BOT Revisiting: Top 25 movies of 2008 | THE COUNTDOWN - FINALLY COMPLETE

[WrathOfHan]

12. Milk (213 Points)

 

Director: Gus Van Sant

 

Screenwriter: Dustin Lance Black

 

Starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O’Hare, Joseph Cross, and James Franco

 

Synopsis: The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

 

Box Office: 54.6M

 

93% on Rotten Tomatoes, 84 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Actor and Original Screenplay

 

Milk is one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, and it appeared on many critics’ top ten lists that year. This film won Sean Penn his second Oscar after Mystic River, making him the first two-time winner in the Best Actor category since Tom Hanks in the early 90s. Milk was released ten years ago in a time where gay marriage was legal in very few states and equal rights had not reached the point we are at today (which, unfortunately, still isn’t inclusive enough). Ten years ago, a movie about a gay activist was still considered taboo by some, and it was even banned in Samoa because of the subject matter. Peter Travers, who named Milk his favorite movie of the year, highlighted the importance of the film in his review:

 

“If you want to hate on this movie, bring it on. To those who say it’s ancient history since Harvey’s battle is no longer an issue, I say wake up and smell the hate crimes, and the bill banning gay marriage that passed on Election Day. To those who say its focus limits its audience, I say Harvey’s focus was human rights and therefore limitless. To those who say Milk is hagiography, I say Harvey is my kind of saint: a New York Jew with a screwed-up past, a lively sex life and a goal to bring the gay movement out of the shadows even if he had to be a media whore to do it.” 

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/milk-101650/

[WrathOfHan]

11. Cloverfield (219 points)

 

Director: Matt Reeves

 

Screenwriter: Drew Goddard

 

Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, and Odette Yustman

 

Synopsis: A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

 

Box Office: 170.8M WW

 

77% on Rotten Tomatoes, 64 on Metacritic

 

Cloverfield was one of the first film endeavors for J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot. After building up a solid TV lineup including Lost and Alias, Bad Robot Productions released its second film with tons of buzz and curiosity. The film’s marketing campaign consisted of Myspace pages for the film’s characters and viral marketing for products and companies in the Cloverfield universe such as the Tagruato Corporation and Slusho!. The curiosity surrounding the film led to an opening weekend of just over 40 million, which broke the January opening weekend record at the time. Over ten years later, Cloverfield’s opening weekend is still the fourth highest January opening nestled a few thousand above Split while trailing American Sniper, Ride Along, and Kung Fu Panda 3. Although the film had weak legs at the box office, many still enjoy the film thanks to the found footage aspect and its many intense sequences. The Cloverfield franchise now includes the excellent 10 Cloverfield Lane and this year’s The Cloverfield Paradox, a prequel that sets up the events in this film. Unfortunately, that film was horrible, and many on the site agree! Luckily, it doesn’t tarnish the quality of Cloverfield as the film still holds on its own.

Edited September 29, 2018 by WrathOfHan

[WrathOfHan]

10. Gran Torino (230 points)

Director: Clint Eastwood

 

Screenwriters: Screenplay by Nick Schenk, Story by Dave Johannson and Nick Schenk

 

Starring: Clint Eastwood

 

Synopsis: Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.

 

Box Office: 270M

 

80% on Rotten Tomatoes, 72 on Metacritic

 

Gran Torino was a massive hit with audiences and one of Eastwood’s more acclaimed films this millennium. The film received much talk both good and bad about its portrayal of Hmong Americans. Some praised the wide inclusion of Hmong actors in the cast, yet others found the racism on display in the film to be problematic. Actor Bee Vang has called this out and distanced himself from the film:

 

“Vang, who played Thao in the film, said he and the other Hmong actors were treated unfairly. Eastwood would not allow them to tweak their lines (even though he claimed that he did allow them to when asked in interviews following the release of the movie) and would not give them any tips on character building.”

https://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2011/01/gran-torino-actor-reveals-behind-the-scenes-racism

 

However, some say the racism on display in the film is part of a critique of the brand Eastwood has built over the years. Phillip W. Chung puts forwards this argument and compares Eastwood’s character Walt to Dirty Harry:

 

“Many reviewers have already pointed out that Walt shares many similarities with Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character; this is the man Dirty Harry would have become had he retired to a life of suburban ordinariness. Dirty Harry even drove a Gran Torino, and so the car takes on added symbolism here as not just a reminder of America’s lost traditions and past but also of Eastwood’s own history.

