my top ten films of 2008

So its 22 days into the New Year, so it must be time to reflect on the best movies I saw in 2008. I wanted this list to be a little bit different from the mainstream critic's lists, so I'm limiting it to movies released in 2008 that I actually saw.

This criteria excludes most of the usual fodder for these lists because I live in a small market for films, and I've not seen most of the "Oscar movies." I'm also going to exclude those that have seen already this year (Gran Torino, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) that technically were 2008 releases.

So without further ado here we go.

Honorable Mention - My Kid Could Paint That - honorable mention goes to my favorite documentary I saw this year that qualifies. This would have gone to King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, but it had a 2007 release.

Having sold fine art for five glorious months on the Funship Ecstasy, I heard a variation of the line "my kid could paint that" Heck when I first laid eyes on Parkwest's catalog of Joan Miro's work I sure as hell thought the same thing. So It intrigued me that a four-year-old girl was producing gallery quality work. This film's greatest strength is actually its unintended commentary about the nature of documentary film making. The producers set out to make a completely different film, but found their direction changing as the truth was revealed about their subject

On with the real list.

10. Blindness - this was one of those films I saw and said, "Wow, that was powerful, too bad its not a movie I can recommend to anyone." Most people don't want to see such a raw film. The depiction of the breakdown of common decency and values strikes a little too close to the realm of feasibility. I actually felt that the community constructed might have been very similar to that which sprung up in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.

9. Blueberry Nights - Wong Kar Wai's films have always struck me as beautiful, and this was his first fully English language film. I think it came in under really high expectations, but it was still a fantastic piece of film making. Norah Jones shows decent acting chops to go with that voice.

8. Pride and Glory - This film gets a nod because it triumphed over what I call genre-staleness. I've seen WAAAY too many dirty cop movies, and with Infernal Affairs/The Departed setting the bar so high in this arena, I didn't expect too much from this one. I was pleasantly surprised.

7. In Bruges - I really cannot wait to see writer/director Martin McDonagh's next film. The acting, and the writing is really spot on, and more people need to see this film.

6. Mamma Mia! - I've said before that I'm a sucker for musicals, so this is no surprise. This film makes the list despite having only one passable male lead singing voice, and an absolutely god-awful performance all-around from Pierce Brosnan. Amanda Seyfried needs to be cast in more films.

5. Iron Man - All about being second best. This would be the best comic book adaptation in many other years (Chris Nolan cancelled that . . Robert Downey Jr. killed it (Tom Cruise has reportedly wanted this role for years, and I'm glad he never got it); and his career resurrection (complete with an Oscar nom for Tropic thunder today) takes a backseat this year to Mickey Rourke. The moderate success of Ed Norton's Hulk sets the bar high for the proposed merge for the Avenger's movie, but I won't get my hopes up for that until they're actually filming.

4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - My favorite comedy of the year (although it was almost derailed by Role Models late in the game; and Pineapple Express sorta overpromised/underdelivered). It has everything, a homoerotic Jonah Hill, plenty of full frontal guy time, weak-yet-attractive female leads, and lots to quote.

3. The Visitor - I'm SOOO psyched that Richard Jenkins got an Oscar nomination for best lead actor for this film. Its tough with a film that was released so early in the year, but this film is a solid rental. Everyone can find something about the movie to love, and Jenkins is fantastic.

2. Wall*E - The best animated film in recent years. Makes a lot out of very little dialogue. Great social and environmental commentary that's not preachy or harsh. And its for everyone. I feel terrible that I waited so long to finally watch this one.

1. The Dark Knight - a bit of a cop out to list this ahead of Wall*E, but I'm biased for Christopher Nolan. Didn't think it was possible for him to improve so greatly on Batman Begins. It ran nearly three hours, and I would have gladly watched three more (and I went to the midnight showing). I fully intended to judge Heath Ledger's performance very harshly, and it was still amazing. The only argument I can support against him being the best supporting actor of this past year is that his performance is so powerful that he really doesn't support anyone. He outshines everyone, every second that he's onscreen. I always felt he was a great actor ever since Monster's Ball. This just confirmed it.

So there it is. This year has started out pretty good. Can't wait to see Slumdog, Milk, etc. but that was 2008.