the 100 best films of 2008

The 100 Best Films of 2008

The 100 Best Films of 2008

The Dark KnightHeath Ledgers posthumous Oscar looks in the bag. The film is bleak and brilliant. Batman is Hamlet and Ledger is a sensation as the Joker. The late legend doesnt just steal the film, he murders it in style. You will feel utterly numb afterwards" - James Christopher

Gomorrah"Matteo Garrones startling film about the criminal underworld in Naples is one of these rare movies that can alter our perception of life. It's brave to the point of foolhardy" - James Christopher

Man On Wire "The American director James Marsh has created one of the greatest heist films of all times. Two things make his gripping docudrama so different: its all true, and the only thing stolen is air. It isnt about art, its about us" - Cosmo Landesman Principio del formulario

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There Will Be Blood "Paul Thomas Anderson's movie about the scramble for oil is a masterclass in how the West was truly sold. It's a marvellously entertaining soap: a sort of Dickens does Dallas, without the sex or swimming pools" - James Christopher

Time and Winds "The kind of movie that was invented for the word ineffable. It is, at a guess, about lifes relentless march, about death, rebirth, and the hollow limits of religion in the face of overwhelming nature. When youve got it youve got it for good" - Kevin Maher

4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days "Every frame of this Romanian drama set in the 1980s about two female students trying to arrange an illegal abortion is brilliantly thought out. A stunning and demanding watch" - James Christopher

Alexandra"Aleksandr Sokurovs strange and dusty fable charts the unlikely visit of an old Russian woman to her grandsons desert garrison in Chechnya. Full of intriguing mysteries" - Edward Porter

Appaloosa"Director (and star) Ed Harris reintroduces us to the old-style strong and silent western hero. Get ready to swoon" - Wendy Ide

Assembly"Feng Xiaogangs epic war film is just about the most impressive one since Saving Private Ryan" - Cosmo Landesman

Australia"Baz Luhrmann's long-awaited, and over-budget epic manages, against the odds, to avoid turning into one big sunburnt stereotype about Godzone country. Compellingly beautiful and breathtakingly cruel" - Anne Barrowlcough

Be Kind Rewind"The plot here is perfunctory, but the amateur-movie shoots are wonderful, mixing equal parts of silliness, sweetness and wit" - Edward Porter

Before the Devil Knows Youre Dead "Nobody does self-loathing with quite the same dissolute panache as Philip Seymour Hoffman" - Wendy Ide

Bigga than Ben"Two Russian immigrants come to London hoping to make an easy fortune, but turn to a life of crime: dark, funny, charming, fast, immoral, decadent and delightful" - Cosmo Landesman

Blindsight"Strikingly photographed documentary that unfolds into a story of human achievement and a study of the East-West culture clash" - Wendy Ide

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Black White + Gray"Terrific documentary about the unsung collector Sam Wagstaff and his lopsided relationship with his hungry young artist lover Robert Mapplethorpe" - James Christopher

The Boss of It All "The Danish iconoclast Lars Von Trier finally embraces the centre ground with this smart and witty mainstream comedy" - Kevin Maher

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas "One of the most moving and remarkable films about childhood Ive ever seen: a simple tale of unimaginable horror" - James Christopher

Burn After Reading "An irreverent blast of screwball nihilism, twisty machinations and goofball performances" - Kevin Maher

California Dreamin' "Inspired by a real life stand-off between stranded US troops and the inhabitants of a tiny Romanian village" - Kevin Maher

The Changeling "This mature and thoughtful film is a many-layered triumph for Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie" - Kevin Maher

Chocolate"From the director who brought us the stunt-tastic Ong-Bak comes another symphony of exquisitely choreographed carnage" - Wendy Ide

Cloverfield"An hour in I started to sweat. And I nearly threw up trying to make sense of the increasingly chaotic and frightening scenes of the gripping climax" - James Christopher

A Complete History of My Sexual FailuresAn egocentric documentary-maker traces his romantic ineptitude and sexual impotence through awkward interviews with irate ex-girlfriends" - Kevin Maher

