Top Film for Each Year of My Life – 1988

Scrooged

“The bitch hit me with a toaster.”

I almost feel bad posting a favorite for this year. It’s not that I don’t have affection for some of the films that came out; I just don’t feel the passion about them like I do in other years. At the very least, the number one film is a clear winner for me in weak years. Any of my top eight films could be at number one depending on my mood, but that’s because the films hover at the same “above average” level.
That said, I thoroughly enjoy many of these movies. Beetlejuice could get by alone on Michael Keaton’s performance (a man who need a comeback better than White Noise), but is enhanced by the whimsical imagination of Tim Burton. Bull Durham is one of the great sports movies ever. I need to spend more time with A Fish Called Wanda, which I could see taking over the number one spot after a few more viewings.

For the first time, there are some films I haven’t seen that could weigh heavily my list upon viewing. The Blob remake, Dead Ringers, Die Hard and Eight Men Out (grouped together because I’ve seen bits and pieces of both on TV), Monkey Shines, The Serpent and the Rainbow (which I rented once, but never watched), and Tapeheads. I guess the reason so many could take a spot in my list shows how lukewarm I am to my ’88 list.

It’s sort of by default that Scrooged is on top now. I’m just going with what I initially put as number one given my indifference to the order of my top ten (interestingly, it’s not the only reworking of Dickens’ classic that will be written about in this space). But Scrooged does have a lot of good qualities, beginning with Bill Murray’s performance. His skill at delivering sarcastic one liners translates perfectly to playing a douchebag because no matter how awful he is, the audience always kind of likes him (much like audiences couldn’t hate Paul Newman’s Hud in the film of the same name).
The films also scores points by wrapping a bit of satire of the television industry in with the A Christmas Carol story (the studio owner puts mice in the broadcast to try to gain the feline demographic). The film is surprisingly affective, too. There is legitimate sadness at times and Bill Murray’s face is built for melancholy anyway. True to the Christmas Carol tradition, the final spirit is terrifying as ever. Actually, this is the most terrifying final spirit yet on film (something bizarre lurks under the cloak). I could do with toning down Carol Kane’s shtick, but that’s about my only complaint.

Perhaps another reason I have it at number one is to give it a fair shake. Rottentomatoes.com shows that the “top critics” average a 17% fresh rating. The film is much better than that. I believe it has since been elevated in the public’s eyes a bit, but I’m still going to fight for the underdog. And no matter how cheesy the sing-a-long of “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” at the end is, I can’t help but enjoy Murray’s vamping over it. It’s a fun movie, and that’s all it needs to be.