The 10 best movies from the past year

1) The Dark Knight

“Why so serious!?”
Bob Kane himself could’ve never predicted something like this; from the early casting rumors all the way down to it’s highly-anticipated opening, ‘The Dark Knight’ soared above and beyond everything it promised! Shattering box-office records by day, and closing its run with a worldwide gross of nearly $1 billion, it’s no secret which movie made the biggest impact this year. If the late Heath Ledger isn’t rewarded with an Oscar this Sunday, a serious injustice will have been done to cinema.

2) Slumdog Millionaire

“I thought we would meet only in death”
With vivid cinematography and gut-wrenching drama, Danny Boyle captures the Indian culture in a way that not only respects it, but also livens it with utter beauty. How could a young man bred from the streets know all the answers on a million dollar game show? The answer is his life… just as it was written.

3) Revolutionary Road

“No one ever forgets the truth; they just get better at lying”
Ten years after their groundbreaking work in “Titanic,’”Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunite as adults in a suburban drama about a casual married couple trying to fit into a more conservative community. They were outperformed by a giant ship as kids, but with two astonishing performances, “Revolutionary Road” proves that these two talents have matured way beyond their roots. It’s not exactly a satirical companion to “American Beauty,” but Sam Mendes does adhere to the “Mad Men” audience, while making plenty of his own contributions in this heartbreaking story.

4) The Wrestler

“I’m an old broken down piece of meat”
Mickey Rourke delivers one of the most thundering and heart-felt performances since Sylvester Stallone first bred the phenomenon of Rocky Balboa! Director Darren Aronofsky body slams us straight into the heart of an aging wrestler who must learn to cope with a crumbled personal life as he leaves behind the world that made him a legend. It’s not your average stand-up-and-cheer type of story, but there’s never been one quite like it before. And with Marisa Tomei lending a supporting role of equal triumph, “The Wrestler” falls nothing short of astounding!

5) Changeling

“I just want my son home”
How it compares to his other numerous masterpieces is up to the individual, but “Changeling” delivers a serious blow to the heart as Clint Eastwood proves once again why he is a pure icon in filmmaking. Angelina Jolie gives one of her best performances as a mother whose son disappears, and against insurmountable odds from a corrupt police department in Los Angeles, she races to find the truth in a search that could uncover more reality than she anticipated.

6) Gran Torino

“Get off my lawn!”
If “Dirty Harry” lived to be a retired tough-as-nails racist, Clint Eastwood’s character in this movie would’ve undoubtedly been the product of such formula. It’s truly a shame to see such an aggressive performance get overlooked, but only a man of Eastwood’s stature could turn such a simple premise into a masterful result.

7) Frost/Nixon

“When the president does it, it’s not illegal”
Acclaimed director Ron Howard constructs what is simply a boxing match between two political figures who have not only perfected their own strategy, but also memorized the other man’s playbook. Michael Sheen and Frank Langella embody their respective characters to perfection as “Frost/Nixon” tells its story right by sticking to the primary focus, rather than trying to expand into all-round history.

Tropic Thunder

“Never go full retard!”
This is a comedy unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Ben Stiller and company basically throw a middle finger at the conservative audience with this “movie-within-a-movie” setup that parodies all the classic tales of Vietnam. It’s ruthless and offensive and couldn’t care less about how many crybabies try to protest it.

9) Wall-E

“We’ll see who’s powerless now!”
It’s been a few good years since Pixar gave me a true run for my money, but “Wall-E” is, for lack of a better term, the “E.T.” of animation film. It’s one thing to try reaching out to the adults who take their kids, but the story and characterization lifts this one way beyond just a simple puppet show of FX.

10) Wanted

“Kill one, maybe save a thousand”
Having come out during a year in which Tarantino was silent, “Wanted” easily wins the title of “Best Guilty Pleasure” for the year. Angelina Jolie has never been sexier as she sports a full body of tattoos and curves bullets in a film that knows how wildly insane it can be, and loves it!