This was a strange year for films; as opposed to last year’s glut of indie and indie-inspired fare, 2008 was the year of studios shutting down their specialty labels and, occasionally, some larger Hollywood films actually pulling off both quality storytelling and artistry (for instance, The Dark Knight). This year has seen some top-notch films come from unexpected places and other highly-anticipated movies go bust. Ah, show business.

Alejandro Polanco in Chop Shop

There were many truly worthy films that didn’t make it onto this list – in fact, a top twenty probably would have made more sense – but these are the ones which I found to be artistically excellent, and skillfully made, which I believe have made a long-lasting, positive contribution to the film canon. They also stuck with me in some way. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I didn’t manage to see Frost/Nixon or I’ve Loved You So Long before I had to put this together.)

10. Chop Shop
If you didn’t know it was set in New York, you’d think it was in the Third World; if you didn’t know it was a narrative, you’d swear it was a documentary. Director Ramin Bahrani‘s sophomore effort is a sweetly heartbreaking story of a pair of siblings living in Willets Point, Queens, and pays tribute to neorealists such as Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardennes, with an American twist.

Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon,
and Barlow Jacobs in Shotgun Stories

9. Shotgun Stories
The inimitable Michael Shannon (also seen in #4 below!) leads a cast of talented actors in a tale of revenge and family guilt that is equal parts Greek tragedy and gritty Southern gothic, set in a forgotten town in southern Arkansas. First-time director Jeff Nichols is one to watch.

8. Wendy and Lucy
Director Kelly Reichardt‘s films carry an often biting social commentary underneath their stillness and naturalism (see 2006’s Old Joy, but this one, starring an understated and stunning Michelle Williams, preserves some notion of hope in the world, through the kindness of strangers. This is a sensitive, generous film.

7. Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufman has written many gloriously messed-up films (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich). This, his directorial debut, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and a bevy of today’s most talented art-house actresses in a convoluted, excruciatingly sublime plunge into the disintegrating psyche of one regret-paralyzed man. (See my review in Christianity Today.)

Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson
in Låt den rätte komma in

6. Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)
This year’s “other vampire movie” (and the one worth actually seeing), Let the Right One In is a spare and surprisingly beautiful Swedish film about a lonely twelve-year-old boy with a bully problem who befriends the girl next door. It’s mostly a film about love and trust, with some, well, vampires thrown in. See it now, because the American remake is on the way.

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Strange in its beauty, David Fincher‘s epic has a distinct affinity with Synecdoche, New York, but a larger sense of hope. A measured meditation on mortality, and the weight it gives to the sacredness of each life, both individually and in relationship.

4. Revolutionary Road
Not just another Sam Mendes film about the suburbs. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are reunited in this magnificently despondent adaptation of the Richard Yates novel about the disintegration of a marriage, shot so beautifully that it will break your heart.

3. Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale)
Loaded with mischief, contention, and dark delight, A Christmas Tale is Arnaud Desplechin‘s way of wrapping up all the best actors in French cinema in one big house, turning them into a dysfunctional family, and letting them loose on one another. Capricious, humorous, sad, and purely delightful. (See Alisa Harris’s Curator article and my review in Paste.)

2. Rachel Getting Married
Anne Hathaway takes a detour from her usual fare to portray Kym, haunted by her past and let out of rehab to attend her sister’s wedding. Packed with painfully honest dialogue, it’s also full of beautiful, joyous celebration. Director Jonathan Demme has thrown a party, and you’re invited. (See my review in Christianity Today.)

WALL-E

1. WALL-E
It’s not just the best animated film of the year, or the best children’s film, or the best robot love story. WALL-E takes Pixar’s trademark bleeding-edge animation and storytelling and ramps it up five notches, starting what is ostensibly a “kids’ movie” with a solid dialogue-free half hour. It’s also a worthy parable for our times about the dangers of materialism and the too-easy life. Pixar might be the only company consistently turning out world-class films for the widest audiences, and for that, we can all be grateful.

A Christmas Tale Chop Shop Let the Right One In Rachel Getting Married Revolutionary Road Shotgun Stories Synecdoche New York The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Top Ten 2008 Wendy and Lucy