Top 2008 movies
DOUBT Director: John Patrick Shanley Stars: Meryl Streep Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams |
It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequences.
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BODY OF LIES Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio Russell Crowe Mark Strong |
Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a CIA operative in the Middle East; Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is his control at Langley. Cynicism is everywhere. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is "Don't lie to me." The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. When Hani rebukes Ed's demand that Jordan allow the Americans to use one of Jordan's double agents, Roger and Ed hatch a plan to bring the cleric to them. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare.
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SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Directors: Danny Boyle Loveleen Tandan Stars: Dev Patel Freida Pinto Saurabh Shukla |
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati in the Hindi version) and exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. It premiered in Mumbai on 22 January 2009. Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film of 2008, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven BAFTA Awards (including Best Film), five Critics' Choice Awards... |
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GRAN TORINO Director: Clint Eastwood Stars: Clint Eastwood Bee Vang Christopher Carley |
Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao (Bee Vang), a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood. |
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VALKYRIE Director: Bryan Singer Stars: Tom Cruise Bill Nighy Carice van Houten |
In Nazi Germany during World War II, as the tide turned in favor of The Allies, a cadre of senior German officers and politicians desperately plot to topple the Nazi regime before the nation is crushed in a near-inevitable defeat. To this end, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), an Army officer convinced he must save Germany from Hitler, is recruited to mastermind a real plan. To do so, he arranges for the internal emergency measure, Operation: Valkyrie, to be changed to enable his fellows to seize control of Berlin after the assassination of the Fuhrer. However, even as the plan is put into action, a combination of bad luck and human failings conspire on their own to create a tragedy that would prolong the greater one gripping Europe. |
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RIGHTEOUS KILL Director: Jon Avnet Stars: Robert De Niro Al Pacino Carla Gugino |
Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino), two aging New York Police detectives who have been longtime partners are faced with a serial killer who is murdering sociopathic criminals. They both have personal issues, and when they start working with a younger team, Perez and Riley, tensions between the pairs of partners is inevitable, especially since Turk is now living with Perez's ex-girlfriend, also a homicide detective. |
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WANTED Director: Timur Bekmambetov Stars: Angelina Jolie James McAvoy Morgan Freeman |
The tale of a hypochondriac office drone who suddenly discovers that he is the latest in a long line of dangerous assassins. Wesley Wilson is a nebbish loser whose girlfriend is unfaithful, and who's frequently prone to misinterpreting the common cold as terminal cancer. But all of that changes in the blink of an eye when, one day, Wesley discovers that he is the son of a prominent assassin and member of a clandestine group of supervillans who have been running the world since 1986. His father, a man known only as "The Killer," has recently been slain, and now it Wesley will be trained to take his place among the ranks of the elite underground organization. Over the course of his training, Wesley finally begins to experience a world that he never knew existed. In this world, there are no superheroes - only villains. Now, as Wesley joins the ranks of this diabolical organization, he will do everything in his power to learn the truth about his father's untimely demise. |
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VANTAGE POINT Director: Pete Travis Stars: Dennis Quaid Forest Whitaker Matthew Fox William Hurt |
The President of the United States is in Salamanca, Spain, about to address the city in a public square. We see a plain-clothes cop, his girlfriend with another man, a mother and child, an American tourist with a video camera, and a Secret Service agent newly returned from medical leave. Shots ring out and the President falls; a few minutes later, we hear a distant explosion, then a bomb goes off in the square. Those minutes are retold, several times, emphasizing different characters' actions. Gradually, we discover who's behind the plot. Is the Secret Service one step ahead, or have the President's adversaries thought of everything? |
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THE READER Director: Stephen Daldry Stars: Kate Winslet Ralph Fiennes Bruno Ganz |
THE READER opens in post-war Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey," "Huck Finn" and "The Lady with the Little Dog." Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation... |
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THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Director: Scott Derrickson Stars: Keanu Reeves Jennifer Connelly Kathy Bates |
Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) is summoned to a military facility with several other scientists when an alien spacecraft of sorts arrives in New York City. Aboard is a human-like alien (Keanu Reeves) and a giant robot of immense size and power. The alien identifies himself as Klaatu and says he has come to save the Earth. The US military and political authorities see him as a threat however and decide to use so-called intensive interrogation techniques on him but Dr. Benson decides to facilitate his escape. When she learns exactly what he means when he says he is there to save the Earth, she tries to convince him to change his intentions. |
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IRON MAN Director: Tomas Alfredson Stars: Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow Terrence Howard Jeff Bridges |
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the complete playboy who also happens to be an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile, he's captured and wounded. His captors want him to assemble a missile for them but instead he creates an armored suit and a means to prevent his death from the shrapnel left in his chest by the attack. He uses the armored suit to escape. Back in the U.S. he announces his company will cease making weapons and he begins work on an updated armored suit only to find that Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), his second in command at Stark industries has been selling Stark weapons to the insurgents. He uses his new suit to return to Afghanistan to destroy the arms and then to stop Stane from misusing his research. |
