My Best of 2008

It is time for me to list my favorite films, actors, directors, etc. of 2008. Although not quite as good as 2007, there were many good to great films in 2008. My first few on a list will be in order and then I will just list the rest of what were my favorites regardless of order. And there will be some films that I liked that are not on my list because then it would be endless. I am also putting lead and supporting actors/actresses in the same category in order to save time.

Best Films

Waltz with Bashir
The Edge of Heaven
The Wrestler
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I've Loved You So Long
Wendy & Lucy
Milk
In Bruges
Tell No One
The Visitor

The Counterfeiters
XXY
Young at Heart
Roman De Gare
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
Irina Palm
Elsa & Fred
Elegy
Burn After Reading
August Evening
Religulous
Boy A
Body of War
Changeling
A Christmas Tale
The Secrets
Up the Yangtze
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Silent Light
Revolutionary Road
Let the Right One In
Alexandra

Best Actor

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Sean Penn - Milk
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor and Burn After Reading
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Michael Sheen - Frost/Nixon
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Josh Brolin - Milk and W.
James Franco - Milk
Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges, The Duchess, The Reader (not even a nomination?!)
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
Benicio Del Toro - Che
Karl Markovics - The Counterfeiters
Chris Cooper - Married Life
David Strathairn - My Blueberry Nights
Ricardo Darin - XXY
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Aaron Eckhart - The Dark Knight
Manuel Alexandre - Elsa & Fred
Ben Kingsley - Elegy
Dennis Hopper - Elegy
Mathieu Amalric - A Secret and A Christmas Tale
Pedro Castaneda - August Evening
Andrew Garfield - Boy A
Peter Mullan - Boy A
Bill Irwin - Rachel Getting Married
Eddie Marsan - Happy Go Lucky
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Burn After Reading
George Clooney - Burn After Reading
John Malkovich - Burn After Reading
Jared Harris - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
David Kross - The Reader
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Best Actress

Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long and Tell No One (for shame, for shame)
Michelle Williams - Wendy & Lucy
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Kate Winslet - The Reader and Revolutionary Road
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Patricia Clarkson - Married Life and Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Frances McDormand - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Burn After Reading
Natalie Portman - My Blueberry Nights
Elsa Zylberstein - I've Loved You So Long
Hiam Abbass - The Visitor
Ines Efron - XXY
Hann Schygulla - The Edge of Heaven
Galina Vishnevskaya - Alexandra
Julianne Moore - Savage Grace and Blindness
Emma Thompson - Brideshead Revisited and Last Chance Harvey
Marianne Faithful - Irina Palm
China Zorilla - Elsa & Fred
Tilda Swinton - Burn After Reading and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Charlotte Rampling - The Duchess
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins - Happy Go Lucky
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Catherine Deneuve - A Christmas Tale
Vera Famiga - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Nothing But the Truth
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Amy Adams - Doubt
Viola Davis - Doubt

Best Director

Ari Folman - Waltz with Bashir
Fatih Akin - The Edge of Heaven
Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

All the directors of my other favorite films were also great but I just don't want to list them all. It is too time consuming. I will say that although I thought that Slumdog Millionaire was a good but overrated film I have the highest praise for director Danny Boyle. He did a terrific job of bringing the film to life.

Best Writer - I am only listing a few of the ones that I really liked because of time limits.

Ari Folman - Waltz with Bashir
Fatih Akin - The Edge of Heaven
Robert D. Siegel - The Wrestler
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges

And, finally, the Woody award. This year the big award goes to the wonderful, dog loving Mickey Rourke. His performance was the best in all of the acting categories.
As Ben Kingsley said at the Oscars "welcome back Champ"