indieWIRE CRITICS' POLL '08 | James Crawford

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.

James Crawford
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Best Film
1 - Silent Light
2 - A Christmas Tale
3 - Flight of the Red Balloon
4 - Synecdoche, New York
5 - Woman on the Beach
6 - WALL-E
7 - My Winnipeg
8 - Milk
9 - Let the Right One In
10 - Boy A

Best Performance
1 - Juliette Binoche, Flight of the Red Balloon
2 - Mathieu Almaric, A Christmas Tale
3 - Sean Penn, Milk
4 - Catherine Deneuve, A Christmas Tale
5 - Andrew Garfield, Boy A

Best Supporting Performance
1 - Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, New York
2 - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
3 - Emmanuelle Devos, A Christmas Tale
4 - Lina Leandersson, Let the Right One In
5 - Emile Hirsch, Milk

Best Director
Arnaud Despleschin, A Christmas Tale

Best Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York

Best Undistributed Film
1 - You, the Living