Before I do my proper "ten best" honors (in a form that is not a critics' poll ballot), I just want to say that the best things I saw on any screen in 2008 were:
1) "Generation Kill" (seven-part HBO mini-series, adapted by Ed Burns and David Simon, the makers of "The Wire," and Evan Walker Wright, a reporter embedded with the 1st Recon Marines in Iraq in 2003, based on Wright's book). I don't like the title. At some point in Episode Three I thought this was the funniest show on TV. About 15 minutes later, I still felt so, but I also felt something radically different. Susanna White is one hell of a director.
2) "Liverpool" (Lisandro Alonso; seen at Toronto Film Festival)
3) "Four Nights with Anna" (Jerzy Skolimowski; seen at Toronto Film Festival)
4) "35 Rhums" (Claire Denis; seen at Toronto Film Festival)
5) "Mad Men" (AMC, Season Two)
6) "In Treatment" (HBO, Season One)
Just because they didn't play for a week or more on US movie screens doesn't mean they should go unacknowledged (any more than "The Dekalog" or "Fanny and Alexander" should), and I hope to have the opportunity to write about them in depth in 2009. ("Generation Kill" was just released on DVD December 16.)
I hate to be a dick, but it's Evan Wright, not Evan Walker.
My biggest "miss" at Toronto this year was not seeing Liverpool. I am working my channels trying to get my hands on this one.
My top "seen on any screen in 2008" (counting, presumably, only new films as opposed to, say, watching "2001" on DVD for the 50th time) would be:
Game Five of the World Series. Parts 1 and 2 (I was there live but I'm still counting it as the greatest anything ever seen by anyone anywhere)
Birdsong (Albert Serra, seen at TIFF)
Le genou d'Artemide (Jean-Marie Straub, seen at TIFF)
My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin - seen in theaters in 08 after seeing it at TIFF '07.)
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, seen at TIFF)
Les plages d'Agnes (Agnes Varda, seen at TIFF)
The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, seen at TIFF)
Mine, so far (though I admit that I haven't had a chance to see as much as I would like to):
1. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (web)
2. The Office season four (NBC, completed in 2009)
3. Wall-E
4. The Daily Show election coverage taken as a whole
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (with the caveat that I saw it less than a week ago and have yet to process it)
I am about 2/3 of the way through Mad Men season two, so I can't count it yet, but it currently looks as if it's going to be at #2....
Jim -
I really look forward to your thoughts on Generation Kill. The dialogue that was facilitated by Jeremiah over at THND during the shows initial run was one of my highlights of the summer. It's such a bizarre experience, and I'm not even sure if what I saw was something that couldn't have just been done in a two hour film. The repetition of GK was maddening, but it was not without its humor. And every now and then it would sneak up on you with some pretty powerful moments.
You're right-on about Susanna White.
Can't deal with enigmas. What's in THE name: Seven Pounds? Do you think it refers in any way to Shylock's demand for a one-pound redemption times seven? (Not for publication)
Any best-of-TV list that doesn't at least include "Dexter", I think is severely short-changed. It has some of the best writing and charaterization of any show that's currently on--each episode playing like a mini-movie, which you don't want to end, and makes you anxious for each subsequent episode.
JE: I'm a fan of "Dexter" -- even did an appreciation of the opening credits sequence. This wasn't a "best-of-TV" list, or "30 Rock" and a few other shows would have been on it -- including "Dexter," although I didn't think this season started out as one of its best. (It got better!)
Joseph: Quite right about Dexter. I didn't include it on my (extremely short) 5-list because I'm not entirely happy with aspects of how this season ended; there was so much ambiguity in the presentation of Miguel (and Jimmy Smits' incredible performance) for most of the season, and I think that some was lost in the last few episodes. But I still haven't fully processed it. It's definitely one of the best television shows out there.
As an addendum to my earlier list: I did finish Mad Men and it probably gets my #2 spot. It's all arbitrary anyway.
Also: I need to catch up on more 2008 film releases.