Your top 10 films of 2008

[The Niggardly King 0]

Hellboy 2

W.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Wrestler

The Dark Knight

JCVD

Burn After Reading

Ironman

Taken

Tropic Thunder

[Epic Reine 0]

The Dark Knight

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Slumdog Millionaire

The Wrestler

Tropic Thunder

The Wackness

Iron Man

Pineapple Express

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Burn After Reading

[foleyfanforever88 0]

The Dark Knight

Wall-E

Iron Man

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Tropic Thunder

Role Models

Burn After Reading

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Get Smart

Pineapple Express

 

I think I only saw 13 movies in 2008, the other three being 21, Harold and Kumar, and Cloverfield. Oh and I saw the first hour or so of Seven Pounds online but was so bored with it that I didn't bother to watch the end. I read what happened though.

[Youth N Asia 0]

this was my least movie going year ever. There was so many movies I wanted to see but just didn't get to this year

 

1. The Dark Knight - Ledger just dominates this movie, Bale was great, Oldman was good, Arron did a great job. Rachel feel a little flat this time around. I'm torn with my top 3 though, I think any one of them could have traded spaces.

 

2. Wanted - by no means the most realistic movie of the year, but I love over the top action, crazy gun fights, and Morgan Freeman yelling "shoot this motherfucka!" Just a fun fun movie

 

3. Iron Man - Awesome movie, glad to see Downey back. Kinda figured out right away who the main bad guy was going to be, and the ending fight was a little meh, but everything leading up to it was just great.

 

4. Charlie Bartlett - under the radar. Great little movie, and again, nice to see Downey doing something good. Even though the scene where he's tripping balls on ritalin is a little out there, it's funny. Very likeable characters and a good movie.

 

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - probably the funniest movie of the year (I missed a lot of the major comedies). I like that the Apatow gang seems to switch around just a little, so that you get a lot of the same people, but the leading roles change. Everyone was good

 

6. The Incredible Hulk - thanks for making me forget about the zzz Hulk from 2003. Norton was great, nice little cameo ending with Stark. Action was awesome, as was Tim Roth

 

7. Hancock - could have placed it higher, the swerve that they throw in half way sucks, but overall this as a great movie with a great character. Fun action, and it even has Jason Bateman

 

8. The Wrestler - not as high as other people's lists, but a solid movie. Rourke was great, there's no questioning that. It was a lot of fun seeing Necro Butcher like you haven't seen him before. Few things fell flat for me with this one, but there was so much I liked otherwise that it's not an issue

 

9. Tropic Thunder - Robert Downey (again) and Tom Cruise were awesome in this. I'm normally not a Stiller fan, but he was pretty good too. If it weren't for Downey this wouldn't make my list, but he was great in the roll.

 

10. WALL-E - usually not into these kinds of movies, but I took my little sister to see it and was surprised by how much I liked it. Best love story of the year. Very cute movie

 

Worst

 

1. Funny Games - tries way too hard to be disturbing and edgy but fails fails fails. Bad acting by everyone...EVERYONE. Awful over acting by the two young leads. And somehow Tim Roth looked like crap in this. I love movies along this line that are supposed to be disturbing...but this one did it all wrong.

 

2. The Happening - the worst acting of the year. Couple of cool scenes, but after that 3 minutes or so it's just dreadful. Another case where everyone did a bad job

 

3. Vantage Point - After 2 or 3 of the 6 vantage points are shown I 100% lost interest in finishing the movie and figured out who the bad guy was, even though it was obvious in the first act. Just a movie that didn't have to be made

 

4. Twilight - awful awful take on vampires. Sunlight doesn't hurt vampires, it makes them prettier...FUCKING WHAT?? I am fine with someone having their own take on something like vampires, but it seemed like she changed every single thing about vampires just so it's different. No fangs...they pump venom? Ugh. And why is it acceptable for a 70 year old to fall in love with a teenager as long as he looks young in vamp mode? The whole love story just sucked hard, the bad guy was lame as shit. Needless to say the girl picked this one out.

