Al's Top Rated Films: 2008

Incredible drama from Clint Eastwood about a stubborn, racist, and disgruntled Korean War veteran (Walt) who recently lost his wife, and struggles to make any connection with anyone (family included) since she died. Now living alone in his inner-city Highland Park (Michigan) house, one of his Hmong neighbors (Thao) tries stealing his 1972 Gran Torino after being pressured by a local Hmong gang. From there, it's a great story about how Walt comes to forgive, teach, and respect Thao, his older sister Sue, and the rest of their family. Tension and danger reaches new heights when Walt personally gets involved when the Hmong gang brutally interferes with his Hmong neighbors. Even though Clint Eastwood's more well known as a director post-2000, his acting was incredible, and fit his personality perfectly. Along with Clint Eastwood's early Sergio Leone western roles, Gran Torino ranks among one of the best achievements throughout his career. I'd have to say it's my favorite performance of his. Bee Vang (Thao) and Ahney Her (Sue) also had excellent lead roles, along with many other less-than-famous actors giving the film a perfect real-life feel. Modern day classic.

Fantastic crime comedy drama/thriller Martin McDonagh that follows a London-based amateur hitman named Ray who's forced to flee and hideout in the quiet and small medieval town of Bruges (Belgium) with his partner Ken, after a job results in the tragic death of a innocent young boy. Ray entirely blames himself for the accident and is greatly troubled by it. They have been ordered by their crime boss Harry to lie low and await further instructions by phone. Meanwhile, Ray and Ken comically butt heads as they experience the simple joys the tiny town has to offer. When Harry finally calls to tell them their next move, he privately instructs Ken to eliminate Ray for his dreadful mistake. This leaves Ken in a difficult spot, since he cares about Ray and wants to see him get a second chance. Excellent story all around with great action and hilarious dark comedy. Colin Farrell (Ray) and Brendan Gleeson (Ken) have become one of my favorite duos in film. They have a fantastic chemistry and both deliver arguably their best lead performance. The same could be said Ralph Fiennes (Harry), who fits in absolutely perfect for round out the trio. Clémence Poésy, Jordan Prentice, Jérémie Renier, Thekla Reuten, Eric Godon, Elizabeth Berrington, Mark Donovan, Zeljko Ivanek, Anna Madeley, and others also had great supporting roles.

Incredible follow-up to Christopher Nolan's outstanding introduction to the Dark Knight in Batman Begins (2005). One of the best sequels of all time in my opinion. Great story that picks up the story after the events of the first film, finding the sadistic Joker's time to wreak havoc in Gotham. Christian Bale delivers a superb as Bruce Wayne once again. Proving he is the best Batman of all time once again. Heath Ledger arguably stole the show with his fantastic and iconic performance as The Joker. He played the the psychotic criminal to perfection, and it's easy to see why so many feel he's the best Joker in the history of the Batman franchise. Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Chin Han, and several others had excellent roles among the supporting cast.

Fantastic historical crime drama/biography from Clint Eastwood set in 1928 Los Angeles, when the LAPD was notoriously ruled by violence, abuse, murder, corruption and intimidation. The story follows a loving and hard-working single mother named Christine Collins, who's 9-year-old son Walter mysteriously goes missing. When she contacts the LAPD to report it, they begin an investigation, and they miraculously find him. The LAPD is starving for positive media attention, and makes a large spectacle of the mother and child reuniting for the news. However, once she sees the child, she immediately knows it is not her son, and that the boy is an imposter. The police quickly dismiss her pleas and demand that she understands that experts have confirmed his identity, and that she must take the boy. The events that follows are extremely unsettling, and painfully reveals the horrific exploits and lengths the LAPD will go to cover up their mistakes and ruin people's lives. The story was brilliantly told and directed, and boasts powerful dialogue and messages throughout. The production design and cinematography were fantastic, along with arguably a perfect cast. Angelina Jolie's Oscar-nominated lead performance was the best I've ever seen from her. She was perfect for the role. Jeffrey Donovan, John Malkovich, and Michael Kelly also had excellent starring roles. Amy Ryan, Jason Butler Harner, Gattlin Griffith, Colm Feore, Devon Conti, John Harrington Bland, Eddie Alderson, and others also had great supporting roles.

