Dragonfire88's Picks for the Best Movies of 2008Feb 28 '09 (Updated Feb 27 '10) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line These are my picks for the best movies of 2008 based on the ones that I have seen so far.
In 2008, I once again was able to see several movies in the theater during the year. I did like most of the movies I chose to go see, though for several of them I didn't think they were anything that great. There are still several movies that came out during 2008 that I haven't seen yet - like all of the ones nominated for best picture at the Oscars this year. I do still want to see several movies that came out in 2008. These movies are my favorites of the movies released in 2008 based on the movies that I have seen so far. As I see some of the other movies released in 2008, I'll add them to this list if I feel they deserve to be on it. Eventually, this list will probably have more than ten movies like my previous ones have. Kung Fu Panda - This fun animated movie from Dreamworks told the story of Po, a panda working in a noodle restaurant who dreamed of being a kung fu fighter even though he had no talent. He was somehow chosen to be the Dragon Warrior. All the voices worked well for the characters even though several of them were underused. I have seen all of Dreamworks animated movies, and this is one of their better efforts. The Incredible Hulk - The Hulk has been a popular comic book character for years. The character has been featured in a television show, cartoons, animated movies, and two live action movies. I managed to enjoy 2003's Hulk, but I didn't think it was as good as it could have been. This movie was more like the television show and I think it handled the character and subject much better. Bruce Banner was on the run while trying to find a way to reverse the effects of his exposure to gamma radiation while avoiding General Thaddeus Ross. Bruce also reunited with Betty, the woman he'd had to leave behind. The plot was very interesting and entertaining and the cast seemed to fit the characters better, especially Edward Norton as Bruce. Get Smart - This movie was based on the television show of the same name. Movies based on old television shows don't always work, but I felt that this one worked wonderfully. Steve Carell was wonderful as Maxwell Smart, the man who finally achieved his dream becoming a field agent. He frequently didn't know what he was doing and he was a bit of a klutz, but it all worked perfectly. I thought the movie was very funny, but some people could feel that it was too silly. I also thought that Anne Hathaway was wonderful as Agent 99, the experienced agent that Max was working with. Bolt - This wonderful animated movie from Disney showed that the studio is getting back on track with their animated movies. Bolt was a dog actor on a television show. In that show, Bolt had all sorts of super powers that he used to rescue his person Penny. Bolt didn't realize that the show wasn't real, so when he misunderstood something and thought that Penny was in danger, he set off to rescue her again. He ultimately went on a trip across the country with the help of a grumpy cat named Mittens and Rhino, a television loving hamster. All of the voices, especially John Travolta as Bolt, worked perfectly. The movie successfully blended humor and touching moments without being too sappy. Rhino stole most of the scenes that he was in. Changeling - This Clint Eastwood directed movie was based on the true story of Christine Collins and the disappearance of her son Walter in 1928 Los Angeles. The police didn't handle the search very well and after five months, they told Christine they found her son. The only problem was that she knew immediately that the boy wasn't Walter. When she confronted the police, they had her thrown in a mental asylum. Angelina Jolie gave a very powerful performance as Christine, a woman who just wanted to find her son. The story wasn't fun or happy, but it was very powerful and moving. Eastwood did a great job with the directing. Gran Torino - This is the second movie directed by Clint Eastwood in 2008. He also starred in this one as Walt, a grumpy old racist who had recently lost his wife. He had very strong opinions that he didn't keep to himself and he didn't care who he offended. Walt ended up taking an interest in Thao and Sue, the youngest members of the family that moved in next door to Walt. A gang was after Thao to join, and Walt decided to step in and deal with the situation his way. There were some very humorous moments in the movie, but it was very serious overall and really not fun or happy. It is definitely worth seeing and frankly I'm surprised that it didn't receive any Oscar nominations. Tropic Thunder - Ben Still crafted one of the funniest and controversial movies I've seen in a long time. The movie focused on a group of spoiled actors making a movie about an incident in the Vietnam War. The director lost control of what was going on and went along with a plan to drop the cast off out in the jungle to make things more realistic for them. Things just spiraled out of control after that. The movie started off with some fake movie previews and commercials that introduced the characters. The movie was poking fun at Hollywood and actors in general, but there were things done for humor that could offend some viewers. Robert Downy Jr. was amazing in the part of Kirk, a method actor willing to go to extreme lengths for a part. Downy Jr. definitely earned his Oscar nomination for this part. Iron Man - This was the first of the big summer releases for 2008 and it ended up being on of the most entertaining. Tony Stark was an arrogant, wealthy man who had his life changed after he was almost killed by terrorists. He decided to use the his high tech weapons knowledge to protect people. This was a fun, entertaining action movie that worked well to introduce the characters while also setting up things for future movies. Robert Downy Jr. was amazing as Tony. I also liked Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges in the movie. This was also the first movie made by Marvel's production company and gave hints for future movies that thrilled fans. WALL-E - Pixar continued to show their excellence with this amazing computer animated movie. It was about WALL-E, a robot designed to gather and compact trash, who had been left behind on Earth to clean up the huge mess made my humans. Even though he was a robot, WALL-E developed a personality and was curious about things he found, creating a collection of things he considered treasures. There was no dialogue for much of the movie, which will bother some viewers, but it worked perfectly for what was going on. There was a touching romance between WALL-E and Eve, a futuristic robot. The animation was stunningly beautiful, especially when WALL-E and Eve danced through space. The Dark Knight - This wonderful sequel to Batman Begins continued with what Christopher Nolan had created with that movie. Batman was still fighting crime and finding ways to help Jim Gordon. The new district attorney Harvey Dent was bent on ending crime in the city while the Joker started terrorizing the city. Everything about this movie worked, though it will be too dark for some viewers. This is the best comic book movie and it has the best villain in Heath Ledger's version of the Joker. Ledger was able to make a well known character his own. He achieved greatness with this part and he deserved every one of the awards he won for the performance. I want to briefly mention a few other movies from 2008 that I thought were also very good. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the long awaited fourth installment in the Indiana Jones movie series. The plot was a bit sillier than the previous movies and a few things didn't work as well, but the movie was still very fun and enjoyable overall. I especially loved that Marion returned. Quantum of Solace continued the long running James Bond series. The movie was entertaining, but I just didn't like it as much as some of the earlier Bond movies. For me, there was something missing. The fact that it had a lot of shake camera work and quick cuts during the action scenes didn't help matter for me either. I am tired of this and wish directors would stop using that method. Hellboy II: The Golden Army was another very enjoyable comic book movie featuring one of the more unique comic book heroes. Pride and Glory told the story of a police officer trying to discover who some bad cops were. The movie handled the subject very well and featured strong performances from the cast, especially Edward Norton. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen were wonderful in Appaloosa, a western that I really enjoyed even though I don't usually like that type of movie. Best Movies of 2003 ~ Best Movies of 2004 ~ Best Movies of 2005 ~ Best Movies of 2006 ~ Best Movies of 2007 ~ Best Movies of 2009 ~  |
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