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TWILIGHT Director: Catherine Hardwicke Stars: Kristen Stewart Robert Pattinson Billy Burke |
Bella Swan has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and Bella chooses to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance - unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918... |
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IN BRUGES Director: Martin McDonagh Stars: Colin Farrell Brendan Gleeson Elizabeth Berrington |
London based hit men Ray and Ken are told by their boss Harry Waters to lay low in Bruges, Belgium for up to two weeks following their latest hit, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. Harry will be in touch with further instructions. While they wait for Harry's call, Ken, following Harry's advice, takes in the sights of the medieval city with great appreciation. But the charms of Bruges are lost on the simpler Ray, who is already despondent over the innocent death, especially as it was his first job. Things change for Ray when he meets Chloe, part of a film crew shooting a movie starring an American dwarf named Jimmy. When Harry's instructions arrive, Ken, for who the job is directed, isn't sure if he can carry out the new job, especially as he has gained a new appreciation of life from his stay in the fairytale Bruges. While Ken waits for the inevitable arrival into Bruges of an angry Harry... |
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THE OTHER MAN Director: Richard Eyre Stars: Liam Neeson Antonio Banderas Laura Linney |
In Cambridge, the software engineer Peter (Liam Neeson) and the shoe designer Lisa (Laura Linney) are successful in their careers and have been happily married for twenty-five years. They have an adult daughter, Abigail, and Lisa frequently travels to Milano to do business with the Gianni & Gianni Company. When Lisa is gone, Peter finds a message in her cellular and decides to snoop her e-mails and discovers in a secret folder named Love that she had a lover, Ralph (Antonio Banderas). Peter travels to Milano and stalks Ralph; he finds that the man plays chess in a bar. Peter gets close to Ralph and discusses his relationship with Lisa without knowing that he is her husband. |
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THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI Director: Roger Spottiswoode Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers Radha Mitchell Yun-Fat Chow |
A young Englishman, George Hogg, comes to lead sixty orphaned boys on a journey of over 500 perilous miles across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains to safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert. And how, in doing so, he comes to understand the meaning of courage. During his journey, Hogg learns to rely on the support of Chen, the leader of a Chinese communist partisan group who becomes his closest friend. He soon finds himself falling in love with Lee, a recklessly brave Australian nurse whom war has turned into an unsentimental healer on horseback. Along the way Hogg befriends Madame Wang, an aristocratic survivor who has also been displaced by war, who helps the young Englishman, his friends and their sixty war orphans make their way across mountain and desert regions to a place of safety near the western end of the Great Wall of China. |
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THE BUCKET LIST Director: Rob Reiner Stars: Jack Nicholson Morgan Freeman Sean Hayes |
Corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and working class mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life. |
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CADILLAC RECORDS Director: Darnell Martin Stars: Adrien Brody Jeffrey Wright Beyoncé Knowles |
The musical drama "Cadillac Records" documents the compelling true-life story of the Chicago record label that helped the world discover such legendary artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Chuck Berry. Founded in 1950 by Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), Chess Records quickly gained a reputation as home to some of the most talented and influential blues artists ever to step into a recording studio. But giving these musicians an opportunity to bring their music to the world was no easy task, because along the way there was enough sex, drugs, and rock & roll to ensure that things around Chess Records never got boring. Featuring Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Gabrielle Union as Geneva Wade, Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James, Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, and Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf. |
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LARGO WINCH Director: Jérôme Salle Stars: Tomer Sisley Kristin Scott Thomas Miki Manojlovic |
Billionaire Nerio Winch (Miki Manojlovic) is found dead, drowned. An obviously suspicious death as Nerio is the founder and majority shareholder of the powerful and sprawling W Group. Who will inherit this financial empire? Officially, Nerio had no family. But he had a secret he kept well-hidden: a son, Largo (Tomer Sisley), adopted nearly thirty years before from a Bosnian orphanage. The only problem is this young heir has just been thrown in prison deep in the Amazon. Accused of drug trafficking, he claims he's innocent. Nerio murdered. Largo in prison. What if these two events were part of a plot to take control of the Winch empire? |
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AUSTRALIA Director: Baz Luhrmann Stars: Nicole Kidman Hugh Jackman Shea Adams |
Set against the scenic backdrop of pre-World War II Australia, Baz Luhrmann's romantic period adventure stars Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch, and Hugh Jackman as the rough-and-tumble cattle driver who helps protect her property from greedy English cattle barons. As the pair attempt to herd 2,000 head of cattle hundreds of miles across the treacherous Australian outback, they are stunned to bear witness to the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces, who just a few months prior launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. |
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THE DARK KNIGHT Director: Christopher Nolan Stars: Christian Bale Heath Ledger Aaron Eckhart Gary Oldman |
A sequel to "Batman Begins", which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis, the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos. |
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