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| Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. |
2008 was in so many ways a watershed year at the movies (and for the country, since Barack Obama would be elected the nation's first black president that fall). It was the year where superhero movies really took over the world with The Dark Knight and Iron Man. It was a year of comebacks with both Robert Downey, Jr. and Mickey Rourke (although only one of them would sustain their newfound success). And it was the year the Academy Awards were shamed for their lack of popular appeal, as soon the Best Picture race was expanded from five to as many as 10 contenders.
It was a year where a lot of the prestige movies didn't do it for me. I remember thinking Slumdog Millionaire was cute but largely inconsequential and the less said about The Reader, the better. For me, 2008 was largely a year where the popcorn movies really delivered.
Without further delay here is my top 10 from 10 years ago:
10) Milk - Sean Penn gave perhaps his last great film performance in this biopic in which he effectively transformed himself into the inspirational gay icon Harvey Milk. While the movie isn't exactly groundbreaking, it does a stirring job of showing what a compelling figure Milk was and is. A real tear jerker, the film is aided tremendously by its period detail and strong supporting work from James Franco, Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch.9) Happy-Go-Lucky - Film audiences who are falling in love with Sally Hawkins after her lovely turn in The Shape of Water should check out this UK gem, which made her a critical darling. She plays the perpetually peppy heroine of this episodic fable about a young woman trying to maintain her innate sense of joy in an increasingly grim world. It's a film and performance that easily couldn't have worked but does.
8) Wall-E - At the time, this story about a lonely little robot was considered to be one of Pixar's most audacious films -- it's slow build and long stretches without dialogue are definitely groundbreaking for an animated film largely aimed at children. But its phenomenal success showed that adults could care about these stories too if they were structured well and contained enough depth to hold up over time.
7) Gran Torino - In the Trump era, this old fashioned story about a racist old grump from Detroit would be problematic to say the least, but it felt like a heartfelt finale to director-star Clint Eastwood's career (although he has remained prolific off-screen since). It was a huge, crowd-pleasing commercial hit, but instead of Dirty Harry part five, audiences were greeted with a fairly sensitive effort to humanize the Hmong people and an interesting meditation on the relationship between heroism and violence.
6) Iron Man - This is the movie that made the Marvel universe a thing on the big screen. Robert Downey, Jr. found the part he was born to play in Tony Stark, the playboy weapons manufacturer who becomes an advocate for peace. It's charming as hell and takes the time to really set up the character and make you like him, which so many films that came in its wake failed to do. Iron Man was never the center of the Avengers universe in the comics but this movie made him the star.
5) Step Brothers - It's a funny thing, the first time I saw this Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly comedy I didn't love it -- I thought it was too broad. But like a lot of director Adam McKay's surreal, improv-heavy romps this one really grew on me and its reputation is firmly established as one of the best absurdist comedies of the past decade. It's about man-children like a lot of recent hits, but its one of the best of the genre.
4) Burn After Reading -This black comedy homage to incredibly stupid and pompous people was one of the Coen brothers' most polarizing and popular films. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, James Malkovich and Brad Pitt all give deliriously silly performances in a movie that looks and feels like an espionage film but it's really just a well executed farce.3) Tropic Thunder - Another wild comedy that probably wouldn't work today -- but boy, was it fun. This is Ben Stiller at the peak of his powers making a savage parody of vapid Hollywood actors and featuring some amazing turns from stars like Tom Cruise and Downey, Jr. (in an Oscar-nominated role) as an actor who dyes his skin black to play an African-American.
2) The Dark Knight - The knockoffs that this Christopher Nolan movie inspired have worked to diminish how great it is, but this is really the gold standard by which all modern superhero movies are measured against. It's a triumph of sound, cinematography and practical effects. Christian Bale fully owns the Batman role here and of course the late Heath Ledger created one of the greatest movie villains of all time with his version of the Joker. Its politics may be muddy but its impact is still being felt, for better or worse.
1) The Wrestler - The story may be simple -- it's about a washed-up, self-destructive wrestler who can't seem to keep his life together no matter how hard he tries -- but Mickey Rourke's emotional work as the title character is everything but. It's one of my favorite actors giving quite possibly his best performance; it's physical, hard to watch and very, very moving. It should have won him the Oscar. And the film still holds up even if Rourke's career hasn't.
PAST TOP 10 FAVORITE LISTS
1974 #1 movie - The Godfather Part II
1975 #1 movie - Nashville
1976 #1 movie - Taxi Driver
1977 #1 movie - Star Wars
1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters
1985 #1 movie - Fletch
1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet
1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables
1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction
1995 #1 movie - Heat
1996:#1 movie - Fargo
1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights
2004 #1 movie - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 #1 movie - A History of Violence
2006 #1 movie - Casino Royale
2007 #1 movie - There Will Be Blood
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