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OT: 10 Best Movies of 2008!

So here you go: my guaranteed winners, the slamdunk ten best films released in 2008 (presented in dramatic countdown-style format.)

10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I can't say too much about this movie without giving away spoilers. Oh what the heck, it appears that Brad Pitt actually ages backwards! So when he's a child he looks like an old man, and when he's an old man he looks like a child. How crazy is that?! When he meets his lover "in the middle" they are both sexy as hell 40 year olds... but you can't help but think there's a tragic doom impending as he turns into a young boy and she turns into a vamping cougar. I can't comment more than that though because I haven't actually seen the movie.

9. Gran Torino

By most accounts this is a tour de force. Clint Eastwood continues to pummel us all senseless with his gritty performances and redeem himself for making countless crappy movies during the 80's. In one trailer, Clint Eastwood actually snarls, "Get out of my yard, you damn kids" while shaking a .44 magnum most crankily. Well, I got out of Clint Eastwood's yard a long time ago, so I passed on this instant classic. Hope the rest of you enjoyed it though... and I'm absolutely positive it warrants it's slot on the top ten list.

8. Taken

How much ass does Liam Neeson kick? Well I guess we'd actually have to watch the movie to find out! But I can tell you for certain that the trailer looks absolutely kick ass. Liam is all mean and serious and you can tell that the men who abducted his child are in for a brutal beat down. He looks like he's got Matt Damon (Jason Bourne) meets Daniel Craig (James Bond) written all over him.

7. Revolutionary Road

This film reminds me so much of all those Neil Simon plays... where there's always a bar in the living room... and most of the characters are downing four fingers of whiskey in every scene. Back in my acting days, I was all about those scenes. That apple juice tasted good. And we couldn't really afford apple juice at home, so it was a real treat. My guess is that Kate Winslet and "old man" DiCaprio probably muffed a few scenes on purpose, just so they could get another glass of "whiskey". My educated guess is that this film is totally worth seeing. I'm hoping to get to it myself.

6. Rachel Getting Married

Indie dramas always rock. Especially ones about getting hitched. Remember how good Margot at the Wedding was?! Well, this one got an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'm pretty sure it was good. And, quite frankly, it's important to sneak a few "small" movies into your top ten list so you don't come off as too Hollywood! I wouldn't want to lose my credibility as an ace movie-reviewer guy!

5. Vicki Christina Barcelona

Woody Allen is still alive, and still working through his sexual neuroses. This is a sure bet formula for a great movie. And now that he's quit casting himself as the male lead, you no longer get that creepy feeling as a scrawny old man gets it on with hot young stars. And the cast doesn't get much hotter than this! My sources tell me that there's even a hot threesome featuring Sexiest Man Alive poster boy Javier Bardem. And who are the buns for this man-mean sandwich? None other than Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johanssen! Va-va-va-voom!!!

4. Waltz with Bashir

Some of you are probably thinking that this is just a rip off of Persepolis... another animated middle-eastern autobiography. But I say, anything a woman can do, a man can do better! What's wrong with a little healthy competition anyway? If Munich taught me anything, it's that Steven Spielberg is the greatest film maker in history... and that it takes a man's perspective (someone that's really been there) to understand why war is bad. It was obvious while watching Munich that Spielberg and screen writer Tony Kushner knew a thing or two about war first hand. I'm betting this film wins the best foreign film Oscar and might even help create peace in the middle east.

3. Doubt

This is probably one of those did-he-or-didn't-he kinds of movies. Lots of shots of the mega-talented Phillip Seymour Hoffman looking either pious or guilty... it's hard to tell (because he's THAT good!) Now I'm categorically against the raping of altar boys, and I'm guessing this film probes that sensitive material... I'm not sure though since I haven't seen it yet. But if this film can get me to "doubt" my stance on Catholic priest sexual abuse, then it must be one hell of a picture. Let it never be said that I don't seek out challenging films!

2. The Wrestler

I didn't need to see this film to know it deserved the #2 slot. The trailer ALONE made me cry. There's that scene when Mickey Rourke is all, "I'm just a broken old piece of meat, and I don't deserve your love... I just don't want you to hate me" and then tears roll down his face! OMG, that is acting gentlemen! (Too bad the academy won't recognize him with a deserved best actor Oscar.) And with that Bruce Springsteen song in the background... I was bawling halfway into the credits of the film I had gone to see.

1. Synecdoche, NY

Let me start off with a modest confession. I haven't actually seen this film either. However, let me follow it up with an even more modest confession. Writer/Director Charlie Kauffman is WAY smarter than me. He's maybe one of the smartest people alive. I don't really get what he's doing 78% of the time. That's how smart he is. So I can tell you unequivocally that this is the best film of 2008, never even having seen a trailer for it. Because if I saw it and didn't like it, I would know that the reason is that I'm just not smart enough to understand it. And neither are you (haha) so go see it right now folks!

