indieWIRE CRITICS’ POLL ’08 | Laura Kern

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.

Laura Kern
Film Comment

Best Film
1 – Let the Right One In
2 – Silent Light
3 – Stuck
4 – Boy A
5 – Hunger
6 – Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
7 – Timecrimes
8 – Shotgun Stories
9 – A Christmas Tale
10 – Water Lilies

Best Performance
1 – Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
2 – Michael Fassbender, Hunger
3 – Michael Shannon, Shotgun Stories
4 – Mathieu Amalric, A Christmas Tale
5 – Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man

Best Supporting Performance
1 – Rachel McAdams, The Lucky Ones
2 – James Franco, Milk
3 – Emile Hirsch, Milk
4 – John Malkovich, Changeling
5 – Javier Bardem, Vicki Cristina Barcelona

Best Director
Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In

Best First Feature
Shotgun Stories

Best Documentary
Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains

Best Undistributed Film
1 – [REC]
2 – Zift
3 – Delta
4 – Lamb of God
5 – Estomago
6 – Terribly Happy
7 – Achilles and the Tortoise
Note: NOT RANKED

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