What were the best and worst films of 2008

One of the joys of a new year is being able to look back and give an opinion as to what was hot during the previous year, and what was not.

Of course, it’s all pretty subjective and what for one person might be an epic, for another it might be a good case of yawns-ville.

For many people the best film has to be WALL-E; well, at least for the kids out there and their long suffering parents. Coming from the Pixar camp you expect nothing less than superb animation, great characters and a brilliant plot. And it delivers, in bucket loads.

Next for consideration is The Dark Night which might, just might, have for once done justice to this comic book franchise. So many Batman films have overdosed on special effects, but forgotten the inner traumas of the main characters, apart from Jack Nicholson of course. And that’s ironic, given that Heath Ledger stole a large part of the film with his portrayal of The Joker. Will he get a posthumous Oscar? 

And how about The Spiderwick Chronicles? A hit with many people out there, this was one of the top fantasy family films of the year.

Not a fantasy film and arguably not one for the whole family was the surprising hit In Bruges. The three main guys – Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes – pulled off a treat, without being too clever about themselves. This was selfless good fun and had a rare quality about it. Set to be a classic.

Others up for worthy of note are Wanted (some would say notable for a sultry Angelina Jolie); Iron Man (another comic book super hero with a propensity for ego stroking, this was good fun after all said and done); Forgetting Sarah Marshall (somewhat of an unsurprising comedy, but it’s not meant to be Shakespeare); Definitely, Maybe (one of the best romantic comedies of the year); and, Smart People (which operates on so many levels, it’s a joy to behold).

And now some of the ones that not only didn’t take of for the majority of us, but didn’t even get to the departure lounge.

Leading us out is The Love Guru. Oh dear, is Mike Myers starting to lose it? Best for summer holidays – take the disc out onto the beach and use it as a Frisbee.

Close behind is Speed Racer which, on nearly all levels, just did not work. They say that CDs make great bird scarers: give this one to your Dad to keep the birds off his allotment.

And even closer behind is Meet The Spartans. Oh dreary me. You mean people get paid to produce this kind of rubbish? Not even worth taking down to the allotment.
For many people the film The Eye was useful for one thing, it proved that Jessica Alba just can’t act. Oh really?

And in quicker succession come Witless Protection (the title and a scantily clad bird on the front cover gives this one away); Drillbit Taylor (sorry, what did you say?); Prom Night (why does it always happen at the Prom?); Over Her Dead Body (and over yours if you pay money to see this); Fools Gold (exactly); and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (and yes, you don’t mess with the audience either, if you can help it).

Okay, so that’s it. Some hits and some flops. The hits are notable for their genius of course, whereas the flops are notable for the nerve of the people behind them. On well, where would we be without someone to poke the stick at?

< Back to articles