What Were the Best Movies of 2008?

5. "The Dark Knight" "The Dark Knight" is the BEST superhero comic book adaptation ever made. Need I say more than Heath Ledger? Besides Ledger's portrayal as the Joker, Aaron Eckhart is brilliant as Harvey Dent, and so are the Nolan Brothers for delivering an original, brooding, suspenseful masterpiece.

4. "The Visitor" Who knew the dead dad from the HBO series "Six Feet Under" had it in him? Richard Jenkins is a step above masterful as a miserable, widowed college professor who finds two illegal aliens living, well, illegally in his Manhattan apartment. He develops a unique relationship with one of them, Tarek, and it changes both of their lives. Jenkins' understated performance and writer/director Thomas McCarthy's powerful narrative makes "The Visitor" one of the year's most powerful and unforgettable films.

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3. "The Reader" In "The Reader," Kate Winslet gives the better of her two award-worthy performances this year (the other is "Revolutionary Road"). "The Reader" finds this much-nominated actress playing a character unlike any we've seen before. Hanna Schmitz is a 30-something woman who carries on an affair with a 15-year-old boy. Hannah's life is informed by two secrets -- one is embarrassing and the other is so horrific, it wouldn't be a stretch to call Hannah a "monster." Winslet manages to turn this anomaly of a woman into an sympathetic character, and director Stephen Daldry gets great performances out of Ralph Fiennes and a young German actor named David Kross. He barely speaks English, but you wouldn't know it.

2. "WALL-E" I didn't get to see "WALL-E" when it came out because I was busy getting married and honeymooning in Greece (before protesters started burning Athens). One of the first things I did when I got back was purchase a ticket to see an afternoon screening of "WALL-E." After getting over the initial awkwardness of being a 35-year-old man sitting by myself in a suburban movie theater filled with parents and their small children, I settled in and witnessed an instant classic.

I admit, when Pixar started rolling out the marketing campaign for "WALL-E," I thought to myself, "Number Five from 'Short Circuit' is alive -- and being ripped off by Pixar." But it turns out that "WALL-E" is actually a guy's guy. He collects lots of useless things, has a propensity for making piles, is handy, doesn't say much, gets the hot girl and STILL doesn't have to say much. My hero. Oh, there's also all those brilliant metaphors about our consumerist society and the environment and the second best love story of the year.

1. "Slumdog Millionaire" The best love story of the year, "Slumdog Millionaire" isn't just the best movie of the year, it's one of my favorite movies -- ever. Every time I hear the word "Chaiwalla," I smile. OK, I never hear the word chaiwalla except when I'm watching "Slumdog." But if I did hear the word chaiwalla elsewhere, I would definitely smile and think of one of the best movies I'd ever seen.

Unless you follow Bollywood, live in the United Kingdom or the slums of Mumbai, it is extremely unlikely that you've heard of any of the actors in this movie. "Slumdog" is about an 18-year-old chaiwalla, or tea boy, in a Mumbai office who goes on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in hopes of finding the girl he loves. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but it should win best picture at the Oscars. Director Danny Boyle is a genius.

Enjoy the movies.