by Allan Fish
Best Picture There Will Be Blood, US (4 votes)
Best Director Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood (7 votes)
Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (16 votes)
Best Actress Anamaria Marinca, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (6 votes)
Best Supp Actor Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men (11 votes)
Best Supp Actress Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There (10 votes)
Best Cinematography Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (8 votes)
Best Score Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood (9 votes)
Best Short Peter and the Wolf, US (4 votes)
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getting there…
2008
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Best Picture/Director
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Canada…Sacha Gervasi)
Autumn (Turkey…Oscan Alper)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany…Uli Edel)
Ballast (US…Lance Hammer)
Bathory (Czech Republic/Hungary…Juraj Jakubisko)
The Beaches of Agnès (France…Agnès Varda)
Changeling (US…Clint Eastwood)
Che: Parts I & II (US…Steven Soderbergh)
Chop Shop (US…Ramin Bahrani)
A Christmas Tale (France…Arnaud Desplechin)
The Class (France…Laurent Cantet)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (US…David Fincher)
The Dark Knight (US…Christopher Nolan)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father (US…Kurt Kuenne)
Delta (Hungary…Kornél Mundruczó)
Departures (Japan…Yojiro Takita)
The Devil’s Whore (UK…Marc Munden)
Doubt (US…John Patrick Shanley)
The Dust of Time (Greece…Theo Angelopoulos)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden…Jan Troell)
Extraordinary Stories (Argentina…Mariano Llinás)
Flame and Citron (Denmark…Ole Christian Madsen)
Frost/Nixon (US…Ron Howard)
Gomorrah (Italy…Mateo Garrone)
The Good, the Bad and the Weird (South Korea…Kim Jee-Woon)
Goodbye Solo (Iran…Rahmin Bahrani)
Gran Torino (US…Clint Eastwood)
Happy-Go-Lucky (UK…Mike Leigh)
The Headless Woman (Argentina…Lucrecia Martel)
Hunger (UK…Steve McQueen)
The Hurt Locker (US…Kathryn Bigelow)
I Am So Proud of You (US…Don Hertzfeldt)
In Bruges (UK…Martin McDonagh)
Involuntary (Sweden…Ruben Ostlund)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France…Philippe Claudel)
John Adams (US…Tom Hooper)
Kaalpurush (India…Buddhadeb Dasgupta)
Kisses (Ireland…Lance Daly)
Let the Right One In (Sweden…Tomas Alfredson)
Let’s Talk About the Rain (France…Agnès Jaoui)
Linha de Passe (Brazil…Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas)
Little Dorrit (UK …Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh, Diarmuid Lawrence)
Liverpool (Argentina…Lisandro Alonso)
Love Exposure (Japan…Shion Sono)
Man on Wire (US…James Marsh)
Manila in the Fangs of Darkness (Philippines…Khavn)
Me and Orson Welles (US/UK…Richard Linklater)
Melancholia (Philippines…Lav Diaz)
Mesrine: Parts I & II (France…Jean-François Richet)
Milk (US…Gus Van Sant)
Milk (Turkey…Semih Kaplanoglu)
Night and Day (South Korea…Hong Sang-soo)
Of Time and the City (UK…Terence Davies)
Our Beloved Month of August (Portugal…Miguel Gomes)
Our Mother (Japan…Yoji Yamada)
Rachel Getting Married (US…Jonathan Demme)
The Reader (US…Stephen Daldry)
Rembrandt’s J’Accuse (UK…Peter Greenaway)
Revanche (Austria…Gotz Spielmann)
Revolutionary Road (US…Sam Mendes)
RIN – Daughters of the Mnemosyne (Japan…Shigeru Ueda)
Seraphine (France…Martin Provost)
Shine a Light (US…Martin Scorsese)
Shirin (Iran…Abbas Kiarostami)
The Silence of Lorna (Belgium/France…Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
Sleep Furiously (UK…Gideon Koppel)
Slumdog Millionaire (UK/India…Danny Boyle)
Somers Town (UK…Shane Meadows)
Still Walking (Japan…Hirokazu Kore-Eda)
Summer Hours (France…Olivier Assayas)
Synecdoche, New York (US…Charlie Kaufman)
