8 in ‘8 - FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008:

1. MILK
2. The Fall
3. The Dark Knight
4. Iron Man
5. Funny Games
6. Frost/Nixon
7. Doubt
8. Wanted

There are still quite a few movies I never got to see. I guess that’s what I get for living in a city that doesn’t fall under the “limited release” banner. The Wrestler and Synecdoche, New York fall into that category. And The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road and other late releases will just have to be considered for the “9 in ‘9” list next year.

All that said, as we were careening towards the end of the year, I really thought The Fall was going to top this list. Even with the slew of heavy hitters that tend to come out in this award season, I was pretty confident that it could not be topped. Then I saw Milk. Coming out of the theatres after seeing both of those movies made me realize that *this* is what filmmaking is about. Both movies are so different but use the power of the medium to convey their own unique story. I think the reason Milk ended up topping this list for me were the personal attachments I have with the basic struggle for civil rights and equality in this state and country. The movie opens up in a period of time when I had just been born, and here, 30 years later, its sentiments still ring mostly true.

It was a great summer for comic book movies. Iron Man blew all expectations away and set a new bar. Then came along The Dark Knight which blew those expectations away and set an even newer bar. I really enjoyed Wanted, too. I loved its stylized approach to the genre.

The thing that Funny Games, Frost/Nixon, and Doubt all have in common with me, is that I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through and didn’t let out a sigh of relief until the credits rolled. Each one was so intense and just built up more and more as they went along. That’s when you know a movie has just seduced you.