Best Movies of 2008: Your Picks

How about a magic trick? Heath Ledger's Joker helped drive The Dark Knight to the top of your 2008 list -- and the critics' lists, too. Warner Bros.

 

by Trey Graham

Nearly 3,500 of you weighed in, and your verdict was clear: With a solid 41 percent of the almost 7,500 votes cast, The Dark Knight was your favorite movie of the year.

Not that we disagree: It made Bob Mondello's list, too.

David Edelstein begged to differ — but then he liked Sex and the City and sniffed at Slumdog Millionaire, so make what you will of that.

Come to think of it: That's what keeping up with a critic (or two, or three) is all about. You don't have to agree with 'em. The idea is to get to know their taste, and figure out how it squares with yours. Disagreeing — without assuming that the other person is an idiot — is the name of the game. Unconvinced? Check out the chart below. Is of these three NPR critics more on your wavelength than the others?

Side by side by side: Disagree with our critics? Well, so did they ... Kirk Radish/NPR

 

But we digress. Wall-E was another movie that made your list and the critics' picks: You ranked it No. 2, and Mondello, Edelstein and Kenneth Turan all picked it for their Top 10 roundups. (Does that mean you're antsy about the, um, uuuuuupcoming release of Pixar's Up?)

I loved Slumdog, so I was happy to see it land at No. 3 on the user poll — especially since it was only in 10 theaters initially, and it's still playing at only 614 venues nationwide. That's real passion reflected in those poll results — and in Slumdog's per-screen average, which is higher at this point than the average for Yes Man (a newer film, playing on 3,400 screens, and a star-driven comedy besides).

The tally: Click for complete results.

 

Milk made your short list, too, which I'd argue says good things about Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn and the NPR audience too. So did The Visitor: Nearly 10 percent of you picked that unassuming but enormously affecting character study as one of your three favorite movies of the year — which pleased me and Mr. Mondello no end.

That's your Top 5 — you'll find the rest of the NPR Listener Poll's Top 10 Best Movies of 2008 in that bar chart at right, and the complete list of results in the widget over on the original poll page.

After the jump: Your favorite blockbusters ...

Continue reading "Best Movies of 2008: Your Picks" »

2:46 PM ET | 01- 2-2009 | permalink

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Monkey See Movies Poll No. 4: The Blockbusters

You Know You Love Her: Or hate her. Either way, her trashy comedy was big at the box office. New Line Cinema

 

by Trey Graham

As a die-hard defender of the critical prerogative, I'd just like to go on record here and say that the customer isn't always right. The movies that make the most money at the box office? They're rarely the best movies. Which is why, as some of you noted, some hugely popular 2008 titles didn't show up on our main Best Movies of 2008 poll.

But though I'm a critic myself — of theater, mostly — I do have to confess that sometimes when I go to the movies, I just want to put my brain in neutral and be entertained. Sex and the City? I was soooo at the multiplex — as part of an organized outing involving nearly 150 guys, no less — on the first weekend.

So it's with a personal kind of pleasure that I invite you to vote below for your Favorite Popcorn-Delivery Device of 2008.

The poll, and how we picked this nominees list, after the jump ...

Continue reading "Monkey See Movies Poll No. 4: The Blockbusters" »

12:05 PM ET | 12-29-2008 | permalink

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Monkey See Movies Poll No. 3: The Documentaries

by Trey Graham

So was it just because it was Friday? Or did the comments stop working? I've got to say, I'd have thought the documentaries question would've been catnip for the NPR crowd.

Not to worry, though: We took informal poll here at Monkey Central, and between us (me, Linda Holmes, Neda Ulaby and a couple of others), we came up with a few nominees.

Vote below -- and if you need a reminder about what these docs were about, just plug the title into this here search box. I'm pretty sure we reviewed all of these ...

