CollegeCandy’s Top 10 Films of 2008

If you missed the following films last year, the good news is that many of them are on DVD already, or will be soon. So check out what you missed at the cinema, add it your Netflix Queue, and have a 2008 movie night before you get backed up with the upcoming flicks of 2009!

By Candy

1. The Dark Knight.

It’s a sad irony that Heath Ledger steals the show, after the film got so much publicity following the young actor’s death. Heath Ledger’s death made millions of people flock to the movie, but the truth is, it’s actually effing good. Ledger looks like a lock for a posthumous Oscar as well. Only time will tell.

2. Wall-E

Tell me you weren’t rooting for Wall-E and Eve, and I’ll tell you you have no soul. This cute, witty, futuristic animated tale was a favorite among audiences of all ages.

3. Cloverfield

With an innovative marketing strategy – remember those bizarre commercials guised as pleading cable interruptions? Cloverfield kept us on the edge of our seats and brought the “monster movie” genre to another level with its documentary-style cinematic techniques. Think Godzilla meets Blair Witch.

4. Gone Baby Gone

Ben Affleck’s latest screenplay, starring brother Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris has all the makings of a blockbuster: A-list author, lustworthy lead, and two powerhouse Hollywood phenoms. Did I mention the suspense and the action?

5. Milk

2008 was truly a time for change. Though we elected our first black president, we also lost a few steps of progress when California retracted the rights of gays to marry. What better time to release a film about Cali’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk? This powerful piece, starring Sean Penn, depicts the tragic assassination of San Fran’s first gay mayor by none other than a former city supervisor.

6. Sweeney Todd

Maybe I’m biased, because Johnny Depp could do a film version of Blake Fielder-Civil’s time in jail, and I’d still pay to see it. But the musical Sweeney was a ground-breaking effort by Stephen Sondheim, and a great excuse to put the equally eccentric Depp and Helena Bonham Carter together to recreate the story of “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

7. High School Musical 3

All good things come in threes. And you know you wanted another chance to see Zach Effron, Vanessa Hudgens, and “The Tiz” on the silver screen one last time. Who cares if we’re in college? High school musical is the stuff that girl’s nights out are made of. Extra butter on the popcorn, please.

8. Quantum of Solace

The highly anticipated, newest installment of the James Bond chronicles features hottie Daniel Craig and takes off only days after the shocking ending of Casino Royale, in which notorious ladies’ man Bond lost his lover. No time for tears, though, as this film immediately thrusts our hero into another jampacked ride to fight consipiracy.

9. Sex and the City

Well it took ten years, but Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha finally made it to the big screen. And it only took 300 pieces of H Stern jewelry for us to find out Big’s full name, and to see Carrie finally get her glass slipper (or, rather, blue Manolo) and live happily ever after.

10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A freaky-deaky plot involving a baby who was born as an old man, ages in reverse, and finds love somewhere in the middle is at least a creative diversion from the cliche’d spectacle we usually see in the cinemas. Plus, it’s Brad Pitt. Think of this film as a fantasy version of The Notebook, and go see it. NOW.