Terribly Happy (Denmark…Henri Ruben Genz)
35 Shots of Rum (France…Claire Denis)
Three Monkeys (Turkey…Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Tokyo Sonata (Japan…Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Trick ‘r Treat (US…Michael Dougherty)
Tropic Thunder (US…Ben Stiller)
24 City (China…Zhang-Ke Jia)
Two Lovers (US…James Gray)
Tyson (US…James Toback)
Vicki Christina Barcelona (US…Woody Allen)
Wall-E (US…Andrew Stanton)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel…Ari Folman)
Wendy and Lucy (US…Kelly Reichardt)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands…Martin Koolhoven)
The Wrestler (US…Darren Aronofsky)
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Best Actor
Mathieu Amalric The Heartbeat Detector
Jean-Pierre Bacri Let’s Talk About the Rain
Charles Berling Summer Hours
Vincent Cassel Mesrine – Parts I & II
Benicio del Toro Ché
Leonardo DiCaprio Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood Gran Torino
Michael Fassbender Hunger
Paul Giamatti John Adams TV
Tom Hardy Bronson
Philip Seymour Hoffman Synecdoche New York
Teruyuki Kagawa Tokyo Sonata
Ben Kingsley Elegy
Johannes Krisch Revanche
Frank Langella Frost/Nixon
Matthew MacFadyen Little Dorrit TV
Mads Mikkelsen Flame and Citron
Takahiro Nishijima Love Exposure
Sean Penn Milk
Joaquin Phoenix Two Lovers
Brad Pitt The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Jeremy Renner The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke The Wrestler
David Tennant Einstein and Eddington TV
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Best Actress
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Amy Adams Sunshine Cleaning
Angeli Bayani Melancholia
Juliette Binoche Summer Hours
Claire Foy Little Dorrit TV
Anne Hathaway Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins Happy Go Lucky
Maria Herskanen Everlasting Moments
Isabelle Huppert Private Property
Angelina Jolie Changeling
Melissa Leo Frozen Road
Laura Linney John Adams TV
Michelle Monaghan Trucker
Yolande Moreau Seraphine
Kelly O’Neill Kisses
Natalie Portman The Other Boleyn Girl
Andrea Riseborough The Devil’s Whore TV
Kristin Scott Thomas I’ve Loved You For So Long
Meryl Streep Doubt
Tilda Swinton Julia
Michelle Williams Wendy and Lucy
Kate Winslet The Reader
Kate Winslet Revolutionary Road
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Best Supporting Actor
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Mathieu Amalric Mesrine – Parts I & II
Christian Berkel Flame and Citron
Josh Brolin Milk
Lee Byung-hun The Good the Bad and the Weird
Peter Capaldi The Devil’s Whore TV
Tom Courtenay Little Dorrit TV
Tom Cruise Tropic Thunder
Liam Cunningham Hunger
Gérard Depardieu Mesrine – Parts I & II
Stephen Dillane John Adams TV
Robert Downey Jr Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes The Reader
Yoshio Harada Still Walking
Anil Kapoor Slumdog Millionaire
Heath Ledger The Dark Knight
Christian McKay Me and Orson Welles
Anthony Mackie The Hurt Locker
Eddie Marsan Happy Go Lucky
Brad Pitt Burn After Reading
Matthew Rhys The Edge of Love
Andy Serkis Little Dorrit TV
Michael Shannon Revolutionary Road
Michael Sheen Frost/Nixon
Donald Sumpter Einstein and Eddington TV
Dominic West The Devil’s Whore TV
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Best Supporting Actress
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Amy Adams Doubt
Sakura Ando Love Exposure
Emily Blunt Sunshine Cleaning
Penelope Cruz Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis Doubt
Cécile de France Mesrine – Parts I & II
Josephine DeWitt Rachel Getting Married
Taraji P. Henson The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kirin Kiki Still Walking
Lina Leanderson Let the Right One In
Sienna Miller The Edge of Love
Hikari Mitsushima Love Exposure
