Ryan j Budke

Despite once upon a time being a television blogger, I’ve always found it hard to write about movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love movies, I love them so much I tend to go on a roll and ramble on and my writing turns to shit. I could talk about, argue and discuss movies until I’m blue in the face, but my writing about them just sucks. On top of that, I’m much too nice, I can critique, but prefer to talk about the stuff I enjoy. If you’re looking for a balanced, well written, actual critic, look no further than Lon Harris.

All that said, 2008 was very possibly my favorite year for movies ever. Iron Man and Dark Knight both showed that comic book movies could be legitimate and amazing, and didn’t it by taking the genre in two totally different directions. Indiana Jones returned and was an awesome blast from the past (yes, I enjoyed the hell out of it). There were great surprises like Tropic Thunder and Slumdog Millionaire, and those that you could have counted on like Burn After Reading and Frost/Nixon.

I normally count the days for movies from Gus van Sant, David Fincher, Danny Boyle, Ron Howard, the Coen brothers, and Darren Aronofsky, and this year we got them within weeks of each other. Films as a whole are very much a group effort, but there have been so many individual standout performances. Again, with standards that you could count on like Clint Eastwood (in front of and behind the camera), actors like Anne Hathaway who you hoped had it in them, and those like Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke who came roaring back.

I enjoyed 2008’s movies like I remember enjoying movies when I was little. I had fun, and can’t wait to see what 2009 holds… but I’m rambling.