Fantastic fantasy-driven drama from David Fincher that tells the life story of Benjamin Button—a man who was born in 1918, and mysteriously ages backwards—starting in an elderly state, and dying as an infant. The story is recounted by the elderly Daisy Williams on her death-bed, which was the most important and influential person in Benjamin's life. It's a great adventure with superb writing and extremely well developed characters. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett both arguably deliver their best lead performances of all time. Peter Donald Badalamenti II, Taraji P. Henson, Jason Flemyng, Mahershala Ali, Julia Ormond, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, and others had excellent supporting roles.

Fantastic drama from Darren Aronofsky about the rise, struggles, and fall of a legendary professional wrestler. It definitely paints a heartbreaking picture of an aging man who only knows and loves wrestling, and the bleak outlook on life outside of the ring. You learn a lot about the pain and struggles these professional athletes go through—often times for very little compensation. I would have to say it's Mickey Rourke's finest lead performance to date. He owned the role beautifully. The same could be said for Marisa Tomei's excellent performance. Evan Rachel Wood, Dylan Keith Summers, Tommy Farra, and John D'Leo has nice roles among a solid supporting cast.

Excellent mystery/drama from John Patrick Shanley set in 1964, about a charming priest who comes under fire for possibly having an inappropriate relationship with the first black student the Catholic school has ever taken in. While the principal has her unconfirmed suspicions, the story gets even more complex when a young nun who suspects the priest of wrong doing comes forward with questionable things she witnesses. Meryl Streep & Philip Seymour Hoffman deliver arguably their best lead performances. The same could be said for Amy Adams. All three deliver superb starring roles. Viola Davis was also particularly great among a solid supporting cast.

Fantastic war drama/thriller from Kathryn Bigelow set in 2004 Baghdad during the Iraq War, and follows a gutsy and reckless Staff Sergeant named William James who's assigned to an army bomb squad with two other men. Sergeant JT Sanborn is a professional who works by the book, and Specialist Owen Eldridge is just trying to do his job and make it out of Iraq alive. With only 39 days left of their mission, these two men are hopeful time will fly by so they can return home. But James has a rogue and risk-taking approach that is constantly putting their lives at risk. And he loves his work. This film was an intense and thrilling ride from start to finish, and definitely portrays the horror of the Iraq War in general. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty all delivered the best lead performances I've seen from any of them to date. Guy Pearce, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Suhail Dabbach, Christopher Sayegh, and others had great supporting roles.

I loved this first Harold & Kumar film and this one may be even better. Excellent comedy adventure from Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg that follows Harold & Kumar being mistaken for terrorists when they sneak a homemade bong on a plane, which was mistaken for a bomb. Subsequently, a hilariously racist government agent has them shipped off to the terrifying Guantánamo Bay prison. After they escape and work their way back to the United States, a hysterical adventure takes place with plenty of great characters along the way. John Cho & Kal Penn are a great duo just like Bill & Ted or Jay & Silent Bob. Danneel Ackles, Rob Corddry, Neil Patrick Harris, Roger Bart, Eric Winter, Paula Garcés, Jon Reep, Missi Pyle, James Adomian, Beverly D'Angelo, and others had great supporting roles.

Tremendous Pixar adventure from Andrew Stanton set on Earth approximately 700 years in the future after humans abandoned it due to all the trash and lack of life. WALL•E is a small trash-collecting robot who keeps the planet tidy, and develops a lonely personality over his 700 years on the planet by himself. One day a robot named EVE is sent to Earth to find proof of sustainable life. WALL•E quickly falls in love with her before they find a single living plant on the planet, which is an awe-inspiring discovery that sets EVE in a deactivated state among other chaos, as WALL•E desperately tries to save EVE and save the planet from corrupt folks looking to steal the plant. Such a simple and beautiful done film. Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, and Sigourney Weaver all had great voice performances.

Fantastic historical biopic that follows the undisputed martial arts champion Ip Man during the Japanese invasion of China in Foshan, circa 1935. He is constantly being challenged by kung fu masters looking to prove their worth, and struggles increase when the Japanese takeover his home. The action and fighting in this film was intense and beautifully done...one of the best in it's genre. The story and acting was also excellent throughout. Donnie Yen delivered a superb lead performance. Simon Yam, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Lynn Xiong, Xing Yu, Ka-Tung Lam, Siu-Wong Fan, and many others had great supporting roles.

