2008 / Nicholas Stoller > Forgetting Sarah Marshall lacks the juvenile sensibilities of certain other Judd Apatow vehicles, and has a near-perfect balance of ideals and realism in its treatment of relationships so that it never feels tiring or sensationalist. This is also the first time I’ve ever really appreciated Mila Kunis as an actress, in contrast to her annoying character on That 70’s Show and her being totally miscast in Max Payne.

2008 / Kevin Smith > Has Smith always been mushy and we’ve just not noticed it because of all the vulgarity? After all, who can forget the mushiest of all rain sequences ever made in Chasing Amy? But hey, it’s completely normal to have banter filled with obscenities with your loved ones. It’s a part of life that’s never usually reflected properly in films due to the inevitable marriage of a PG or PG-13 rating to every romantic comedy possible. (This is partially why Four Weddings and a Funeral was such a winner.) But hey, Smith does it proper for the most part: Zack and Miri Make a Porno is often hilarious, sometimes charming even if it’s incredibly, ridiculously predictable from the first minute. Smith’s still got some of his quirks up the sleeve, but the film doesn’t match the overall wittiness of either Clerks II or Chasing Amy. The best part may be the revelation that is Elizabeth Banks. I’ve always liked her, but this was really something special, as if she’s finally coming into her own: Sweet, endearing and possessing just the right amount of vulnerability.

2008 / Thomas McCarthy > With all the buzz surrounding Richard Jenkins’ bid for a Best Actor, it’s easy to watch and like this movie. But I can’t help but find it fundamentally flawed in its approach. I understand that people within America find the immigration system full of injustice, but often these are the same people who would complain if their jobs went overseas. Nobody’s going to have their cake and eat it too, but McCarthy throws away the subtlety from The Station Agent and pulls a Scott Templeton on us with his liberal guilt. Breaking the law is breaking the law—if you know what the consequences are, you shouldn’t be shocked to face them. But politics and social commentary aside, Jenkins deserves praise for his work, but I wouldn’t call it Oscar-calibre. His character’s development felt very calculated, not natural. In contrast, Hiam Abass’ portrayal of the mother was considerably more poetic, memorable and filled with heart. She could definitely slip in a Best Supporting Actress nomination on Jenkins’ coattails.

2008 / John Moore > Confessions first: I loved the video game when it was first released. I loved the story, and I loved the gameplay. But ironically enough, I couldn’t remember much of the story (besides the obvious wife and child getting murdered). So, while watching the movie, I had no idea that they were actually being surprisingly faithful to the whole thing. Which makes me ask: Did this story simply make more sense as a video game? Because as a movie, this was predictable and a huge waste of potentially awesome bullet-time sequences. In fact, there’s nothing to indicate the Max Payne action-style in the whole first-half. Worst of all, the casting is atrocious. Mila Kunis is wonderful in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but not so here. Mark Wahlberg? He’s no Max Payne, let’s face it. And this movie, it doesn’t do the game justice.

2008 / David Gordon Green > I can’t help but say how surprised I am at how much I couldn’t stand this movie. I barely laughed at its predictable jokes and had trouble cringing through its terrible story. Sure, maybe the focus of the film wasn’t its story, but rather how silly things get when toked up. But there’s a difference between credulous silly and insulting silly, and this is pretty easily in the latter territory. An incredible mishap and a terrible introduction to the works of Green. I just wanted this to end, but it dragged on forever.

2008 / Andrew Stanton > It’s truly a testament to Pixar’s ability to make an animated film where the lead character barely utters a word. In its quiet repose, WALL·E evokes emotions that are all within us, of abject loneliness and wanting to be understood, though never sensationalizing either. Face it: This isn’t a kids movie. The ideas within the film are not easily understood beyond the surface level by anyone who hasn’t experienced a degree of heartache.

The first half is sheer brilliance. While its minimalist approach isn’t a rarity in the current film market, the unpretentious manner in which it unfolds is. It works for almost everyone who watches it because it doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence or patience. The second half, however, becomes problematic for me. To begin with, the treatment of obesity is something I had a hard time looking past. In a country where weight is such an issue, it almost hurts to see it treated as a joke. More importantly, I felt that nearing the climax, the story lost its footing. It became symptomatic of a typical animation flick than something special. Finally, the ending was too easy. I just couldn’t find solace in its outcome. I felt cheated. Maybe that makes me cynical, but sometimes too much hope is a bad thing. But these points withstanding, WALL·E makes a strong case for the spirit and future of Western animation.

2007 / Wes Anderson > Anderson knows how to seduce me. Emotionally, visually, with music and wonderment, the man has a certain style that gets me at the core. Even now, several months after having seen The Darjeeling Limited for the first time, I can’t forget the The Kinks’ “This Time Tomorrow” and the opening sequence it accompanies. It has, in this short time, become one of the most memorable film moments of my life. But unlike The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the thematics presented here are considerably more universal.

We’re all in search of something, always. After we find one thing, we realize we’re missing something else. The brothers in the film search for ways to deal with loss, love and redemption using their own paths. But one thing leads to another, and things are never as simple as they seem. Ironically, this leads to my primary qualm about the film: Several times the movie seems to end only to continue on. Pacing becomes an issue until we realize we’re like that too. Sometimes the journey is the solution in itself, and sometimes it doesn’t end when you think it ought to. The Darjeeling Limited is an experience that sticks, moreso than any Anderson film, in those small spaces in your mind that keep hope alive.

2008 / Mark Osborne & John Stevenson > There’s a creature out there who’s sometimes hard to ignore, but in the right habitat, he blends in just right. That creature is none other than Jack Black, who, in Kung Fu Panda, is as fitting and effective in a role since The School of Rock. And if you think it’s an easy job doing a voice-over, I must point to the fact that someone like Angelina Jolie simply can’t hide her persona behind her animated character. The second she speaks, you know who it is, and her larger than life character shows through the CGI. But back to the movie: This is beyond anything I could have expected from Dreamworks Animation and is arguably their best effort since the original Shrek. It’s light-hearted, imaginative, highly entertaining and funny. It lacks the depth to rank alongside some of the great animated works of this era, but is nonetheless a great story of an underdog that gives hope to noodle shop owners who aspire to be something more.