Samantha Morton Synecdoche New York
Lena Olin The Reader
Emma Pierson Little Dorrit TV
Isabelle Sadoyan Summer Hours
Ludivine Sagnier Mesrine – Parts I & II
Tilda Swinton The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei The Wrestler
Emily Watson Synecdoche New York
Michelle Williams Synecdoche New York
Johanna Wokalek The Baader Meinhof Complex
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Best Cinematography
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Barry Ackroyd The Hurt Locker
Roger Deakins Revolutionary Road
Roger Deakins, Chris Menges The Reader
Frederick Elmes Synecdoche New York
Robert Gantz Mesrine: Parts I & II
Mischa Gavrjusjov, Jan Troell Everlasting Moments
Jorgen Johansson Flame & Citron
Sam Levy Wendy and Lucy
Owen McPolin Little Dorrit TV
Anthony Dod Mantle Slumdog Millionaire
Claudio Miranda The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister The Dark Knight
Steven Soderbergh Ché
Tom Stern Changeling
Souhei Tanigawa Love Exposure
Hoyte Van Hoytema Let the Right One In
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Best Score
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Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders The Hurt Locker
Alexandre Desplat The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Murray Gold The Devil’s Whore TV
Kasumasa Hashimoto Tokyo Sonata
John Lunn Little Dorrit TV
Thomas Newman Revolutionary Road
Thomas Newman Wall-E
Eloi Painchaud, Marco Beltrami, Marcus Trumpp Mesrine: Parts I & II
A.R. Rahman Slumdog Millionaire
Johan Söderqvist Let the Right One In
Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard The Dark Knight
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Best Short
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Big Buck Bunny (Netherlands…Sacha Goedegebure)
Brotherly (US…J.C. Oliva)
Haoma (France…Matthew Deltour, Melissa Lafon, Elodie Legros, Yann Moalic)
The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon (US…Richard Gale)
Mama (Spain…Andrés Muschietti)
My Name is Love (Sweden…David Fardmer)
Next Floor (Canada…Denis Villeneuve)
Presto (US…Doug Sweetland)
Prop 8: The Musical (US…Adam Shankman)
Signs (Australia…Patrick Hughes)
Thirteen or So Minutes (US…William Branden Blier)
Treevenge (Canada…Jason Eisener)
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Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
Best Picture: WALL-E
Best Director: Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)
Best Actor: Martijn Lakemeir (Winter in Wartime)
Best Actress: Yolande Moreau (Seraphine)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
Best Supporting Actress: Isabelle Sadoyan (Summer Hours)
Best Cinematography: Mischa Gaurjusjor, Jan Troell (Everlasting Moments)
Best Score: Kasunasa Hashimoto (Tokyo Sonata)
The 2008 Hall of Fame: WALL-E, Of Time and the City, Summer Hours, Everlasting Moments, Tokyo Sonata, Man on Wire, Synecdoche New York, Winter in Wartime, 35 Shots of Rum, Seraphine, The Hurt Locker, Let the Right One In, Little Dorrit, Rembrandt’s J’Accuse, Love Exposure, The Reader, Rachel Getting Married, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Dear Zachary, John Adams, In Bruges, The Baader Meinhof Complex, Waltz With Bashir, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Film: Love FUCKING Exposure
Best Director: Sion FUCKING Sono – Love Exposure
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Hikari Mitsushima – Love Exposure
Best Cinematography: Revolutionary Road
Best Score: TIE The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire
Best Short: I Am So Proud of You – Don Hertzfeldt (This is, again, a short film, not a film)
Top 5 of 2008:
1. Love Exposure
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL·E
4. Departures
5. Che: Part One (and only Part One)
Not one of my favorite years.