6:54 PM ET | 12-22-2008 | permalink

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Tomorrow's Poll: Best Films About The Cold, Hard Truth (And Such)

by Trey Graham

Next up in our Year End Movies-Polling Marathon, a survey of the soberer sort.

And a two-fer: Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to nominate the Documentary You're Saddest Was True. Also the Documentary You're Happiest Was True. (Be sure to specify which is which -- I'd like to think I could guess, but ...)

Multiple nominations welcome, but films from 2008 only, please. And feel free to tell us what moved you about your picks.

The comments await ...

(Remember: Over at our main Best Movies of 2008 Poll, you can help shape one of NPR's year-end Top 10 lists. Vote now!)

6:22 PM ET | 12-18-2008 | permalink

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Monkey See Movies Poll No. 2: Movies You Really Meant to See

by Trey Graham

For today's installment of the ongoing Monkey See 2008 Movies Pollstravaganza, we asked you to nominate the films you've heard were fantastic but still haven't managed to see.

You nominations are listed below; now it's time for you all to help each other prioritize. Pick the movie you'd most want to catch up with, if you knew that after this weekend, all the theaters and all the DVD players and all the TiVos in the known universe would be nationalized by the Fed and repurposed to show only financial-planning how-to videos.

'Cause, you know, that could still happen.

(The polling continues: New polls here on the blog every weekday until Christmas. And over at our Big Serious No-Foolin' Best Movies of 2008 Poll, you can help shape one of NPR's year-end Top 10 lists. Vote now!)

11:45 AM ET | 12-18-2008 | permalink

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Vote Now: NPR's Actual, Serious Best Movies of 2008 Poll

Vote Your Heart: And your head too, if you like. Everybody gets three votes in NPR's Best Movies of 2008 poll.

 

by Trey Graham

OK, so it should be plain by now that the not-so-serious surveys we're doing here on Monkey See are a kind of sideshow, for our amusement and for yours.

The main attraction? That would be it, right over there. The real deal. NPR's first-ever Best Movies audience poll -- where you, not the critics, write the Top 10 list.

How we picked the short list, after the jump...

Continue reading "Vote Now: NPR's Actual, Serious Best Movies of 2008 Poll" »

4:30 PM ET | 12-17-2008 | permalink

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Tomorrow's Poll: Best Movie You Meant to See (And Should, Immediately)

By Trey Graham

The voting continues, below, on today's Best Manic Pixie Dream Girl poll. But it's time for your nominations in tomorrow's category:

Best Movie You Meant to See (And Should, Immediately)

So let's have it? What got great reviews, but couldn't get you off the couch?

(My nomination: Frozen River.)

Your nominations, in the comments on this post. Voting starts tomorrow, no later than noon.

3:47 PM ET | 12-17-2008 | permalink

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Monkey See Movies Poll No. 1:
Best Manic Pixie Dream Girl

OK, we'll keep this simple. We asked you to nominate the year's top Manic Pixie Dream Girls, and you came up with a good list — and one or two surprising suggestions.

Now it's time to vote. Weigh in — and feel free to tell your friends, embed this on your Facebook page, whatever. Spread the word!

(And don't forget: New polls every weekday until Christmas...)

3:46 PM ET | 12-17-2008 | permalink

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Presenting ...The First Annual Monkey See Best-Movies Poll

That's the ticket: We're launching our year-end movies polls. First up: Wanna nominate the year's best Manic Pixie movies? Kirk Radish, NPR

 

by Trey Graham

You may have seen that our overachieving friends at All Songs Considered have already finished their Best CDs of 2008 poll.

Well, good for them. However: Not to criticize, y'know, but helloooo, 2008 isn't over yet. We didn't want to rush you.

We are doing a movies poll, though, now that the holiday deluge of blockbusters is at (or near) the box office.

And we want your nominations. In all kinds of categories, too.

The details, gory and otherwise, after the jump ...

Continue reading "Presenting ...The First Annual Monkey See Best-Movies Poll" »

6:00 PM ET | 12-16-2008 | permalink

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