2008 in Film.

Above, my favorite movie of the year. Wall-E was a close second.

What were yours?

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.
  • I really loved Wall-E, I even teared up at certain points. I haven’t seen enough of this years movies to have a good take on what was “best” yet though. As you know GD I am still hankering to see Rachel Getting Married and The Class. I also need to see Doubt.
    I enjoyed Slumdog Millionaire but I don’t know if I would call it a great movie. It was fun and touching in a cheesy kind of way. I thought of it as a fairytale for grownups.

  • the black scientist

    i didnt see too many movies this year but slumdog millionaire was unbelievably beautiful. best cinematography of 08 i’ve seen. wall-e was kind of like a more clever version of idiocracy to me. i still need to see milk, rachel getting married and now, the class. looks like a france’s drug-free multicultural ode to half nelson.

  • My top three flicks for the year are Wall-E, The Wrestler and The Dark Knight but I’m a former wrestling fan and a comic book geek so the last two picks should be taken with a grain of salt.

    http://blog.melanism.com/2009/01/02/2008-15-favorite-movies/

  • ladyfresshh

    iron man i think is my top (love RDJ)
    then dark knight (wow heath just wow)
    but yep wall-e is up there
    i did like be kind rewind
    tropic thunder was the funniest this year
    and i regret not seeing miracle at santa anna and i’ll add this to the list as well

  • Grump

    If I do see “The Class”, how hard will it be to draw similarities to that Jon Voight flick he did with the Geechie kids back in the 1970s?

  • Hmm. Looking back, I’ve seen so few movies this year and none of them were that good. Let’s see…

    • “I Am Legend” (late 07, so it counts. Also, terrible.)
    • “The Dark Knight” (Didn’t love it. Too dark for my tastes, and Heath, while near to my heart, wasn’t as transcendent as others would have us believe)
    • “The Pineapple Express” (it was funny but entirely too long and self-indulgent)
    • “W” (far too kind to 43)
    • “Seven Pounds” (I’m still galled by how awful it was)

    That’s it. All of these were movies I was dragged to by others (except for “I Am Legend”).

    Even the movies I still want to see like ‘Rachel Getting Married,’ aren’t enough to get me to the theatre, tho.

  • ladyfresshh

    GD – yeah, i don’t rely on reviewers for the most part (with an exception for ebert and if he absolutely hates something it gives me pause) i almost can’t explain iteven though his like mcgruders portrayal of women can be =\ it’s still few and far between that i get a black film that isn’t about relationships or ‘cism…ok this is but its set historically different enough(yeah italy) that i still want to see it

    spike’s still trying to ‘talk to me’ as a director and so few directors do so that i feel almost obligated to listen when he does

  • my tops for 2008
    Rachel Getting Married – the sisters’ relationship felt so real to me, it made me uncomfortable
    Iron Man – i’m a comic dork but was never about Iron Man (except when he and Storm were a thing) but this one made me buy a few IM titles again
    Milk – i can understand some of the criticisms but i thought it was also full of good performances (franco and penn were wonderful)
    Tropic Thunder – the robert downey jr/tobey mcguire spoof trailer was pitch perfect
    Dark Knight
    Kung Fu Panda (hey, i know that body type!)

    and instead of I Am Legend or 7 lbs, i choose Hancock as the better Will Smith flick.

    I haven’t seen Wrestler or Slumdog Millionaire yet, but will.

  • ladyfresshh

    ding – storm?! really?

  • rakia

    My number one fav this year is Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Loved it with a capital “L.” Rachel Getting Married makes my list, as well. I liked Slumdog Millionaire, but not nearly as much as others’, and I don’t think it really deserves all the notoriety it’s getting now. Seems to be more about the story behind the movie (It’s the little engine that could, and it shows us a world we’ve never seen before, etc.). But really, the guy who plays the adult Jamal wasn’t that great an actor. The kids, however, were stellar.

    Worst movie of the year by far was Seven Pounds.

  • ding/rakia: Rachel Getting Married was up there for me, as well.