December 20, 2008

A Body Slam of a Movie

My full review will be up soon, but I feel compelled to write and state that without question, The Wrestler is the true masterpiece of the year. What Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Darren Aronofsky have done in this film is without peers this year. See it as it expands (it's currently only in NY and LA), because it deserves quite a few Oscar nominations (personally, Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Original Score, and Original Song are all categories that it should be recognized in). I can't stress this enough...The Wrestler is the best film of 2008. More to come, but feel free to state your favorite film of the year here!

16 comments:

  1. Wall-E is by far the film that will be most remembered for years to come...and it's been gaining so much buzz lately, that I'm almost certain now that it will be nominated for Best Picture.

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  2. WALL-E is a classic as well, and will be very high on my year end list, but The Wrestler had the bigger emotional payoff to me

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  3. Joey you saw Benjamin Button right? How was that?

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  4. Called it.

    My favorite this year is one that not a lot of people really "got", but it left such a profoundly personal impression that all challengers tremble before it: Synecdoche, New York.

    I also loved WALL-E, and currently regard it as my favorite animated film of all time. Still not convinced for Best Picture though. Honestly, I'll be satisfied with a win in its own category.

    Other favorites this year: Milk, Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Changeling, In Bruges, Let The Right One In, and of course The Wrestler.

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  5. I knew it would either be Benjamin Button or The Wrestler.

    How was Benjamin Button, BTW?

    I saw Frost/Nixon yesterday, and honestly, I felt like it was something of an average to good movie, not a great film. Frank Langella was amazing, but other than that, it felt like a poor man's version of a far superior film that it could have been. Ron Howard has to be the king of average to just good movies. He seems to just love TV and middlebrow entertainment.

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  6. totally agree about Frost/Nixon, as my review also indicates lol...Benjamin Button is something i'll get into soon, but it's well worth your time, i'll say that

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  7. While I thought The Wrestler was a msterpiece I have to disagree CHe and The Dark Knight were both superior films in my mind. I really liked Benjamin Button but it wasnt nearly as good as I'd hoped it would be...

    -Andrew

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  8. could not agree more Joey...can't wait to read your full review!!!!!

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  9. caught a screening of both The Wrestler and Benjamin Button this weekend.

    Here goes my top ten of the year.

    1. The Dark Knight
    2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    3. The Wrestler
    4. Wall-E
    5. Slumdog Millionaire
    6. Iron Man
    7. Milk
    8. Revolutionary Road
    9. Che
    10. Doubt

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  10. I've seen all but Ben Button. The Best films of the year to date are
    1. The Wrestler
    2. The Readers
    3. Milk
    4. The Dark Knight
    5. Frost/Nixon
    I personally felt that Wall-E was overrated. It was a really good film. But it didn't inspire a wave of emotion and thought the way these films did.
    Maybe I didn't get the film...I am sure that it will be remembered. But what will really go down in film history will be Mickey Rourke's magnificent performance in The Wrestler.
    He is incredible in the film...having seen the three major leading male's I can honestly say he brings that something extra to his character that really gets to you! The second best would be Frank Langella in an incredible transformation as the only man to quit the presidency.
    It will be a blood bath...but the one that truly deserves that statue is Rourke for a truly incredible and moving performance.

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  11. perfect review of the film on the main site Joey! definitely summed up how i felt...my favorite scene was the videogame scene, wish you mentioned that!

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  12. thank you! I cut it out so it didn't seem too rambling and sloppy

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  13. BTW...this is my review for comparison ( http://www.awardscircuit.com/wrestler.html )but there are some reviews out there that sum it up better than I ever could dream of, like Roger Ebert's 4 star review ( http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081223/REVIEWS/812239985 ) or even former wrestler/author Mick Foley's rave about it ( http://www.slate.com/id/2207076/ )

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  14. i actually prefered your review Joey!

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  15. I really had no interest in this film until I kept hearing about Rourke...even still, once I read your thoughts it sealed it up, and wouldn't you know it, i saw it tonight as an early christmas present to myself and my bf (who loves wrestling) and it brought us both to tears! thanks for convincing me to see it!

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