The good news: I've found twelve films good enough to put in my year-end list. The bad news: It really wasn't very hard to make the list this year. I didn't have to agonize over which film would be deleted when one of the year-end Oscar-bait releases found its way on the list. This has been a dismal year for pictures. I suppose the writers' strike is one reason. This year just hasn't had the number of top quality films that the last couple of years have. I am certainly willing to stand by the films in my Dozen this year, but there are only a few others from the year I'd even consider listing. Overall grade for the year: D.

Darrel's Dozen for 2008 films

1. Revolutionary Road -- A dark search for meaning within the American Dream. Weltschmerz, midlife crisis, existential longings all tied up in a bundle of outstanding performances, fine cinematography, and overall wonderful production.

2. The Visitor -- Saw this in April and it wasn't until the end of the year that it fell out of my number one slot. I'm sure my identification with the main character plays a role in that. A much lighter search for life's meaning than Revolutionary Road.

3. The Dark Knight -- Yes, I do go to popcorn movies and blockbusters even if I don't always write about them. Gotham City is as dark as Revolutionary Road, and Batman is the darkest hero ever. The Joker almost pushes him over the edge between good and evil.

4. The Band's Visit -- An Egyptian police band stranded in a little town in Israel. A bit of humor, a dash of melancholy, and a vision that has hope for peace.

5. Tell No One -- Wonderful Hitchcockean suspense/thriller but also a love story. Images of Eden bookmark a kind of hell for the doctor/protagonist.

6. Young @ Heart -- My favorite doc of the year, even if it wasn't perhaps the most important. The joy of life found in a choir of octogenarians.

7. Pray the Devil Back to Hell -- The inspiring story of the women of Liberia who stood up for peace after years of civil war.

8. When Did You Last See Your Father? -- The father-son relationship examined as a man cares for his dying father.

9. Waltz with Bashir -- An animated documentary provides an Israeli look at the horrors of war and its psychological and spiritual costs.

10. 4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days -- From the time when abortion was a political act in Romania. Exceptional realism. Very powerful. May be this far down the list because I saw it a few months before it was released here and my memory has faded.

11. Frost/Nixon -- Not just a bit of history, but a look at gamesmanship. Take note of how many boxing references are built into the dialogue.

12. Milk -- It's a bit of hagiography, but an especially timely look at the struggle for LGBT rights.



Also-rans: There are three other films I want to mention, any one of which could have been included depending on how I felt that day: In Bruges, Irina Palm, and Synecdoche, New York. From all I've heard, I might well want to include Silent Light, but since I haven't been able to see it, I'll just have to mention it here.

Best performance:

 

• Male: Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
• Female: Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Festival Favorites: Captain Abu Raed, Red Like the Sky, Noodle, The Trap

Favorite vintage film discovered or revisited: Louisiana Story