Critics Pick the Best and Worst Films of 2008

Matt Price

My top 10 Best of 08
1. The Dark Knight
2. Iron Man
3. Rambo
4. Wall E
5. Tropic Thunder
6. Step Brothers
7. Hancock
8. The Incredible Hulk
9. Kung Fu Panda
10.Role Models

Dec 30 - 12:18 PM

Jay Jervey

Puhleeezz. Eagle Eye and The Day the Earth Stood Still were easily among the worst of the year and most disappointing. OTOH, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was much, much better than you young whippersnappers are giving it credit for. You know not what you speak. Seeing Karen Allen again was worth the whole movie. And the UFO theme was what the new XFiles should have been (it also being among the worst and most disappointing). Wake up RT!!

Dec 30 - 01:04 PM

Ryan Kelley

does anyone know when Trick 'R Treat is supposed to be released theatrically? I'm f&#king dying to see this!

Dec 30 - 01:13 PM

Ryan Kelley

My top ten in no order
1. The Wrestler
2. Let the Right One In
3. The Dark Knight
4. Pineapple Express
5. WALL-E
6. Man On Wire
7. Iron Man
8. Rachel Getting Married
9. Grand Torino
10. Zack and Miri Make a Porno(I can't lie, it brought me to tears I laughed so hard)

Dec 30 - 01:36 PM

david sullivan

As far as the best and the worst of 08 go, I can't comment on those I haven't seen like B button etc. The reason I have yet to see them is that I am too cheap to spend ten bucks when the local theatre will show the same film weeks later for a dollar on Tuesdays. Lucky me I guess.
I agree with most that Indy 4 was disappointing and not worth a second look. From the opening scene I felt sorry for how old Ford looked and is. I patiently waited for him to be Indy again but it never happened. The Karen Allen character was annoying as well. worst of the year? No way. Biggest letdown? Way.
Many have listed films that were so deplorable that it boggles the mind that the money is produced to make such sewage...
I loved Iron Man, it was a really fun movie.
Dark night was good but overrated.
Love Guru was very funny at times and i'm surprised so many trashed it.It's not like I was ever taking the film seriously,I just came to laugh and I did,hysterically at times...Come on didn't you laugh when the love guru told Verne he had to get back to the keebler factory?

Dec 30 - 02:05 PM

rodge dodge

"Come on didn't you laugh when the love guru told Verne he had to get back to the keebler factory?"

no

Dec 30 - 02:17 PM

John Webb

Top Five movies:
1. WallE
2. Iron Man
3. Tropic Thunder
4. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
5. Pinapple Express

Bottom five movies:
5. Milk
4. Love Guru
3. Speed Racer
2. Disaster Movie
1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Dec 30 - 02:20 PM

Jared King

Well, I still think Indy 4 is great. By the by the by the way, The Dark Knight is a great film even without Ledger. He just made it extra good.

Dec 30 - 02:55 PM

John Noto

I don't see how so many people thought Pineapple Express was one of the best, or even SLIGHTLY funny for that matter. Smoking pot is a great hobby of mine and I love many stoner flicks like Friday, Half-Baked, Grandma's Boy etc., but did not find one thing funny about this movie besides the snicklefritz remark and the daewoo thing. I was also stoned when I saw the movie, which normally increases my capacity to enjoy trash, but PE just stunk so badly. Yeah, Franco played a convincing stoner, but the movie was NOT funny. And the thing with the high school girlfriend was ridiculously stupid. I would put PE at the top of the list of bad movies I saw this year.

I also expected much more from Tropic Thunder. And Iron Man was good, but not worthy of the claims that it was better than TDK.

Dec 30 - 02:56 PM

VJ Perry

hmm... expelled should not be on the worst list (of course roger ebert is a huge liberal wackjob so obviously he would pick something like this) and im surprised that the dark knight only got one vote. that would be my best movie of the year and postal is my worst one.

Dec 30 - 03:12 PM

John Webb

John N. Yes Iron Man is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than Dark Knight. Yes Pineapple Express is funny, and yes Tropic THunder was amazing.

Dec 30 - 03:24 PM

John Webb

There are at least 15 movies that are better than Dark Knight that came out this year.

Dec 30 - 03:24 PM

Derek Meadors

I didn't see a lot of these "worst" movies because well, they looked terrible. Indy 4 was a bit of a disappointment, but I did like it enough. Pineapple Express was the most disappointing movie of the year to me, I just didn't find it very funny.

