The ten best movies of 2008
The editors in charge did things a little differently with the year-end arts roundup that ran in Sunday's paper and limited us to our top five picks for 2008. That means I'll have to wait for my annual Herald Movie Yearbook feature, which is running Jan. 2, to publish my full top 10 list in the paper.
But since the list is done and waiting, I might as well share it here. I'll save the other lists (including the worst, oddest and most underrated movies) for the Yearbook feature.
THE TEN BEST MOVIES OF 2008
1. Slumdog Millionaire: Director Danny Boyle turned the story of two brothers growing up in the slums of Mumbai into the year's most exhilarating and humane movie.
2. Wall*E: Pixar's fable about a lonely, lovestruck robot left behind on an abandoned Earth was pure movie magic.
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days: Through the harrowing story of two college students trying to arrange an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania, director Cristian Mingiu illustrated the wide-ranging consequences of life under a totalitarian regime.
4. Gran Torino/Changeling: Clint Eastwood's one-two punch -- one a drama that boasted the best performance of his career, the other an epic look at corruption in 1920s California -- proved that, at 78, he's still getting better.
5. The Dark Knight/Hellboy II: In a year filled with strong comic-book adaptations, Christopher Nolan's psychologically complex take on Batman and Guillermo del Toro's endlessly imaginative fantasy were the best.
6. Paranoid Park: Milk may be the one that's getting director Gus Van Sant all the accolades and Oscar attention, but I much preferred his compassionate and hypnotic exploration of adolescence, centering on a teen haunted by guilt over an accidental death.
7. Frozen River: The debut of writer-director Courtney Hunt was a harrowing depiction of a desperate single mother struggling to provide for her children in illegal and dangerous ways, anchored by a phenomenal performance by Melissa Leo.
8. Rachel Getting Married: Jonathan Demme's joyous return to feature filmmaking had the feel of a documentary about a family embracing its dysfunction instead of scurrying away from it.
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The first hour is so-so, but the rest of director David Fincher's epic-length contemplation on death and mortality is pure gold.
10. Funny Games: Director Michael Haneke's remake of his own 1997 Austrian thriller was practically identical to the original - meaning it was just as torturous and provocative.
Honorable mentions: Burn After Reading, Elegy, I've Loved You So Long, Man on Wire, Pineapple Express, Towelhead, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Wrestler.
Clint Eastwood is God.
Posted by: HoCo | December 22, 2008 at 04:31 PM
Is this a top 10 list or a top 12 list?
Posted by: BigTx | December 22, 2008 at 05:56 PM
You CHEATED. You can't put Changeling and Gran Torino as one movie!!!!
Posted by: can't fight this feeling anymore | December 22, 2008 at 06:27 PM
Ok, I'll give it a shot.
1. Let The Right One In
2. Red Belt
3. In Bruges
4. The Fall
5. Priceless
6. Volkodav ( Wolf Hound ) (Russian Release)
7. Batman - Gotham Knight (DVD)
8. The Auteur
9. Iron Man
10 The Incredible Hulk
Posted by: mrbluelouboyle | December 23, 2008 at 08:39 PM
Hey Rene,
Not too far off from the movies I loved, if you overlook your weakness for superhero movies (Hellboy II on par with Dark Knight? Really?).
Happy to see Wall-E so high on your list. We'll have to agree to disagree about the handheld hipster fest that is Rachel Getting Married.
Come to Sundance! It's not too late, plane fares are a song, and it'll be deserted this year.
Peter
Posted by: Peter Debruge | January 06, 2009 at 02:28 PM