Andy’s top 10 movies of 2008

By ANDY CARROLL

UNLEASHED STAFF

It was a year marked by economic crisis and promises of change. But as times began to look gloomy, Hollywood once again stepped in with movies that provided entertaining escapism and blistering power.
Of course, for all of us in Yakima, the cinematic riches of 2008 will continue to give in 2009, as numerous widely acclaimed pictures have yet to reach the area. Among these are “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Wrestler,” “Gran Torino,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “Revolutionary Road.”
But even without those films, I have seen some excellent and highly memorable movies in the past year. All but one are either already available on DVD or currently playing locally at Yakima Cinema. And all are worth checking out, as they are among the cream of this year’s cinematic crop.

10. “TROPIC THUNDER” — Part action comedy and part showbiz satire, Ben Stiller’s latest comedy is as smart and scathing as it is funny. But as funny as Stiller is as the action star, he is upstaged by Robert Downey, Jr. as “five-time Oscar winner” Kirk Lazarus, a man who takes his craft too seriously — and caused a pre-release uproar as a white man playing a black man.

9. “AUSTRALIA” — One of the year’s most underrated pictures, “Australia” is a beautiful, old-fashioned epic that combines the romance of Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman with the coming-of-age story of an Aboriginal boy amidst World War II and the stolen generations. Do yourself a favor: Catch it while it’s still playing on the big screen.

8. “IRON MAN” — It was a great comeback year for Robert Downey, Jr., and it was this high-flying superhero flick that kicked it all off. Downey is perfectly cast as weapons manufacturer-turned-superhero Tony Stark in one of this year’s most entertaining performances. With plenty of action and comedy to go around, this is a crowd-pleaser that delivers.
7. “IN BRUGES” — One of 2008’s best-kept secrets, this buddy action-comedy provides dark comedy, bloody shootouts, and a reflection on the value of life all in one big package. Colin Farrell is at his best as the conflicted hitman Ray, who must wait with his partner (the hilarious Brendan Gleeson) in the medieval town of Bruges, Belgium, which he comes to despise with every fiber of his being.

6. “CHANGELING” — The most frightening movie of the year wasn’t a horror movie; it was “Changeling,” the drama that featured Angelina Jolie as a woman whose sanity is questioned when she claims that the missing boy returned to her is not actually her son. It also deals with the gruesome Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, in which children were brutally murdered. The fact that the movie is based on actual events (and real people) makes it all the more terrifying.

5. “FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL” — Can a raunchy comedy really be this high on the list? In this case, the answer is a resounding yes. This is an uproarious and strangely sweet comedy about a man (the hilarious writer and star Jason Segel) recovering from a break-up and finding love again. It has everything from the standard R-rated gags to a “Dracula” musical. No movie in 2008 made me laugh harder.

4. “DOUBT” — This is a spellbinding adaptation of the award-winning play. Meryl Streep is excellent as the nun who accuses a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of misconduct with an altar boy in the 1960s. Fellow stars Amy Adams and Viola Davis are also excellent as a nun stuck in the middle and the mother of the boy. It asks tough questions and will have you thinking and talking about it long after it ends.

3. “THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON” — The latest from director David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “Zodiac”) is a stunningly beautiful movie about a man who ages backward. Brad Pitt is in fine form as the title character, and Cate Blanchett is great as the woman he loves. Visually stunning, entertaining, heartbreaking, and moving all at once, it is an excellent movie not to be missed.

2. “WALL-E” — Pixar has always been ambitious, but its latest is their boldest and best work to date. Though it tackles numerous contemporary messages, it never loses sight of the odd but effective romantic pairing of robots WALL-E and EVE. It works with strange concepts, but when the year’s most effective movie relationship is between two robots whose dialogue is limited to beeping noises, “brilliant” and “unforgettable” are just two of the superlatives that apply.
1. “THE DARK KNIGHT” — No 2008 movie stands taller than this Bat-sequel. It goes beyond just being a superhero movie with its powerful ensemble acting and story that dares to ask questions about choice and whether Batman is truly a hero or just a vigilante with blood on his hands. Entertaining, powerful, and thoughtful all at once, “The Dark Knight” is not just a superb blockbuster, but a masterful film. It is the crowning achievement of 2008, and its final twist has me waiting in breathless anticipation for the next installment.

— Andy Carroll is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. He attends La Salle High School.

