Funny Games is absolutely one of the most unique films I saw this year and I loved every second of this post modern home invasion flick.  However, I'm hesitant to actually recommend this film to people because I don't think many people will appreciate the maddening experience of seeing Naomi Watts and Tim Roth being slowly tortured and abused.  The film toys with the expectations we all of have "horror," films in a Michael Haneke style that is excruciating to watch. (See Cache' if you haven't already.)  The disturbingly top-notch performances from Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet make this film an unforgettable experience.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a film that perfectly captures what it is to get dumped and try to move on.  I wasn't sure if Jason Segal had leading man potential and he was really putting his balls on the line since it was his first screenplay as well.  The guy can apparently do it all.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a romantic comedy with a raunchy edge that will no doubt remind people of There's Something About Mary.  Ever since I saw this movie with my friends I haven't been able to stop quoting it and thinking about how sweet and hilarious it is.  This is hands down my favorite of all the Judd Apatow produced movies.  

If you see one documentary this year, it should probably be Man on Wire.  It's the true story of Philippe Petit who, in 1974, broke into the World Trade Center with a group of helpers, suspended a wire between the two buildings, and tight rope walked back and forth for 45 minutes.  This movie left me breathless.  It's an absolutely beautiful story told from the people who lived it.  Philippe Petit is an amazing  dreamer and an inspiring person to listen to speak, as he talks about his passion of tight rope walking and what it was like to do something no one had ever done before.  The film really plays out almost like Ocean's Eleven as we see them plan every detail and see exactly how this group of people snuck to the roof of a New York skyscraper.  You'll be in suspense and you'll be in awe.  Man on Wire is great.

I really loved Frost/Nixon.  I think one of the reasons I loved it so much is because after watching the trailers I was not excited one bit.  I thought Frank Langella looked borderline comical but the reality was anything but.  In a year with Oliver Stone's W., which was an absolute disappointment on just about every level, it was so great to have a film centered around politics that was worth a damn.  I was also struck at how the core of the story really is a character piece.  It examines Frost and Nixon as characters in a very limited time frame instead of the traditional bio pic fashion that shows glimpses and pictures throughout someone's life.  This is definitely Ron Howard's most accomplished film to date.  The interviews in the movie will have you on the edge of your seat and makes for an incredibly satisfying film.

JCVD was my most surprising film of the year.  I loved the trailer for this movie because it looked like it was going to be Jeane-Claude Van Damme kicking ass and taking names.  In reality this is an incredibly honest look at what it must be like to be JCVD himself.  It's amazing that in the same year we have to resurrected performances from Mickey Rourke and Jean-Claude.  While JCVD may not get the same amount of media attention as The Wrestler, I absolutely think what Jeane-Claude Van Damme does in this film is just as great.  It's a crazy weird movie that will have you look at the Muscles from Brussels in a completely different light.

From the moment Gran Torino began, with it's moody bass guitar intro, I instantly fell in love with this Clint Eastwood fable.  Watching this film it's impossible to deny the talent Eastwood has behind and in front of the camera, as he is a never-ending fountain of gravelly racial epithets.  I was also taken back at how comedic in tone a lot of the film was.  Eastwood forces us to laugh at Walt Kowalski, because if it wasn't funny, we'd absolutely hate the old bastard.  The story of Walt finding his place in the world before it's too late is a beautiful, masterfully directed, story that is an amazing cap to an already legendary career.  We'll miss you, Clint.

I waited to see Let the Right One In before I made my top 10 and I'm really glad I did.  I've spent the last couple months trying to convince a number of my friends (Damn you, Michael) that Twilight was a crap movie.  Watching Let the Right One In completely validates my feelings on Twilight and made me angry that people (Michael) won't ever agree.  Not once during this film did I think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is a huge deal considering I think about Buffy when I'm watching just about anything.  It's a unique coming of age story between two outcasts and has the vampire mythos perfectly intertwined to make this everything I look for in a vampire story.  The climax of this film had me gasping and giggling at how unbelievably fucking awesome the scene in the pool was.  I ate that shit up.

Amazing performance. Amazing director.  The Wrestler is a film of restrained beauty that wraps you in a story so real you can't help but feel sorry for Mickey Rourke in real life.  This really is the Oscar season when we're seeing a lot of young great directors really arrive for the first time.  Darren Aronofsky, Danny Boyle, and David Fincher are finally being welcomed with open arms and I couldn't be happier.  The Wrestler is a film that I'll re-watch time and time again marveling at how Aronofsky can say so much without hardly saying a word.  If The Wrestler were to win best picture I would be a happy camper.

I'm a sucker for a great romance Slumdog Millionaire is absolutely the most beautiful love story of the year.  Much more so than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. (Sorry, I just had to stick it to that movie one last time.)  I fucking loved this movie.  It's rare to see a movie that is filled with hope and beauty without ever feeling overly sentimental.  Danny Boyle is a director that I have a mountain of respect for as every single on of his films is so unique and different than the one before.  28 Days Later and Trainspotting are two of my favorite films and now Slumdog Millionaire joins Boyle's fantastic catalogue of films.  The story of Jamal Malik competing on Who Wants to be a Millionaire is an edge of your seat story that had me holding my breath as he answered each and every question.  I was moved by this film and I can't wait to have this movie on beautiful 1080p blu-ray.

When I finished the first draft of my top 10 of 2008, Slumdog Millionaire was in the number one spot.  However, I realized that I would be lying if I didn't say The Dark Knight was my favorite film of the year.  Go ahead, call me a fanboy.  This movie is amazing.

Seeing The Dark Knight opening day on IMAX was easily the best movie theater experience I've ever had.  No one said a single word.  No one checked texts.  No one got up to pee.  The entire theater sat in awe of the opening bank heist in big beautiful IMAX.  I remember grinning from ear to ear as the bank manager began blowing away clowns with a sawed off shotgun.  

It is an incredible experience to watch this movie as a fan of comics because it completely validates my love of these characters.  Christopher Nolan treats the caped crusader with an amount of respect and seriousness that completely made this film the best super hero film ever made.  The score by Hans Zimmer was amazing (thank God the score was considered eligible for the Oscars) and combine that with arguably one of the most iconic villain performance from Heath Ledger and you have a film that will be remembered for decades to come.