2008: Best and Worst

The Best
1. Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle's tale of love conquering absolute poverty and evil is a punch to the gut, and a kick to the soul. This was the story that we, as a world, needed in 2008.
2. WALL-E. This easily could be No. 1. Pixar's tale of robots in a post-Earth world is instant classic. Truly inspirational work.
3. The Wrestler. Darren Aronofsky's portrait of a burned-out wrestler would bring Hulk Hogan to tears. One helluva film.
4. Man on Wire. A documentary about a oddball 1970s "crime" so cool, so now, it makes any modern heist flick seem sadly lame.
5. (Tie) The Dark Knight and Iron Man. Comic book movies done right -- bold, big and as smart as any written text. Fully re-watchable.
6. Waltz with Brashir. A war film documentary told in full animation. All cartoon rules are dead. Awesome film-making.
7. In Bruges. A bloody marvelous drama/comedy about two hitmen, one reeling from an error so grievous, it burns his soul.
8. (Tie) Let the Right One In and  The Orphanage. Two European horror films done right, both centering on children, one  vampire, the other, an Elephant Man-type misfit.
9. Frozen River. Do you love your momma? Well, she ain't nothing compared to Melissa Leo's brave soul here.
10. Milk. The story of Harvey Milk, an inspiring, brave American killed by classic American hatreds.


The Worst
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. Spielberg and Lucas trash one of the heros of my youth with CGI monkeys. No.
4. (Tie) 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill. Two reasons why Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are no longer Al Paciono and Robert De Niro.
3. The Love Guru. Was Mike Myers ever funny? From this film, the answer is ... No. Not a single laugh.
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The first and I hope the last Holocaust film made for children. It insults history.
1. Bangkok Dangerous. Even by the standards of bad Nicolas Cage flicks, this film excels in badness. A thriller with zero thrills.