Very powerful and fascinating biopic about gay activist and California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. Great story starting in 1972 when Harvey opened a camera shop and salon that attracts San Francisco's gay community, and soon enters politics and runs for office after making some political alliances. Tensions rise when a complex agreement takes place between Harvey and conservative rep Dan White, along with the typical and revolting discrimination and harassment against gays in the 70s. Sean Penn delivered arguably his greatest performance ever. He was fantastic. James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O'Hare, Joseph Cross, and others had great supporting roles.

Excellent drama from Stephen Daldry set in 1958 Berlin, Germany, and follows a 15-year-old boy named Michael Berg who gets off a train and immediately becomes sick and starts vomiting next to an apartment building. He's helped by a friendly 36-year-old woman named Hanna Schmitz who cleans him up and sends him home. After spending 3 months in bed with Scarlet fever, Michael returns to Hanna's apartment to thank her, and immediately finds her extremely attractive. They soon engage in a secretive and intense sexual relationship as young Michael falls more deeply in love with her by the day. And she loves it when he reads to her. When she ends up consuming all of his thoughts and time, she breaks it off and leaves when she gets a job working for Auschwitz concentration camp where the Germans ruthlessly murdered over 1 million Jews. In 1966, she then stands trial for a horrific war crime that Michael is there to witness since he is a law student. The results and drama that unfolds ends up following Michael the rest of his life. Excellent story all around with very poignant drama. Kate Winslet's Oscar-winning lead performance was excellent along with David Kross and Ralph Fiennes. Bruno Ganz, Matthias Habich, Susanne Lothar, Vijessna Ferkic, Hannah Herzsprung, Volker Bruch, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent crime comedy drama from the Coen brothers that follows a short-fused CIA analyst named Osbourne Cox who's demoted due to a drinking problem, and subsequently quits his job out of anger. After telling his scornful wife Katie the bad news, she secretly starts planning to divorce him while also having affair with his friend and U.S. Marshal, Harry. Her lawyer instructs her to collect personal and financial records from Osbourne's computer to help her win big in the divorce. However, the disc she burns the files to gets lost, and ends up in the hands of a couple of dim-witted personal trainers named Linda and Chad who work for a local gym named Hardbodies. After finding the disc carries sensitive government information, they decide to blackmail Osbourne for the disc, which sets off a crazed series of wild and deadly events. Extremely clever story with great comedy, dialogue, and and excellent plot-twisting ending. George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and Tilda Swinton all delivered excellent lead performances. Richard Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche, J.K. Simmons, Olek Krupa, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent drama from Sam Mendes set in the Connecticut suburbs 1955, and follows a young eccentric married couple who fall into a rut after 7 years of marriage. April has failed to become an actress, and she wants Frank to quit his job that he detests so much so they can move to Paris to start a new life. She goes through a whirlwind of emotions and moods which passes over to Frank, as they try to navigate a way save their marriage and happiness. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio both deliver fantastic lead performances...a couple of their finest. David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, Zoe Kazan, Dylan Baker, Richard Easton, Jay O. Sanders, Ryan Simpkins, Ty Simpkins, and others had excellent supporting roles.

Excellent sports drama from David Mamet that follows an idealistic jujitsu teacher named Mike Terry who believes competition fighting weakens a fighter, and chooses to teach police, bouncers, and regular people how to defend themselves in real life situations. Unfortunately it doesn't pay much, as he and his wife struggle to make ends meet. When Mike comes to the aide of a famous movie star in a bar brawl, he's offered gifts, gratitude, and a job on his new film that requires a martial arts consultant. But it turns out that the movie star, his assistant, and his wife were deceitful in their kids gestures, which puts them in a financial and legal bind that only a competition fight can begin to pay off. Great story and an underrated flick overall. Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of my favorite actors, and he delivered one of his best lead performances. Alice Braga, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Max Martini, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, Cyril Takayama, Ricky Jay, Randy Couture, John Machado, Rodrigo Santoro, and many others had great supporting roles.

Excellent family comedy drama that follows a newly married couple (John and Jenny) who move from Michigan to Florida when they get better jobs writing for newspapers, and decide to adopt a Yellow Labrador Retriever puppy (Marley) to help kick off their life together. Marley proves to be hyper, mischievous, and disobedient in every way. While it ends up being great stories and comedy for John's newspaper column, Marley creates so much tension between the couple that it puts their marriage through the ultimate test. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston were excellent together—both arguably delivering their best performances. Alan Arkin, Eric Dane, Kathleen Turner, and many others had great supporting roles.

