The Best Movies Of 2008 minus the list.

Lists are inherently pretentious. On that note, the following is a list of memorable moments in film of 2008 AD. Please note that this does not carry a "BEST OF 08'" connotation; rather, these are the movies that I took a personal interest in regardless of whether I liked them or not.

FAVORITE: "In Bruges." Two hit men are sent to Bruge, Belgium to wait out their respective fates after a botched assassination. Loyalty and redemption has never been so funny and emotionally resonate.

LOLZ: "Tropic Thunder." Yeah, my taste was tested when Robert Downey Jr. advised Ben Stiller to "Never go full retard." But since it was said by an equally insane character in black face, I left my P.C. meter at the door.

WORTHY OSCAR BAIT PERFORMANCES: "Milk," "Frost/Nixon," and "The Wrestler." Spicoli goes gay, Frank Langella is not a crook, and Mickey Rourke "plays" a washed up pro in search of second chances. Whatever, I was moved in a great way.

SHAMEFULLY UNORIGINAL BUT WELL MADE OSCAR BAIT: "Revolutionary Road." AKA "American Beauty: The Beginning," beautiful white people whose "DREAMZ HAV BEEN LOST" shout at each other in beautifully composed shots of beautiful suburban angst. Owning a house and two cars has never been more painful.

UNDESERVING OVER HYPED SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER: "Iron Man." This really wasn't as charming as you thought this was. In fact, it was kind of boring. Here's hoping audiences won't blindly adore Robert Downey Jr. by the time of the sequel so he can actually, you know, "act" in the movie.

INFURIATINGLY THOUGHT PROVOKING OLIVER STONE RANT: "Four Christma-" no, wait, "W." I didn't like this film too much, but it made me think about how f'ed up the last eight or so years have been. Plus, who doesn't want to hear Dick Cheney say "No one will fuck with us again." Eerily entertaining.

WORST FILM THAT I SAW WITH SAM SCHACHTER: "Nick and Norah's I don't care what the rest of this incoherent unentertaining mess of a movie's title is." I expressed to several people that I hoped this would be "The Superbad of our generation!" Not very funny, I know. But neither was this movie comprised of plot inconsistencies, gay stereotypes, and the most unappealing and rushed orgasm ever put on film.

FILMS THAT YOU SHOULD SEE BUT HAVEN'T: "Man on Wire," a documentary of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the World Trade Center, "Rachel Getting Married," Jonathan Demme's handheld camera exploration of how Anne Hathaway can ruin the happiest day of someone else's life, "Let the Right One In," a vampire film that doesn't care about a paycheck, and "JCVD," an oddity of a film featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme in his best performance as...himself.

And of course, I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks as well :)