 

5. Redbelt - wanted to love this movie, it put me to sleep, twice. I understand that they were going for something realistic, but the dialogue was very mumbly and everyone was repeating everything and talking over everyone. Not bad at the end, but everything leading up to it was just dull

[DarKnight 0]

3. Vantage Point - After 2 or 3 of the 6 vantage points are shown I 100% lost interest in finishing the movie and figured out who the bad guy was, even though it was obvious in the first act. Just a movie that didn't have to be made

 

Oh God! I completely forgot that I even watched this movie earlier in the year. It was AWFUL. Just like you said, I really HATED that shit where they repeat the same scene over and over again. After about a half hour or so, I just wanted to stop watching too. This was a movie that deserved to be bashed more than it did. Most people said it was mediocre, but I thought it was TERRIBLE. Hell, I even thought The Happening was better!

[luke-o 0]

1. Iron Man - Best comic book movie ever made. Fuckin' awesome from start to finish.

2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno - A bit tainted as I'm a Smith mark but I loved the shit out of it.

3. The Dark Knight - not much needs to be said.

4. The Incredible Hulk - didn't see until DVD, but goddamn did I ever enjoy it.

5. Tropic Thunder - Great, great comedy.

6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - although the weaker of the Apatow Productions, I very much enjoyed it.

7. In Bruges - Didn't like the ending all that much, but was still a fun movie. Farrell was amazing.

8. Step Brothers - Fuck me this was funny.

9. Cloverfield - not great, but I still enjoyed it. It could have been a lot worse.

10. Diary of the Dead - a good way to restart a franchise.

 

Overall, it was a good year for films. Much better than last year.

 

Worst films:

 

1. Step Up 2: The Streets - Jesus H Christ did this movie ever blow.

2. Sex and The City: The Movie - had it's moments, but overall wasn't all that good. It mostly sucked.

3. Be Kind Rewind - Snore fest. Save the movie spoofs, this was a bad film.

4. Doomsday - Fuckin' stoopid film.

5. Vantage Point - Urgh, what a waste. The bad guy was obvious from the first five minutes. A good idea executed very badly.

[Guest Smues]

I'm not sure I saw 10 movies that I liked this in 2008.

 

Wall-E

Iron Man

Prince Caspian

The Forbidden Kingdom

Dark Knight

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

 

Yeah I included Indiana Jones 4, it was ok other than the Shia Labeef stuff.

 

 

[DMann2003 0]

I still need to see several films, but for now (no numerical listing)...

 

The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Slumdog Millionaire, Pineapple Express, Bolt (3D),

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Overall, it was a good year for films. Much better than last year.

 

I don't know if I'd say that. Last year was the year of Part Threes: Spidey 3, Pirates 3, Shrek 3, Ocean's 13, Rush Hour 3..and while those were all a little disappointing, they were still decent movies. The Bourne Ultimatum was awesome. We also had Transformers, Superbad, Juno, Ratatouille and Knocked Up..plus HP and the OotP, There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men.

 

I'm not saying 2007 was better than 2008 (I can't really make a definite decision on that), but I certainly wouldn't say that 08 was much better, if at all.

[bob_barron 0]

I was actually going to start this thread today.

