Best Films of 2008

For once, nearly all the films and actors vying for top honors at this years /Academy Awards are worthy contenders. Of the five Best Picture nominees, Milk. Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire are all superb, intelligent, soulful, beautifully crafted movies. Each would be a deserving winner and I would hate to have to pick between them if I were an Academy voter. But no feature film in 2008 captured my heart like Slumdog Millionaire, a fairy tale both on screen and off. That it was ever released at all, much less has received the attention and acclaim it so richly deserves, is a miracle considering its sometimes harrowing subject matter, its focus on prejudice, poverty and exploitation in a third-world country, and the fact that it was dropped by its own producer after the movie was completed. Fortunately audiences (and another distributor) could see what a great film Danny Boyle had made. The direction, screenplay, cinematography, and performances by both professional actors and actual children from the Mumbai slums put this little miracle of a movie into the top ranks of cinema.

Nevertheless, the two films I consider the very best movies exhibited in 2008 are documentaries and not eligible for the top prize by Academy rules. Fortunately they both are nominated in the Best Documentary category and one of the two, Man on Wire, seems likely to take that prize. This true-life story of a French aerialist quest to walk on a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the 1970s, is another miracle movie, so dramatically and engagingly told that it reaches a level of spiritual transcendence. This animated portrait of one man’s quixotic obsession touches on the universal—the wonder of our own yearnings but also the wistful recognition of a time of innocence now irretrievably lost. An even more powerful documentary, Trouble the Water, my pick for the greatest movie of 2008, follows the plight of Katrina victims and reveals more about the resiliency of the human spirit than any movie you’re ever likely to see.

On the acting and directing fronts we saw some very strong work in 2008. Sean Penn, Frank Langella, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio Richard Jenkins, and Mickey Rourke all delivered extraordinary performances. Again, I’m torn between several equally great choices: wanting Sean Penn to be rewarded for truly channeling the spirit of Harvey Milk, or Frank Langella to be recognized for his career-capping work in making us see the needy humanity in Richard Nixon. But if I had to choose I guess I’d give the palm to Mickey Rourke for his soul-searing, emotionally naked work in The Wrestler. Kristin Scott Thomas, who received no Oscar nomination, leads perhaps all the ladies with her work in the very fine French film I’ve Loved You So Long. Kate Winslet is also a very strong and deserving contender for her fine work in two films, The Reader and Revolution Road (both of which are leading not supporting roles, by the way), as was Penelope Cruz for her lead in the underrated Elegy and fantastic turn in a supporting role in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Viola Davis had little screen time but was unforgettable in Doubt. Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road also gave standout performances in supporting roles.

Ron Howard showed a new maturity and refinement dealing with more intellectual material helming Frost/Nixon. Playwrights Martin McDonagh and John Patrick Shanley showed they have real talent as film directors, too, with the comic yet touching In Bruges and the probing, provocative Doubt. Woody Allen demonstrated he’s still capable of comic gems with Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The big prize, however, should come down to Danny Boyle for Slumdog or Gus Van Sant for his lyrical depiction of the life of Harvey Milk and reminding us how one man can make a difference.

So here they are, my personal nominations for the best and worst in cinema in 2008:

The Best of the Best
Trouble the Water
Man on Wire
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Frost/Nixon



The Best of the Rest

In Bruges
Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)
Irina Palm
The Visitor
Roman de Gare
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Elegy
Blindness
I’ve Loved You for So Long (Il y a Logntemps que Je T’Aime)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Doubt

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Dominque Pinon, Roman de Gare
Ben Kingsley, Elegy
Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Sean Penn, Milk
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Michey Rourke, The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

Best Actress
Audrey Dana, Roman de Gare
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Penelope Cruz, Elegy
Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You for So Long
Kate Winslet, The Reader/Revolutionary Road
Meryl Streep, Doubt

Best Supporting Actor
Miki Manojlvac, Irina Palm
Stacy Keach, W
Anil Kapoor, Slumdog Millionaire
Jeffrey Wright, Cadillac Records
Josh Brolin, Milk
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress
Hiam Abbass, The Visitor
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vera Farmiga, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Beyonce Knowles, Cadillac Records
Tilda Swinton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Amy Adams, Doubt
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Ensemble Acting
In Bruges (Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes)
Under the Same Moon (Adrian Alonso, Kate del Castillo, Eugenio Derbez, Gabriel Porras)
Roman de Gare (Dominque Pinon, Audrey Dana, Fanny Ardant)
Elegy (Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Sarsgaard, Dennis Hopper)
W (John Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss, Jeremy Wright, Thandie Newton, Stacy Keach)
Cadillac Records (Jeffrey Wright, Beyonce Knowles, Eamonn Walker, Mos Def, Columbus Short)
The Reader (Kate Winslet, David Kross, Ralph Fiennes, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz)
Frost/Nixon (Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt)
Milk (Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch)

60 Second Oscar (They may only have a scene or two, but they were sensational)
Viola Davis

Best Scene Stealer
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Most Intriguing Performance
Marinane Faithful, Irina Palm

Most Overrated Performance
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Breakthrough Performance of the Year
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Young Actors to Watch
Evan Rachel Wood
Eva Amurri
Michael Cera
Asa Butterfield

Best Director
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Vadim Perelman, The Life Before Her Eyes
Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Isabel Coixet, Elegy
Fernando Meireiles, Blindness
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Gus Van Sant, Milk
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Daren Aronofsky, The Wrestler

Most Improved Director
Ron Howard, Nixon/Frost

Best Original Screenplay
In Bruges
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Life Before Her Eyes
Elegy
Slumdog Millionaire
Doubt
Frost/Nixon

Best Cinematography
The Life Before Her Eyes
Slumdog Millionaire
In Bruges
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Art Direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Love Story
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Musical
Cadillac Records

Best Thriller
Roman de Gare

Best Documentary
Bigger Stronger Faster*
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Worst Movie
Che

Best Scene
Mickey Rourke’s “I’m just an old broken down piece of meat” scene in The Wrestler

Best Song
“I’d Rather Go Blind,” performed by Beyonce Knowles (Cadillac Records)
“The Wrestler,” written and performed by Bruce Springsteen (The Wrestler)