2008 Midway Point: The Year So Far

So far this year, 161 films have been released here in Toronto and I'd have to say it feels like it is shaping up to be a good year. We are just about 2 months after one of the biggest all around favourites of the year, Iron Man and seem to be in full swing for summer fun with the recent release of Wall-E. Neither of these films are on my list, which is filled with limited releases and previous festival films. So far there have been a few surprizes this year, especially the fun action of Cloverfield, although it does not work if shaky-cam makes you dizzy. Also a few dramas that blew my socks off were Starting Out in the Evening, Redbelt and Then She Found Me. Then there is also the exquisite beauty of Wong Kar-Wai's My Blueberry Nights and the touching laughter that is an inevitable response from Son of Rambow. There is also the haunting documentary Up the Yangtze/ 沿江⽽上. What is still sitting strong as my favourite film of the year is Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns which I saw during Canada's Top Ten. It is an exceptional film, truly exceptional.

If you are scratching your head trying to remember all the films released this year, have no fear and scroll down to the bottom to see the 161 titles.

The Good:
All Hat *
Bank Job, The
Be Kind Rewind
Cloverfield
Dasavatharam
Flight of the Red Balloon / Le Voyage du ballon rouge
Fugitive Pieces *
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale *
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Kurt Cobain: About a Son
Persepolis
Postal *
S&M: Short and Male *
Starting Out in the Evening
Wanted
Young People Fucking *

The Great:
Band's Visit, The
Diary of the Dead, George A. Romero's
Encounters at the End of the World
Forbidden Kingdom, The
Global Metal *
Redbelt
Stone Angel, The *

The Exceptional:
Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns *
How She Move *
Mongol
My Blueberry Nights
My Winnipeg *
Planet B-Boy
Son of Rambow
Then She Found Me
Up the Yangtze/ 沿江⽽上 *

The "I can't believe I missed it" 2008 list.
As we are all human (well, most of you are... I think), there is only so much time and therefore there are the films that haven't glided from the 'to see' list to the 'seen' list. For me, they are:

Ben X
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
CJ7 / Cheung Gong 7 hou
It's a Free World
Run Fat Boy Run
Shine a Light
Singing Revolution, The / Laulev revolutsioon
Step Up 2 the Streets
Still Life / Sanxia haoren
Youth Without Youth

Great films seen in 2008 that were released in a previous year. It ain't all about 2008. It is a perpetual learning experience to expand my film knowledge by visiting films from the past, be it if they are 1 or 80 years old. From classic gems to kitsch, here are the films that brought joy and thrills off the shelves and on to the screen:

Alphaville
Control
Descent
East of Eden
Election
General, The
Godzilla vs. Megalon
Half Nelson
Living in Oblivion
Lucid
Night of the Living Dead
Omega Man, The
Sanjuro
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ...and Spring / Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom
Thing, The

Great films seen in 2008 seen in festival setting. Although these films are not yet in regular release, I hope they grace our screens in the future:

18 Grams of Love
Anvil! The Story of Anvil!
Bigger, Stronger, Faster *
Chair, The
Drifting Flowers / Piao Lang Qing Chung
Hide
Man on Wire
Maple Flavour Films
Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance
She's A Boy I Knew
Were the World Mine

It's not over yet! There are still many great films, festivals and experiences for the second half of 2008. I'm looking forward to checking out AMC Yonge & Dundas before TIFF 08 hits, to see films at Cinematheque, try to get out to see a film outside and/or at the drive-in and to check out Trash Palace. The festival circuit in the fall will bring some great films and experiences to Toronto with the Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto After Dark Film Festival and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

How has 2008 been to you so far?

All films released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between January 1, 2008 - June 30, 2008
*incidates film as Canadian or Canadian co-pro

21
27 Dresses
88 Minutes
10,000 B.C.
All Hat *
Ants, The / Ari no heitai
Baby Mama
Babysitters, The
Band's Visit, The
Bank Job, The
Be Kind Rewind
Before the Rains
Bella
Ben X
CJ7 / Cheung Gong 7 hou
Caramel / Sukkar banat
Chaos Theory
Charlie Bartlett
Children of Huang Shi, The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
City of Men / Cidade dos Homens
Cloverfield
College Road Trip
Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns *
Counterfeiters, The / Die Fälscher
Dasavatharam
Days of Darkness / L'Âge des ténèbres *
Deception
Definitely, Maybe
Diary of the Dead, George A. Romero's
Doomsday
Drillbit Taylor
Duchess of Langeais, The / Ne touchez pas la hache
Edge of Heaven, The / Auf der anderen Seite
Emotional Arithmetic *
Encounters at the End of the World
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Eye, The
Family Motel
Finn's Girl *
First Sunday
Flight of the Red Balloon / Le Voyage du ballon rouge
Fool's Gold
Foot Fist Way, The
For the Bible Tells Me So
Forbidden Kingdom, The
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Forgotten Woman, The
Fugitive Pieces *
Funny Games / Funny Games U.S
Garage Warrior
Get Smart
Global Metal *
Go-Getter, The
Grand, The
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both World's Tour
Happening, The
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Honeydripper
Horton Hears a Who!, Dr. Seuss'
How She Move *
Imitation *
In Bruges
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale *
Incredible Hulk, The
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Irina Palm
Iron Man
It's a Free World
Jodhaa Akbar
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Jumper
Kenny
Kung Fu Panda
Kurt Cobain: About a Son
Leatherheads
London to Brighton
Love and Other Dilemmas *
Love Guru, The
Mad Money
Made of Honor
Married Life
Meet the Browns, Tyler Perry's
Meet the Spartans
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Mister Lonely
Mongol
My Blueberry Nights
My Brother is an Only Child / Mio fratello è figlio unico
My Winnipeg *
Never Back Down
Nim's Island
Normal *
One Missed Call
Other Boleyn Girl, The
Over Her Dead Body
Paranoid Park
Penelope
Persepolis
Persepolis (in English)
Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, The
Planet B-Boy
Postal *
Previous Engagement, A *
Prom Night
Promotion, The
Redbelt
Ruins, The
Run Fat Boy Run
S&M: Short and Male *
Sarkar Raj
Semi-Pro
Sex and Death 101
Sex and the City
Shine a Light
Shutter
Singing Revolution, The / Laulev revolutsioon
Sleepwalking *
Smart People
Snow Angels *
Son of Rambow
Speed Racer
Spiderwick Chronicles, The
Standard Operating Procedure
Starting Out in the Evening
Steep
Step Up 2 the Streets
Still Life / Sanxia haoren
Stone Angel, The *
Stop-Loss
Strange Wilderness
Strangers, The
Street Kings
Superhero Movie
Taxi to the Darkside
Then She Found Me
There Will Be Blood
They Wait *
This Beautiful City *
U2 3D
Under the Same Moon / La Misma luna
Unknown Woman, The
Untraceable
Up the Yangtze/ 沿江⽽上 *
Vantage Point
Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show
Viva
Waiter / Ober
Wall-E
Wanted
War Dance
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
What Happens in Vegas
When Did You Last See Your Father?
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden
Winter Tale, A *
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The / O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Young @ Heart
Young People Fucking *
Youth Without Youth

All lists are in alphabetical order