Best Films of 2008

2008 was not the year to be watching films. Not because it wasn't a particularly strong year for films (it was an okay year), but because there was so many other eventful things. The spectacle of the Olympics, the Presidential Debates and Election, the economy, the protests. A historic, pivotal year. As much as I love films, I'd rather have a year like this. So, I have to admit that this is one of the times the films I still need to see out number the films I have seen.

The first five listed films are stunning pieces of work. They amazed and challenged me, unconsciously reshaped my perspective on film. The following five amused and touched me and are excellent, beautiful films. The rest . . . . I don't think about them that often. They were okay, Interesting and . . . . that's about it.

1. (tie) The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan) and Paranoid Park (dir. Gus Van Sant)

3. Everlasting Moments (dir. Jan Troell)

4. Still Life (dir. Jia Zhang Ke)

5. The Wrestler (dir. Darren Aronofsky)

6. Revolutionary Road (dir. Sam Mendes)

7. I've Loved You So Long (dir. Philipe Claudel)

8. Tulpan (dir. Sergei Dvortsevoy)

9.Wall-E (dir. Andrew Stanton)

10. The Flight of the Red Balloon (dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)

11. Standard Operating Procedures (dir. Errol Morris)

12. The Class (dir. Laurnt Cantet)

13. Milk (dir. Gus Van Sant)

14. Che (dir. Stephen Soderbergh)

15. Gomorrah (dir. Matteo Garrone)

16. Synodeche, New York (dir. Charlie Kaufman)

Films I haven not seen in no particular order:

Ashes of Time Redux
You, The Living
Frozen River
My Winnepeg
Revanche
Hunger
Racheal's Getting Married
Happy Go-Lucky
Snow Angels
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Mad Detective
Mongol
A Christmas Tale
The Headless Woman
24 City
Shine a Light
Let the Right One In
Man on a Wire
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Changling
Doubt
Gran Torino
Stranded
Australia

I thought The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons was awful; ranking amongst the worst films I've ever seen. What's shocking is that people are shooting each other over this film. Ballast is good, but completely overrated and I may never understand what is so great about Slumdog Millionaire.