This was a strange year for movies. A lot of the Oscar buzz movies didn't live up to expectations for me. Benjamin Button could have been an hour shorter, Australia was a mess, Changeling wasn't even very good, Doubt was just okay, Gran Torino was very good, but not one of the ten best. Oddly enough, my three favorite movies wer all summer blockbusters.

My top ten:

10. Defiance (I love having a friend that works at a theater)
9. Body of Lies (I liked it more than most)
8. Valkyrie (the most surprising movie of the year)
7. Burn After Reading
6. Frost/Nixon
5. The Wrestler
4. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (yeah, that's right)
3. Iron Man
2. Wall-E
1. The Dark Knight

Dec 30 - 03:36 PM

ciaran kelly

The Happening missing from the list is aggravating. Every copy of this movie deserves to be gathered together and burned, erased from the memory and the public at large should be banished from speaking of it ever again. A hate crime committed against those who love cinema.

Dec 30 - 03:47 PM

Rob Wills

Some of these choices are just plain laughable. This is why I don't respect critics. Movies at 76% and 63% favorable should not even be under consideration for "worst" of the year, just because someone personally didn't like them. I personally didn't love The Dark Knight, but I would never suggest it was anywhere near the "worst" of the year. This is just not defensible, even under the "everybody has the right to their opinion" rule. You might call them "overrated" or "disappointing", but not THE "worst". Think what you are saying, please.

Dec 30 - 03:59 PM

Garrett Cooper

I'm actually glad that disaster movie wasn't listed. The less attention that movie gets, good or bad, the better. If disaster movie had come and gone without a single dollar made at the theater, it would be the best thing that could've happened. The Dark Knight was the best movie of the year because it was technically proficient, the story was tight and well driven and relevant to our time, the acting ranged from good to timeless, and EVERYONE went to see it. Box office is not the only judge of a terrific movie, but it is a stamp of approval from the masses. A movie like TDK that is so good, and obviously loved by the people who went and spent their money to see it, deserves to be honored more than a critical gem that would get shellacked at the box office in an even head-to-head. Why? Because, the masses are inherently polarized. Every movie, no matter how well loved by critics, has a few people who hated it. Every movie, no matter how reviled, has a few fans. I'm sure I could dig up someone who enjoyed disaster movie. A movie that is loved by the pros and the masses is truly special.

Dec 30 - 03:59 PM

John Worley

I'm sorry but I find it absurd that none of these critics wouldn't say that The Happening is the worst film of the year. I know critics do not expect much from M. Night Shyamalan, but I would consider my self a fan. When I first saw the trailers I started to doubt this moive, but I still wanted to see it just to see it. Wihtin the first ten minutes of this movie I knew it was going to be awful(when Mark Walhberg is talking to his class and his dialogue is like that of a high school play, the worst acting I have ever seen in a movie). I contemplated just walking out, but I spent the money and I was going to try and give it a chance. I thought that might be the worst but it continued to spiral out of control. Moment after moment it was looking like M. Night didn't put anytime into writing this movie. This first possible answer for the happening had to be the one they went with. there was no mystery, when the guy said maybe it's plants I thought "no, there has to be more", but there wasn't. The way the people died was also so outlandish and just gruesome. when the group is walking through the field amd they decide to split up the other group dies within thirty seconds. The ending is probably the worst part, the trees and plants just stop(what did they decide they had killed enough people), they are lucky enough to get to each other right after the trees stop. The news report at the end was ridiculous. It was M's way of putting his message to the idiots' in the audience who couldn't see through this sham and just see that it was his weird view on putting the warning for global warming out there.
My second worst movie would be Indiana Jones. I can sum this one up in three words NUKE, FRIDGE, ALIENS.

Dec 30 - 03:59 PM

dg critic

1-Changeling
2-Wall-E
3-Gran torino
4-Revolutionary Road
5-The curious case of benjamin button

Dec 30 - 05:02 PM

dg critic

1-Changeling
2-Wall-E
3-Gran torino
4-Revolutionary Road
5-The curious case of benjamin button

Dec 30 - 05:03 PM

Luis Olivier

And Wall-E?
What happens with Disaster Movie in worst movies of the year?

Dec 30 - 06:14 PM