What Were Your Favorite Movies of 2008?

At this time of year, it seems like every media outlet publishes a bunch of 10 best lists. 10 best books. 10 best TV shows. 10 most influential people. 10 most significant events. 10 best movies.

Well, here's a chance for you to chime in. What were your favorite movies of 2008?

To get things started, I'll share my list. Since I don't see as many movies as a journalist, I'll just list 5 favorites. I'll also list some honorable mentions and some busts in order to give you an idea of what kinds of movies I like.

2008 movies that I haven't yet seen but will: Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Gran Torino, The Wrestler.

Honorable mentions:

Iron Man: A very well made film with an interesting main character played extremely well by Robert Downey Jr, but in the end, this movie follows the same basic plot line as almost every other superhero movie ever made, so it's really nothing new.

Kung Fu Panda: Beautifully animated and well voiced, with well written dialogue containing many tributes to martial arts movies of the past, this movie was funny, exciting and poignant but again, the plot line was very familiar.

Tropic Thunder: A movie about making a war movie in the jungle in which the cast of the movie finds itself in the middle of a real war without knowing it. Great idea with some really funny moments, but not enough to make the top 5.

The Dark Knight: Great looking with a great villain, but too long and overdone. I think that this movie is a favorite of movie critics and viewers because of the sad and premature death of the actor who played the joker, Heath Ledger (he was the best thing in the movie).

The Band's Visit: A police band from Egypt, a Muslim country, goes to play in Israel, a Hebrew country, but gets lost. Very good movie, but a little too slow.

The biggest disappointment:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The people who made this completely forgot what made the earlier Indiana Jones movies great; self-deprecating humor and cliffhanging peril. This movie's action sequences were way too long. It wasn't funny either.

The top 5:

Please note that this is a listing of my favorites and that I'm not asking you to go watch these movies. Some of them are "R" rated.

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall:


A man gets dumped by his famous girlfriend so he takes a vacation in Hawaii to forget about her. Problem is, his ex shows up at the same place. A fairly common story line made into a really good movie by the secondary characters, which include the man's brother and his wife, a hotel waiter and especially the new boyfriend and the hotel's hostess. All very good and all very funny.

4. In Bruges:


The story of two gangsters who are sent on a forced holiday to the city of Bruges in Belgium. The older gangster thinks the city is beautiful and interesting, the younger one is bored to tears. Very well acted and very funny. Who knew that Colin Farrell could do comedy?

3. The Bank Job:


The strange true story of a major bank robbery pulled off by a seemingly incompetent gang of buddies and the unexpected consequences that resulted from it. Full of surprises, intricate, absorbing, intense and funny.

2. The Visitor:


A middle aged college professor living a life in which he does the same thing every day is asked to go to New York. Upon entering his apartment there, he find strangers living in it. They slowly re-awaken him to the joy of living.

My favorite movie of 2008

1. Wall E:


I admire all Pixar movies, but in the end, it is clear that they are meant for children, for they lack subtlety and there is always a period in the middle of them where I get bored. Wall E is different. There were several moments when watching this film that I thought to myself "wow". The opening 30 minutes, in which there is no dialogue, is brilliant. The many messages the movie is trying to send, about how humans are destroying the Earth, the importance of human interaction and the power of love are never said aloud, but sent through the visuals and the actions of the characters. Great art design, beautiful visuals, funny and touching, I think that this is the best movie Pixar has ever made.

Okay, that's my list. What's yours?