Eastwood must have been aware of this connection himself — many of Walt’s tics and character traits are similar to that of Dirty Harry’s — so the film is seemingly a deliberate attempt to repudiate the overt racism of his past characters (most notably Dirty Harry), just as he repudiated the senseless violence of some of his past work in the equally iconic Unforgiven.

What Eastwood has really created is not a story about the white man saving the minority (though it can be read on that level and I’m sure some will) but a critical examination of an iconic brand of white macho maleness that he played a significant part in creating.  Like Dirty Harry, Walt is a man who has committed acts of violence against people of color but now realizes the world has changed and he must also either change or die.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20090212154857/http://www.asianweek.com/2008/12/31/the-white-man-saves-the-day-again-clint-eastwood-in-gran-torino-2/

 

I would have a lot more to add to this if I had actually seen the film, but I figured I would do something a little different with this writeup and highlight one of the more controversial aspects of the film. Gran Torino was a very popular choice among the forum and our first entry in the top ten.

 

[WrathOfHan]

9. The Wrestler (245 points)

 

Director: Darren Aronofsky

 

Screenwriter: Robert Siegel

 

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood

 

Synopsis: A faded professional wrestler must retire but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

 

Box Office: 44.7M

 

98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 81% on Metacritic

 

Nominated for two Academy Awards

 

The Wrestler shows a different side of Aronofsky than the psychological horror and religious films he has been making this decade. It was one of the most acclaimed films of the year and featured knockout (no pun intended) performances from Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. The former in particular received lots of praise. Roger Ebert’s review of The Wrestler showcases the details of Rourke’s performance:

 

“Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke, lonely hero, Randy ("The Ram") Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar. Like many great performances, it has an element of truth. Rourke himself was once young and glorious and made the big bucks. He did professional boxing just for the hell of it. He alienated a lot of people. He fell from grace and stardom, but kept working, because he was an actor and that was what he did. Now here is his comeback role, playing Randy the Ram's comeback.

This is Rourke doing astonishing physical acting. He has the physique of a body builder, perhaps thanks to some steroid use, which would also be true of Randy. He gets into the ring and does the work. Rourke may not be physically performing every single thing we see, including the leaps off ropes and ladders and the nasty falls. Special effects have robbed movies of their believability. But I've seen a lot of F/X, and I have to say it looked to me like he was really doing these things.”

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wrestler-2008

 

Oh, and Vince McMahon liked it too. That should be the wrestling seal of approval right there for The Wrestler.

[WrathOfHan]

8. Kung Fu Panda (251.5 points)

 

Directors: John Stevenson and Mark Osborne

 

Screenwriters: Screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris

 

Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, and Jackie Chan

 

Synopsis: The Dragon Warrior has to clash against the savage Tai Lung as China's fate hangs in the balance: However, the Dragon Warrior mantle is supposedly mistaken to be bestowed upon an obese panda who is a tyro in martial arts.

 

Box Office: 631.7M

 

87% on Rotten Tomatoes, 73% on Metacritic

 

Nominated for one Academy Award

 

Skadoosh! Kung Fu Panda comes landing in at eighth on the countdown. In my opinion, this is the superior of the two major animated movies of 2008. Kung Fu Panda features gorgeous visuals with memorable characters brought to life by strong actors, and it is one of DreamWorks’ best films to date. “I’m not a big fat panda. I’m THE big fat panda.” @PANDA

[SLAM!]

Kung Fu Panda is probably one of Dreamworks' best animated films in my opinion. It's a very strong film, and it deserves its status as a distant second to Wall-E.

