Mike's 2008 Movie list

This was definitely an interesting year for movies. There were only a few excellent films but a whole lot of really good ones. My top 10 are movies I will watch multiple times in my life, the top 40 or so are highly recommended to all my friends, beyond that requires specific tastes. The bottom 10 should be avoided.

1 Man on Wire
2 Slumdog Millionaire
3 The Wrestler
4 Vicky Cristina Barcelona
5 Revolutionary Road
6 WALL-E
7 Rachel Getting Married
8 Happy-Go-Lucky
9 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10 JCVD
11 Religulous
12 Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcades
13 The Dark Knight
14 Elegy
15 Forgetting Sarah Marshall
16 In Bruges
17 Funny Games
18 Wesley Willis's Joy Rides
19 I Love You Man
20 Milk
21 Mongol
22 The Reader
23 Tell No One
24 Felon
25 American Teen
26 Darkon
27 Hamlet 2
28 Zack and Miri Make a Porno
29 The Visitor
30 The Strangers
31 Son of Rambow
32 My Winnipeg
33 Frost/Nixon
34 Doubt
35 Hellboy 2
36 Kung Fu Panda
37 Redbelt
38 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
39 The Fall
40 The Foot Fist Way
41 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
42 Iron Man
43 Gran Torino
44 Frozen River
45 Burn After Reading
46 Bigger, Stronger, Faster
47 Lakeview Terrace
48 Che, El Ar the Argentine
49 Role Models
50 The Incredible Hulk
51 Traitor
52 Tropic Thunder
53 The Changeling
54 Smart People
55 My Name is Bruce
56 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
57 Penelope
58 Choke
59 Bolt
60 Brideshead Revisisted
61 The Hammer
62 The Signal
63 Body of Lies
64 Towelhead
65 W.
66 Appaloosa
67 Defiance
68 Ghost Town
69 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
70 Leatherheads
71 Running' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
72 Stealing America: Vote by Vote
73 The Wackness
74 Hancock
75 City of Ember
76 Babylon A.D.
77 Ball's Out: The Gary Houseman Story
78 Be Kind Rewind
79 Cloverfield
80 Eagle Eye
81 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
82 Heavy Metal in Baghdad
83 Hell Ride
84 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
85 Justice League-The New Frontier
86 Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead
87 Recount
88 RocknRolla
89 Seven Pounds
90 Speed Racer
91 Step Brothers
92 Stop-Loss
93 Stuck
94 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
95 The Pineapple Express
96 Valkyrie
97 Wanted
98 War, Inc.

Eric's 2008 Movie List

The usual caveat applies: These are my favorite movies, not necessarily the best. I acknowledge The Reader is a "better" movie than Summerhood, but I enjoyed Summerhood more. I see a good number of films at festivals -- most of which are never released. But some were lucky enough to see a release this year, so to the right of those films you will see the year of the list on which the movie originally appeared and it's former ranking. So, here it is... I would call the top few "great". The top 30 or so I can definitely recommend to anyone. Then pick from the next fifty or so based on taste or interest in the subject matter. But the average movie-goer should stay far away from the bottom ten. Feel free to comment if you agree and especially if you disagree.

1 The Wrestler
2 Revolutionary Road
3 Doubt
4 Milk
5 Man on Wire
6 Frost/Nixon
7 WALL-E
8 Taxi to the Dark Side 2007 #11
9 In Search of a Midnight Kiss 2007 #10
10 Summerhood
11 Young @ Heart
12 The Visitor
13 Wesley Willis’s Joyrides
14 In Bruges
15 Frozen River
16 Dear Zachary: a letter to a son about his father
17 Religulous
18 Waltz with Bashir
19 Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
20 Slumdog Millionaire
21 Changeling
22 Paranoid Park
23 Synecdoche, New York
24 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
25 Chicago 10
26 The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
27 Vicky Cristina Barcelona
28 Chop Shop
29 Rachel Getting Married
30 The Reader
31 Happy-Go-Lucky
32 HottieBoombaLottie
33 Dreams With Sharp Teeth
34 The Band's Visit
35 The Order of Myths
36 Surfwise
37 Snow Angels
38 Hamlet 2
39 Forgetting Sarah Marshall
40 Kabluey 2007 #37
41 Strangers (Israeli film…not "The Strangers")
42 Baghead
43 Son of Rambow: A Home Movie
44 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
45 Tell no one (Ne le dis à personne)
46 The Dark Knight
47 American Teen
48 Tulia, Texas
49 Funny Games
50 At the Death House Door
51 Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
52 The Unforeseen 2007 #45
53 Standard Operating Procedure
54 The Great Buck Howard
55 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
56 Bigger, Stronger, Faster
57 Nights and Weekends
58 American Swing
59 Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
60 The Bank Job
61 Flash of Genius
62 Shades of Ray
63 Tropic Thunder
64 A Quiet Little Marriage
65 Crawford
66 Mister Foe
67 Iron Man
68 Role Models
69 Reprise
70 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
71 Zack and Miri Make a Porno
72 Backseat 2005 #60
73 Under the Same Moon (La misma luna)
74 Second Skin
75 The Go-Getter 2007 #73
76 Super High Me
77 Wendy and Lucy
78 W.
79 Choke
80 Towelhead
81 Obscene
82 My Name is Bruce
83 Vampiro: Angel, Devil, Hero.
84 Smart People
85 Starting out in the Evening
86 Paper or Plastic?
87 A Lawyer Walks into a Bar 2007 #79
88 Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland
89 Happiness Is
90 Leatherheads
91 Priceless (Hors de Prix)
92 The Promotion
93 Humboldt County
94 Then She Found Me
95 Christmas on Mars
96 Stealing America: Vote by Vote
97 Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk
98 Military Intelligence and You! 2006 #82
99 Little Chenier 2006 #78
100 Phantom Punch
101 Penelope



There were quite a few flicks I missed this year that deserve an honorable mention: JCVD, Elegy, My Winnipeg, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Gran Torino, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Burn After Reading, Changeling, The Band's Visit, Transsiberian, City of Men, Choke and Be Kind Rewind.