 

My top ten and final rankings won't be completed until Friday, but here's the top ten as it stands:

 

1. The Dark Knight

2. The Wrestler

3. Cloverfield

4. Tropic Thunder

5. Wall-E

6. Milk

7. Slumdog Millionaire

8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

9. Zach and Miri Make a Porno

10. Marley and Me

 

Here's the rest:

 

11. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

13. Wanted

14. High School Musical 3: Senior Year

15. The Bank Job

16. Frost/Nixon

17. JCVD

18. U2-3D

19. Rachel Getting Married

20. Changeling

21. Sex and the City

22. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2

23. Hancock

24. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

25. Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day

26. Blindness

27. The Strangers

28. Transsiberian

29. Iron Man

30. Quantum of Solace

31. Traitor

32. Pineapple Express

33. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

34. Happy Go Lucky

35. Yes Man

36. Doubt

37. Eagle Eye

38. The Lucky Ones

39. Role Models

40. Vantage Point

41. Body of Lies

42. Pathology

43. Get Smart

44. Burn After Reading

45. The Promotion

46. The Express

47. Step Brothers

48. Soul Men

49. Semi-Pro

50. Kung Fu Panda

51. The Forbidden Kingdom

52. Horton Hears a Who

53. Rambo

54. Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3-D

55. House Bunny

56. Bolt

57. IO-USA

58. Baby Mama

59. My Winnipeg

60. Elegy

61. Street Kings

62. Funny Games

63. Ghost Town

64. Rock ‘n’ Rolla

65. Battle in Seattle

66. Transporter 3

67. The Wackness

68. Smart People

69. The Reader

70. Nothing Like the Holidays

71. Appaloosa

72. Hannah Montana

73. Death Race

74. Cadillac Records

75. American Teen

76. What Happens in Vegas

77. The Visitor

78. Definitely Maybe

79. Man on Wire

80. W.

81. Four Christmases

82. Nobel Son

83. How To Lose Friends and Alienate People

84. Hamlet 2

85. War, Inc.

86. Religulous

87. Patti Smith: Dream of Life

88. The Rocker

89. Leatherheads

90. Made of Honor

91. Deception

92. Lakeview Terrace

93. Seven Pounds

94. Cassandra’s Dream

95. Drillbit Taylor

96. Tale of Despereaux

97. Passengers

98. Bedtime Stories

99. Righteous Kill

100. Hell Ride

101. The Happening

102. 21

103. Swing Vote

104. Mamma Mia

105. Synecdoche, NY

106. Babylon AD

107. The Love Guru

108. Strange Wilderness

109. Mirrors

110. Delgo

111. An American Carol

112. Proud American

113. 88 Minutes

114. The Hottie and the Nottie

 

[godthedog 0]

i think only a top 5 list is really worth doing for this year, but not for all-bad reasons:

 

1. 'the strangers' - i can't not give this one top credit, just because it did what it did so purely and flawlessly.

2. 'slumdog millionaire' - joyous, great storytelling, healthy mix of fun and despair.

3. 'let the right one in' - probably the only movie of these that i enjoy more with time, the more i think about it.

4. 'milk' - slick, easy to watch, very moving.

5. 'wall-E' - if only the first half of this existed, it would be number 1 a thousand times over.

 

those are really the only ones i feel that are worth remembering enough to be put in list form. the rest sort of all run together.

 

this seemed like a banner year for the Solid/Pretty Good movie, the kind of movie that's worth your money but ends up being pretty forgettable. there were a lot of them this year: 'hellboy 2', 'quarantine', 'pineapple express', 'iron man', 'frost/nixon', 'tropic thunder', 'burn after reading', 'in bruges' (good call luke-o), etc. i'd also put 'the dark knight' in this categorgy.

 

i don't agree at all that it had better movies than 2007, but i get the overall vibe of a good time had.

[bob_barron 0]

Also, Taken is a 09 film, KOAB. While I disagree completely on W., I loved JCVD.

 

If anyone is interested, I was thinking of compiling these rankings and making a TSM Top 10

[Guest Smues]

Two films were worse than Proud American? I must see these.

[bob_barron 0]

Proud American had good intentions at least, and had Mr. Belding.

 

88 Minutes was just bad and insulting, especially Amy Brenneman as the clumsy lesbian.

 

The Hottie and the Nottie was a Paris Hilton vanity project

[Youth N Asia 0]

The Happening is better than 21, eh Bob?