Lastly, I want to put out an honorable mention to Let the Right One In. I couldn't actually include it in the top ten list because I haven't seen it yet... but my friend Dan says it's dynamite.

There you go. I may not have seen a lot of movies this year, but that never stopped me from sharing my opinions on them anyway! I wish you a happy 2009 and hope that we'll keep getting this kind of quality entertainment out of Hollywood for another year.

Comment 149 comments  |  7 recs  | 

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I haven't seen any of the movies on this list.

Are they seriously better than The Dark Knight?

by camomilk on Feb 4, 2009 1:29 PM PST reply actions  

Pretty standard list you have there, minus the Dark Knight exclusion.

But how can you have a film you have never seen as the best movie of the year? Come on man, plus Synecdoche was good, but not the best movie of the year.

by CstSnow on Feb 4, 2009 1:40 PM PST reply actions  

well this came completely out of nowhere

but I can unequivocally tell you, having seen Synecdoche New York, that your review is right on.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 4, 2009 2:02 PM PST reply actions  

You haven't done your homework!

I have flagged this post, because you ADMIT that you don’t know what you’re talking about. You probably just want to seem smart, but instead you come across as desperate. I cannot believe you think that we will fall for this rubbish, Mr. Bai.
It’s like that line from Casablanca (which is better than all of these movies): “You just put your lips together and blow.” You sir, put your lips together and you said a bunch of stuff that blows. YOU blow, johnbai.

Goddamn list without “Australia” on it… waste of time stupid fanpost by a writer who blows.

by marc w on Feb 4, 2009 2:09 PM PST reply actions   3 recs

Lauren Bacall was awesome in Casablanca

“Play it again, Steve.”

What're ya gonna do with those pies, boys?

by rickpo on Feb 4, 2009 3:17 PM PST up reply actions  

Was it Steve?

Damn, I’m not remembering what it was right now, but that doesn’t sound quite right.
Agreed on Bacall, though.

by marc w on Feb 4, 2009 3:28 PM PST up reply actions  

Who's Bogart?

Are we talking about Casablanca still? Was ‘Steve’ played by this Bogart person?

by marc w on Feb 4, 2009 3:37 PM PST up reply actions  

Oh, okay...

“Casablanca” was Bogart and Bergman (Rick and Ilsa, and Sam is the piano player). “To Have and To Have Not” was Bogart and Bacall (Steve and … I don’t remember her character’s name). The “Put your lips together and blow” line is Bacall from “To Have and To Have Not,” not “Casablanca.”

I was just having fun blending movies.

What're ya gonna do with those pies, boys?

by rickpo on Feb 4, 2009 3:45 PM PST up reply actions  

Then there was that famous line from Gone With The Wind

Rhett: Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a darn.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 4, 2009 3:31 PM PST up reply actions  

I thought it was:

Frankly my dear, I love you. Let’s remarry.

by Jed MC on Feb 5, 2009 8:00 AM PST up reply actions  

Gran Torino was fantastic

Slumdog Millionaire must be on this list as well.

I previously posted as "Man From Nantucket"

by mem on Feb 4, 2009 2:13 PM PST reply actions  

I liked Doubt, Gran Torino, and The Wrestler best this year.

Dark Knight blew away all my expectations, but it lost part of it’s magic on a second viewing. This hasn’t been my favorite year in film anyway and I think all of these have serious drawbacks, but Doubt gets my #1 for the sheer gripping force of the performances turned in. I think Eastern Promises is better than everything this year and it was about my third fav. film from last year.

by DCMariner on Feb 4, 2009 2:13 PM PST reply actions  

The Wrestler

Was much better in the preview than in fullness. I was bordering on crying in the preview, too, but the movie didn’t really move me anywhere near that much. There are a lot of good things in the movie, and I don’t want to take it down at all, but I wasn’t blown away by it the way I was hoping/expecting to be.

You should check out Happy-Go-Lucky sometime as well, it’s a pretty damn solid film. In Bruges also was good.

And no Iron Man? Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Man On Wire?

Let the Right One In rocks.

And, AHEM. Slumdog Millionaire?!

by jimmimoose on Feb 4, 2009 2:15 PM PST reply actions  

Oh!

and WALL-E was pretty solid, too. I don’t know if it breaks top-10 status, but maybe.

by jimmimoose on Feb 4, 2009 2:16 PM PST up reply actions  

Ahem...

reread and look for sarcasm.

by johnbai on Feb 4, 2009 2:16 PM PST up reply actions  

Heh

That’s what I get for just reading your titles, and not going through your actual commentary about each one. I was surprised. Now I’m ashamed! Oh, the shame!

by jimmimoose on Feb 4, 2009 2:18 PM PST up reply actions  

I made previous comments about the satiric nature of my post

but they are gone now. Perhaps a moderator thought it would be meta-funny to see all the straight reactions? I think most commentors just look at the list and didn’t read the commentary for all it’s rich sugary humor.

