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The Dartmouth
July 26, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Arts staff picks its favorite titles and tracks of 2008

Heath Ledger, now deceased, stars as the deeply disturbing Joker in the record-breaking box office hit
Heath Ledger, now deceased, stars as the deeply disturbing Joker in the record-breaking box office hit

"Flight of the Red Balloon"

It's artsy. It's obscure. And it's really French. But trust me -- this lyrical ode to childhood innocence is the best film of 2008. Juliette Binoche gives a luminous performance as a lovesick puppeteer struggling to raise her son with the help of a Taiwanese nanny (Song Fang). The characters' anxieties contrast beautifully with the film's stylistic tranquility, captured in expressive long takes and a color scheme of ethereal sunset tones. Loosely inspired by Albert Lamorisse's timeless classic "The Red Balloon" (1956), "Flight" is both a loving homage to its predecessor and an enchanting masterpiece in its own right.

--A.J. Fox

"Wall-E"

After years of substandard movies, John Lasseter and his creative team at the newly merged Disney/Pixar set out to rejuvenate Walt's vision. They succeeded with "Wall-E," a refreshingly innovative and richly colored film that will clean up at the Oscars and is considered a dark horse for a Best Picture nomination. The picture makes no effort to hide its liberal agenda, portraying a post-environmental apocalypse and only adding a romance story between robots for the little ones accompanying their parents to the theater. Along with the snuggly puppy movie, "Bolt," "Wall-E" signals another renaissance for Disney/Pixar, which will release "Up," the long-awaited "Toy Story 3" and two fairy tales, "The Princess and the Frog" and "Rapunzel," over the next two years.

--Fan Zhang

"The Dark Knight"

"The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's sequel to "Batman Begins" (2005), shattered box office records and topped DVD sale charts this year. Fueled by actor Heath Ledger's untimely death in January, the attention surrounding this film reached a fever pitch by the time of its release in July. Audiences were undoubtedly awed by the action sequences and intrigued by the moral issues underlining the plot.

--Alicia Kim

"Slumdog Millionaire"

The story of an Indian boy from the slums who attempts to win it all on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" entertains from start to finish. The boy's horrible life and quest to find the love of his life, shown through flashbacks, capture and enthrall audiences.

--Jessica Krug

Anything but "Benjamin Button." Oy.

--Lucy Randall

Music

"Volume 1" by She and Him

At the risk of outing my inner hipster, is there anything better than the zippy, ironic stylings of M. Ward and the sublime Zooey Deschanel? She and Him released its first album, "Volume 1," this year, and if there's ever been a more exciting musical debut then I don't want to know about it. Deschanel's vocals have the captivating, self-reflexive lilt of a young Ella Fitzgerald -- together with Ward, she breathes new life into classic tunes like "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" as well as original gems like "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here." Indie rock fans, eat your hearts out.

--A.J. Fox

"Fearless" by Taylor Swift

Diva Taylor Swift rebounded nicely from her 27-second, over-the-phone breakup with Joe Jonas by releasing a more mature yet innocent sophomore album. The creepy teenager's loss was the listening public's gain as Swift channeled her energy into penning lyrics riddled with romantic imagery and fairy-tale heartaches, from dancing in rainstorms to tardy knights on white horses. Every song on "Fearless" is quality and a possible hit, so look for Swift to continue dominating the charts in 2009 with multiple singles. Hopefully, the country star will have plenty more anguishing trysts for material, and though critics may label her a whore, it will only make me like her more.

--Fan Zhang

"Vampire Weekend" by Vampire Weekend

Integrating African beats and insightful lyrics, this album is an extremely impressive debut. The most popular songs on the album, "Oxford Comma" and "A-Punk," could be heard blasting through the sound systems of shopping malls and record stores over the summer. All of the tracks on the CD, however, will prove to be songs that will last past 2008.

--Rebecca Lee

"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay

Coldplay never fails to impress. From the intensity of "Violet Hill" to the serenity of the second half of "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love," "Viva La Vida" shows the outstanding range of the band and Chris Martin's vocals.

--Jessica Krug

"Santogold" by Santogold

With her assertive, political lyrics and innovative sonic effects, this genre-bending artist raises the standard for popular music, making stars like Kanye sound old-fashioned and limited in comparison.

