This is probably too early for most people, especially since the very best films of '08 were so heavily released at the end of the year. More than usual, even. I haven't had a chance to see some of the glitzier awards bait type stuff like Doubt yet (now I have seen Doubt), but I've seen everything I was really jazzed up for. I'll check those other flicks out as they come to DVD and whatnot, but as of now my 2008 top ten looks like this...
1. In Bruges
2. Pineapple Express
3. Let the Right One In
4. Stuck
5. Revolutionary Road
6. Doubt
7. Milk
8. Happy-Go-Lucky
9. The Dark Knight
0. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Other Films I Liked
The Wrestler, Wall·E, Be Kind Rewind, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hancock, Burn After Reading, Role Models, Teeth, The Visitor, Iron Man, Funny Games, The Hammer, Transsiberian, City of Ember, Hamlet 2, The Fall , Waltz With Bashir
Films I Thought Were Average
Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 21, Baby Mama, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung-Fu Panda, Leatherheads, Speed Racer, Tropic Thunder, Rachel Getting Married, Frost/Nixon, The Reader
Films I Didn't Like
Slumdog Millionaire, Wanted, The Mutant Chronicles, The Bank Job, Cassandra's Dream, Doomsday, Run Fatboy Run, Semi-Pro, Zach and Miri Make a Porno, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, W., Synecdoche, New York, Redbelt
And here are my top ten (actually 20) performances of the year. Each list is in no particular order...
Male
Sean Penn in Milk
Eddie Marsan in Happy-Go-Lucky
Ray Fiennes in In Bruges
Michael Pitt in Funny Games
Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man
Josh Brolin in W.
PS Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Frank Langella in [i]Frost/Nixon/I]
Female
Mena Suvari in Stuck
Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky
Alexis Zegerman in Happy-Go-Lucky
Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married
Lina Leandersson in Let the Right One In
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Catinca Untaru in The Fall
Jess Weixler in Teeth
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Tildon in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Overall, 2008 was a much less impressive year in film than 2007. For my taste, at least. I still haven't seen a bunch of movies from '08, I know, but I'm very confident in that unfair generalization. I wrote this somewhere else (and I stole it from someone else), but if 2007 was a good year for great movies, then 2008 was a great year for good movies. There were a buttload of movies I really liked this year, but only a few I really loved. I'm looking forward to 2009.
1. In Bruges
2. Pineapple Express
3. Let the Right One In
4. Stuck
5. Revolutionary Road
6. Doubt
7. Milk
8. Happy-Go-Lucky
9. The Dark Knight
0. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Other Films I Liked
The Wrestler, Wall·E, Be Kind Rewind, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hancock, Burn After Reading, Role Models, Teeth, The Visitor, Iron Man, Funny Games, The Hammer, Transsiberian, City of Ember, Hamlet 2, The Fall , Waltz With Bashir
Films I Thought Were Average
Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 21, Baby Mama, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung-Fu Panda, Leatherheads, Speed Racer, Tropic Thunder, Rachel Getting Married, Frost/Nixon, The Reader
Films I Didn't Like
Slumdog Millionaire, Wanted, The Mutant Chronicles, The Bank Job, Cassandra's Dream, Doomsday, Run Fatboy Run, Semi-Pro, Zach and Miri Make a Porno, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, W., Synecdoche, New York, Redbelt
And here are my top ten (actually 20) performances of the year. Each list is in no particular order...
Male
Sean Penn in Milk
Eddie Marsan in Happy-Go-Lucky
Ray Fiennes in In Bruges
Michael Pitt in Funny Games
Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man
Josh Brolin in W.
PS Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Frank Langella in [i]Frost/Nixon/I]
Female
Mena Suvari in Stuck
Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky
Alexis Zegerman in Happy-Go-Lucky
Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married
Lina Leandersson in Let the Right One In
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Catinca Untaru in The Fall
Jess Weixler in Teeth
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Tildon in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Overall, 2008 was a much less impressive year in film than 2007. For my taste, at least. I still haven't seen a bunch of movies from '08, I know, but I'm very confident in that unfair generalization. I wrote this somewhere else (and I stole it from someone else), but if 2007 was a good year for great movies, then 2008 was a great year for good movies. There were a buttload of movies I really liked this year, but only a few I really loved. I'm looking forward to 2009.
Last edited by Swedish Chef; 02-24-09 at 03:44 PM.
Reason: Updating my list, chumps