2008 Movies

The Films of 2008

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A full list of 2008 Films on Wikipedia

The Year in Review

Not a great year for movies. We were too busy with other things and most of what I saw were kids films (or maybe that's just how it felt).

My Top Picks

1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Wow... I don't even like superhero films but Del Toro's magic still works on me.
2. Taken: Wow. Liam Neeson rocks!
3. Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood may just be the best drama director ever.
4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: One of the best films of its type - and suitable for children too.
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: This felt very much like Bicentennial Man to me but it was still a great story about human nature.
6. Iron Man: Another superhero film. I generally dislike them but somehow this one was funny enough and human enough to be worthwhile.

Notable Mentions ("Surprise" Films)

1. The Spiderwick Chronicles: Wow... a lot better than I expected.
2. City of Ember: We were all watching the biggies like Narnia, and this one sort of slipped by.
3. Doubt: It looked all serious (and it was) but it wasn't dull and it wasn't quite what I expected.
4. Nim's Island: A great film with poor advertising.
5. Blindness: An overlooked horror Gem.
6. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: They managed to make an Indy film all those years later and it didn't suck (well, not as much as I expected). That's good enough for me. They did nuke the fridge though.
7. Jumper: It was great to see Hayden Christensen make it into a blockbuster outside of Star Wars.
8. Rambo: It was nice to just be able to relax and watch a film made in the good old style of the 80's.
9. Teeth: Definitely a Guilty Pleasure. So bad that it was good.
10. Changeling: A great and engaging story - very poorly advertised though.
11. Ghost Town: Pretty Funny
12. Sex Drive: Yay! An American comedy that shows that they can actually do comedy - sometimes.
13. Reader, The: A surprise role for Kate Winslet.

The Biggest Disappointments

This is a really difficult category to fill in this year since most films didn't live up to their expectations.

1. Step Brothers: The trailer made this look really funny but it was gross with two unlikable characters. A great idea done very poorly.
2. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: Uwe Boll - 'nuff said.
3. Wanted: One of the few movies I've ever had to turn off because it was so boring - and even worse, it was an "actioner" with constant movement (just no innovation or story).
4. James Bond: Quantum of Solace: I hated the last bond film but I didn't think it could get much worse... it did. A poor man's Jason Bourne with absolutely no parts of the funny larger than life series that preceded it for 30+ years. Well done guys, you've taken a franchise I used to call favourite and made it unwatchable.
5. 10,000 BC: Somehow, they made it boring.
6. Get Smart: Unfunny. I'd rather watch the TV Series
7. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: This was a really terrible idea from the start but I think it really died when the Yeti started doing US culture touchdown dances.
8. Meet the Spartans: No. I wasn't expecting much from this film but it did manage to get a few laughs out of me with the "happy feet meets 300" bit at the beginning. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there and became a snorefest.
9. The Eye: When will Hollywood stop remaking films because the language isn't English. Even with subtitles popping up in a happy white font, the Asian version of the Eye was much, much better than this kludgy remake.

All the films I've seen from 2008 for the first time at the Cinema

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Day the Earth Stood Still
3. The Dark Knight
4. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
5. Indiana Jones and the Cave of the Crystal Skull
6. Iron Man
7. Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa
8. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
9. Quantum of Solace (James Bond)
10. Quarantine
11. The Spiderwick Chronicles
12. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
13. Tropic Thunder
14. Twilight

All the films I've seen from 2008 for the first time on the Small Screen

1. 10,000 BC
2. 27 Dresses
3. Australia
4. Babylon A.D.
5. Be Kind Rewind
6. Bedtime Stories
7. Bolt
8. Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
9. Changeling
10. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
11. City of Ember
12. Cloverfield
13. Day of the Dead
14. Death Race
15. Defiance
16. Definitely, Maybe
17. Disaster Movie
18. Doomsday
19. Doubt
20. The Eye
21. Forbidden Kingdom, The
22. Get Smart
23. Ghost Town
24. Gran Torino
25. Hancock
26. The Happening
27. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
28. Horton Hears a Who
29. House Bunny
30. The Incredible Hulk
31. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
32. Journey to the Centre of the Earth
33. Jumper
34. Kung Fu Panda
35. Lakeview Terrace
36. Love Guru, The
37. Marley & Me
38. Max Payne
39. Meet the Spartans
40. Mirrors
41. One Missed Call
42. Nims Island
43. Rambo
44. Reader, The
45. Rogue
46. The Ruins
47. Run Fatboy Run
48. Saw V
49. Seven Pounds
50. Sex Drive
51. Shutter
52. Sixty-Six
53. Slumdog Millionaire
54. The Spirit
55. Step Brothers
56. Superhero Movie
57. Taken
58. Teeth
59. Towelhead
60. Traitor
61. Transporter 3
62. Tropic Thunder
63. Untraceable
64. Valkyrie
65. WALL-E
66. You Don't Mess with the Zohan
67. Zack and Miri Make a Porno

What's left to see from 2008

There's obviously a lot I haven't seen from 2008. The bold one are the ones I'm most interested in.

1. 88 Minutes
2. A Plumm Summer
3. An American Carol
4. Appaloosa
5. Baby Mama
6. Bangkok Dangerous
7. Bank Job, The
8. Beer For My Horses
9. Beverly Hills Chihuahua
10. Body of Lies
11. Boy A
12. Brideshead Revisited
13. Burn After Reading
14. Cadillac Records
15. Charlie Bartlett
16. Che
17. College
18. College Road Trip
19. Deception
20. Delgo
21. Drillbit Taylor
22. Duchess, The
23. Eagle Eye
24. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
25. Express, The
26. Fall, The
27. Family that Preys, The
28. Fireproof
29. First Sunday
30. Flash of Genius
31. Fly Me to the Moon
32. Fool's Gold
33. Forever Strong
34. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
35. Four Christmases
36. Frost/Nixon
37. Garden Party
38. Goal! 2: Living the Dream...
39. Hamlet 2*
40. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
41. Haunting of Molly Hartley, The
42. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
43. How She Move
44. How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
45. Igor*
46. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
47. Last Chance Harvey
48. Leatherheads
49. Longshots, The
50. Mad Money
51. Made of Honor
52. Mamma Mia!
53. Meet Dave
54. Meet the Browns
55. Milk
56. Miracle at St. Anna
57. My Best Friend's Girl
58. Never Back Down
59. Never Forever
60. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
61. Nights in Rodanthe*
62. Nobel Son
63. Nothing Like the Holidays
64. Other Boleyn Girl, The
65. Over Her Dead Body
66. Penelope
67. Pineapple Express
68. Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, The
69. Pride and Glory
70. Prom Night
71. Proud American
72. Punisher: War Zone*
73. Redbelt
74. Religulous
75. Revolutionary Road*
76. Righteous Kill
77. Rocker, The
78. RocknRolla
79. Role Models
80. Secret Life of Bees, The
81. Semi-Pro
82. Sex and the City
83. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
84. Smart People
85. Soul Men
86. Space Chimps
87. Speed Racer*
88. Step Up 2 The Streets
89. Stone Angel, The
90. Stop-Loss
91. Strange Wilderness
92. Stranger, The
93. Street Kings
94. Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers
95. Swing Vote
96. Tale of Despereaux, The*
97. Vantage Point*
98. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
99. Visitor, The
100. W.
101. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
102. What Doesn't Kill You
103. What Happens in Vegas...
104. What We Do Is Secret
105. Witless Protection
106. Women, The
107. Wrestler, The
108. X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
109. Yes Man