--Lucy Randall

Television

"Mad Men"

The second season of Matthew Weiner's incendiary drama is intoxicating in the best sense of the word -- a sleek, sexy journey down Madison Avenue circa 1962. The ineffable Jon Hamm returns as Don Draper, a ruthless advertising agent with a sinister past. "Mad Men" is saturated with sex, lies and expensive haircuts, but the show conceals an ocean of substance beneath its enticing stylistic veneer. Season Two features more than a few juicy twists, as Don's web of deception begins to crumble like one big house of cards. Who knew that dystopian American angst could be so seductive?

--A.J. Fox

"Gossip Girl"

Premised on million-dollar Bridgehampton estates, high-society balls, diamond-encrusted accessories from Bendel's and bribery of Yale University administrators, "Gossip Girl" has clearly been staying current with the financial crisis. Yet no television show has done more to propagate headbands, school blazers and boat shoes as actual fashion. The only thing that might end this scandalous program's reign as a modern day "Dynasty" in 2009 is a mass outbreak of syphilis among high school students due to increased promiscuity.

--Fan Zhang

"American Idol"

"American Idol" had an especially successful seventh season, with soaring ratings that catapulted Fox Television to the position of most-watched network in America. The debut albums of winner David Cook and runner-up David Archuleta have topped music charts, demonstrating the influence of the reality show on the recording industry.

--Alicia Kim

"True Blood"

Even if you usually don't like vampire shows or movies, you should give this HBO series, written and directed by Alan Ball, a chance.

Like Stephenie Meyer, author of the "Twilight" book series, Ball depicts vampires as members of a persecuted sub-culture struggling for equal rights and fighting backwoods prejudice and hatred, but his show doesn't overdo the social metaphor. Episodes center around telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), her forbidden love affair with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), and her friends and family, who fall on opposing sides of vampire issues and get into tangles of their own. Sookie, meanwhile, fights the undead and looks great doing it.

Needless to say, there's a little Buffy in Paquin's character, but the series' setting in rural Louisiana, combined with Ball's smart writing, rescues it from clich.

--Lucy Randall

Books

"When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris

David Sedaris is probably America's most depressing humorist, and I mean that as a compliment. His latest set of essays is a twisted, characteristically hilarious reflection on his personal psychoses and, by extension, our own. Topics range from Sedaris' obsession with dead bodies to his voracious pet spider and a horrible mishap with a projectile throat lozenge -- all recounted with such morbid, self-deprecating wit that it left me weeping with laughter. The extended final chapter about Sedaris' attempt to quit smoking in Japan reads like a symphonic climax to his tragicomic unpacking of personal woes.

--A.J. Fox

"Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri continues her theme of conflict between Bengali culture and American society in her follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of stories, "The Interpreter of Maladies" and bes-tselling novel, "The Namesake."

Lahiri successfully stretches herself as a writer, adapting her style and structure for different tales in this exquisite collection, which was named one of the 10 best books of 2008 by The New York Times. Each story in the collection leads to epiphanies for the characters that allow them to reconcile the American and Indian parts of their identities.

--Fan Zhang

"Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer

The final chapter of the "Twilight" saga had me in an emotional tangle. While the first half was less than impressive and outright frustrated me most of the time, the last 400 pages kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters came alive, new abilities surfaced and the entire series came to a satisfying close. Even amidst tales of werewolves and vampires, the characters managed to stay down-to-earth and relatable.

--Jessica Krug

"The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

This year's winner of the Booker Prize for fiction, "The White Tiger," is an imaginative and moving novel about the class system in modern-day India, told by a hilarious murderer: the "social entrepreneur" and taxi company owner who calls himself the White Tiger. He tells his story in a series of letters to the premier of China, commenting on India's social structure and political problems in comparison to those of China.

Most of the time, however, his critique is shown and not told, as when the White Tiger recalls the smell of his master's feet, which he had to wash and massage every day, or the mixed pride and shame he felt when driving his master to the poor part of the city where he had grown up.

I recommend reading this and Fareed Zakaria's non-fiction bestseller, "The Post-American World," in one weekend for a balanced and enjoyable passage to modern-day India.

--Lucy Randall