I mean, really, would I ever use the expression “man-meat sandwich” with a straight face?

by johnbai on Feb 4, 2009 2:29 PM PST up reply actions  

I think you just might

Depending on how many beers you’ve had

by jimmimoose on Feb 4, 2009 3:11 PM PST up reply actions  

Where's 'In Bruges'?

that movie kicks so much ass
“aw stop crying like a.. big.. gay.. baby!”

by Bearskin Rugburn on Feb 4, 2009 2:18 PM PST reply actions  

Thank god there was no Twilight on the list...

Being a HS kid right now I just want to strangle someone who even suggest Twilight is
A.The best book ever.
B.The best movie of 08.

Then again some people in my age group thinks that the Jonas Brothers are freaking amazing as well…

BOOYA! You got Slurved!

by Slurvey on Feb 4, 2009 2:43 PM PST reply actions  

They're just horrible ick...

I’ve tried listening to them but well I just can’t it’s like mind rape… After hearing their rendition of a-Ha’s Take on me I was like HOW THE HECK IS THIS POPULAR!

BOOYA! You got Slurved!

by Slurvey on Feb 4, 2009 6:33 PM PST up reply actions  

I read a study not too long ago

in which people were given a newspaper and asked to count the number of photographs in the paper. There were 43 photographs total.

On page two of the paper, in the middle of the page, in inch-high letters, it said THERE ARE 43 PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS PAPER. YOU MAY STOP COUNTING NOW. A surprisingly large number of people were so focused on finding and counting the photographs that they missed that line entirely.

Just sayin’.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 4, 2009 2:49 PM PST reply actions  

This, fortunately, wasn't a pass/fail thing

but a study of the characteristics of task-focused people v. people that don’t focus as well. It was a timed test. There are people who are task-focused to the exclusion of everything else – they typically took between three and five minutes to find all 43 photos. There are other people who are more open to finding things by chance, and those people took about 20 seconds to conclude the test.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 4, 2009 3:01 PM PST up reply actions  

I would probably check anyway...

…just in case they were trying to trick me.

by ubelmann on Feb 4, 2009 6:01 PM PST up reply actions  

There is a third option

That some of those people just didn’t believe that there were 43 pictures until they’d counted for themselves

by Malcontent1 on Feb 5, 2009 11:19 AM PST up reply actions  

I should

read further along before commenting

by Malcontent1 on Feb 5, 2009 11:20 AM PST up reply actions  

But had the inch-high letters lied to them, those people would have been wrong.

They had no reason to trust the text.

I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.

by Llewdor on Feb 5, 2009 1:39 PM PST up reply actions  

haha brilliant

my 8th grade algebra teacher was fond of giving us a HUGE X= bla bla bla equation to solve, and wondering how long it would take someone to notice that all of it was to the 0th power.

by johnbai on Feb 4, 2009 2:52 PM PST up reply actions  

What, no love for WALL-E?

Is that the light at the end of the tunnel, or the headlights of an oncoming train?

by Benne on Feb 4, 2009 3:03 PM PST reply actions  

After reading the post again...

I got a hearty chuckle. Well played.

Is that the light at the end of the tunnel, or the headlights of an oncoming train?

by Benne on Feb 4, 2009 5:53 PM PST up reply actions  

Best Movies of 2008

8. Taken (released in January 2009)

….aaaaand I stop paying attention to you now.

"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?" - Dr. Venture

by Eegah on Feb 4, 2009 3:32 PM PST reply actions  

I guess those responses are pretty hillarious

Imagine what would happen if, on 4/1/09, all the sexy people put up ironic posts on the front page! I can see some possible headlines:

Graham writes: A deeper look at the numbers: why the Vidro signing was actually good for the Mariners.

Matthew writes: Mariner’s trade for Moyer for victory lap season at Safeco!

and Jeff writes: Meet your new LL Moderator: Robert!

by johnbai on Feb 4, 2009 5:32 PM PST up reply actions  

It's more like

TL;DNC

too long, did not comprehend

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Feb 4, 2009 6:17 PM PST up reply actions  

Apocalypse Now.

I will smash your face until my fists bleed if you call him "Holmgrem" again.

by kevin_ess on Feb 4, 2009 9:10 PM PST up reply actions  

This is an awesome fanpost.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Kenji Johjima couldn't catch him.

by kevin_ess on Feb 4, 2009 5:54 PM PST reply actions  

Wonderful post

Great satire.

