my favorite movies of 2008:

(1) Happy-Go-Lucky

(2) Milk

(3) U2 3D

favorite of 2008:

Happy-Go-Lucky

(Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Samuel Roukin. Directed by Mike Leigh.)

This British dramedy directed by Mike Leigh is about a 30-year-old teacher (Sally Hawkins) who’s so unwaveringly cheerful that when she realizes her bike has been stolen, she doesn’t get angry; she just wistfully says: “Didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye!” She whimsically goes through life as if it were a cartoon, but there’s more to her underneath her goofy surface. …

In that scene, she tries to draw out her driving instructor:

Did you like school, Scott?

I’m afraid it didn’t agree with me.

Oh, that’s a shame. …

The education system, it works like this: I will give you a worldview, and if you repeat my worldview, if you reconfirm my worldview, you will pass your exams, and you will go higher and higher and higher. And you will become a policeman, a magistrate, a lawyer, a general, a politician. And you will be happy, and you will succeed. But if you think for yourself, if you think outside of the box, then you will be unhappy, and you will fail. … Left turn. …

Were you bullied at school, Scott?

Do the next left turn. …

(How to stream Happy-Go-Lucky.)

2nd favorite of 2008:

Milk

(Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco. Directed by Gus Van Sant.)

Ann Althouse (my mom) said this might be the best movie in 20 categories, including:

2. Blending recreated historical scenes with archival footage of historical events.

3. Recreating the look and feel of the 1970s. …

6. Artistic representation of assassination. …

8. A serious drama that creates surprising empathy for a character who doesn’t deserve it and is not the hero of the story.

Stream Milk on Max or these sites.

3rd favorite of 2008:

U2 3D

(U2. Directed by Catherine Owens, Mark Pellington.)

I saw this 3D movie in an IMAX theater twice. A message at the beginning warned us that the music would be played at about the same volume as a real concert. It was like seeing U2 live, but being able to fly right up to the band members.

Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.