indieWIRE CRITICS' POLL '08 | Glenn Kenny

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.

Glenn Kenny
Some Came Running, The Auteurs, indieWIRE

Best Film
1 - The Duchess of Langeais
2 - The Last Mistress
3 - Razzle-Dazzle: The Lost World
4 - Synecdoche New York
5 - A Christmas Tale
6 - Flight of the Red Balloon
7 - Gran Torino
8 - Paranoid Park
9 - Che
10 - The Wrestler

Best Performance
1 - Guillame Depardieu, The Duchess
2 - Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
3 - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche
4 - Asia Argento, Last Mistress
5 - Benicio del Toro, Che

Best Director
Jacques Rivette, The Duchess of Langeaise

Best Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, NY