Couscous"Few recent films have captured family as evocatively as this multi-award-winning French movie" - Wendy Ide

Definitely, Maybe "A romantic comedy with a refreshingly adult sensibility and plot that doesnt feel that it has been recycled and regurgitated by innumerable Cameron Diaz movies" - Wendy Ide

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly "Julian Schnabel has taken the hoary old hospital/disabled drama and given it an art-house makeover, producing something moving and visually stunning" - Cosmo Landesman



Donkey Punch "This neat British horror-thriller stood head and shoulders above almost all of the fare on offer in Sundance this year" - Damon Wise

The Edge of Heaven "Isn't an homage to anything other than the unassuming genius of its German-born Turkish writer-director Fatih Akin" - Kevin Maher

Four Minutes "Chris Kraus's second feature is a marvellous piece of cinema that hides its secrets like a Russian doll" - James Christopher

Frost/Nixon"The build-up to the final confrontation in Peter Morgans pin-sharp drama about the television duel between Richard Nixon and David Frost is an absolutely electric piece of cinema" - James Christopher

Garage"Josie is a lonely bachelor who mans the local garage. The beauty of this lovely, sad little film is the wealth of detail in every scene" - Wendy Ide

Garbage Warrior "For the past three decades a silver-tressed eco-hero has been transforming piles of glass bottles, beer cans and rubber tyres into wondrous houses in the New Mexican desert" - Ed Potton

Gone Baby Gone "Gripping film that uses the disappearance of a child to explore the disappearance of the basic decencies within adult society" - Cosmo Landesman

Half Moon "The savage drama of the landscape, the indomitable optimism of the people and the passion of the ubiquitous music is universal in its appeal" - Wendy Ide

Halla BolAsserts that many Indians are hapless victims of a hierarchical nepotistic society which offers little leeway. Exerts a powerful grip" - Anil Sinanan

Happy-Go-Lucky"Mike Leigh has devised a delightful comedy that sinks its teeth into your heart with unexpected power" - James Christopher

Hellboy II: The Golden Army "A wonderful mix of pulp fiction and fairy tale, monster saga and Tolkien mythology. Imagine Philip Marlowe going down the mean streets of an underworld awash with psycho goblins and killer fairies" - Cosmo Landesman

High School Musical 3 "As shiny and polished as newly fitted dental veneers and, like most Disney products, relentlessly family-friendly" - Wendy Ide



How to Lose Friends and Alienate People "This hilarious account of the fall and rise of an English hack in New York is about what happens when you lose your principles and become alienated from your better self" - Cosmo Landesman

Hunger"Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen's savage portrait of hunger striker Bobby Sands is a chilling drama, a controversial and provocative act of remembering" - James Christopher

I.O.U.S.A."Unexpectedly entertaining, given that its about dodgy accounting on an epic scale, the film predicts an economic cold shower that is about to douse Americas prospects" - Wendy Ide

I've Loved You So Long "This impressive film debut by the writer and director Philippe Claudel is a story of redemption and rehabilitation" - Cosmo Landesman

In Bruges "A witty, wordy film which, for the first half at least, is driven almost entirely by dialogue rather than action" - Wendy Ide

In Search of a Midnight Kiss "Made on a tiny budget, this black-and-white gem is one of the best US indie movies since Clerks" - Wendy Ide

In the Valley of Elah "Tommy Lee Jones Oscar-nominated performance is impeccably judged. Paul Haggiss superb script is multi-layered" - Wendy Ide

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull "This fantastic Steven Spielberg adventure is a marvellous return to form for Professor Henry Jones Jr" - James Christopher

Iron Man "The first blockbuster movie of the summer, and, despite the topical Taleban atrocities, a roaring fairground ride" - James Christopher

Jar City "An atmospheric police procedural full of scorched sheep heads, pickled babies brains and ice and thats just for lunch" - Wendy Ide

Jodhaa Akbar "Oscar-nominated Lagaan director Ashutosh Gowarikers sumptuous period epic has all the ingredients of a Cecil B DeMille entertainer" - Anil Sinanan

