Best Movies Of 2008

so this is a little late, but i do live in Athens, GA and we're just now getting the majority of the Oscar movies of 08 right now. i really wish they'd change the rules for Oscar consideration and that a movie should have either played in wide release or been out for at least a month in the year of 2008 before it's eligible...but whatever. there are still a few movies left that i haven't had a chance to see (Milk, The Reader, Frost/Nixon) that might be worthy of consideration, but as of right now the following list were my top movies of the year.

The Top 13 Movies Of 2008

1. THE DARK KNIGHT

there's really nothing left to say about this movie. the greatest comic book movie of all time also happens to be one of the coolest/most fucking awesome films of the decade and Heath Ledger's Joker performance will go down as the greatest on screen villain ever.

2. Let the Right One In

Swedish, coming of age, vampire movie. aka my new favorite genre. sweet and tender and gorey at the same time. plus it had the most tense finale of any movie this year. fucking loved it X 1000.

3. Slumdog Millionaire

worthy of all the hype and praise and awards it's getting. Danny Boyle proves why he's one of the most underrated and best directors around. reminded me a lot of City Of God...which is one of my favorite movies of this decade. Slumdog was exciting, suspenseful, moderately violent, well acted, had a great love story, had a feel good ending, and this movie was uplifting without being cheesy. it's got Oscar written all over it and i hope it wins.

4. The Wrestler

hey, do you like being depressed? well this is the movie for you. besides Heath's Joker...Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" was the best performance of the year. a total heartbreaker and soul crusher and a perfect representation of the death of the American Dream.

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

this was a movie that i really could have cared less about before i actually went and saw it...we'll just say i was totally wrong in my assumption that this looked like a boring period drama. it's a total Forest Gump for adults. David Fincher sends me another reminder that he's the most underrated director in Hollywood whose work is always consistent.

6. Wall E

best kids movie since the Incredibles with the cutest fucking character since ET and R2-D2.

7. Pineapple Express

The Citizen Kane of stoner movies.

8. Iron Man

if Dark Knight was the ultimate example of how you make a serious comic book movie then Iron Man was the ultimate example of how you make a really fucking fun comic book movie. the best Pop Corn movie of the year by far.

9. In Bruges

a perfectly enjoyable little violent dark comedy

10. Son Of Rambow

a hilarious and imaginative kids movie that reminded me of how awesome kids movies used to be in the 80s. great soundtrack and visually innovative.

11. Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist

one of the most enjoyable teen romantic comedies of all time. the perfect movie for young music nerds in love.

12. Tropic Thunder

another smart/stupid comedy from Ben Stiller that was probably the funniest film of the year (but Pineapple Express gets the edge because of pure weirdness).

13. Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

a sad and funny portrait of the life of my favorite writer of all time.

2008 BEST OF EVERYTHING

THE BEST OF 2008!!!!

1. Heath Ledger In The Dark Knight

2. Obama!!!!

3. FALCONS MAKING THE PLAYOFFS (2009 didn't start off so hot)
4. Michael Crabtree's catch

5. Sasha Grey
6. The awesomeness that is Chuck Bass.
7. Slim Charles taking care of Cheese.

8. My G1!
9. The Giants beating the Patriots in the Superbowl. 18-1 sucka.
10. Blake Lively

11. pornhub.com
12. Usain Bolt

13. "A Milli" by Lil Wayne

14. My Bloody Valentine reunion
15. The Hawks manning up at home vs. the Celtics in the playoffs. The NBA lives!!! in the ATL.
16. Pineapple Express
17. coming to terms with my love of Vampire Weekend
18. Swimbot 5000 dominating the Olympics and making us all feel good about being Ameircans for about 2 weeks.
19. No Age "Nouns"
20. Chris Berman's leaked rants

21. Kitty Lea

22. Robert Downey Jr.
23. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
24. The fact that Friday Night Lights is coming back for 1 more season at least.
25. M83 "Graveyard Girl"

