Honorable mention: Che, The Dark Knight, Milk, The Reader, and WALL•E.

10. Frost/Nixon: Frost Nixon is a timeless study not of specific historical figures, but of the human conditions of regret, pride, and competition. Both Langella and Sheen excel as the deuling minds of shamed Nixon and ambitious Frost, each delivering the best performance of their careers. While I expected the film to demonize Nixon, director Ron Howard made a wise choice in keeping a neutral viewpoint, resulting in a gripping drama full of moral ambiguity.

9. Burn After Reading: Fresh off their sweep of the Academy Awards with last year's No Country For Old Men, the Coen Brothers veer in the complete opposite direction with this zany comedy. Burn After Reading shows, with very little subtlety, the depths of stupidity in just about everyone, and the results are to die for. This film is a testament to the versatility of this filmmaking duo and far and away the best comedy of the year.

8. Stop-Loss: At no other time in history have so many films been released in protest of the war even as it still rages on the other side of the world. Stop-Loss is the most affecting anti-war movie I have encountered about the current conflict, and Lord knows there have been a lot. Though it was released to little fanfare and weak box-office success, I was incredibly moved by this film and it has stuck in my mind more than any other film of the year. So while not the best on all accounts, it certainly earns a spot amongst the more technical successes of 2008.

7. The Wrestler: Darren Aronofsky makes a huge departure from his past works with this intimate character study of a washed-up professional wrestler attempting to regain some semblance of his past glories and a shot at a real life. Expertly cast in the titular role, aging Hollywood bad boy Mickey Rourke delivers the performance of his career, capturing all the turmoil and regret of someone wishing to once again be loved by his fans and his estranged family. The Wrestler isn't as cathartic as Requiem for Dream, as spiritual as The Fountain or as psychologically engrossing as Pi, but it just might be the filmmaker's best movie yet for its raw humanity.

6. In Bruges: From Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh (Six Shooter), In Bruges is a clever and moving film about two hitmen in hiding in a city locked in a time long past. I can think of only one sceenplay this year that I found better written (see my number one pick) but the combination of comedy, drama, and action-packed suspense involved here make this more than just an example of expertly crafted penmanship. In Bruges is an underestimated masterpieces with more layers than you'll be able to examine in just a single viewing.

5. Gran Torino: If there's one word to describe Clint Eastwood it's "icon." His second film of 2008 is the only argument you need to justify this word choice. Both as an actor and director, Eastwood is as memorable and powerful as ever. He may be older than my grandfather, but he still knows how to give that terrifying stare and can still work a camera to tell moving, evocative narratives. Whether you're a fan of his spaghetti westerns or Dirty Harry, this is Eastwood's return to glory, and a film you should not miss.

4. Rachel Getting Married: If one movie had a larger emotional impact on me than any other in 2008 it was Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married. This drama sports stellar performances from the entire cast, but most notably Anne Hathaway, intimate and inobtrusive cinematography, and a realism that even the best of documentaries can't capture. If this were a year with weaker films in competition, Rachel Getting Married has the potential to rank number one on my or any other critic's top ten, and might even move its way up the list as I look back on this year in the future.

3. Slumdog Millionaire: One of the least noted effects of globalization is the incorporation of other cultures into the Western experience and this is evinced in Slumdog Millionaire quite brilliantly. In many ways a modern fable, the film tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai, India as he rises from abject poverty to the edge of success and wealth that even middle class Americans can only dream of. This isn't a tale about money, though, and the love story at its core is so pure and beautiful that it would take a true heartless individual to not be completely won over by thsi worldwide phenomena of cinema.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: In what is certainly the "safest" film of his career, David Fincher has captured a poignant and universal metaphor for the human condition. In Benjamin Button, we follow a life in reverse (at least externally) and are forced to confront our own mortality, our relationships with others, and the cyclical nature of existence. The movie is as beautiful in all the technical filmic ways as it is in all the deeper, emotional ways, and the result is one of the best crafted and most moving works I have seen in many years.

1. Synecdoche, New York: How could a film that will certainly go over the heads of 95% of those who see it not appeal to the elitist movie-snob in me? Seriously though, screenwriter Philip Kaufman's directorial debut is one of the most complex and rewarding films in memory. Here is a movie overflowing with metaphor and symbolism, following one artist's lifelong struggle to capture true life, which will leave the audience contemplating the deepest of existential conundrums for days and weeks later. Synecdoche, New York is a niche film, to be sure, but it's the perfect niche for me and still has my mind reeling.

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