Joy Division "Although the death of Curtis casts a shadow over the film, there is also a spirit of celebration and genuine admiration for the band" - Wendy Ide



Juno"A small, quirky teenage comedy that was all set to become a cult classic like Rushmore then went and earned four Academy Award nominations" - Cosmo Landesman

Kamikaze Girls "Tetsuya Nakashima has created a truly original teenage film - and, in doing so, shows how predictable recent similar projects from Hollywood have been" - Cosmo Landesman

Kenny"This low-budget Australian mockumentary is one of the funniest, warmest films of the year, and Jacobsons performance is so real that at times it feels unscripted" - Nigel Kendal

Kung Fu Panda "In terms of pure family fun and entertainment, this is one of the best animation films to appear for a long while" - Cosmo Landesman

La Zona "Rodrigo Pl's story of murder in a gated community is a searing commentary on life in contemporary Mexico and the vast disparity in influence, privilege and life expectancy between the rich and the poor" - Wendy Ide

Linha de Passe "Ultimately, there is optimism, albeit tempered by the poignancy of lives shadowed by So Paulos harsh indifference" - Wendy Ide

Lust, Caution "Only a director as revered as Ang Lee could have shot a story about China as explicit and raw as this. The sex is brutal. The history is taboo" - James Christopher

Mad Detective "This brilliant, funny Hong Kong thriller puts Hollywood to shame. A rookie cop enlists the aid of the former homicide detective to solve a murder case involving a missing policeman and his stolen gun" - Tom Charity

Mamma Mia! The Musical "Theyll probably revoke my membership of the Straight Mens Sneering Association for this, but Mamma Mia is actually rather wonderful. Sharp, hilarious and so beautifully shot that you can almost smell the Ambre Solaire" - Hugo Rifkind

Memories of Underdevelopment "A fascinating and subtle study of an intellectual adrift in Castros Cuba, mixing documentary footage, flashbacks and literary narration" - Cosmo Landesman

Mongol"Are you ready for the new Genghis: romantic lover, caring dad, wonderful husband and enlightened ruler?" - Cosmo Landesman

My Brother is an Only Child "Formula-free melodrama that follows two boisterous brothers through the turbulent realities of Italian political extremism" - Kevin Maher



My Winnipeg "Shot mostly in black and white, in the densely cut style of the 1920s movies that director Guy Maddin loves, the film has a strange, incantatory rhythm" - Tom Charity

No Country for Old Men "A tense thriller with a dusty Texan ambience and a melancholy tone, featuring a wonderful bit of casting: Javier Bardem in the bad-guy role" - Edward Porter

OSS-117: Cairo, Nest of Spies "Forget 007 - action fans can have all the fun with his magnificently titled smooth French counterpart" - Kevin Maher

Of Time and the City "This rich cinematic memoir of Liverpool from Terence Davies is a British gem. Elegant and slightly elegiac, this is a film to be cherished" - Wendy Ide

Out of the Blue "The genius of the film is to draw the audience, almost immediately, into the community. These are ordinary people who could be living next door to any of us" - Wendy Ide

P2"The cruel beauty of the film is that it hinges on obsession and hate. The performances are outstanding" - James Christopher

Persepolis"This vivid autobiographical animation shows the human cost of life under a totalitarian regime" - Cosmo Landesman

Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea "Sparsely populated by Miyazakis usual standards, the film concentrates on family, specifically the relationship between mother and child" - Wendy Ide

Quantum of Solace "Daniel Craigs craggy agent picks up exactly where he left off in another bruising thriller that leaves you feeling both drained and exhilarated" - James Christopher

Quarantine"Dowdles thriller is a consummate nerve-shredder. And any film that buries an axe in the skull of reality television is to be cherished" - James Christopher

Quiet Chaos "Moretti's movie about a media executive whose wife dies in a freak fall builds a devastating portrait of a man mildly estranged from his daughter yet completely out of touch with his own humanity" - Kevin Maher

Rachel Getting Married "Jonathan Demme pays homage to Robert Altman with the emotionally charged and darkly comic drama" - Wendy Ide