26. LOST
27. Dwight Howard Supermanning Dat Hoe

28. being sooooooooooo wrong about Matt Ryan
29. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
30. Vanderbilt football

Worst of 2008
Auburn Football
losing my job (fucking economy)
Palin-O-Rama
Turning 30
My Fantasy Football Team

Best Albums Of 2008 (wait i thought this was a sports blog?)

still no news about who is gonna be the next Auburn football coach, and other than that i could honestly give a shit about what else is going on in college football...

so instead here's my Best Albums of 2008

1. Vampire Weekend- vampire weekend
when it came out, i wanted to hate them...every time something new came out i wanted that record to take it's place...much like the Strokes before them, it's hard to deny Vampire Weekend and their self titled debut album. if there was a more enjoyable pop record in the year 2008 (hell the last 3 years) then i don't know what it was. surrender to the afrobeat/indiepop/masterpiece and just move on.
the video for "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"


2. No Age- nouns
No Age lands my second spot for putting out an album that reminded me of why i loved Sebadoh and Husker Du so damn much, this band really should have been around in the early 90s (too bad noone in Athens seems to give a shit about them). this is music for music nerds.

3. M83- saturdays=youth
like if My Bloody Valentine had been a synth-pop band from the 80s. M83 were the perfect soundtrack to my fall pity party. lush and dreamy, it reminded me why i love shoegazer bands so damn much. you can pretty much bet the house that the next Sofia Coppola movie will have a couple of tracks from this album on it's soundtrack. plus is there anyone out there with better videos? Kim & Jessie have an answer for you...


4. Deerhunter- microcastle
i've definently accused this Atlanta band of being overrated/pretentious/bullshit after seeing them live a couple of times, but then they dropped Microcastle on my ass which is a surprisingly catchy indiepop record with just the right amount of weirdness to remind me of mid-90s Sonic Youth.

5. Jay Reatard- matador singles 08
my favorite pop punk songwriter discoverd his inner indie popster and put out an assortment of Clean/Tall Dwarfs inspired gems and Matador collected them all for us to enjoy without hunting down all those damn singles.

6. MGMT- oracular spectacular
the perfect weirdo pop combination of the Flaming Lips and the Unicorns...but with a huge Prince influence (or maybe that's just what i hear in them). MGMT released 3 of the best singles of the whole year (Kids, Time To Pretend, Electric Feel) and the rest of the record is pretty solid too.

7. Spiritualized- songs in a&e
after several so/so records, J.Spaceman finally put out an album that is the equal of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating Through Space. it only took him a decade.

8. The Kills- midnight boom
the Kills finally put out an album that's as cool and sexy as their image. all the reference points are still the same (suicide, jesus & mary chain, pj harvey, etc...) but finally they learned how to take those influences an write some songs to go with the sound.

9. Fucked Up- the chemistry of common life
i may be 30 years old, but i still love a good fucking heavy rock record as much now as i did when i was 17. Fucked Up delivered the best hardcore/post-hardcore/whatever the hell you wanna call it...album in a good long time. the spirit of Black Flag lives on...and it's Canadian....who knew?

10. The Walkmen- you & me
more of the same from one of my favorite bands of the decade. lots of songs about heart break and regret...which is always good for me cuz i got both of those in spades. not nearly as classic as Bows & Arrows or their debut, but a solid album none the less. here's the video for my favorite track, "in the new year"



11. TV On the Radio- dear science
maybe i'm just starting to get bored with TV On The Radio, but this is by far my least favorite release they've put out yet...still it's better than 90% of what other people are putting out, and the song The Golden Age was one of the best singles/videos of the year.

12. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- dig!!! lazarus dig!!!
so it's pretty obvious that last year's Grinderman project infused a desire to rock and roll in Alternative's elder statesmen. Lazarus is a sex,drugs/rock n roll boogie fest from a band that's been pretty somber this past decade or so. i'm digging it. Nick Cave still has it. here's a video of the song "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"


13. Albert Hammond jr- como te lama?
not nearly as good as his first solo record, but still better than that 3rd Strokes album. a good indie pop record.