[Morieris]

We're Number 8! #8! 

 

Even though competition was way stiff that year, I'm never upset that this lost Best Animated Feature.

 

[WrathOfHan]

I wanted to get two more up tonight, but I had some school assignments to do. I’ll aim to get the top 5 started before work tomorrow and wrap this up on Tuesday

[chasmmi]

2 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

I wanted to get two more up tonight, but I had some school assignments to do. I’ll aim to get the top 5 started before work tomorrow and wrap this up on Tuesday

 

So my dream of completing the whole animated countdown before we get to Dark Knight lives on!!! Huzzah

 

Oh and KFP is far too low  

[Cap]

1 hour ago, chasmmi said:

So my dream of completing the whole animated countdown before we get to Dark Knight lives on!!! Huzzah

 

We also might not get to the Dark Knight.  Maybe everyone just forgot to add it.

[WrathOfHan]

7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (245 points)

Director: David Fincher

 

Screenwriter: Eric Roth

 

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, and Tilda Swinton

 

Synopsis: Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

 

Box Office: 334M

 

72% on Rotten Tomatoes, 70 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for thirteen Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Production Design, Makeup, and Visual Effects

 

After Zodiac failed to make a profit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button started a string of box office hits for David Fincher. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, interest was high for this film thanks to its unique premise carried out by a budget of nearly 170M. The film’s visual effects were highly praised and won the Oscar that year. Critics and audiences enjoyed the film, although this is one of Fincher’s lower-rated films. A.O. Scott highlights Fincher’s excellent directing in the film:

 

“Above all, though, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a triumph of technique. Building on the advances of pioneers like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis — and on his own previous work adapting newfangled means to traditional cinematic ends — Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking. While it stands on the shoulders of breakthroughs like “Minority Report,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “Forrest Gump” (for which Mr. Roth wrote the screenplay), “Benjamin Button” may be the most dazzling such hybrid yet, precisely because it is the subtlest. While he does treat the audience to a few grand, special-effect showpieces, Mr. Fincher concentrates his ingenuity on the setting and the characters, in particular — and most arrestingly — on the faces of his stars, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.”

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/movies/25butt.html?partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes&ei=5083

[Tower]

Gran Torino and Benjamin Button are two great films That I'm really glad to have seen Because of this list. Still waiting for In Bruges, the best of the films I saw for this list, hopefully it can place highly.

[SLAM!]

Predicting what films will be in the Top Six, I can infer that there's a few definites:

 

The Dark Knight

Wall-E

In Bruges

Slumdog Millionaire

Iron Man

 

So I think the last film left comes down to either Tropic Thunder, Role Models, or Speed Racer.

[WrathOfHan]

I’ll try getting two or three writeups done before I head to work.

[WrathOfHan]

6. In Bruges (277 points)

 

 

 

Director and Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh

 

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, and Jérémie Renier

 

Box Office: 34.5M

 

84% on Rotten Tomatoes, 67 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for one Academy Award

 

Before Martin McDonagh started flame wars online about racist cops, he made the unanimously enjoyable In Bruges. This film is filled to the brim with memorable quotes and features excellent performances from the main three actors, particularly Colin Farrell. His performance won him the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, beating out co-star Brendan Gleeson. Farrell’s performance as the apathetic Ray (not Velcoro) is such a joy to watch and showcases why so many of us on BOT love him.

[SLAM!]

In Bruges not making the top five is a bit of a disappointment, but I'm happy that it ended up being as high on the list as it did!

[TalismanRing]

Unanimously enjoyable?

 

I loathed this movie almost as much as I loathed Farrell's character. 

[Tower]

While it could have been worse for In Bruges, that's still too low.

[WrathOfHan]

5 hours ago, TalismanRing said:

Unanimously enjoyable?

 

I loathed this movie almost as much as I loathed Farrell's character. 

[dxmatrixdt]

Hancock at #25 with 113 points.  

In Bruges at #6 with 277 points.

 

Between Synecdoche, N.Y. & Speed Racer.

Think both made the top 5 alot