Excellent comedy drama from Christine Jeffs that follows sisters Rose and Norah, who have varying quirks stemming from the traumatic death of their mother when they were young. Rose has a mischievous 7-year-old son and works as a house cleaner, while Norah irresponsibly bounces from around from job to job, while still living at home with their comical and supportive father, Joe. When Rose's son Oscar is expelled from school for abnormal behavior, her and Norah get a tip to start their own company cleaning up crime scenes, suicides, and deaths, after the bodies are removed and the cops are done investigating. Great story with excellent comedy and drama throughout. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt both had terrific lead performances, and had great chemistry together. Alan Arkin also had a great starring role. Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr., Amy Redford, and others had great supporting roles.

Excellent sports biopic that follows the action-packed life of Ernie Davis—the first African'-American college football player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. From growing up in poverty to overcoming severe racism and other obstacles along the way, to becoming an unstoppable running back for the Syracuse Orangemen, who he he helped take to an undefeated winning season in 1959. Very inspirational film with great acting and writing throughout. Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid both deliver excellent lead performances. Omar Benson Miller, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Charles S. Dutton, Justin Martin, Nicole Beharie, Aunjanue Ellis, Clancy Brown, Chadwick Boseman, and many others had great supporting roles.

Powerful and thought provoking drama from Charlie Kaufman that follows the later life of an eccentric theatre director who struggles with the women in his life, along with suffering from hypochondria, depression, and an overall fear and acceptance of death. When he reaches a turning point in his life, he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play to create a legacy to live on after he dies. Extremely well written and acted, with very well developed characters throughout. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers one of his best lead performances, as does Samantha Morton. Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Sadie Goldstein, Tom Noonan, Hope Davis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and others had great supporting roles.

Excellent historical drama from Jay Roach that chronicles the extremely controversial 2000 U.S. Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. The race is so close, that Florida is the state to decide the entire election, and there are severe inconsistencies in the confusing ballots and out-dated voting machines that didn't count all the votes. It takes 36-days to get the whole mess figured out, and raises some big issues about the procedures and how trustworthy the recounts could actually be, since so much opinion can go into somebody's intent to vote. Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, Denis Leary, and Tom Wilkinson all had great starring roles. Ed Begley Jr., John Hurt, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman, Gary Basaraba, Derek Cecil, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

Underrated crime drama/thriller from Gavin O'Connor and follows a family of New York police officers who are put to the ultimate moral test. After 4 NYPD officers are killed in what appears to be an ambush, the father and assistant chief Francis Tierney Sr. asks his son Ray to come back and work the streets as a detective after leaving that position years ago following a fatal incident. He quickly learns that the murders were setup by corrupt NYPD cops who were working with the drug dealer they suspect killed these cops. The real pain hits when they find out that Francis' son-in-law is leading the corruption, which puts both of his real sons in harms way as they struggle to do the right thing and expose the NYPD for its corruption, or lie and suppress the information so they don't ruin their family name. Excellent story all around with excellent performances by the entire cast. Edward Norton delivers one of his finest lead performances. Colin Farrell, Noah Emmerich, and Jon Voight also had great starring roles. John Ortiz, Jennifer Ehle, Shea Whigham, Lake Bell, Carmen Ejogo, Ramón Rodríguez, and several others also had very nice supporting roles.

Hilarious comedy from Adam McKay that follows a couple of spoiled rotten middle-aged men who still live at home and have no ambitions of growing up or moving out. When their parents meet, fall in love, and get married—they are forced to become roommates under the same roof, get jobs, and ultimately move on with their lives. Many hysterical situations present themselves throughout the story. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (also writers of the story) make an absolutely hilarious duo, and both deliver great lead performances. Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins were excellent as the parents—delivering a couple of their best roles. Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Andrea Savage, and Lurie Poston were also great among a solid supporting cast.

