting alongside other kids in an unnamed African country. This movie exposes his average everyday life which consists of killing, looting and raping. A fantastic movie about kids that lost their childhood much too soon. Sad but beautiful.

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3. MYRIN (Jar City)

  • Iceland

Erlendur, a famous detective, is investigating a brutal murder. Ern’s daughter has just died of a rare genetic disease and tries to locate where the genetic deficiency lies. Two stories that seem completely independent of one another. But are they? A dark and yet funny movie. Erlendur is a great character. He’s smart, ironic, old and always in a bad mood, like all good film noir detectives. And the ambiance is great, you really get the feeling they’re in the darkest, saddest, most depressing place on earth, which I guess is probably what Iceland is!

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2. TWO LOVERS

  • USA

Two Lovers is a romantic drama set in Brighton Beach. It tells the story of Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), an attractive but depressed young man who moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak. An aspiring photographer, Leonard works part-time at his father’s dry-cleaners. His concerned parents try to set him up with Sandra (Vanessa Shaw), the sweet and caring daughter of a close family friend. A big family dinner serves as their introduction and Leonard arranges to see her again. Then late one night Leonard looks out his bedroom window and notices a ravishing young woman he’s never seen before. Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) recently moved into an apartment in his family’s building – an apartment paid for by the wealthy married man she’s seeing. The classic love story in which a man is torn between reason and passion. What sounds like a bad Woody Allen comedy turns out to be a dark and moving story that everyone can relate to. Joaquin Phoenix’s best (last?) performance.

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1. JOHEUNNOM NABBEUNNOM ISANGHANNOM (The Good, The Bad, The Weird)

  • South Korea

The story of three Korean outlaws in 1930s Manchuria and their dealings with the Japanese army and Chinese and Russian bandits. The Weird finds a treasure map, the Bad pursues him to get the map and the Good is after the Bad to kill him. I’m not an expert on Asian Cinema and I had no clue what to expect watching a Korean western. As it turns out, I was blown away. I haven’t seen an action film this good in a long, long time. It had everything, a simple plot, great characters, awesome and over the top action scenes, cool music, lots of humor and the funniest death in cinematic history.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

OTHER GREAT MOVIES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE LIST

  • Redacted – USA
  • I always wanted to be a gangster – France
  • Etz Limon (Lemon Tree) – Israel
  • Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) – Israel

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About The Author

Romain

Representing generation 1988, Romain was born in France and bred on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Was fortunate enough to live several years in the U.S. and in Ireland where he was raised on Super Nintendo, Jurassic Park and Star Wars. Currently studying biology in France, spending most of his time skipping class and going to the cinema.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Monday, February 9th, 2009
  • Author: Romain
  • Filed Under: Film, Opinion
Tags: , , , , , ,

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