A Clips tradition, here are the Top Films of 2008, as compiled by Filmworks board member Jim Piper.
1. Frozen River. Drama: Two women — one working class, the other a disaffected Mohawk Indian — take their chances smuggling illegals from Canada to the United States.
2. The Visitor. Drama: An aging, staid college professor redefines himself after helping a young undocumented immigrant couple.
3. Milk. This biopic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to win election to a major office in the United States, stars Sean Penn.
4. Wall-E. Animated feature: A garbage-collecting robot is central to a tale about waste, sloth, and indifference; set on Earth and in deep space.
5. Transsiberian. A smart thriller about spies, drugs, and nice people, set on a Russian railway.
6. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. This documentary about the wild-ass journalist is visually rampant as the man himself was unbridled.
7. Burn After Reading. The Coen brothers direct an over-the-top farce of the CIA and spy sleuthing.
8. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. This British-made romantic comedy is about a virginal nanny, Frances McDormand, and an irrepressible tootsie played by Amy Adams.
9. Roman de Gare. This is an offbeat, original thriller from France. A successful novelist, her disappeared ghost writer, a serial killer, a missing schoolteacher — all woven together brilliantly by venerated director Claude LeLouche.
10. In Bruges. Thriller: Two hit men are holed up in Europe’s best-preserved medieval city, and the boss comes to kill one of them.
Also: A few more films that I haven’t seen yet but are receiving great reviews: Slumdog Millionaire, Happy-Go-Lucky, Che, Ashes of Time Redux, and Frost/Nixon.