David Edelstein's Top 10 Movies of 2008
Married Bliss: Back in October, David Edelstein called the Anne Hathaway dramedy a masterpiece; now it's No. 1 on his year-end list.
Married Bliss: Back in October, David Edelstein called the Anne Hathaway dramedy a masterpiece; now it's No. 1 on his year-end list.
It's that time of year — time to put together our critics' lists of the top movies of 2008, and see what we can learn about the larger cultural trends reflected in those films.
The common wisdom — that in hard times audiences turn to escapist entertainment — doesn't hold this year, says Fresh Air movie critic David Edelstein.
From The Dark Knight, the year's biggest box-office smash, to the animated triumph Wall-E, the tone was distinctly dystopian, and the best films decidedly more complicated than most Hollywood fare.
Edelstein, who's also chief film critic at New York magazine, talks with Terry Gross about his Ten Best List for 2008.
Which, it turns out, is actually an Eleven Best List this time around — even though The Dark Knight doesn't appear on it:
1. Rachel Getting Married
2. Wall-E
3. Happy-Go-Lucky
4. Cadillac Records
5. The Class
6. Waltz with Bashir
7. Shotgun Stories
8. Kit Kittredge: American Girl
9. Doubt
10. Taxi to the Dark Side
11. Trouble the Water
Comments
Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.