Looking Back at 2008: Top 10 List

When I think back on 2008, all I can think about is Heath Ledger's Joker riding through the streets of Gotham City, basking in all of the chaos he caused/was causing. Much like Miley Cyrus will be remembered for her antics in 2013, 2008 was arguably the year of Ledger. Unfortunately, he left us too soon to continue delivering the awe-inspiring performances like the one he gave us in Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "The Dark Knight", but what a note to go out on, an achievement capped with an incredibly rare posthumous Academy Award win.

Though there were many other incredible achievements in film that year, despite the fact Oscar gave us one of the weakest years in nominee/winner history; Robert Downey Jr. gave us a comeback for the history books in "Iron Man", while Anne Hathaway finally shed her "Princess Diaries" image for good, and became a true star.

At the request of some of my readers I've decided to post my top 10 from 2008. So let's take a trip back in time, shall we?

"I'm Here... I'm really here"

I caught up with Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" the other day, a film criminally underrated during its run in the 2008 awards season. I had forgotten what a tour-de-force this film was for everyone involved. It was unlike anything Darren Aronofsky had done in his career thus far, proving he was capable of much more than the "triply drug movie director" people took him to be after Requiem For A Dream. The Wrestler is a much subtler piece of art; it's simply a character study about a past his prime wrestler played by Mickey Rourke.

Rourke's character, Randy "The Ram" Robinson isn't too far off from Rourke's own Hollywood persona. Before the film came out, many had Rourke pinned as a has-been, and a washed up actor who had his 15 minutes. In the film, just about everyone is ready to give up on The Ram. To say Rourke was simply "inspired casting" is underplaying the magic of The Wrestler, as the art truly reflected Rourke's life on the screen.