Redacted"Not just a damning inside account of loud and bullish rednecks, but a virtuoso piece of experimental film from Brian De Palma" - James Christopher

RocknRolla"You can sneer at Guy Ritchie's mockney heritage. But you cannot deny that as a full-throttle film-maker he is hard to beat for sheer energy" - Kevin Maher

Shine a Light "Martin Scorseses recording of the bands 2006 charity concert in New Yorks relatively intimate Beacon Theatre is a revelation" - Kevin Maher

The Silence of Lorna "The tension grows, scene by guilty scene. This is another absorbing piece of cinema by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne" - James Christopher

Somers Town "Not as touching as Meadows wants it to be: too lightly sketched for that. Even so, the film puts a smile on your face and freshens your brain with its li veliness" - Edward Porter

The Spiderwick Chronicles "The most enjoyable PG fantasy this side of Hogwarts, and the first worthy rival to J. K. Rowlings mighty franchise" - James Christopher

Still Life"A low-key meditation on the final days of a community through the eyes of two outsiders, it's a fascinating, understated masterpiece" - Wendy Ide

The Strangers "Supposedly based on a true story, this is the terrifying tale of what happened one night in 2005, when a couple were paid a visit by strangers at four in the morning" - Cosmo Landesman

Summer Hours "In Olivier Assayass drama, three siblings must decide what to do with a valuable art collection inherited from their late mother" - Edward Porter

Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street "As the boat slips under a spooky London Bridge it becomes quite clear that Tim Burton was born to film this strange and spooky chamber piece" - James Christopher

Taxi to the Dark Side "Americas abhorrently flexible attitude towards torture in the post-9/11 era has inspired several recent dramas, but none packs the punch of Alex Gibneys Oscar-winning documentary" - Ed Potton

Terror's Advocate "The subject of Barbet Schroeders documentary is Jacques Vergs, a French lawyer who has defended numerous terrorists and other pariahs" - Edward Porter



Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic "Delightful Bollywood fantasy which is an inventive blend of Mary Poppins meets The Sound of Music" - Anil Sinanan

Under the Bombs "Not the usual look at the Middle East: a love story, a road movie and an important piece of reportage that is angry, funny and deeply moving" - Cosmo Landesman

Unrelated"This subtle film about an unhappily married woman in her forties desperately seeking the rest of her life is a gem" - James Christopher

Vicky Cristina Barcelona "Woody Allens latest comedy is a subtle spoof on the Don Juan myth and the funniest of the four films that he has assembled in Europe" - James Christopher

W."The sheer warmth of Josh Brolins performance as George W Bush is as unexpected as Oliver Stones restraint" - James Christopher

The Wackness "Not a portrait of a generation, its a portrait of outsiders and oddballs of every age: funny, poignant and well worth seeing" - Cosmo Landesman

Wall-E"The future unspools like an old-fashioned silent movie. Barely a word is spoken, yet the sepia images reveal a dystopian marvel" - James Christopher

Water Lilies "Captures the casual cruelty, paralysing uncertainty and exaggerated passions of teenage girls, conditioned to be decorative" - Wendy Ide

Waltz with Bashir "This is one of those rare films that leaves you feeling as if youve seen something you can take home and talk about" - Cosmo Landesman

The Wave "The question that hangs over this high-school drama meets liberal Germanys worst nightmare is this: could totalitarianism ever happen again there?" - Cosmo Landesman

We Are Together "Spiritually uplifting documentary about an institution that provides a roof, bed and a surrogate family for children who have lost their parents to Aids" - Wendy Ide

What Just Happened? "Withering comedy of appalling Hollywood manners that puts the boot into poncy art house directors and charts the tantrums of over-paid stars" - James Christopher

XXY"Luca Puenzos dry and prickly drama is a terrific flash of Argentine magic. The twists would delight Almodvar" - James Christopher

You, the Living "The slapstick sequences are every bit as hilarious as the best of Tati, Keaton or Chaplin, and you end up willing the rest of the movie to sustain that level of euphoria" - Tom Charity

the 100 best films of 2008

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