PICTURE: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, Happy-Go-Lucky, John Adams, Synecdoche New York, The Hurt Locker, Still Walking, Wendy and Lucy, The Beaches of Agnes, In Bruges, The Promotion, Somers Town, Tropic Thunder, Wall-E, The Wrestler, Hunger, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Man on Wire, Of Time and The City, Julia, Trucker, Vicki Christina Barcelona, Two Lovers, Nights and Weekends, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Doubt, Role Models, Medicine for Melancholy, Waltz with Bashir, Blindness, Bronson, Idiots and Angels, Departures, Pray The Devil Back to Hell, Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes, Be Kind Rewind, The Baader Meinhof Complex, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Burn After Reading, 35 Shots of Rum, Dying Breed, Changeling, The Wild Man of the Navidad, Frozen River, Gran Torino, I’ve Loved You For So Long, W., Forgetting Sarah Marshall, JCVD, Lovely Still, Transsiberian, What Just Happened, Baghead
DIRECTOR: Mike Leigh, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2nd: Tomas Alfredson, Let The Right One In, followed by: Tom Hooper, John Adams; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker; Hirokazu Koreeda, Still Walking; Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche New York)
ACTOR: Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER (2nd: Michael Fassbender, Hunger, followed by: Tom Hardy, Bronson; Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker; Joachim Phoenix, Two Lovers; Paul Giamatti, John Adams; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche New York)
ACTRESS: Sally Hawkins, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2nd: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy, followed by: Tilda Swinton, Julia; Michelle Monaghan, Trucker; Angelena Jolie, Changeling; Meryl Streep, Doubt; Melissa Leo, Frozen River)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT (2nd: Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky, followed by: Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder; Stephen Dillane, John Adams; Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker; Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road; Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, DOUBT (2nd: Penelope Cruz, Vicki Christina Barcelona, followed by: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler; Tilda Swinton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Amy Adams, Doubt; Lina Liandersson, Let The Right One In)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hoyte Van Hoytema, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight, followed by: Frederick Elmes, Synecdoche New York; Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker; Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire; Tak Fujimoto and Danny Cohen, John Adams)
ORIGINAL SCORE: Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, THE HURT LOCKER (2nd: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire, followed by: Thomas Newman, Wall-E; Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight)
SHORT FILM: (to be determined):
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Mike Leigh, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2nd: Martin McDonaugh, In Bruges, followed by: Hirokazu Koreeda, Still Walking; Steve Conrad, The Promotion; Shane Meadows, Somers Town; Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker; Enda Walsh and Steve McQueen, Hunger)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Ajvide Lindqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Kirk Ellis and David McCollough, John Adams, followed by: John Patrick Shanley, Doubt; Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon; Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE BEACHES OF AGNES (Agnes Varda) (2nd: Anvil: The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi); Man on Wire (James Marsh); Of Time and The City (Terrence Davies); Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Marina Zenovich); Pray The Devil Back to Hell (Gini Reticker); Stanley Kubrick‘s Boxes (Jon Ronson))
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden, Tomas Alfredson) (2nd: Still Walking (Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda); The Beaches of Agnes (France, Agnes Varda); Departures (Japan, Yojiro Takita); The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel); 35 Shots of Rum (France, Claire Denis); Waltz With Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman))
ART DIRECTION: SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK, John Adams, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, The Duchess
COSTUME DESIGN: THE DUCHESS, John Adams, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, Australia, Synecdoche New York, Milk
FILM EDITING: THE HURT LOCKER, John Adams, The Dark Knight, Let The Right One In, Synecdoche New York, The Wrestler
SOUND: THE HURT LOCKER, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Tropic Thunder, Iron Man, Synecdoche New York
ORIGINAL SONG: “The Wrestler” from THE WRESTLER (music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen) (2nd: “Down to Earth” from Wall-E (music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; lyrics by Peter Gabriel), followed by “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire (music by A.R. Rahman; lyrics by Gulzar)
SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, The Dark Knight, Iron Man
MAKEUP: TROPIC THUNDER, The Dark Knight, Synecdoche New York
ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL-E (Andrew Stanton) (2nd: Idiots and Angels (Bill Plympton), followed by Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman))
That’s understandable, two best films of the decade, not much else.
I have no idea what you are talking about here. But please do not penalize me for not seeing some movies I cannot possibly see where I happen to live.
Best Picture: Che: Part One (and to a slightly lesser extent) Part Two.
Runner ups: Man On Wire, In Bruges, Waltz With Bashir, Hunger, John Adams, The Reader, Three Monkeys, Let The Right One In, and Mesrine Part I and II.
Not the best year of this decade but some good films overall.
