(My) Top 10 Movies of 2008

Most of these movies are gone from theaters, but you have Netflix, right? Load up your queue!

10. Rachel's Getting Married
Anne Hathaway was excellent in her role as a complete trainwreck. A cringe-inducing trainwreck that makes you wonder if you should feel pity for the character or just plain hate her. As with almost everything else in life, it's probably somewhere in between, a little bit of both, I guess. There were so many memorable scenes/moments in this film. How many movies can you name off the top of your head with a dishwasher loading skills showdown? There's a wedding band that plays for just about the entire weekend, non-stop, and the wedding itself is like something out of a dream. It's a full-blown, multiracial, multicultural celebration of life and love, with incredible music, dancing, and good vibes that create an avalanche of positive energy that should not be missed.


9. Encounters At The End Of The World
If you ever read or saw "Into The Wild," you'll remember Christopher McCandless. His desire for what he considered to be a "real" or "true" existence took him to the wilderness of Alaska and ultimately cost him his life. Some people say that with a little bit of local knowledge, he would've been just fine and completely able to walk out of his predicament, but his fate and what could've been done to prevent it isn't what I want to write about here. I brought him up because many of the adventure seeking travelers interviewed in this Werner Herzog doc reminded me of him. Where can you go that's more extreme, more off the beaten path than Antarctica? Werner also visits with scientists and researchers, all with mesmerizing personalities and incredible stories about what brought them to the "End of the World."


8. Atonement
I remember liking this movie a lot when I saw it way back in January, but for some reason I haven't watched it again. It was sitting right there on my DVR for weeks and I wasn't the least bit interested in watching it. Hmmm.... Maybe, for that very reason, it shouldn't be on this list, but first impressions should count for something, right? I just remember liking the fact that they gave you the happy ending without actually giving you the happy ending. They played both sides, and it worked for me. Even though I don't feel like watching it ever again.


7. Son Of Rambow
This was a cutesy, feel-good movie that I almost didn't see. I'm glad I did, because it gave me a movie to recommend to my mom. Yeah, she loved it, "just like Juno." So maybe that will tell you something.


6. The Wackness
One of Ben Kingsley's 38 movies this past year. This is pretty basic, coming-of-age type stuff, but it's done very well. Most high school movies are shot in the 'burbs (The Breakfast Club, Dazed & Confused, all of the other John Hughes movies, Fast Times, etc.), so maybe this one being shot in New York gave it a different feel, but at the same time it stuck to many of the things that work in movies like these. Being eaten alive by a person you have a hopeless crush on, parents bumming you out, smoking pot with/selling pot to your shrink... They even managed to get "All The Young Dudes" in there, which is still good, I think.


5. There Will Be Blood
I was wondering what list to put this on, '07 or '08. It was included in a bunch of critics' lists from last year, and it won Oscars honoring movies from '07, but how the fuck are you supposed to include a movie on your Best of '07 list if it came out on December 26th?! And that was just New York and LA! Chicago was Early '08, for crying out loud! I'm going through that now with "Milk" and "The Wrestler." Screw it, they'll be on the '09 list and TWBB goes on the '08 list. The trailer for this movie really hinted at something horrific, something bloody, since, well, you know, "Blood" is in the title and everything, but... There isn't much, really, except for a satisfying final scene.


4. Man On Wire
Philippe Petit is the man who walked on a high wire between the World Trade Center towers in 1974 and this is a documentary about the entire process. The film focuses on what made Philippe decide on the WTC, his background in the art of high wire (including some of his previous work), and the seemingly thousands of things that had to come together for him to achieve his dream. And yes, this really was his dream. He enthusiastically tells you all about it in this film, and by the time the footage of the WTC walk comes around, you're rooting for him like the underdog in a thousand Hollywood feelgood movies.


3. The Dark Knight
You saw it. I don't need to write anything.


2. Let The Right One In
A Swedish, teenage vampire flick, but from what I understand, nothing like that one that came out this year in the States with that one teen heartthrob guy that plays baseball in the movie and who according to Yahoo!, just cut his hair. I never saw it and I'm too lazy to look up the name of it, but you know what I'm talking about, right? OK, this is nothing like that. "Let The Right One In" follows a young boy around that's being bullied at school and who has a new neighbor. The neighbor is a girl near his age, who can hang around outside, at night, in Sweden, with nothing but a t-shirt on and not feel cold. Yes, she also drinks blood, and there are a few excellent scenes that show how she gets it, but the best parts of the movie focus on their friendship. She initially decides against befriending the boy, but curiosity gets the best of both of them, they grow closer, she persuades him to stand up for himself (and helps out a bit herself, too), gives him some newfound confidence with the opposite sex, and makes it seem that being best friends/BF-GF with a vampire is do-able.


1. Slumdog Millionaire
I knew nothing about the movie when I saw it, just a trailer that showed a girl being forcefully taken away from a crowded Indian train station while her boyfriend(?) looks on, helpless, from a distance. I'd like to leave it at that, and just say how sad it is that this movie is showing on just a couple of screens in and around Chicago. It's complete bullshit that a movie like this, that should be up for Best Picture this year, is next to impossible to find, while crap like Kevin James as a mall cop will get a massive release. I know that the indie/foreign films will always be harder to find, and that's one of the reasons that seeing them can be so rewarding, but Slumdog is a slam dunk! How can someone that decides on what movies are shown where, see this movie and not think that it would rake in massive amounts of cash if people were just given the opportunity to see it? WTF? I've seen gritty, hard to watch indie/foreign flicks this year that are not for everyone ("Ballast," "4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days," to name a few), but Slumdog is nothing like that. I'm hoping that this movie is nominated for a few Oscars, so maybe then it'll get a bigger release, but if things stay the way they are with this movie... What a crime.

