Not Coming to a Theater Near You. "2008 in Review."

By David Hudson on 01/05/2009

As with many new features at Not Coming to a Theater Near You, the first thing you'll want to do with this one is simply look at it. See the lists of the "Best Films," "Best DVDs of 2008" and "Discoveries" as examples of the care they put into design. This year, for the first time, they're also conducting a "Readers Poll."

Adam Balz on Dianne Wiest as Millicent Weems in "Synecdoche, New York" and Denis Lavant as Charlie Chaplin in "Mister Lonely": "It's not coincidence that these two performances, my favorite of the year, were supporting roles based around stage and screen, though I'm at a loss to explain why this is."

David Carter on "the highest grossing horror film of the year": "The true terror of 'Cloverfield' comes through its reenactment of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, explicitly through the monster."

"'Have you ever had to watch your parents get old?' Mikey asks his wife over the phone. This line stands out as the most indelible line of dialogue in 2008." Cullen Gallagher on "Momma's Man."

"'In a Dream's' great strength is its often uncomfortable intimacy, its commitment not only to the ideal of Isaiah [Zagar] the artist but also the reality of Isaiah the father and husband," writes Leo Goldsmith.

Eva Holland on "Definitely, Maybe: "[T]he smart New York City romantic comedy" is "still alive and well. Ryan Reynolds, of all people, is carrying the torch."

Turning friends onto "Possessed," a 1947 noir starring Joan Crawford, get Jenny Jediny thinking that " the very real future of any film criticism--as we lose our print journals and far too many local newspaper critics, word of mouth will be a constant, the casual to passionate dropping of film titles in conversation both here and in person that keeps cinematic conversation alive despite the economic strife we're all facing."

"If there is one thing that has marked 2008 cinematically for me it's been the return of Jerzy Skolimowski with 'Four Nights with Anna,' his first film since 'Ferdydurke' in 1991," writes Ian Johnston. "This is something to celebrate in a year with little to excite or exhilarate."

Evan Kindley first considers how France came "to dominate (or pollinate, depending on your point of view) the world cinema scene in the 60s and 70s" before turning to "A Christmas Tale," "my favorite movie of the year, which despite being 'French' through and through - it takes place in Paris and Roubaix and stars Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric - seems somehow to open up new vistas in French (if not world) cinema, and exceed old limits, simply by being itself."

"VHS culture wasn't about seeing awe-inspiring technical feats thirty feet high, like we might in a cinema," writes Victoria Large, "and it wasn't about gobbling up loads of content before depositing it in our Recycle Bin, the way we can (both legally and illegally) on our computers. It was about making new friends and hugging them close in a keepsake clamshell case. When we browsed the video store shelves weren't looking for the latest diversion. We were looking for love."

"[D]espite the fact that 2008 was the year in which I viewed both 'Wild Strawberries' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' for the first time, 2008 will forever live in my memory as the year of 'The Room," writes Thomas Scalzo.

"It is my firm belief that comedy is the most undervalued and underappreciated genre in all of film. While other low genres like horror and science fiction are similarly neglected from critic's best lists and awards show glory, they at least have their cult appreciation and are bestowed with annals upon annals of film theory texts devoted to their deconstruction and analysis. Meanwhile, comedy goes largely unremarked upon in all discourses except box office (even pornography receives more academic scholarship)." Stephen Snart on "The Year in Laughter."

Rumsey Taylor celebrates "The Wire's" "vitality as some sort of prophecy, a prescient mirror that reflects a troubled future of self-perpetuating social and political ills. But for all its cynicism, 'The Wire' is ultimately hopeful, a work of not only exemplary depth and storytelling, but of relevance. It is borne, above all else, of the frustration that can only result from true affinity for the American city."

[Photos: "Mister Lonely," Film4, 2007; "Four Nights with Anna," Wild Bunch, 2008]

Tags: promo, Sinead O'Connor, The Henry Rollins Show