Initially I thought this was going to be a weak year, but as I scrolled down the list I saw a ton of excellent films. I actually had trouble narrowing it down to 5.
Feature: Historias Extraordinarias
2. Wall-E
3. Of Time and the City
4. Summer Hours
5. Waltz with Bashir
Short: Mama
Director: Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir
Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Actress: Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Supp. Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supp. Actress: Hikari Mitsushima, Love Exposure
Cinematography: Yu Wang, Nelson Yu Lik-wai, 24 City
Score: Max Richter, Waltz with Bashir
Screenplay: Historias Extraordinarias
Editing: Of Time and the City
Best Picture: Hunger
Best Director: Steve McQueen (Hunger)
Best Actor: Kåre Hedebrant (Let the right one in)
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky)
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt (Burn after reading)
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Best Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh (Ché)
Best Score: Thomas Newman Wall-E
Best short: I’m so proud of you Don Hertzfeldt
Hat tip of General excellence: the Dark Knight (deeply flawed, very overrated, but undeniably iconic), Iron Man (perfect in it’s own little way though weak climax), Wall-E, Man on Wire, Milk, Doubt, Let the Right one in (almost the best film of the year), Hunger (the best film of the year), Synechdoche, In Brugge, Wanted (a more complete and well rounded film than Iron man or the Dark knight, though it lacked the iconography of either, a better script, more rounded characters, more satisfying climax, terrific OTT action sequences), Burn After reading (Brad Pitt in the performance of a lifetime), The Fall, Ché. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Married Life, Pineapple express, Waltz With Bashir, Hot Fuzz (far, far better than Tropic Thunder, good year for comedies overall), Mesrine: I & II, Gomorah, JCVD, The Wrestler. The Headless Woman, The Class
Best Film: Liverpool
Best Director: Lisandro Alonso
Best Actor: Vincent Cassel, Mesrine – Parts I & II
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
Best Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh, Ché
Best Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Picture: WALL-E
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Gran Torino
4. Gomorrah
5. Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Supporting Actror: Christian Berkel (Flame and Citron)
Best Supporting Actress: Hikari Mitsushima (Love Exposure)
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Score: A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Picture: Happy Go Lucky (Runners up: In Bruges, Wendy and Lucy, Ballast, The Class, Synecdoche New York)
Director: Mike Leigh
Actor: Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy Go Lucky
Supp Actor: Eddie Marsan – Happy Go Lucky
Supp Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married
Cinematography: Ballast
Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Picture: Let the Right One In
Best Director: Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) & Gotz Spielmann (Revanche)
Best Actor: Charles Berling (Summer Hours)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor: Mithun Chakraborty (Kaalpurush)
Best Supporting Actress: Ursula Strauss (Revanche)
Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema (Let the Right One In)
Best Score: Max Richter (Waltz with Bashir)
Top 20:
1. Let the Right One In
2. Revanche
3. Summer Hours
4. Waltz with Bashir
5. The Wrestler
6. Tokyo Sonata
7. Kaalpurush/Memories in the Mist (dir. Buddhadeb Dasgupta)
8. Hunger
9. Synecdoche, New York/ The Hurt Locker
10. Frost/Nixon
11. Burn After Reading
12. Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
13. A Christmas Tale
14. WALL-E
15. The Dust of Time
16. In Bruges
17. Vicky Christina Barcelona
18. Milk
19. Square
20. Gomorrah/Revolutionary Road
Film: ‘The Beaches of Agnes’
Director: Agnes Varda
Actor: Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
Actress: Yolande Moreau (Seraphine)
Pic – Synecdoche, New York
Dir – Kaufman – Synecdoche…
Actor – Hoffman – Synecdoche….
Actress – Williams – Wendy and Lucy
Supp. Actor – Ledger – TDK
Supp. Actress – Cruz – Vicki Christina…
Score – Beltrami, Sanders – The Hurt Locker
Cinematography – Soderbergh – Che
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Bigelow
Best Actor: Rourke
Best Actress: Binoche
Supporting Actor: Ledger (though I applaud any vote for Brad Pitt, who gave the year’s funniest performance in Burn After Reading)
Supporting Actress: Tomei
Cinematography: Pfister
Score: Zimmer/Howard.
