Top 10 films

• Burn After Reading
  Burn After Reading
  Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...
  
  
• Changeling
  Changeling (film)
  Changeling is a 2008 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski. Based on real-life events in 1928 Los Angeles, the film stars Angelina Jolie as a woman who is reunited with her missing son—only to realize he is an impostor. She confronts the city...
  
  
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
  
  
• The Dark Knight
  The Dark Knight (film)
  The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
  
  
• Defiance
  Defiance (2008 film)
  Defiance is a 2008 World War II era film written, produced, and directed by Edward Zwick, set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The film is an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by three Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Poland during the Second World War...
  
  
• Frost/Nixon
  Frost/Nixon (film)
  Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working...
  
  
• Gran Torino
• Milk
  Milk (film)
  Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
  
  
• WALL-E
  WALL-E
  WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
  
  
• The Wrestler

Top Foreign Films

• The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite)
  The Edge of Heaven (film)
  The Edge of Heaven is a 2007 Turkish-German-Italian drama film written and directed by Fatih Akın. The film won the Prix du scénario at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival...
  
  
• Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
• Roman De Gare
  Roman de Gare
  Crossed Tracks is a 2007 French film directed by Claude Lelouch. The film follows a novelist, her ghost writer, and a wayward young woman as a chance encounter at a rest stop interrupts the delicate balance of their lives. French actor Dominique Pinon received wide praise for his rare turn as the...
  
  
• A Secret
  A Secret
  Un secret is a 2007 French film directed and written by Claude Miller. The screenplay was based on the novel by Philippe Grimbert.-Synopsis:...
  
  
• Waltz with Bashir
  Waltz with Bashir
  Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War....
  
  

Top Five Documentaries

• American Teen
  American Teen
  American Teen is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nanette Burstein and produced by 57th & Irving. It competed in the Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Directing Award: Documentary...
  
  
• The Betrayal
• Dear Zachary
• Encounters at the End of the World
  Encounters at the End of the World
  Encounters at the End of the World is an American documentary film by Werner Herzog completed in 2007. The film studies people and places in Antarctica...
  
  
• Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
  Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
  Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired is a 2008 documentary film directed by Marina Zenovich. It concerns film director Roman Polanski and his sexual misconduct case...
  
  

Top Independent Films

• Frozen River
  Frozen River
  Frozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
  
  
• In Bruges
  In Bruges
  In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy crime film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as their gangster boss. The film takes place—and was filmed—within the Belgian city of Bruges. In Bruges was...
  
  
• In Search of a Midnight Kiss
  In Search of a Midnight Kiss
  In Search of a Midnight Kiss is an American independent romantic comedy written and directed by Alex Holdridge. It is listed on the National Board of Review's Top 10 Independent Films of 2008, won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award in 2009 as well as having earned awards at festivals...
  
  
• Hallam Foe
  Hallam Foe
  Hallam Foe is a 2007 Scottish drama film directed by David Mackenzie based on the novel written by Peter Jinks. The film was released in the United States as Mister Foe. The screenplay was written by Ed Whitmore and David Mackenzie....
  
  
• Rachel Getting Married
  Rachel Getting Married
  Rachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also...
  
  
• Snow Angels
  Snow Angels (film)
  Snow Angels is a 2007 drama film starring Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It was directed by David Gordon Green, who also wrote the screenplay adapted from Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel of the same title. The film premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival...
  
  
• Son of Rambow
  Son of Rambow
  Son of Rambow is a 2008 comedy-drama film written and directed by Garth Jennings. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Glasgow Film...
  
  
• Wendy and Lucy
  Wendy and Lucy
  Wendy and Lucy is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story "Train Choir". The film stars Michelle Williams and Will Patton...
  
  
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall...
  
  
• The Visitor
  The Visitor (2008 film)
  The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat...
  
  

Winners

• Best Film:
  • Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
    
     (Academy Award for Best Picture)
• Best Foreign Language Film:
  • Mongol
    Mongol (film)
    Mongol is a 2007 semi-historical film directed by Sergei Bodrov. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Bodrov and Arif Aliev. Producers for the film comprised Bodrov, Sergei Selyanov and Anton Melnik. The film is based on the early life of Temüjin, who later came to be known as...
    
    , Mongolia
    Mongolia
    Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
    
    
• Best Animated Feature:
  • Wall-E
    WALL-E
    WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
    
    
• Best Documentary Feature:
  • Man on Wire
    Man on Wire
    Man on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title...
    
    
• Best Actor:
  • Clint Eastwood
    Clint Eastwood
    Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
    
     - Gran Torino
• Best Actress:
  • Anne Hathaway
    Anne Hathaway (actress)
    Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
    
     - Rachel Getting Married
    Rachel Getting Married
    Rachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also...
    
    
• Best Supporting Actor:
  • Josh Brolin
    Josh Brolin
    Josh James Brolin is an American actor. He has acted in theater, film and television roles since 1985, and won acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and True Grit.-Early life:...
    
     - Milk
    Milk (film)
    Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
    
    
• Best Supporting Actress:
  • Penelope Cruz
    Penélope Cruz
    Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
    
     - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall...
    
    
• Breakthrough Male Performances:
  • Dev Patel
    Dev Patel
    Dev Patel is a British actor. He is best known for playing Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire , for which Patel won a number of awards, including a Critics' Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award...
    
     - Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
    
    
• Breakthrough Female Performances:
  • Viola Davis
    Viola Davis
    Viola Davis is an American actress.Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II . She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in the...
    
     - Doubt
• Best Cast:
  • Doubt
• Best Director:
  • David Fincher
    David Fincher
    David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
    
     - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
    
    
• Best Directorial Debut:
  • Courtney Hunt
    Courtney Hunt
    Courtney Hunt is an American screenwriter and film director. She has received much critical acclaim for her debut film, Frozen River, for which she has gained an Oscar nomination, two Independent Spirit nominations, and a Satellite Award nod for the film...
    
     - Frozen River
    Frozen River
    Frozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
    
    
• Best Screenplay - Adapted:
  • Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire
    Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
    
     - Simon Beaufoy
    Simon Beaufoy
    Simon Beaufoy is a British screenwriter. Born in Keighley, he was educated at Malsis School in Cross Hills, Ermysted's Grammar School and Sedbergh School, he read English at St Peter's College, Oxford and graduated from The Arts Institute at Bournemouth...
    
    
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
    
     - Eric Roth
    Eric Roth
    Eric Roth is an American screenwriter. He won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump . He also co-wrote the screenplay for Michael Mann's The Insider , the Steven Spielberg film Munich , and David Fincher's film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , all of which were nominated for...
    
    
• Best Screenplay - Original (tie):
  • Gran Torino - Nick Schenk
    Nick Schenk
    Nick Schenk is an American screenwriter. His script for the 2008 film Gran Torino was named "Best Screenplay" by the National Board of Review in late 2008.-Life and career:...
    
    
• Freedom of Expression Award (tie):
  • Trumbo
• Spotlight Award:
  • Melissa Leo
    Melissa Leo
    Melissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
    
     and Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
    
    
• William K. Everson Award for Film History:
  • Molly Haskell
    Molly Haskell
    Molly Haskell is an American feminist film critic and author. Her most influential book is From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies...
    
     and Andrew Sarris
    Andrew Sarris
    Andrew Sarris is an American film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism.-Career:Sarris is generally credited with popularizing the auteur theory in the U.S...