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  3. 10 Best Films of 2008: Lisa Schwarzbaum's Picks

10 Best Films of 2008: Lisa Schwarzbaum's Picks

EW critic ranks a Ben Stiller comedy, a stunning Katrina doc, a biopic, and an animated robot among the year's best. Plus: Her picks for the five worst films of the past 12 months
By Lisa Schwarzbaum Updated December 16, 2008 at 08:10 PM EST
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Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder
Credit: Merie Weismiller

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Man on Wire

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Happy-Go-Lucky
Credit: Simon Mein

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Trouble the Water

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Wendy and Lucy, Michelle Williams

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Gomorra

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Waltz with Bashir | A sobering, painful rumination on the vagaries of war and memory — particularly the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the memories of writer-director Ari…

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Christian Bale, The Dark Knight
Credit: Stephen Vaughan

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13. MILK (2008) SUBJECT: Harvey Milk

Sean Penn, Milk | A fixture of 1970s San Francisco politics, Milk was assassinated in 1978, less than a year after winning a seat on the city's board of…
Credit: Phil Bray

A fixture of 1970s San Francisco politics, Milk was assassinated in 1978, less than a year after winning a seat on the city's board of supervisors as the first openly gay man elected to major office in the U.S. Director Gus Van Sant and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, though, wisely and poignantly focus on Milk's life, on his uncanny ability to make politics personal and the personal political. Aided by Sean Penn's transformative performance, the film delivers a remarkably timed homily on the vital importance of community organizers. —Adam B. Vary

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Sean Penn, Milk
Credit: Phil Bray

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WALL-E

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WALL-E

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Credit: Luk?cs D?vid

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Emile Hirsch, Speed Racer

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Al Pacino, 88 Minutes
Credit: Chris Helcermanas-Benge

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Seven Pounds, Will Smith
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Meg Ryan, The Women
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    10 Best Films of 2008: Lisa Schwarzbaum's Picks
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