As I did with my albums of the year list, I have to begin this list lamenting the fact that the 2008 year in film was not as good as the 2007 year in film. It was a down year for art in general, as pretty much any critic you read will tell you. Part of the reason for the negativity is the fact that the usual year-end glut of awards-baiting prestige films were largely disappointing, often ranging from merely solid to outright bad. And since that's the steady diet critics (and myself) are fed around the time they write year-end lists (albeit theirs come out at the actual end of the year, whereas mine waits until February, but I have to pay to see my movies), so it's not surprising that the same enthusiasm wasn't there, especially when the year before featured instant classics like No Country for Old Men, Zodiac, and There Will Be Blood.
Instead, the greatness in 2008 came not from the types of movies Hollywood likes to get dressed up for to dole out awards, but from the films fans line up for to buy overpriced concessions to see on opening day, or movies released early in the year when people weren't paying attention. So this list is still filled with movies I enjoyed quite a bit, and recommend to everyone. As of this writing, I've seen 63 films released in North America in 2008, which includes some foreign language films that were released in their native countries in previous years, but doesn't include some TIFF films I saw that haven't yet been released (some of which would definitely contend for this list and will probably pop up next year... unless it is phenomenal). Of those 63, these were the best...
Honourable Mentions: Man on Wire; Bolt; Synecdoche, New York; I've Loved You So Long; Milk
10. In Bruges - When I first saw trailers for this film, I liked everything about it except the prominence of Colin Farrell. That and the fact that it was released early in the year when I was focused on last year's Oscar contenders, then burned out from going to the movies so often, is probably the reason why I just got around to watching this a week ago. If either of these things have kept you from seeing this funny, twisty, clever, action flick with surprisingly effective dramatic overtones, it's time to give it a shot. Especially the Farrell thing, because he's fantastic in this. I have a feeling that I'll be watching this one several more times, as its originality, sense of fun, and pathos make it the kind of film that could become a personal favourite.
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Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Cool stuff. I thought 2008 was actually a much better year than 2007 for film. Lots of tremendous stuff out there to see.
My Top Films of the Year (in no particular order):
Let the Right One In
Revolutionary Road
Frozen River
The Wrestler
Happy-Go-Lucky
Doubt
Slumdog Millionaire
Gran Torino
WALL-E
Frost/Nixon
I've yet to see Milk, In Bruges, Rachel Getting Married, and several others too, so the list could change too.
Also, wasn't as big a fan of the "superhero" movies as everyone else was. I thought The Dark Knight was average, same with Iron Man.
2 - andre
Where is twilight?
3 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I guess I didn't give The Wrestler much of a chance...It is rather boring in the beginning.
Wall-E was one of the best movies I have ever seen and even though I agree about Pixar("UP" is coming soon...Yay), I thought they had some competition with Sony's release in '07. "Surf's Up" was freakin awesome! If they make another one like that then we will have two companies producing great animated movies that are for everyone.
TDK was very good but I think the hype ruined something for me...I can't put my finger on it. Really, I did like it but towards the end it got a little drawn out. I guess when it comes to "Comic Book" movies I'd rather see them animated. Imho, this movie doesn't touch the Spawn Animated Series that HBO/Macfarlane put out quite sometime ago but,again, that's my opinion.
Your list is fairly accurate though I would've included "Eagle Eye". I thought that movie was gonna suck but it turned out great.
4 - Jordan Richardson
"Surf's Up" was freakin awesome!
Really? I hadn't bothered to see that one because I thought it looked bloody awful.
5 - Andy Sayers
I found Surf's Up to be merely average. I'm all penguined out.
6 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Well, Jordan, it's tough to say if the animation is as good as Pixar's ( I think it comes pretty damn close) but the script & voice over cast make up for whatever it lacks in that department. It was funny, a little bit touching and it presented a huge point in the same fashion as Wall-E. But, I can't take anything away from Wall-E because that film was brilliant, original & very creative. Still, Surf's Up has to,easily, be in my top 10 for Animated movies.
You should check it out...
7 - Andy Sayers
@Jordan:
Just as you didn't care for TDK and Iron Man, I disagree with Happy-Go-Lucky and Revolutionary Road, both of which I actively disliked. Diff'rent strokes, I suppose.
I'm about to watch Frozen River, so I'll see if it would've contended had I saw it in time.
8 - Cster-sama
I haven't seen most of those movies. I'll check them out in the new year.
9 - Brovky
wer da hell is the dark knight??!!
10 - Andy
You have to keep reading Brovky. Like maybe all the way to number one.