indieWIRE CRITICS’ POLL ‘08 | Eric Hynes

This is the latest ballot in indieWIRE’s 2008 Critics Poll, continuing the tradition of a national survey of critics by calling attention to the year’s best—and, in many cases, most overlooked—films, providing a meaningful counterpoint to much of the year-end hoopla. Note that some lists are unranked at the discretion of the critic. For all categories except Best Undistributed Film, eligible feature films had first-run theatrical engagements in the U.S. during 2008. Films without a U.S. distributor, screened anywhere (festival circuit, one-off screenings, etc.), are eligible in the Best Undistributed Film category. The full list of critics poll ballots is available here at indieWIRE and tabulated results are being published by indieWIRE later this month.

Eric Hynes
Reverse Shot/indieWIRE

Best Film
1 - The Flight of the Red Balloon
2 - Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
3 - Synecdoche, New York
4 - A Christmas Tale
5 - Happy-Go-Lucky
6 - Waltz With Bashir
7 - Ballast
8 - Hunger
9 - Man on Wire
10 - My Winnipeg

Best Performance
1 - Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
2 - Juliette Binoche, The Flight of the Red Balloon
3 - Asia Argento, The Last Mistress/Boarding Gate
4 - Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York
5 - Adam Sandler, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

Best Supporting Performance
1 - Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, New York
2 - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3 - Emmanuelle Devos, A Christmas Tale
4 - Chiara Mastroianni, A Christmas Tale/Love Songs
5 - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Director
Hou Hsiao Hsien, Flight of the Red Balloon

Best Screenplay
Arnaud Desplechin, A Christmas Tale

Best First Feature
Ballast

Best Documentary
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

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Best Undistributed Film 1 - Chouga 2 - The Headless Woman 3 - 24 City 4 - Be Like Others 5 - Letter to Anna Note: NOT RANKED posted on December 18, 2008 |Share