Excellent spy crime thriller from Ridley Scott set in the Middle East, and follows a highly skilled anti-terrorist CIA agent named Roger Ferris who is sent to the country of Jordan to hunt down a high-powered terrorist leader named Al-Saleem. He's helped along the way by Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate head Hani Salaam and his boss and intelligence technology expert, Ed Hoffman. The job is extremely dangerous, as deceit comes from all directions. Meanwhile, he befriends a young nurse named Aisha that highly complicates the situation and puts both of their lives in grave danger. Great story all around, excellent action and production design, and a nice cast all around. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers an excellent lead performance. Russell Crowe and Mark Strong also had great starring roles. Golshifteh Farahani, Alon Aboutboul, Ali Suliman, Oscar Isaac, Vince Colosimo, Mehdi Nebbou, Michael Gaston, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Great political thriller from Rod Lurie that follows an assassination attempt on the U.S. President, which finds the government concluding that the Venezuelan government is responsible, and orders air strikes to attack them. However, Washington D.C. Sun-Times newspaper investigative journalist Rachel Armstrong finds a source and writes an opposing Pulitzer Prize nominated story that exposes a CIA operative, and soon lands her in jail when the government decides "national security" is more important than her first amendment rights, which sets up long-lasting court case that turns her and her family's life upside down. Great story with a great cast all around. Kate Beckinsale deliver an excellent lead performance. Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, and Angela Bassett also had great starring roles. Floyd Abrams, David Schwimmer, Noah Wyle, Courtney B. Vance, and many others also had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent crime drama/thriller that follows a former U.S. Army Special Forces expert in explosives named Samir Horn, who ends up being targeted by the F.B.I. after they find he's been selling explosives to Jihadis for terroristic use; and after breaking out of a Yemeni prison with one of the Islamic radicals, Omar. He and Omar become good friends and go into the terrorist business together by setting off bombs and striking fear into the hearts of Americans. And there is a plot-twisting mystery the reveal the secrets behind his actions. Don Cheadle delivered an excellent lead performance, as did Guy Pearce and Saïd Taghmaoui. Neal McDonough, Alyy Khan, Archie Panjabi, Raad Rawi, and others had great supporting roles.

I didn't have high hopes for the 4th Rambo film since Rambo 3 was my least favorite in the franchise. That said, this exceeded all my expectations and was definitely one of the best sequels in the series. This time we follow John living a quiet life in Thailand, when a group of Christian human rights missionaries convinces John to take them up the river to Burma to help victims of the ruthless and murderous Burmese military, who soon intervenes on their peaceful plans. Sylvester Stallone delivers a great lead performance as usual. Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Jake La Botz, Tim Kang, Paul Schulze, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Great crime thriller that follows an alcoholic undercover police officer mourning the loss of his wife, that bends the law to get away with taking out criminals, murderers, and kidnappers. It lands him in a tough position when his peers threaten to expose him, and is framed in the murder of another officer. The officer used to be his partner and a great friend, so he sets out to avenge his death, while uncovering mysterious corruption within the police department and beyond. Great action and story throughout. Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker both deliver excellent lead performances. Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Cedric the Entertainer, Jay Mohr, Terry Crews, Naomie Harris, Common, Martha Higareda, The Game, John Corbett, Amaury Nolasco, and several others had great supporting roles.

Great comedy that follows a couple of reckless buddies that are reps for an energy drink company and haven't really moved forward with their lives now that they've hit their 30s. After an altercation with a tow-truck driver, both are sentenced to 150 hours of community service, and enroll in the Big Brother program as they hilariously learn life lessons and how to be "role models" to young kids. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott both deliver a couple of their best lead performances. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch, Ken Jeong, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Very funny action-packed comedy from Ben Stiller about a declining action film star, a comedian and drug-user known for his immature comedies, and a serious 5-time Oscar winning method actor, who all travel to southeast Vietnam to star in a film called "Tropic Thunder", when all the actors gets dropped in the middle of the jungle, where a real life drug war is taking place. Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. all deliver very nice lead performances. Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise all had nice roles among a solid supporting cast.

Action-packed crime comedy that follows a slacker court-process server visits his weed dealer to purchase an extremely rare strain of marijuana called "Pineapple Express". But when he witnesses a murder by a crooked cop, their lives are put in danger when he drops his "Pineapple Express" joint at the scene of the crime, which may be such a rare strain of weed, that it could lead the cops and criminals back to them. Seth Rogen and James Franco both deliver very nice lead performances. Danny McBride, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Very funny romantic comedy from Kevin Smith about two lifelong friends and roommates who decide to make a porno movie to raise money to pay their rent. While they look at making the film as a business decision, they worry having sex may end their friendship as they discover more feelings they never knew they had for each other. Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen both deliver very nice leaf performances. Craig Robinson, Brandon Routh, Justin Long, Jeff Anderson, Katie Morgan, Jason Mewes, and Traci Lords all have nice roles among the supporting cast.