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Must Read: Time Out's Year in Film - From A to Z

by Alex Billington
December 20, 2008
Source: Time Out New York

Time Out New York's Year in Film - From A to Z

Every December we see countless year end wrap ups, from top 10 lists to other great retrospectives. We've seen a few good wrap ups so far, but one of my recent favorites is Time Out New York's Year in Film - A to Z. Written by David Fear and Joshua Rothkopf, this retrospective names a total of 26 "things" that defined this year in cinema, from Asia Argento to Zachary. I commend Fear and Rothkopf for coming up with such a creative and unique way of looking back at 2008. And if you need a refreshing perspective on 2008, this is definitely a great place to start, especially if you're writing your own year end wrap up or top 10 list. We've provided the full list below with links for each and every one, in case you want to read the write-ups.

A is for Asia Argento
B is for bloodsucking teens
C is for critics
D is for dysfunctional superheroes
E is for Ebert
F is for France
G is for Guevara
H is for Hollywood
I is for Israeli cinema
J is for the Joker
K is for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
L is for loft limbo
M is for Mickey
N is for Newman
O is for Obama
P is for Poppy
Q is for Quantum of Solace
R is for Rambo and Rivette
S is for self-distribution
T is for tightrope walking
U is for U2 3-D
V is for Valkyrie
W is for Winnipeg
X is for The Exiles
Y is for you, the viewer
Z is for Zachary

"If you'd told us back in January that, by the year's end, Mickey Rourke would deliver one of the year's best performances and be a potential Oscar candidate, we would have been more than a little skeptical." That's an excerpt from the M is for Mickey write-up. I'm already finding myself going "oh yea!" to more than a few of these, even just remembering that U2 3D and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out this year. I'm also starting to tear up just thinking back on how much we've accomplished and how much has happened. What movies will you remember the most? If you think about 2008 without organizing your own top 10 list, what experiences come to mind? Thanks again for this great year end retrospective, Time Out.

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Related categories: Cool Stuff, Editorials, Opinions

Al

Obama? ....why?
Scott McHenry

Obama? stupid
max

#1 Press the link. quote: O is for Obama “But wait,” you say, “Barack Obama wasn’t in a movie this year!” No, he wasn’t, but looking back over the last ten months of his campaign—the setbacks, the attempts at scandalizing him, the Speech, the debates, even the election itself—you’d almost think you’d watched him in one. The way people talked about Obama’s bid for the presidency was the way they’d talk about a root-for-the-underdog drama; you half expected people to do the slow Rudy clap when he strode out onto that stage in Chicago. Perhaps more importantly, however, was the effect Obama had on what we watched this year, especially after he won. Even though the Iraq War still rages on and the economy nosedives into the Earth’s core with frightening speed, the slew of dark, pessimistic films that opened at the year’s end—Revolutionary Road, Doubt, even Frost/Nixon—somehow seemed like they belonged to another era. (As we noted in our Frost/Nixon review, it feels like “the best movie of 2006.”) We have sensed a definite change to the zeitgeist is now here, and that will undoubtedly affect how we process the next four years of film as well. Nice feature.
fanboy d

CRITICS?! C is for Cloverfield!!!
Al

#3, i did click it and i still dont get it. Theres about a million people you could say "you'd think you'd seen him in one." Palin had more scandles, so wheres the P is for Palin. Biden was in the press a lot, where was the B for Biden. If it wasn't in film, or had nothing to do with film, why put on the list?
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Because he won the election Al. And a lot of people didn't think he would. Palin was just a gossip story, not a "movie" story like Obama...
Al

a gossip story? maybe. But i'd rather see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure than Rudy.
Caleb

@ #1, 2 and 5... Cause they're idiots
Kail

Fellas we're here to discuss film not politics, if you continue to discuss this then I'll have to destroy the planet, and maybe several others. Off topic discussions are most forbidden on MY internet.
peloquin

Honestly, my most memorable experience this year would be going to see Speed Racer in IMAX with my little nephew. I remember looking at his face during the film and he had the same look that I had when I first saw Toy Story as a kid. That look of bewilderment and amazement that such an amazing fantasy world exists. No matter what critics or anyone else say about that film, it accomplished what it set out to do and in a post-riddlin world keeping a kid's attention is quite the feat...not to mention them being genuinely interested and blown away.
Janika

honestly, I'm tired of these people inserting politics into EVERY-FUCKING-THING! Screw the whole "Obama story was like an underdog movie!" No it wasn't.*** REALITY CHECK!*** The media, celebrities, and famous/pompous know-it-alls steered the majority of people in large, exceedingly-populated cities against Bush and Republicans so it was obvious that Obama would win the election. Anyone who has a fully-functioning brain should know that. People SHOULD and OUGHT to leave Obama and any politics out of things like this, but they just can't rise above it. This is totally expected of you people. I have no ounce of respect for David Fear, Joshua Rothkopf, and now, you, Alex Billington. And who gives a fuck about Ebert?
Al

#9, according to Time Out, Obama belongs in a film discussion. And we are not discussing politics, we are discussing whether Obama belongs in a Year in Film article or not.
MgbPeregrine

Neat concept! 26 different notions for the year (not just the one that a few are hung up on). Clever ideas, too. Not predictable which I think makes the list compelling. I started to think about a few on my own list ...
iUsemyBrain;doYou?

Obama has nothing to do with a Year in Film article; he obviously shouldn't be on this list. And coming up with some inane reason that he SHOULD be on this list seems pretty foolish, Alex. lol. I agree with #11, people really ought to rise above this crap.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Don't blame me, I didn't start it! I'm wrote this article, obviously I think all the choices Time Out made were great...
lol

#3: you're hilarious! To think of Obama as the underdog is utterly ludicrous. The amount of money poured into his campaign and used to put his name and his "intellectual" (misleading) agenda into every corner of the tv, the internet, and basically anything else the media reaches is NOT an attribute of someone who is considered an underdog. LOL. #11: it's true. If any of you people actually care to look at which way the majority of counties in the U.S. voted, most of them went red. It was in the large cities that the election was won.
Chris

what a boring list. Time Out should have done better.
http://www.movieguys.org 790

Obama did a great job as the democratic presidential canadate. He was so convincing he won the role of president, in the new film called The New World Order, He deserves an Oscar but I guess being the biggest star in the world (the president) trumps that honor.