Homemade Joker good for grins

By ANDY CARROLL
UNLEASHED STAFF

Throughout Halloween, I had a smile on my face.
This smile was not natural, but rather a crooked one painted on the sides of my lips. And instead of inspiring a happy mood in the people around me, it gave off a freaky vibe.
That’s because this smile was part of my costume: The Joker, as played by the late Heath Ledger in the recent Batman film “The Dark Knight.”
At 18, the celebration of Halloween has mostly passed for me. I dropped trick-or-treating upon starting middle school, and the tradition of dressing up in costume went out the door as well.
However, Halloween is one of the few days on the La Salle High School calendar when acceptable attire differs from the usual no T-shirts and no denim dress code. Prior to this year, I had not taken advantage of this opportunity.
But, being a senior and having the perfect idea for a costume unfold before my eyes on the silver screen, I had my costume picked out on the hot July afternoon when I caught the first showing of “The Dark Knight.”
And evidently, I wasn’t alone. Finding an actual costume became an impossible task, as I had delayed my search until the week of Halloween. But, in the spirit of a true can-do optimist, I got to work on a “homemade Joker.”
The only thing I had to buy for the outfit was the makeup and temporary spray-on hair coloring. For the rest, I looked to my own wardrobe, using the basics of Ledger’s costume in the movie as inspiration.
The final outfit consisted of the cargo pants I wear to school every day, plus a royal blue short-sleeved dress shirt and tie with an old school shirt (also royal blue) pulled over it with sleeves rolled up to vaguely resemble the vest that Batman’s top nemesis wears over his own shirt and tie in the movie.
It wasn’t a top-rate Joker outfit, no doubt, but the onslaught of royal blue led me to joke that I was “La Salle’s very own Joker.”
While the outfit itself may have been a bit on the weak side, the makeup did not disappoint. I sprayed my hair green and applied the red makeup on both sides of my lips, the black around my eyes, and the white around the rest of my face.
In 20 minutes’ time, the transformation was complete: I was The Joker.
Throughout the day, I received compliments and comments along the lines of “Dude, you’re really freaking me out,” which I’d add into the compliment column as well. My vocal impression — most often in the form of Ledger’s oft-quoted “Why so serious?” line — added to the effect.
During a break, one of my friends challenged me to speak in that manner for the rest of the school day. Five minutes and a loss of recollected movie lines later, I lost that challenge.
On the whole, I really enjoyed myself. Not counting the last couple of years that I trick-or-treated, when I went as an athlete, this was the first time I had dressed up for Halloween since slipping on an Anakin Skywalker costume nine years ago.
Just as I had waited for and soaked in the fun of dressing like Casper the Friendly Ghost, the blue Power Ranger and Anakin in my younger years, I had a blast walking around campus dressed as an incredibly popular movie character for a day. With the days of trick-or-treating long behind me, it’s crazy costuming that remains.
The fun ended with the final bell, when I opted to remove my makeup so I wouldn’t send other drivers into panic attacks upon seeing my face in the rear-view mirror.
While still in full Joker garb, though, I was asked if I had a plan for Halloween night. Fortunately, I still had one more Joker line in me:
“Do I really look like a guy with a plan?”

• Andy Carroll is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. He attends La Salle High School.

‘Dark Knight’ Lives Up to Hype

By ANDY CARROLL
LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL

With 2005’s “Batman Begins,” writer and director Christopher Nolan both reinvented the Batman franchise and redefined the standards of the superhero genre.

With “The Dark Knight,” the next chapter in Nolan’s Batman universe, everything is kicked up a notch. The action is bigger, the tension runs higher, and the twists are even more jaw-dropping. Those caught up in the movie’s massive hype need not worry about disappointment; “The Dark Knight” is that rare movie that lives up to every bit of its hype.

As the film opens, crime in Gotham City is declining thanks to the efforts of Batman, whose secret identity is the headline-making billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). Together with honest cop Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman), the “Caped Crusader” has scared criminals to the point where they avoid being seen in the shadows of the night. His activity has been so effective that it has attracted the interest of district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who is in the process of dismantling Gotham’s crime syndicates thanks to Batman’s work.

Enter The Joker (the late Heath Ledger). He’s a sadistic murderer who wears clown makeup to hide facial disfigurations. Unlike most of Gotham’s criminals, he’s not interested in money or power; he is an “agent of chaos” who wishes to bring anarchy into the city just for the sake of it. The angle he takes up seems simple enough: Each day that Batman’s true identity is not revealed, people will die. But as Dent, the police, and even Batman himself learn, The Joker’s tricks are never as simple as they look.

Much ink has already been dedicated to Ledger’s role as The Joker, and all of it is warranted. This is Ledger’s final completed role before his death in January, and it could very well eclipse his role in “Brokeback Mountain” as his acting legacy.

Ledger doesn’t bother with anything close to Jack Nicholson’s campy take on the character; he plays The Joker as a nightmarish fiend. Everything about the performance — from the mocking voice to the murderous behavior — is pitch-perfect. As interpreted by Ledger, The Joker is a cinematic villain in the same canon as Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and Anton Chigurh. Discarding any sentimental feelings regarding his death, it will be a travesty if Ledger’s amazing performance is not recognized with an Oscar nomination.

The rest of the cast is also in fine form. Christian Bale expands upon both the tortured Bruce Wayne and his Batman alter ego in ways that deepen the character’s moral complexity without losing the audience’s sympathy. Aaron Eckhart is perfectly cast as Harvey Dent, and pulls off the most major character shift in the entire movie (because Batman fans know what eventually becomes of Dent) with eerie efficiency. Maggie Gyllenhaal steps in for Katie Holmes as assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, love interest to both Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. She brings the much needed gift of tender humanity to a dark film.

As far as the story is concerned, “The Dark Knight” transcends the superhero genre while simultaneously providing what may be the most thought-provoking examination of the genre to date. “Batman Begins” explored its title character’s moral code (namely his “no murder” rule) and the natures of revenge and retribution.

“The Dark Knight” takes a closer look at those subjects, but also explores the devastating consequences of deeds both good and bad. Some of these consequences result in the most jaw-dropping twists in any movie of recent memory. It also dares to ask — and explore — one very key question: As a vigilante, is Batman really one of the decent people?

The action also shines. Nolan has opted to buck the CGI trend by using stuntmen in many of the scenes, and the decision pays off handsomely. Despite the outlandish nature of Batman’s “tumbler” and “bat-pod” vehicles, the action sequences have a raw grittiness that is absent in most other big budget flicks.

As far as superhero films are concerned, “The Dark Knight” is the greatest height to which the genre is yet to soar. But it’s also a movie to stand tall with the best of any genre. It’s a bold movie that not only entertains, but demands thought and discussion — not to mention repeat viewings — once it ends. There may not be a more richly satisfying film released in the remainder of the year.