Personally, I can’t stand the fact that within the last ten or fifteen years, the Academy has decided that “good” is synonymous with “heartbreakingly depressing”. I would like to see this remedied sometime in the near future.

by katal on Feb 4, 2009 6:00 PM PST reply actions  

Satire aside

I loved The Wrestler and Rec.

And while I hate action movies (I prefer character studies), and especially hate super hero movies…The Dark Knight was awesome.

by Slica on Feb 4, 2009 6:07 PM PST reply actions  

Yeah, I was actually thinking about going to see this

Should I not?

"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?" - Dr. Venture

by Eegah on Feb 5, 2009 9:09 AM PST up reply actions  

I don't know

It might be great. I haven’t actually seen any of the movies on the list, so I can’t say.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 10:47 AM PST up reply actions  

The irony part wasn't that these were bad movies

just that I was writing a top ten list without any actual knowledge of what I was reviewing. The blurb for each selected film reveals that I haven’t actually seen the movie.

Of course, I went and saw Waltz with Bashir last night, so I have to remove that one from the list now.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 1:13 PM PST up reply actions  

To me, the funniest line in the whole thing is in the closing

when I give an honorable mention to Let the Right One In… but “can’t include it because I haven’t actually seen it yet.” I’ve already admitted to not having seen any of the films.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 1:15 PM PST up reply actions  

Oh wait

you guys are being ironical on me, huh?

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 1:18 PM PST up reply actions  

Wait, was this WHOLE FANPOST a JOKE?

I think satire is really difficult to detect on the internet. I thought the joke was about ‘Taken’ – which was released in 2009, and is awesome in a different way from the other films, which don’t have much screaming. I thought the joke was about Diversity.
To each his own!

by marc w on Feb 5, 2009 1:22 PM PST up reply actions  

Yes

the intro, the closing, and the blurbs on every movie in the list are intended to be jokes.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 1:40 PM PST up reply actions  

The danger of irony

is that it is often missed… sometime to devastating consequences.

For example, we’ve all read and laughed at Jonathon Swift’s article about the Irish famine, but a little research shows that no one was laughing (especially not Swift) when several starving families did, in fact, eat their own children.

Another example: many people, throughout history, have failed to realize that Machievelli was being “ironic” when he wrote The Prince. Instead of understanding that, all sorts of ruthless people have used the book as a blueprint for a brutal style of governance.

Lastly, Americans (given that we’re a fairly naive nation) have embraced the works of Ayn Rand… seeing some sort of validation in them for our decadent and uncaring lifestyles. Rand, a devout socialist herself, tried several times to tell the world stage that she was being ironic… but the vast majority of readers paid no attention… apparently preferring the surface meaning of her books rather than the intended meaning.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 1:38 PM PST reply actions  

The danger of irony is that it died along with several thousand Americans on a clear, blue morning in September of 2001.

Or were you in literary theory class then, you self-important windbag?
Be earnest for once and then maybe people around here might start to let you in. You just seem determined to keep people out, and frankly, I don’t care. STAY out.

by marc w on Feb 5, 2009 2:01 PM PST up reply actions   1 recs

marc w

you’ve made a powerful enemy this day.
we are clearly not best friends anymore.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 2:32 PM PST up reply actions  

Oh, and by the way...

that whole post about Swift, Machiavelli and Rand… pure sarcasm!

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 2:35 PM PST up reply actions  

Goya wasn't a modernist?

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett http://mvn.com/marinersminors/

by JY on Feb 5, 2009 4:43 PM PST up reply actions  

Wait - this whole thing was sarcasm?

61/755: KGJ's homer totals, or Rosie O'Donnell's age/weight in 2019?

by kevin_ess on Feb 5, 2009 5:05 PM PST up reply actions  

To get all earnest for a second

Someone with photoshop skills needs to…enhance ‘Saturn Eating his Son’ to make Saturn look even more like Red. That would be an intimidating image for Red’s wrestling opponents to see…

Vatinius! Your services are needed!

by marc w on Feb 5, 2009 6:11 PM PST up reply actions  

Marc, you are brilliant. I wish to see this.

61/755: KGJ's homer totals, or Rosie O'Donnell's age/weight in 2019?

by kevin_ess on Feb 5, 2009 6:30 PM PST up reply actions  

Could you also turn it into Felix

eating some member of the Los Angelos Angelos de Los Angelos.

by johnbai on Feb 5, 2009 7:03 PM PST up reply actions  

Machiavelli was being ironic

He meant what he said, but he wrote it all in a very spiteful and sarcastic manner.

by katal on Feb 5, 2009 5:51 PM PST up reply actions  

I hate sarcastic people.

61/755: KGJ's homer totals, or Rosie O'Donnell's age/weight in 2019?

by kevin_ess on Feb 5, 2009 7:12 PM PST up reply actions  

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