BEST FILMS OF 2008

  1. Wendy and Lucy Kelly Reichardt, U.S.

  2. Flight of the Red Balloon Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France

  3. A Christmas Tale Arnaud Desplechin, France

  4. Happy-Go-Lucky Mike Leigh, U.K.

  5. WALL·E Andrew Stanton, U.S.

  6. Still Life Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong/China

  7. Paranoid Park Gus Van Sant, France/U.S.

  8. Waltz with Bashir Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany

  9. My Winnipeg Guy Maddin, Canada

  10. Milk Gus Van Sant, U.S.

BEST UNRELEASED FILMS OF 2008

  1. The Headless Woman* Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy 2. 24 City* Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong/Japan 3. Summer Hours Olivier Assayas, France 4. Still Walking Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan 5. Tulpan Sergey Dvortsevoy, Germany/Switzerland/Kazakhstan/Russia/Poland 6. RR James Benning, U.S. 7. 35 Shots of Rum* Claire Denis, France/Germany 8. Of Time and the City Terence Davies, U.K. 9. Tony Manero* Pablo Larrain, Chile/Brazil 10. Liverpool* Lisandro Alonso, Argentina 11. Sugar Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, U.S. 12. Tokyo Sonata Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan/Netherlands/Hong Kong 13. Birdsong* Albert Serra, Spain 14. The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, U.S. 15. United Red Army* Koji Wakamatsu, Japan 16. Night and Day* Hong Sang-soo, South Korea 17. Four Nights with Anna* Jerzy Skolimowski, France/Poland 18. Me and Orson Welles* Richard Linklater, U.K. 19. Il Divo Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France 20. Chouga* Darezhan Omirbaev, Kazakhstan/France 21. Lorna’s Silence Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy/Germany 22. Treeless Mountain So Yong Kim, U.S./South Korea 23. A Time to Stir* Paul Cronin, U.S. (tie) Goodbye Solo Ramin Bahrani, U.S. 24. Captain Ahab* Philippe Ramos, France/Sweden (tie) Revanche Götz Spielmann, Austria 25. Everlasting Moments Jan Troell, Sweden/Denmark/Norway/Finland/Germany (tie) I’m Gonna Explode* Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico 26. Afterschool* Antonio Campos, U.S. 27. Flame & Citron* Ole Christian Madsen, Denmark/Germany 28. Three Monkeys Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France/Italy 29. Itinéraire de Jean Bricard* Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, France 30. Sparrow Johnnie To, Hong Kong
  2. Let the Right One In Tomas Alfredson, Sweden  
  3. The Duchess of Langeais Jacques Rivette, France/Italy
  4. The Class Laurent Cantet, France
  5. Synecdoche, New York Charlie Kaufman, U.S.
  6. Hunger Steve McQueen, U.K.
  7. Silent Light Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands
  8. Ballast Lance Hammer, U.S.
  9. Man on Wire James Marsh, U.K.
  10. The Exiles Kent Mackenzie, U.S.
  11. Gomorrah Matteo Garrone, Italy
  12. The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan, U.S.
  13. Che Steven Soderbergh, Spain/France/U.S.
  14. The Wrestler Darren Aronofsky, U.S.
  15. The Last Mistress Catherine Breillat, France/Italy
  16. Rachel Getting Married Jonathan Demme, U.S.
  17. Trouble the Water Carl Deal & Tia Lessin, U.S.
  18. Momma’s Man Azazel Jacobs, U.S.
  19. Ashes of Time Redux Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong/China
  20. In the City of Sylvia José Luis Guerín, Spain/France
  21. Alexandra Alexander Sokurov, Russia/France
  22. Encounters at the End of the World Werner Herzog, U.S.
  23. Gran Torino Clint Eastwood, U.S.
  24. The Romance of Astrea and Celadon Eric Rohmer, France/Spain/Italy
  25. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button David Fincher, U.S.
  26. La France Serge Bozon, France
  27. Taxi to the Dark Side Alex Gibney, U.S.
  28. The Edge of Heaven Fatih Akin, Germany/ Turkey/Italy
  29. Slumdog Millionaire Danny Boyle, U.S./U.K.
  30. Vicky Cristina Barcelona Woody Allen, Spain
  31. The Silence Before Bach Pere Portabella, Spain
  32. Frost/Nixon Ron Howard, U.S.
  33. Woman on the Beach Hong Sang-soo, South Korea
  34. Before I Forget Jacques Nolot, France
  35. Frozen River Courtney Hunt, U.S.
  36. The Order of Myths Margaret Brown, U.S.
  37. Heartbeat Detector (La Question Humaine) Nicolas Klotz, France
  38. Tell No One Guillaume Canet, France
  39. Chop Shop Ramin Bahrani, U.S.
  40. Profit motive and the whispering wind John Gianvito, U.S.
  41. Fengming: A Chinese Memoir Bing Wang, China (*Currently without U.S. distribution) Participants: Sam Adams, Thom Andersen, John Anderson, Melissa Anderson, David Ansen, Michael Atkinson, Saul Austerlitz, Miriam Bale, Margaret Barton-Fumo, Marjorie Baumgarten, Bruce Bennett, Nick Bradshaw, Richard Brody, John Caps, Michael Chaiken, Andrew Chan, Chris Chang, Tom Charity, Godfrey Cheshire, Travis Crawford, Gary Crowdus, Mike D’Angelo, Evan Davis, Sam Di Iorio, Lisa Dombrowski, Bilge Ebiri, Cheryl Eddy, David Edelstein, David Ehrenstein, David Fear, Paul Fileri, Scott Foundas, Patrick Friel, Graham Fuller, Susan Gerhard, Gary Giddins, Jason Gross, Larry Gross, Dennis Harvey, Molly Haskell, Logan Hill, J. Hoberman, Robert Horton, Johnny Ray Huston, Harlan Jacobson, J.R. Jones, Kent Jones, Kristin M. Jones, Dave Kehr, Glenn Kenny, Laura Kern, Stuart Klawans, Robert Koehler, Michael Koresky, Nathan Lee, Dennis Lim, Phillip Lopate, Cynthia Lucia, Scott Macaulay, Todd McCarthy, Maitland McDonagh, Don McMahon, Joe Milutis, Wesley Morris, Rob Nelson, Chris Norris, Geoffrey O’Brien, Mark Olsen, Mark Peranson, Jake Perlin, Tony Pipolo, Richard Porton, John Powers, James Quandt, Jed Rapfogel, Nicolas Rapold, Megan Ratner, Bérénice Reynaud, Jim Ridley, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Joshua Rothkopf, Andrew Sarris, Richard Schickel, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Gene Seymour, Gavin Smith, Vivian Sobchack, Chuck Stephens, Bob Strauss, Jim Supanick, Amy Taubin, José Teodoro, Kenneth Turan, Brynn White, Donald Wilson, Genevieve Yue, David Zuckerman