Best Movies 2008 (My Top 40)

by ARCHA1D3 | created - 22 Aug 2019 | updated - 22 Aug 2019 | Public
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1. Gran Torino (2008)

R | 116 min | Drama

73 Metascore

After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her

Votes: 814,800 | Gross: $148.10M

2. The Chaser (2008)

Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama

64 Metascore

A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.

Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung

Votes: 72,745

3. Let the Right One In (2008)

R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

82 Metascore

Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.

Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl

Votes: 226,726 | Gross: $2.12M

4. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

84 Metascore

A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.

Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor

Votes: 877,623 | Gross: $141.32M

5. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)

R | 113 min | Action, Biography, Crime

71 Metascore

The story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France.

Director: Jean-François Richet | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Cécile de France, Gérard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche

Votes: 35,283 | Gross: $0.55M

6. Cloverfield (2008)

PG-13 | 85 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

64 Metascore

A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller

Votes: 420,553 | Gross: $80.05M

7. Taken (I) (2008)

PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller

51 Metascore

A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.

Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser

Votes: 634,329 | Gross: $145.00M

8. In Bruges (2008)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

67 Metascore

After a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.

Director: Martin McDonagh | Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ciarán Hinds, Elizabeth Berrington

Votes: 461,392 | Gross: $7.76M

9. The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)

R | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

69 Metascore

The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.

Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, Yun Je-mun

Votes: 37,929 | Gross: $0.13M

10. Martyrs (2008)

R | 99 min | Horror

A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Director: Pascal Laugier | Stars: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin

Votes: 106,368

11. Cadillac Records (2008)

R | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Music

65 Metascore

Chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists.

Director: Darnell Martin | Stars: Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Beyoncé, Columbus Short

Votes: 23,118 | Gross: $8.20M

12. The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)

R | 150 min | Action, Biography, Crime

76 Metascore

A look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.

Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz

Votes: 40,114 | Gross: $0.48M

13. The Wrestler (2008)

R | 109 min | Drama, Sport

80 Metascore

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis

Votes: 319,894 | Gross: $26.24M

14. The Dark Knight (2008)

PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama

84 Metascore

When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine

Votes: 2,869,663 | Gross: $534.86M

15. Departures (2008)

PG-13 | 130 min | Drama

68 Metascore

Soon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.

Director: Yôjirô Takita | Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Votes: 54,964 | Gross: $1.50M

16. The Hurt Locker (2008)

R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War

95 Metascore

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce

Votes: 473,674 | Gross: $17.02M

17. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

PG-13 | 166 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

70 Metascore

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond

Votes: 695,521 | Gross: $127.51M

18. Welcome to the Sticks (2008)

Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Romance

A French public servant from Provence is banished to the far North. Strongly prejudiced against this cold and inhospitable place, he leaves his family behind to relocate temporarily there, with the firm intent to quickly come back.

Director: Dany Boon | Stars: Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoé Félix, Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret

Votes: 44,952 | Gross: $1.48M

19. Eden Lake (2008)

R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller

65 Metascore

Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.

Director: James Watkins | Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O'Connell

Votes: 94,809 | Gross: $0.01M

20. Rambo (2008)

R | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

46 Metascore

In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.

Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish

Votes: 244,505 | Gross: $42.75M

21. Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008)

R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

57 Metascore

Martin McGartland joins the I.R.A. and feeds information to Britain's Special Branch Agent Fergus.

Director: Kari Skogland | Stars: Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press

Votes: 11,608

22. Frost/Nixon (2008)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History

80 Metascore

A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell

Votes: 112,456 | Gross: $18.59M

23. The Reader (2008)

R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

58 Metascore

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.

Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain

Votes: 259,779 | Gross: $34.19M

24. The Strangers (2008)

R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

47 Metascore

A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.

Director: Bryan Bertino | Stars: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward, Alex Fisher

Votes: 143,532 | Gross: $52.60M

25. Gomorrah (2008)

Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama

87 Metascore

Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.

Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino

Votes: 51,205 | Gross: $1.58M

26. Ip Man (2008)

R | 106 min | Action, Biography, Drama

59 Metascore

During the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.

Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka-Tung Lam

Votes: 233,549

27. The Bank Job (2008)

R | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

69 Metascore

Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street. She targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry along with a treasure trove of dirty secrets.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays

Votes: 189,149 | Gross: $30.06M

28. Loft (I) (2008)

118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Five close friends, all of them married, share a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman in the loft. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder.

Director: Erik Van Looy | Stars: Koen De Bouw, Filip Peeters, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruno Vanden Broecke

Votes: 24,975

29. Vantage Point (2008)

PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama

40 Metascore

The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.

Director: Pete Travis | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Bruce McGill

Votes: 154,056 | Gross: $72.27M

30. Secret Defense (2008)

100 min | Thriller

In France, terrorist groups and intelligence agencies battle in a merciless war everyday, in the name of radically opposed ideologies. Yet, terrorist and secret agents lead almost the same ... See full summary »

Director: Philippe Haïm | Stars: Gérard Lanvin, Vahina Giocante, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Mehdi Nebbou

Votes: 3,733

31. Iron Man (2008)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

79 Metascore

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges

Votes: 1,124,541 | Gross: $318.41M

32. Pontypool (2008)

Not Rated | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

54 Metascore

A radio host interprets the possible outbreak of a deadly virus which infects the small Ontario town he is stationed in.

Director: Bruce McDonald | Stars: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak

Votes: 35,466

33. Tropic Thunder (2008)

R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War

71 Metascore

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Kahn

Votes: 447,876 | Gross: $110.52M

34. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

70 Metascore

Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Evan Welch

Votes: 268,815 | Gross: $23.22M

35. The Brothers Bloom (2008)

PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

55 Metascore

The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job - showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.

Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi

Votes: 52,597 | Gross: $3.52M

36. Rachel Getting Married (2008)

R | 113 min | Drama, Romance

85 Metascore

A young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.

Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra Winger, Sebastian Stan

Votes: 51,214 | Gross: $12.80M

37. Burn After Reading (2008)

R | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

63 Metascore

A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich

Votes: 353,151 | Gross: $60.36M

38. The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

58 Metascore

A photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.

Director: Ryûhei Kitamura | Stars: Vinnie Jones, Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields

Votes: 71,107 | Gross: $0.08M

39. Sparrow (2008)

87 min | Drama, Romance

A gang of pickpockets roam the streets of Hong Kong.

Director: Johnnie To | Stars: Simon Yam, Kelly Lin, Ka-Tung Lam, Hoi-Pang Lo

Votes: 3,096

40. Punisher: War Zone (2008)

R | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama

30 Metascore

Frank Castle, known as the Punisher, ruthlessly demolishes organized crime, but it starts an even bigger war.

Director: Lexi Alexander | Stars: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz, Doug Hutchison

Votes: 67,154 | Gross: $8.05M



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