(My) Top 10 Albums of 2008

I've realized something in the past few days. Albums don't matter as much as they used to. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to a good album from front to back, but the way we listen to music has changed. I was trying to figure out which albums were my favorites of the year, and it suddenly dawned on me that I'm much more interested in my 25 top songs of 2008 (or maybe even a top 80 minutes of music that can fit onto one CD). We get an album, listen to it a couple of times, and if there's a song or two that really jump out at us, we make a mental note of it, and then drag that song or songs into our next playlist that we make for a run, or a road trip or whatever. But as long as albums exist and they continue to be the way that most music is presented to us, I'll gladly do a top albums list. Let's get to it.

10. Santogold - Santogold
Loved her set at Coachella back in April, and the Bud Light Lime ads were a bit of a bummer at first, but artists need to eat, so what the hell do I care if her songs were heard in what seemed like every other commercial break during NFL games for a couple of months? The record is good and the more people hear it, the better. Right?


9. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
I played "Crying" on the radio tonight and I had to talk about the fact that you won't be able to find a best albums of 2008 list without "Dear Science" on it, and that should include the XRT Listener poll, or I'm gonna be bummed.


8. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
It took a little while for me to buy into this album for some reason, but when it clicked, it clicked. God, I suck at writing. I have to mention that every year. But back to CC... A damn good record to run to, and I'm glad to see that the mighty X-Sport Fitness 24 Hour mega-gym I go to now has the song that you hear below in their music video rotation. Australian dance jams rule, what can I say?


7. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
A duo from Toronto that played Chicago recently, but it was one of those god damn all ages shows that start at 6:30 or whatever. Who can get out for the night at 6:30? Would've liked to have seen 'em. Oh, well... A solid, catchy electro record, that again, is good to run to. AND.... Their name will always remind us of this bad ass game. (You're realizing that I'm being super lazy with these little blurbs about each record, right?)


6. Pop Levi - Never Never Love
That's his real name! Well, it's Jonathan Pop Levi, I believe. This is a party record for the most part. It would've been nice to see more written about this album in '08. It starts off with a bang. "Wannamama" is the name of the song that gets it started and it's a Bolan-esque, uptempo jam that even has a few little Prince-y parts to it. Slower pop songs can be found too, but all in all, an album that will put a smile on your face.


5. Nada Surf - Lucky
I fell in love with "Whose Authority" the first time I heard it, and seeing the video made me like it even more (that's the one below) because it's exactly how I get to work every day. And as much as I like the video, it's a little odd, I guess, just following a guy on his bike around the city. Oh, well.. Ever since "Let Go" in 2002/2003, I've had a soft spot for these guys, and I really enjoyed their set at Metro last month. Welcome the the #5 slot, Nada Surf!


4. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
What do you call these guys? Indie psych-pop? How about a band that put out one of the best albums of 2008? I fell in love with "Electric Feel" .89 seconds into the chorus and the riff in "Kids" is unforgettable. My girlfriend works at Jake's Pub at Clark & Wellington and when it's slow in there, or people are being lame and not feeding the jukebox, the bartenders will throw their own tunes on. MGMT was in the rotation for a few months, and people would always ask who they were hearing. Still pissed that I missed 'em jamming with Beck at one of our Studio X shows at Martyr's. They played for quite a while too. We'll be airing that show soon on XRT. Can't wait.


3. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
It's all in the title. It's distorted as hell, but underneath the feedback are some A+ pop songs. Listen to "California Girls" below and you'll see what I mean. If you dig The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins and bands like that, this is a slam dunk.


2. Yelle - Pop Up
It wouldn't be a proper list without some French pop, right?


1. Portishead - Third
ELEVEN years since the last album and they drop this on us? How is that possible?

Colbert vs. BEARS!!!!

Since I'm obsessed with the Report, I need to have one of his videos up here. When he started out on his own, I was a little skeptical of the idea. I'd watch the Daily Show and not really pay much attention to the Report. But when he roasted President Bush right to his face back when the media still hadn't called him out on much (or maybe they weren't being given the opportunity, I'm not sure), that, to me, was one of the greatest moments in the history of... Uh, fake pundits mocking presidents while they're sitting at the same table, I guess? Anyway, now I watch both The Daily Show and The Report every night, but if I had to pick one, it'd be this guy below.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Godless Killing Machines

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Oh, how we're going to miss W.

This is all obvious stuff, but a nice, quick summary of some of the damage done....

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

From fmqb.com...

Is a Creed reunion in the works? Billboard reports that negotiations are under way for "a lucrative 2009 reunion tour" for the platinum-selling rockers, who split in 2004. While frontman Scott Stapp's solo career has stalled, the rest of the band formed Alter Bridge with singer Myles Kennedy, who have released two records and toured steadily. Kennedy has been the subject of speculation as a possible stand-in for Robert Plant on a tour with the members of Led Zeppelin.