2008 IN FILM

My favourite films released in the U.S. in 2008. Top 30 and many honorables. 

ballot

Here's the countdown:






30.           THE STRANGERS

.

29.               GOMORRAH

.

28.                 MARTYRS

.

27.          STEP BROTHERS

.

26.   SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

.

25.      TROUBLE THE WATER

.

24.               TIMECRIMES

.
       DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER 
23.TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER

.

22. THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN

.

21.           BE KIND REWIND

.

20.         A CHRISTMAS TALE

.

19.                  REPRISE

.

18.         SHOTGUN STORIES

.
17.              STRANDED:
  I'VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT
  CRASHED ON THE MOUNTAINS

.
                  ENCOUNTERS
16.  AT THE END OF THE WORLD

.

15.       IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA

.

14.              STILL LIFE

.

13.           MY WINNIPEG

.
                  HELLBOY II:
12.      THE GOLDEN ARMY

.

11.                  CHE

.

10.         WALTZ WITH BASHIR

.
                    STANDARD
-tie- 10. OPERATING PROCEDURE

.

9.                   WALL*E

.

8.            HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

.

7.    RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

.

6.           THE UNFORESEEN

.

5.       LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

.

4.                   HUNGER

.

3.                 REVANCHE

.

2.              SPEED RACER

.

1.          WENDY AND LUCY

*****

ALSO ESSENTIAL! NOT RANKED.
(other '08 titles that could've placed)

MAD DETECTIVE

.

BJORK: WANDERLUST 3D

.

PARANOID PARK

.

THE DARK KNIGHT

.

IN BRUGES

.

THE FALL

.

FROWNLAND

MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY

.
THE GIRL
WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME

.

THE FLIGHT

OF THE RED BALLOON

.

ZIDANE: 
A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT

.

SPLINTER

.

SITA SINGS THE BLUES

.

SUMMER PALACE

.

PROFIT MOTIVE

AND WHISPERING WIND

.

LA FRANCE

.
.

THE HOUSE OF SMALL CUBES

.

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU

.

CRIPS & BLOODS:

MADE IN AMERICA

.

CADILLAC RECORDS

.

THE CURIOUS
CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

.

KIT KITTREDGE:
AN AMERICAN GIRL

.

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN

.

BOARDING GATE

.

THE FOOT FIST WAY

.

THE ORDER OF MYTHS

.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

.

TREEVENGE

.

UP THE YANGTZE

.

THE SIGNAL

.

KUNG FU PANDA

.

MUTO

.

ROGUE

.

AUGUST EVENING

.

MY FATHER MY LORD

.

SILENT LIGHT

.

LOVE SONGS

  

.

I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

.

CHOP SHOP

.

JCVD

.

YOU DON'T
MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

.

THE WRESTLER

.

CHRIS & DON: A LOVE STORY

..

DIARY OF THE DEAD

.

THE BANK JOB

.

TROPIC THUNDER

.

GHOST TOWN

.

SNOW ANGELS

 

.

JELLYFISH

.

APPALOOSA

.

W.

.

RUMBA

.

MILK

.

MAN ON WIRE

 

.

THE POOL

.

THE CLASS

.

ON THE LINE 
[AUF DER STRECKE]

.

THE LAST MISTRESS

.

TRANSPORTER 3

.

BURN AFTER READING

.

BATTLE FOR HADITHA

.

GUNNIN' FOR THAT #1 SPOT

.

THE WACKNESS

.

TAKEN

*****

2008 recap

TOP 30

1. WENDY AND LUCY (Kelly Reichardt)
2. SPEED RACER (Wachowskis)
3. REVANCHE (Spielmann)
4. HUNGER (McQueen)
5. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Alfredson)
6. THE UNFORESEEN (Laura Dunn)
7. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (Demme)
8. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (Mike Leigh)
9. WALL*E (Stanton)
10. S.O.P. (Morris)                                                                      -tie- WALTZ W/BASHIR (Folman)
11. CHE (Soderbergh)
12. HELLBOY 2: GOLDEN ARMY (Guillermo del Toro)
13. MY WINNIPEG (Maddin)
14. STILL LIFE (Zhang Ke Jia)
15. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (Guerín)
16. ENCOUNTERS @END OF WORLD (Herzog)
17. STRANDED: I COME FROM... (Arijon)
18. SHOTGUN STORIES (Jeff Nichols)
19. REPRISE (Joachim Trier)
20. A CHRISTMAS TALE (Desplechin)
21. BE KING REWIND (Gondry)
22. SECRET OF THE GRAIN (Kechiche)
23. DEAR ZACHARY (Kuenne)
24. TIMECRIMES (Vigalando)
25. TROUBLE THE WATER (Carl Deal)
26. SYNECDOCHE, N.Y. (Charlie Kaufman)
27. STEP BROTHERS (McKay)
28. MARTYRS (Laugier)
29. GOMORRAH (Garrone)
30. THE STRANGERS (Bertino)

RUNNER UP:
MAD DETECTIVE (To), WANDERLUST (Encyclopedia Pictura), PARANOID PARK (Van Sant), DARK KNIGHT (Nolan), IN BRUGES (McDonaugh), THE FALL (Tarsem), FROWNLAND (Bronstein), MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY (B.Jenkins), GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME (Mamoru Hosoda), FLIGHT OF RED BALLOON (Hsiao-hsien), ZIDANE: 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT (D.Gordon), SPLINTER (Wilkins), SITA SINGS THE BLUES (Paley), SUMMER PALACE (Lou Ye), PROFIT MOTIVE & WHISPERING WIND (Gianvito), LA FRANCE (Bozon), HOUSE OF SMALL CUBES (Kunio Kato), I AM SO PROUD OF YOU (Hertzfeldt), CRIPS & BLOODS (Peralta), CADILLAC RECORDS (D.Martin), CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (Fincher), KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL (Patricia Rozema), EDGE OF HEAVEN (Akin), BOARDING GATE (Assayas), FOOT FIST WAY (Jody Hill), ORDER OF MYTHS (Margaret Brown), PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (D.Gordon Green), TREEVENGE (Jason Eisener), UP THE YANGTZE (Yung Chang), THE SIGNAL (Bruckner), KUNG FU PANDA (Osborne), MUTO (Blu), ROGUE (McLean), AUGUST EVENING (Eska), MY FATHER MY LORD (Volach), SILENT LIGHT (Reygadas), LOVE SONGS (Honore), I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (Claudel), CHOP SHOP (Bahranai), JCVD (Mabrouk El Meter), ZOHAN (Dugan), THE WRESTLER (Aronofsky), CHRIS & DON (Tina Mascara), DIARY OF THE DEAD (Romero), THE BANK JOB (Donaldson), TROPIC THUNDER (Stiller), GHOST TOWN (Koepp), SNOW ANGELS (D.Gordon Green), JELLYFISH (Shira Geffen), APPALOOSA (Ed Harris), W. (Oliver Stone), RUMBA (Abel/Gordon), MILK (Van Sant), MAN ON WIRE (Marsh), THE POOL (C.James), THE CLASS (Cantet), ON THE LINE (Caffi), LAST MISTRESS (Breillat), TRANSPORTER 3 (Megaton), BURN AFTER READING (Coen bros), BATTLE FOR HADITHA (Broomfield), GUNNIN' FOR THAT #1 SPOT (Yauch), THE WACKNESS (Levine), TAKEN (Morel),