Got tied up with a family function. So, quickly…
PICTURE: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
DIRECTION: Thomas ALFREDSON (Let The Right One In
LEAD ACTOR: Sean PENN (Milk)-I guess everyone was too busy fawning all over Mickey Rourke playing HIMSELF than to see Penn deliver a dead on portrayal of the famed gay-rights activist)
LEAD ACTRESS: Kate WINSLET (The Reader)
SUPP. ACTOR: Heath LEDGER (The Dark Knight)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Viola DAVIS (Doubt)
PHOTO: Claudio MIRANDA (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MUSIC: Thomas NEWMAN (Wall-E)
I don’t see how Rourke was “playing himself” in this very physical, and very emotional, comeback role. At any rate, he was much more believable than the fawning Penn, who’s not as great an actor as he thinks he is. Plus, that MILK movie stank in comparison to the documentary THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK.
Best Film: Let The Right One In. Best Director: Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In). Best Actor: Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon).A tricky one as whilst there are several fine performance’s to ponder on I can’t pick an outstanding candidate so langella’s is in essence a career award. Best Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long). Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) a Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading). I couldn’t decide between these two so went down the golden globes route with this one. Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (Doubt).
Picture: Wall-E
Director: Andrew Stanton
Actor: Mickey Rourke
Actress: Sally Hawkins
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Supporting Actress: Viola Davis
Cinematography: Claudio Miranda
Score: Thomas Newman
2008 is a bit of a step back, though there are still plenty of decent films….
PICTURE: The Headless Woman
DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh, Che
LEAD ACTOR: Benicio del Toro, Ché
LEAD ACTRESS: Maria Onetto, Headless WOman
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Eddie Marsan, Happy Go Lucky
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lina Leanderson, Let the Right One In
SHORT:
SCORE: Thomas Newman, Wall-E
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Steven Soderbergh, Ché
Plus bonus picks:
Script: Beaches of Agnes
Music: Sita Sings the Blues
Sound (& editing): Shirin
Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Picture: Wall-e
Best Director: Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Doubt)
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (Benjamin Button)
Best Score: Thomas Newman (Wall-e)
Best Short: Signs
Pic- Gran Torino (US…Clint Eastwood)
Actor – Mickey Rourke The Wrestler
Actress – Meryl Streep Doubt
Supp Actor – Heath Ledger The Dark Knight
Supp Actress – Amy Adams Doubt
Score – A.R. Rahman Slumdog Millionaire
The second of three consecutive years with an amazing array of remarkable films.
My top ten for 2008:
1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Woody Allen
2. 35 Shots of Rum – Claire Denis
3. Summer Hours – Olivier Assayas
4. Two Lovers – James Gray
5. Wendy and Lucy – Kelly Reichardt
6. Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman
7. A Christmas Tale – Arnaud Desplechin
8. The Silence of Lorna – Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
9. Julia – Erick Zonca
10. Love Exposure – Shion Sono
Best Picture: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Director: Claire Denis (35 Shots of Rum)
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Two Lovers)
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton (Julia)
Best supporting actor: Mathieu Amalric (A Christmas Tale)
Best supporting actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Best Cinematography: Eric Gautier (Summer Hours)
Best Score: Michael Giacchino (Speed Racer)
Best Picture: THE HURT LOCKER
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for THE HURT LOCKER
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in GRAN TORINO
Best Actress: Kate Winslet in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in THE DARK KNIGHT
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis in DOUBT
Best Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd for THE HURT LOCKER
Best Score: Alexandre Desplat for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Best Short: I’M SO PROUD OF YOU
Best Picture: Sita Sings The Blues
Sita got shafted by rights issues with the music that shot down any chance of a decent release, yet it, alongside WALL – E, rattled the creatively stifled cage that is a good majority of Anerican animation these days. It takes jazz music, a real life breakup, and the Ramayana and weaves an engaging, cheeky, hilarious and poignant tapestry that is both life affirming and joyful. Ebert was right when he said “I am enchanted. I am swept away. I am grinning from one end of the film to the other.”