 

lies

[bob_barron 0]

The Happening is better than 21, eh Bob?

 

lies

 

The Happiness has that awesome scene where the guy shoots the kids. That was tremendous.

 

21 was just boring and full of plot holes.

[Youth N Asia 0]

one cool scene doesn't make up for having to watch the rest of it

[bob_barron 0]

One cool scene doesn't make up for having to watch the rest of it

 

I'm not defending the movie, I ranked it 101st for a reason.

 

[The Niggardly King 0]

Also, Taken is a 09 film, KOAB.

 

But it's been out for like 6 months elsewhere. If I were to take it off the list, it would be replaced by either Redbelt, Pineapple Express, or Man on Wire.

 

While W. was directed and edited like a shitty made for television movie... I just have to rank it so highly for some of the strong performances from the film.

[Molotov The Bear 0]

The Dark Knight

Iron Man

The Incredible Hulk

Tropic Thunder

Transporter 3

Hellboy 2

Hancock

Eagle Eye

Quantum of Solace

The Spirit

[bob_barron 0]

Also, Taken is a 09 film, KOAB.

 

But it's been out for like 6 months elsewhere.

 

I just saw that. For our most movies contest, we go by US release date. I'm still pumped to see it.

 

I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who really liked Hancock

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Agree with gtd about the excess of lists, especially Bob's, jesus.

 

I haven't seen many, but I'm surprised at the lack of Gran Torino, and the abundance of Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express.

[bob_barron 0]

Agree with gtd about the excess of lists, especially Bob's, jesus.

 

I haven't seen many, but I'm surprised at the lack of Gran Torino, and the abundance of Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express.

 

Did gtd really say that? I rank every film I see to make it easier to do a top ten list.

 

I haven't seen Gran Torino yet, I'm seeing it on Friday. Tropic Thunder was the funniest movie of 08. I liked Pineapple a lot, but the first half really dragged.

 

While W. was directed and edited like a shitty made for television movie... I just have to rank it so highly for some of the strong performances from the film.

 

Brolin was fantastic, but the whole "You guys, W. is in HW's shadow" stuff was just done to death. I also felt they missed a lot of important events in his presidency, and you just can't make a movie about a sitting president.

[The Niggardly King 0]

It also falls into the issue I have with most Stone films of the guy always working out his father issues through his films.

 

Even with all it's flaws, I loved it. Brolin carries the whole show. I also enjoyed Dreyfuss, Burstyn, and Wright in the film. Also the super small role of Colin Hanks.

[ZGangsta 0]

I think Forgetting Sarah Marshall was the funniest movie of the year, though I really liked Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express too. Haven't seen Zach and Miri yet though.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Ironman

Dark Knight

Milk

Slumdog Millionaire

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

 

Biggest Letdowns: Cloverfield (also made me sick), Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I fell asleep), Traitor (excited about an FBI/CIA movie and Don Cheadle is one my favorite actors)

[Youth N Asia 0]

I didn't like Cloverfield. Too built up for me, and when I finally saw it I was very unimpressed.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

You didn't see You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Bob?

[bob_barron 0]

No I did not. The movie looked beyond idiotic. August-now is when I started basically seeing every movie I could get my hands on.

 

Even with all it's flaws, I loved it. Brolin carries the whole show. I also enjoyed Dreyfuss, Burstyn, and Wright in the film. Also the super small role of Colin Hanks.

 

I liked Brolin, but a lot of the other bits just seemed like bad impressions. And they went out of their way to make sure that we knew that Colin Powell was Mr. Good Guy.

 

Traitor (excited about an FBI/CIA movie and Don Cheadle is one my favorite actors)

 

Why no love for Traitor, smitty? I'm a fan of thrillers, and I was impressed that for once, a thriller didn't go off the rails in Act 3. I loved Cheadle

putting all the terrorists on one bus.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

No I did not. The movie looked beyond idiotic.

 

But you saw The Love Guru..?