Best Movies of 2008

Well, we are just over one week away from the new year (and only a few days to Christmas...an early Merry Christmas to all my readers), and in order to stick to tradition, a best of list must be made. I previously hit up the worst movies of the year, but now it is time to focus on what movies where the best from 2008.

Here are my criteria:
1) Must have had a theatrical (or on DVD if that was the only way it was produced) release in the 2008 calendar year.
2) Have been viewed by me (either on DVD or in the theater)....currently out of 53 viewed [sorry to Valkyrie, Eagle Eye, and WALL-E]
3) Ranking primarily based upon my star rating (out of 5)
4) Just as a reminder, I judge movies largely on the entertainment and rewatchability factor and less on the critically done aspects (artsy-fartsy movies don't rate very highly for me)


Well, without further ado, in dramatic rank order....

10. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 4 stars; Good animation, entertaining story and good action (especially for a cartoon). Not perfect by any sense, but still it was a good trip back into the Star Wars Universe.


9. Journey to the Center of the Earth - 4 stars; Simply an entertaining film from start to finish. Lots of funny one-liners. I'm sure a large part of 4 stars was due to the 3-D version I saw in the theaters. Really well done.

8. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - 4 stars; A darker and more action packed trip to Narnia than the first film. I never read the book, so I don't know if it was accurate, but it was a good flick. Solid action, but I would have liked more back-story/explanation.

7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 4 stars; I'll admit, the film's plot was super cheesy and mostly dumb. However, it was an Indiana Jones film and that's worth a few stars all its own. I wouldn't be opposed to another Indiana Jones adventure, but I really hope there's a better treasure to seek.


6. The Happening - 4 stars; The most recent film by M. Night Shyamalan, and a pretty good one. It was a pretty tense film from start to finish, but not without issue. I'll buy the concept (which I won't ruin in case you haven't seen it), but I don't like how it only occurs in one area. Also, I would rather have it been a secret for a little longer. Still a good movie.

5. Quantum of Solace - 4 stars; An amazing action-packed movie. Daniel Craig still doesn't quite feel like Bond, yet. This one clearly had a few more moments of Craig trying to be suave. He's close, and I'm hoping the next film he fully embodies Bond and is past all this Vesper stuff.

4. Cloverfield - 4 stars; A monster attack on New York City as seen through the handheld camera of a group of friends. I didn't find the shaky camera thing to be annoying, and was on the edge of my seat for most of the film. Really sweet flick.


3. Ironman - 4 1/2 stars; What a fun film. I had low expectations before watching this and found it to be really good. Robert Downey, Jr. fully embodies Tony Stark and that really makes the movie.

2. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - 4 1/2 stars; An awesomely fun movie. I enjoyed the first Hellboy movie, and this one retains the humor and coolness, but ups the
fantastical. The combination is a really cool movie.


And the best movie of the year is ...

1. The Dark Knight - 5 stars; Near perfection. Excellently acted, solid action, captivating story, and keeps you wondering how it will end. Heath Ledger's Joker will go down as one of the best characters in all of cinema, simply amazing. Everyone must see this film. Easily the Best Movie of 2008.


There you have it. The best movies of 2008 (as determined by me). All-in-all a pretty solid movie year. Stay tuned for my best video games of 2008. It'll be fun.

Thanks for reading...and Merry Christmas!