2008 Progress Report, Part 1: UPDATED

Well, fuck me, it’s already past the half-year mark, and 2008 has really surprised me. Thanks to studios like IFC, the early part of the year has been filled with 2007 leftovers from the various international festivals. From new films by Gus Van Sant, Jacques Rivette, Catherine Breillat and Olivier Assayas, to name a few, could you ask for a whole lot more? I’ve assessed all the films I’ve seen that were released in the United States this year and arranged them into three convenient categories. The first contains the real stand-outs of the early year, films likely to hit that impending best of the year list. The second is an A for effort, for films that tried but didn’t exactly succeed but are not altogether dismissible. And finally, the last list will contain 2008’s duds, of which I hear there are many outside of what I’ve seen (hello, The Happening, The Love Guru, Hancock!).Let's start things out with the worst. Thankfully, I avoided a number of the multiplex flicks, so the list is surprisingly small, even though it does contain some shit-fests.

UPDATE: So Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely is officially the most forgettable film of 2008. This is the second time I've tried to think up films released in 2008 that I've seen, and twice I've left this film out. Hopefully, I'll forget Drillbit Taylor as soon as I've forgotten this one.

The Bad!

City of Men [Cidade dos Homens] – dir. Paulo Morelli – Brazil – Miramax – with Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha

Cloverfield – dir. Matt Reeves – USA – Paramount – with Michael Stahl-David, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas

Diary of the Dead – dir. George A. Romero – USA – Dimension

Drillbit Taylor – dir. Steven Brill – USA – Paramount – with Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alex Frost, Josh Peck

Frontier(s) [Frontière(s)] – dir. Xavier Gens – France – Lionsgate – with Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Samuel Le Bihan

Funny Games – dir. Michael Haneke – France/UK/USA – Warner Independent – with Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart

Grand, The – dir. Zak Penn – USA – Anchor Bay – with Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Farina, Werner Herzog, David Cross

Kiss the Bride – dir. C. Jay Cox – here! Films – USA – with Philipp Karner, James O’Shea, Tori Spelling, Joanna Cassidy

Mister Lonely - dir. Harmony Korine - IFC Films - France/USA/UK/Ireland - with Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Anita Pallenberg, James Fox, Werner Herzog, Leos Carax

Other Boleyn Girl, The – dir. Justin Chadwick – USA/UK – Sony Pictures – with Eric Bana, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, David Morrissey