Freida Pinto in director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.

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Being a film junkie, it’s always very hard to come up with a list of the 10 best films of the year. Making things more difficult is the fact that 2008 was not a particularly great year for film—blame the writer’s strike and the implosion of many independent studios such as Warner Independent, Picturehouse, and ThinkFilm, among others. But without further adieu, here’s my list:

Robert Downey Jr. can do subtlety or comic book kick-ass in Iron Man.

10) Iron Man: This is fun—big bucket of popcorn, large soda, and Goobers-type fun. It greatly succeeds because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and because it relies on good acting. Director Jon Favreau built a terrific ensemble of supporting players—Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow—and relies on Robert Downey Jr. (in the first of his two brilliant summer roles) to give heart and soul to the main character. The action sequences have great impact, and the script is witty and taut.

9) Man on Wire: This is my favorite documentary of the year, and one of the most memorable viewing experiences I’ve had. The film tells the story of Philippe Petit and his tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in the early ’70s. It unfolds like a thriller—I knew the outcome, and I was still at the edge of my seat. Man on Wire is not only a celebration of this man’s achievement, but of the buildings which are no longer there. Soaring and transcendent.

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.

8) Milk: Gus Van Sant’s biopic about Harvey Milk—the first openly gay man elected to public office in the U.S.—is the most immediate film of the year. Sean Penn give us his most triumphant portrayal in his long and distinguished career. The film serves as a mirror for our current poisoned Prop. 8 society to look into. And although this is a tragic story, the experience of watching the film is rapturous.

7) The Visitor: This film subtly deals with issues about identity, immigration, and post-9/11 fears. It’s the one truly independent film that captured my heart his year. The second feature by writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) gives the role of a lifetime to Richard Jenkins, who has been doing great supporting work for years in television dramas such as Six Feet Under. And Jenkins owns it. The illegal immigrants in the movie are individualized, not demonized, and by doing so, McCarthy celebrates the multiculturalism of America.

Woody Allen travels abroad with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, with leading ladies Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson.

6) Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Just when I was ready to write off Woody Allen after so many disappointing films of late, he shows us new tricks. Maybe he found himself inspired by shooting for his first time in Spain, but one thing’s for certain: This new film blends the charm of his classics, such as Manhattan, with some darker undertones to perfection. This is his most accomplished film in years, and definitely his sexiest thanks in great part to the chemistry between Javier Bardem and the volcanic performance of Penelope Cruz.

The Wrestler

5) The Wrestler: Imagine if Martin Scorsese with a handheld camera had been given the assignment to direct a grittier version of Rocky, and you will start to understand the power of this Darren Aronofsky film. Aronofsky also had the cojones to insist on casting Mickey Rourke, and the risk pays off in spade. Rourke gives an iconic performance, one that is right up there with Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull and Taxi Driver and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. The film is a work of art and an emotional one to watch. There’s great supporting work by the fantastic Marisa Tomei as a stripper—with a heart of gold, of course.

Pixar’s WALL-E visually enchants and entertains.

4) Wall*E: If Charlie Chaplin were still alive and decided to make an animated film, it would look like Pixar’s latest gift to us. I never thought that Pixar could improve on last year’s Ratattouille, but I was wrong. I’m in love with this robot. The scene where Wall*E and his android love Eve are floating in space, dancing, is pure cinema heaven. To boot, it has an environmental message, but that fact and the plot of saving the world become merely the backdrop for one of the most moving love stories of the year.

3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: This is David Fincher’s best work, an elegiac epic about how life can be nothing more than fleeting moments. It forces you to reassess your life, and your view of death and love. One of the most stunning visual achievements of the year, and one that lingers in the mind, Button is most fully appreciated after a second viewing. It has career-capping performances by Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt, who has now collaborated with Fincher in three films.

2) Slumdog Millionaire: An exhilarating adrenaline rush of a movie. Talented director Danny Boyle finally delivers on his early promise and becomes one of the best directors working in cinema today. This film is harsh, uplifting, classic, and contemporary, destined for plethora of Oscar nods.

Heath Ledger as Joker and Christian Bale as a gruff-voiced Batman in The Dark Knight.

1) The Dark Knight: This is without a doubt the best movie of the year as well as the most important movie of the year. It succeeds not only by becoming the best comic book hero movie ever but also an absorbing crime drama recalling The Godfather and Goodfellas. Mixing bravura filmmaking with Shakespearean undertones, Christopher Nolan has created a mainstream film masterpiece that provokes. But he wouldn’t have succeeded without the now legendary performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker.

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