Best Films of 2008: LA WEEKLY/VILLAGE VOICE Poll
J. Hoberman in The Village Voice:
"All hail Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E — even us! Sometimes, the movies really are universal. And so a major studio’s mainstream, multiplex, mega-million-dollar-grossing, Oscar-friendly “summer movie” resoundingly won the ninth annual Village Voice–L. A. Weekly poll of (mainly) alt-press critics, named on 35 of 80 ballots.
"Unlike last year, when Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood materialized in late December to snatch the prize from the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men and David Fincher’s Zodiac, there was no groupthink stampede. Critics had months in which to cogitate over the eventual poll winner. Pass the popcorn, not the ammunition: While last year’s top films were characterized by murderous violence, WALL-E radiated hope. The new optimism was also manifest in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, which, boasting a relentlessly upbeat performance by Sally Hawkins, finished a close third in the poll just behind Hou Hsiao-hsien’s relatively cheerful The Flight of the Red Balloon, as well as Gus Van Sant’s ultra-inspirational political biopic, Milk (No. 7). "
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For the record, whether "change we can believe in" (as far as I’m concerned, seeing is believing) had anything (or not) to do with the alt-press critics’ choices, here’s their top-ten list, of which only four films are US-made productions. The list below has more in common with the indieWIRE poll than with the various lists of critics groups’ award winners:
Best Films of 2008
1. WALL-E (237 points, 35 mentions)
2. The Flight of the Red Balloon (163 points, 26 mentions)
3. Happy-Go-Lucky (159 points, 26 mentions)
4. Still Life (147 points, 23 mentions)
5. A Christmas Tale (146 points, 24 mentions)
6. Waltz with Bashir (140 points, 22 mentions)
7. Milk (123 points, 21 mentions)
8. Wendy and Lucy (122 points, 25 mentions)
9. Let the Right One In (113 points, 20 mentions)
10. Synecdoche, New York (106 points, 18 mentions)
Best First Film
Ballast (20 points/mentions)
Best Documentary
Man on Wire (16 points/mentions)
Best Actor
1. Sean Penn, Milk (86 points, 36 mentions)
2. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (74 points, 36 mentions)
3. Benicio Del Toro, Che (25 points, 12 mentions)
Best Actress
1. Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky (83 points, 34 mentions)
2. Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy (60 points, 28 mentions)
3. Juliette Binoche, The Flight of the Red Balloon (55 points, 26 mentions)
Best Supporting Actor
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (75 points, 29 mentions)
2. Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky(43 points, 19 mentions)
3. Josh Brolin, Milk (30 points, 13 mentions)
Best Supporting Actress
1. Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (42 points, 21 mentions)
2. Viola Davis, Doubt (35 points, 14 mentions)
3. Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married (30 points, 14 mentions)
Worst Film
The Love Guru (5 points/mentions)
Best Undistributed Films
1. The Headless Woman (15 points/mentions)
2. Tony Manero (11 points/mentions)
3. Four Nights with Anna (10 points/mentions)
LA WEEKLY/VILLAGE VOICE Poll: 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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Tags: Ballast, Critics Choices, Film Awards, Heath Ledger, LA Weekly, Man on Wire, Penélope Cruz, Sally Hawkins, Sean Penn, Village Voice, WALL-E
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Perhaps the discrepancy has to do with all those rounds of voting. Maybe flight of the red balloon was one of the top films in the first ballot, but lost steam in the second or third or fourth ballot. Maybe it still doesn’t make sense, but that’s a possibility. Something to consider.