Wendy and Lucy

Wendy and Lucy is writer/director Kelly Reichardt's follow-up to 2006's Old Joy. Wendy and Lucy is a no-frills tale about Wendy, played wonderfully by Michelle Williams, her dog Lucy, and her stop in a small Oregon town on her way to Alaska. Wendy encounters many difficulties, some through bad luck and some through bad choices.

Wendy and Lucy is the type of film that is quickly becoming my favorite: low-key, simple story, attention to minutae, and well-acted. In fact, it's a good companion piece to one of my other favorite films of the year, The Wrestler. Both films center around the difficulties of a conflicted character. Both films offer a gritty sense of reality. Both films have characters who are slaves to their life choices. Plus, both films are really good.

I do have to admit that Wendy and Lucy does take some patience to sit through. The plot is sparse. There's no soundtrack and little dialogue. But it is still appealing, at least to me. Kinsey didn't go to see this with me because she thought it looked cliche. A young character out of society, someone we're supposed to feel sorry for, emotional distress, etc., etc. But Wendy and Lucy doesn't play out that way. The viewer is not asked to feel sorry for Wendy but we're not asked to judger her either. The film is as far from manipulative as you can get. It is simply a glimpse into Wendy's life. And its a glimpse we can all relate to, how we have to face the results, good or bad, of our choices, good or bad.

After much deliberation, I'm revising my Top 5 and sticking Wendy and Lucy at number five. It pains me to take out Wall-E. If it was the first 2/3 of Wall-E vs. Wendy and Lucy, Wall-E would definitely take it. But judged as a whole, I think Wendy and Lucy just edges out Wall-E.

Wade: 4 stars

Kinsey and Wade's Top 5 films for 2008

The big event, our top 5...

Wade:

5. Wall-E

Another great film from Pixar. The first half of this movie, almost completely silent, is amazing. From the gorgeous landscapes to the subtle Chaplinesque humor, it's as good as it gets. The film drops off a bit when Wall-E makes it up to the spaceship and its human inhabitants, but still a great film.

4. Slumdog Millionaire

So much has already been said about this film, and its probably on its way to an Oscar win for Best Picture. I found the visuals about this film to be the most intriguing aspect, with its frenetic pace and saturated images. This was probably the "feel good" movie of the year, at least of the movies that I've seen.

3. The Wrestler

You can't talk about this film without focusing on the performance of Mickey Rourke. The best performance of the year, incredibly natural, moving, and heartfelt. Also, an A+ directing effort by Darren Aronofsky.

2. Rachel Getting Married

Ten minutes into this film, I was hating it. I thought it was cliched and forced. And then something happened. I became sucked in to the lives of this family and all its difficulties. This was the closest I came to crying at the movies this year.

1. Man on Wire

One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It is amazing how much suspense a film can develop when you already know the results beforehand. It might be the subject matter, but Man on Wire was just as entertaining and intriguing as any narrative film this year.

This Top 5 list is tentative until I see one more film that I'm looking forward to: Wendy and Lucy.

Kinsey:

5. The Wrestler

A great movie with a real and touching look at some amazing characters. Well acted and very well directed.

4. Milk

Inspiring and informative. While a standard biopic format, it succeeded in express a clear concept and was very powerful.

3. Wall-E

Fantastically beautiful! An incredible achievement, heartfelt, topical, humorous, and memorable.
2. Man on Wire

Its hard not to be swept away by the charisma and passion of Phillipe Petit. The format of this documentary leads to excitement and suspense despite the audience knowing the outcome.

1. Slumdog Millionaire

This movie deserves all the praise and awards it has earned thus far. This movie takes the viewer through some of the worst happenings imaginable, yet still conveys such hope in mankind. I can't remember leaving a theater with so much excitement and happiness as I did with this film. Once it is available on DVD, I expect that I will rewatch it over and over again.

Waltz with Bashir

Waltz with Bashir is an Oscar-nominated animated film from Israel dealing with one man's recollection of the Israeli Army's involvement in the first Lebanon war of the early 1980s. Ari Folman discovers that he has no distinct memories of his involvement in that battle, so he seeks out old friends and comrades to fill in the blanks. A surreal portrait of war, youth, and the Middle East emerges.

This is the second year in a row that Kinsey and I have seen an animated film that involves strife in the Middle East. Last year, it was Persepolis, which deals with a young girl's youth during the Iranian Revolution. There aren't really many similarities between these two films, especially in tone. Persepolis is almost playful at times, while Waltz with Bashir takes a much darker approach.

The one item that seems to come up a lot with this film is whether or not the animation separates the viewer too much from the horrific events taking on screen. Can a war film have an impact on its viewers if it's animated? My answer would be yes and no. There are times when the animation in Waltz with Bashir is very obvious and makes you feel disconnected from what's happening. But its a credit to the filmmaker that this isn't always the case, especially at the end of the film. Not to spoil anything, but the ending does drive you back into reality and makes you reconsider all those animated images that you've seen.

Being a visual person, I was very fascinated by the animation style of this film, especially the separate treatments for character and scene. The characters are animated in a very stylized manner, high contrast with no grayscale shading, very 2D, almost in a comic book fashion. The scenes, meanwhile, are very highly rendered, and if it wasn't for some color choices, could be approaching photo-realism. This contrast in techniques tends to both bring the viewer into the scene yet keep them separate from the characters.

Kinsey and I both appreciated this movie, especially the way that it brought to light certain historical atrocities that we were not aware of. However, I don't think that either of us would ever want to see Waltz with Bashir again. The subject matter is just too depressing.

Kinsey: 4 stars

Wade: 4 stars