FINAL: THE BEST OF 2008

I saw 80 movies from 2008. That's 30 less than 2007. Contrary to what some have said, I don't think this year has been a bad year for cinema. Granted, it's not anywhere near as accomplished, overall, as last year, but there have been any number of excellent movies, some small, some big, and many very unqiue. What follows are my final rankings for the 80 movies from 2008 that I took in. I will also be posting a mini-recap of my top 20 very soon. Also, my fiancee will be chiming in with her picks for the best of the year. But for now, here it is.

Tarsem’s THE FALL (****)
Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER (****)
David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (****)
Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (****)
Thomas Alfredson’s LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (****)
Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT (****)
Charlie Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE, NY (****)
Andrew Stanton’s WALL*E (****)
Jonathan Demme’s RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (****)
Clint Eastwood’s GRAN TORINO (****)

Joel & Ethan Coen’s BURN AFTER READING (****)
David Gordon Green’s SNOW ANGELS (****)
James Marsh’s MAN ON WIRE (****)
Sam Mendes’ REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (****)
Martin David Gordon Green’s PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (****)
McDonagh’s IN BRUGES (****)
Werner Herzog’s ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (****)
Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER (****)
Mike Leigh’s HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (****)
Clint Eastwood’s CHANGELING (****)

Matt Reeves’ CLOVERFIELD (****)
Marc Forster’s QUANTUM OF SOLACE (****)
Martin Scorsese’s SHINE A LIGHT (****)
Stephen Daldry’s THE READER (****)
John Patrick Shanley’s DOUBT (****)
John Crowley’s BOY A (****)
Alan Ball’s TOWELHEAD (****)
Roger Donaldson’s THE BANK JOB (****)
Stephen Walker’s YOUNG @ HEART (****)
Kurt Kuenne's DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER (****)

Kimberly Peirce’s STOP-LOSS (****)
Jay Roach’s RECOUNT (****)
Tom McCarthy’s THE VISITOR (****)
Chris Bell’s BIGG ER, STRONGER, FASTER (****)
Alex Holdridge’s IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS (****)
Ed Zwick’s DEFIANCE (***1/2)
Ridley Scott’s BODY OF LIES (***1/2)
Peter Berg’s HANCOCK (***1/2)
Bryan Singer’s VALKYRIE (***1/2)
Ron Howard’s FROST/NIXON (***1/2)

Gus Van Sant’s MILK (***1/2)
Ed Harris’ APPALOOSA (***1/2)
Gus Van Sant’s PARANOID PARK (***1/2)
Kevin Smith’s ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO (***1/2)
Jon Favreau’s IRON MAN (***1/2)
Steven Spielberg’s INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (***1/2)
Timur Bekmembatov’s WANTED (***1/2)
Adam Brooks’ DEFINITELY, MAYBE (***1/2)
Nick Broomfield’s THE BATTLE FOR HADITHA (***1/2)
Nanette Burnstein’s AMERICAN TEEN (***1/2)

Woody Allen’s CASSANDRA’S DREAM (***1/2)
Baltasar Kormakur’s JAR CITY (***1/2)
Brad Andersen’s TRANSSIBERIAN (***1/2)
Errol Morris’ STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (***1/2)
Jose Padhilla’s ELITE SQUAD (***1/2)
Olivier Assayas’ BOARDING GATE (***1/2)
Paul Weiland’s SIXTY-SIX (***1/2)
Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s TRAITOR (***1/2)
David Mamet’s REDBELT (***)
Baz Lurhman’s AUSTRALIA (***)

Oliver Stone’s W (***)
D.J. Caruso’s EAGLE EYE (***)
Bharart Nalluri’s MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (***)
Louis Letterier’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK (***)
Michael Patrick King’s SEX AND THE CITY (***)
Ira Sach’s MARRIED LIFE (***)
Guillermo Del Toro’s HELLBOY 2 (***)
Nick Stoller’s FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (***)
Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo’s INSIDE (***)
Hammer & Tongs’ SON OF RAMBOW (***)

Andrew Fleming’s HAMLET 2 (***)
David Koepp’s GHOST TOWN (***)
Anne Fletcher’s 27 DRESSES (***)
Zak Penn’s THE GRAND (***)
Jonathan Levine’s THE WACKNESS (**1/2)
Chris Carter’s THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE (**1/2)
David Wain’s ROLE MODELS (**1/2)
Sly Stallone’s RAMBO (**1/2)
Mark Osbourne’s KUNG FU PANDA (**1/2)
Mitchell Lichenstein’s TEETH (**1/2)

Noam Murro’s SMART PEOPLE (**1/2)
Doug Liman’s JUMPER (**)
Fred Wolf’s THE HOUSE BUNNY (**)
Kent Alterman’s SEMI-PRO (**)
Pete Travis’ VANTAGE POINT (**)
Michael McCullers’ BABY MAMA (**)
Steve Conrad’s THE PROMOTION (*1/2)
Peter Segal’s GET SMART (*1/2)
M. Night Shymalan’s THE HAPPENING (ZERO)
Jon Avnet’s RIGHTEOUS KILL (ZERO)