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Rescue me!
And here I thought I was dead inside. Thanks to a heads up from Michael K, here’s the most adorable photograph I’ve ever seen. And just today, I asked: “What about the koala bears?” And I was told: “Koala bears can run fast enough!” But, oh, look there! That koala bear has burnt paws! I ask you, is there no mercy in this world?!
In all seriousness, my sympathies lie with the families of people who have been lost to the flames, and to the people whose homes, whose livelihoods have been destroyed by the most unnatural of disasters.
If I were to choose some random ones, I might go with: love, perfection, love, concert please, David Bowie, love, Labyrinth, love, obsession, Willow, love love LOVE.
At the beginning of 2008, as we saw the round-up of the year to come in film and music, things looked promising. Angelina Jolie was tipped for Oscar heaven; the Coen brothers were producing an amazing film that was going to blow all of our minds; Daniel Day Lewis had spent three years living only on nuts and seashells in order to portray an oil tyrant in the soon-to-be-released There Will Be Blood.
But, as is wont to happen in life, things look different from the future than they did from the past, and the year doesn’t seem to have been the film-fest that we had all been anticipating.
I mean, how good can they all have been, if Mamma Mia! is now the highest-selling DVD in the UK – in the history of DVD sales? I watched 10 minutes of it, on a plane to New York, before my beloved Meryl burst into peals of “I work all night, I work all day” and I had to turn off my screen, steal my neighbour’s pillow and attempt to erase the memories in sleep.
Trying to do a summary of 2008 in film is more difficult, still, than seeing sense in that last factoid; there are films that were undoubtedly good, some that were marginally brilliant, but only one or two that really stood out as being truly amazing. So here’s my countdown of the best.
La Vie en Rose – Truly, I think this was the one film of the year that stands out to me, that had an impact on me, and that I will remember, I think, forever (not to put too fine a point on it). Having watched it a few times now, it only gets better with each subsequent viewing and, once the dust has settled on the beauty and tragedy of Piaf’s story, Marion Cotillard’s acting becomes more and more amazing.
Wall E – For a film with minimal dialogue, Pixar managed to get a lot of messages across in this animated feature. But, moral proselytising aside, Wall E himself is quite possibly the most adorable character to grace our screens in years. And by “adorable”, I mean embodying the innocence and the positivity that all children possess, but without any of the faults that us adults imbue them with on a daily basis. And who can forget the vision of America’s citizens in the future, unable to see beyond their television screens? Priceless.
The Wackness – Jonathon Levine’s capture of 1990s America will speak to anyone who listened to Nirvana on the radio, who watched My So-Called Life and who dreamed of a life less ordinary. And 2008, for me, was truly Ben Kingsley’s year: he was on-form in this piece of comedic realism, never more so when graffitiing public property in the most innocent of ways. Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby are also perfect as two teens caught between peer pressure and individualism. And the soundtrack – shorty, it is bangin’.
Elegy - Another Ben Kingsley film, this dealt with the relationship between an ageing professor and his young, charismatic student, played by Penelope Cruz. It all sounds very run-of-the-mill but an unexpected twist leaves roles reversed and emotions fraught. Elegy was exactly the kind of film I enjoy: atmospheric, evocative and compelling. Kingsley was superb in the role, and, side by side with The Wackness, it really showed his versatility as an actor.
The also-rans, or, those that didn’t quite make the cut, are, in no particular order: The Dark Knight, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Amy Adams truly shining in a supporting role), Twilight (an excellent interpretation of Stephenie Meyers’ novel, and a must-see for anyone who every watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and laments the demise of Angel), Changeling, Australia and Iron Man.
Que sera, sera… whatever will be, will be… Or will it? The economic climate has increased rates of emigration already – and the “recession” has only been thus named for about six months.
Everybody’s jumping ship, Cap’n, and much as I want to stay here and keep ‘er afloat, I don’t really want to go down at the wheel. Are there enough lifeboats for us all?
And, even if they are, where will they take us? To a future bereft of my generation – the 20s to 30s, who are all going down under faster than a burrowing hamster in December? To a future without unskilled labourers, with no investment in infrastructure, with a fear of the construction industry and investment in property?
Or… will the future bring a utopian vision of 1980s caring, when apathy was unheard of, feminism was a slogan, not a dirty word – and Bob Geldof was cool? I’m not quite sure, but I’m almost positive I want to be here to ring in the new era.
P.S. Image courtesy of Peyton Sawyer from One Tree Hill. I’m unsure how copyright works with fictional characters, but I do love the show and I’m hoping the little plug might just save me.
