The Best Movies of 2008
by giveaway | created - 24 Dec 2012 | updated - 07 Nov 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor
Votes: 877,555 | Gross: $141.32M
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
PG-13 | 166 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond
Votes: 695,447 | Gross: $127.51M
3. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,869,279 | Gross: $534.86M
4. WALL·E (2008)
G | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard
Votes: 1,199,881 | Gross: $223.81M
5. Milk (I) (2008)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna
Votes: 179,820 | Gross: $31.84M
6. The Reader (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain
Votes: 259,749 | Gross: $34.19M
7. In Bruges (2008)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
After a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.
Director: Martin McDonagh | Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ciarán Hinds, Elizabeth Berrington
Votes: 461,329 | Gross: $7.76M
8. Australia (2008)
PG-13 | 165 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Shea Adams, Eddie Baroo
Votes: 129,719 | Gross: $49.55M
9. Revolutionary Road (2008)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jonathan Roumie
Votes: 224,924 | Gross: $22.91M
10. Changeling (2008)
R | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
After Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, Gattlin Griffith
Votes: 265,222 | Gross: $35.74M
11. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Evan Welch
Votes: 268,793 | Gross: $23.22M
12. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 814,713 | Gross: $148.10M
13. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Samuel Roukin, Elliot Cowan
Votes: 41,052 | Gross: $3.49M
14. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 87,253 | Gross: $13.82M
15. Frost/Nixon (2008)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell
Votes: 112,453 | Gross: $18.59M
16. Doubt (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Mystery
A Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Votes: 136,054 | Gross: $33.42M
17. Mamma Mia! (2008)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd | Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 274,151 | Gross: $144.13M
18. The Class (2008)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel
Votes: 36,400 | Gross: $3.77M
19. Burn After Reading (2008)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich
Votes: 353,111 | Gross: $60.36M
20. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, War
Through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
Director: Mark Herman | Stars: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, Zac Mattoon O'Brien
Votes: 246,262 | Gross: $9.03M
21. Departures (2008)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama
Soon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.
Director: Yôjirô Takita | Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Votes: 54,960 | Gross: $1.50M
22. The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
R | 150 min | Action, Biography, Crime
A look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz
Votes: 40,111 | Gross: $0.48M
23. The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama
In 1964, a teenage girl in search of the truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can connect her to her past.
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood | Stars: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys
Votes: 27,932 | Gross: $37.77M
24. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.
Director: Justin Chadwick | Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess
Votes: 119,936 | Gross: $26.81M
25. Let the Right One In (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Votes: 226,712 | Gross: $2.12M
26. Marley & Me (2008)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Family
A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.
Director: David Frankel | Stars: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, Kathleen Turner
Votes: 167,758 | Gross: $143.15M
27. Definitely, Maybe (2008)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter.
Director: Adam Brooks | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz, Abigail Breslin, An Nguyen
Votes: 173,206 | Gross: $31.97M
28. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,192 | Gross: $3.08M
29. Brideshead Revisited (2008)
PG-13 | 133 min | Drama, Romance
A poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in England prior to World War II.
Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Matthew Goode, Patrick Malahide, Hayley Atwell, Thomas Morrison
Votes: 13,664 | Gross: $6.41M
30. Iron Man (2008)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges
Votes: 1,124,379 | Gross: $318.41M
31. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Devastated Peter takes a Hawaiian vacation in order to deal with the recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know, Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex - and she's bringing along her new boyfriend.
Director: Nicholas Stoller | Stars: Kristen Bell, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Mila Kunis
Votes: 302,371 | Gross: $63.17M
32. Seven Pounds (2008)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A man with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy
Votes: 315,147 | Gross: $69.95M
33. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
Director: Ari Folman | Stars: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ori Sivan
Votes: 60,395 | Gross: $2.28M
34. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
PG | 150 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are enlisted to once again help ward off an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land's throne, Prince Caspian.
Director: Andrew Adamson | Stars: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley
Votes: 225,381 | Gross: $141.62M
Tell Your Friends