The Year in Film: 2008 in Review

Let me just say I'm really disappointed by the Oscar nominees this year. Only one of the Best Picture nominees is even in my Top Ten, and I don't even feel like seeing The Reader despite its Best Picture nomination because 1) it's obviously Oscar bait, 2) the book was quite disappointing, and 3) it got pretty awful reviews. Anyway, when considering my choices, keep in mind that the only major films I haven't seen this year are The Reader, The Class, Wanted, and Kung Fu Panda. If you're wondering why Milk or any other such movie isn't making any appearances, it's because I didn't like it, not because I didn't see it.

Hyperlinked titles link to my own personal reviews from this blog. There are still a few more reviews I hope to write one day soon.

TOP TEN FILMS
01. The Wrestler
02. The Dark Knight
03. Let the Right One In
04. Rachel Getting Married
05. Synecdoche, New York
06. Waltz With Bashir
07. Slumdog Millionaire
08. Man on Wire
09. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
10. Doubt

BEST ACTOR
01. Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler
02. Frank Langella as Richard M. Nixon in Frost/Nixon
03. Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk
04. Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
05. Jamie Bell as Hallam Foe in Hallam Foe

BEST ACTRESS
01. Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette Fontaine in I've Loved You So Long
02. Anne Hathaway as Kym in Rachel Getting Married
03. Sally Hawkins as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky
04. Melissa Leo as Ray Eddy in Frozen River
05. Meryl Streep as Sister Aloiysius in Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
01. Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
02. Josh Brolin as Dan White in Milk
03. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight
04. Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder
05. Nick Nolte as Four Leaf Tayback in Tropic Thunder

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
01. Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller in Doubt
02. Marisa Tomei as Pam in The Wrestler
03. Rosemary DeWitt as Rachel in Rachel Getting Married
04. Samantha Morton as Hazel in Synecdoche, New York
05. Frances McDormand as Linda Litzke in Burn After Reading

BEST DIRECTOR
01. Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight
02. Darren Aronofsky for The Wrestler
03. Jonathan Demme for Rachel Getting Married
04. The Coens for Burn After Reading
05. Tomas Alfredson for Let the Right One In

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Cloverfield

BEST MAKEUP
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ajvide Lindqvist for Let the Right One In
Runner-Up: The Dark Knight

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Robert D. Siegel for The Wrestler
Runner-Up: Synecdoche, New York

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen from The Wrestler

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Hallam Foe
Runner-Up: Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SCORE
Waltz with Bashir
Runner-Up: The Dark Knight

BEST ANIMATION
Waltz with Bashir

BEST VILLAIN
The Joker from The Dark Knight

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
01. Synecdoche, New York
02. Rachel Getting Married
03. Burn After Reading
04. The Dark Knight
05. Slumdog Millionaire

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
01. Let the Right One In
02. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
03. Slumdog Millionaire
04. The Dark Knight
05. Revolutionary Road

WORST ACTOR
Al Pacino in 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill

WORST ACTRESS
Lele Sobieski in 88 Minutes and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

BEST WORST MOVIE
88 Minutes

WORST WORST MOVIE
Meet the Spartans

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Rambo, for simultaneously being extremely well-made and horribly, offensively, outrageously awful