Movie of the Year Nominations 2008

I decided a few months ago that one way I would wrap-up all that was 2008 would be to decide which movie, album, or video game (out of a list of five nominations) was deemed the best of the year. One criterion to be included was that my first experience with the work in question took place within the calendar year. So, regardless of when the album, movie, or video game actually came out, it was qualified for consideration as long as it's new to me this year.

Now, onto the nominations for the Movie of the Year. As you know, I have seen A LOT of movies this year (granted, only about half of what I saw the previous year living in Holland...), so I had a lot of movies to choose from. It was a little difficult whittling the list down to my Top 5, but I think this is a really well-rounded list covering a number of genres. All of these films are good enough to own (in fact, I already own three of them and plan on buying the other two) and are definitely recommended. So, here they are (in alphabetical order):

The Dark Knight: What's not to love about this film. I saw it twice in the theatre and have watched it once on DVD already. There has never been a better superhero film (and possibly never will be), the acting is incredible, the script is unbelievably deep and thought-provoking, and the visuals are top notch.

In Bruges: What a comedy should be: unique, quirky, clever, and even occasionally beautiful and sentimental. Throw in the fact that it's set in one of the most beautiful cities in my favorite country in the world, and you've got a great film on your hands.

Milk: In my opinion the best biopic in recent memory. Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk is so seemingly spot-on that it's almost eerie, the movie moves pretty quickly (for a biopic) and doesn't lose much momentum, and the subject matter couldn't be that much more relevant, despite having happened thirty years ago.

Religulous: I love Bill Maher and I love movies that question religion, but that didn't mean this movie was guaranteed to be of high quality. Fortunately, Religulous is a funny yet potent documentary laying religion on the line with the sort of mass exposure Richard Dawkins can only dream of.

Wall-E: Although it took me a long time to finally get around to watching Pixar's latest work of art, I couldn't be happier that I did. Wall-E is the kind of movie that makes everything else in Pixar's extremely stellar œuvre pale in comparison. Actually, I'm still amazed that they actually had the balls to make a movie this potent, especially in the guise of a "kids' movie."

So, there are the Top 5. You've got an action flick, a comedy, a biopic, a documentary, and a cartoon...all genres pretty well-represented if you ask me. I'll award the winners for all of my categories in a single post once I've laid out all of the nominees. Until then, let me know who you think should win!