Top Five Unfairly Overlooked Movies of 2008

#5 Transsiberian
They don't make many movies set on trains anymore, and if Transsiberian, named after the famed railway line from Moscow to Vladivostok, is any indication, that's a real shame. This noir-inspired thriller sets the scene with a somewhat mismatched American married couple, played excellently by Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer, riding the passenger-train as one leg of their journey back home from China. There's something dark and untoward just under the surface in Emily Mortimer's past. The tension rises as a pair of strangers, a young couple, boards the train to share their cabin. The atmosphere is built slowly and skillfully as the Hitchcock-like tale works its suspense into a fine lather in preparation for the film's dramatic and heart-pounding final moments. Throw in Ben Kingsley delivering a stellar, but understated performance as Ilya Grinko, a Russian Investigator and you've got an undeniably fantastic cast. This is a movie that gets under your skin and absolutely deserved to find much more of an audience this past year.

#4 Ghost Town
I was sold on seeing this film by the names Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear alone. These two male leads are both so dripping with humor, talent, and charisma that they are in desperate need of some kind of charming towel. Sadly, the film's advertising campaign seemed to be doing everything it could to keep me out of the theaters. The concept of the film isn't going to blow anyone away with it's originality, near-death experience leaves man seeing ghosts, but the trailers and promotional material all just added to this sense of un-originality. When I finally saw the film I was amazed by just how inaccurate this depiction was. Ghost Town is exceedingly well written with a balance of comedy and heart that is anything but common. It never reaches too far for sentiment, to the point of becoming sappy and pack more laughs than most films in theaters this year.

#3 Bottle Shock
After making a bit of a splash at the Sundance film festival, I had real hope that this little film, based on the phenomenal true story of the rise in provenance of American wine, would find an audience. Sadly it never seemed to connect. It's a bit of a shaggy movie, certainly imperfect, but it packs behind it a delightful and inspiring underdog tale that had me completely engrossed. Adding to the fun of the movie is the film's unique cast of characters, all of which are interesting enough to be described as "colorful" or "quirky" but much more fleshed out and real than the cookie-cutter cartoons those words often represent. Particularly amusing is Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier, the real life English wine-enthusiast who held the infamous wine-tasting in 1976 that compared California's upstart Napa Valley wines to the products of age-old French vineyards. It doesn't matter if you don't care one bit about wine, the story here is universal, and one that deserved to find a much wider audience.

# 2 The Fall
The Fall is the second feature film from director Tarsem Singh. His first was, what I would consider another critically underrated film, The Cell. His previous picture was often criticized as an example of style over substance, and it would seem that Tarsem sought to correct this in his sophomore effort. The Fall keeps the mind-bogglingly gorgeous visuals, but also packs a touching and intimate story about an injured stuntman and little girl, meeting and healing together in a hospital. The story is told not only through real-world actions, but also in the form of a grand and epic fairy tale the stuntman invents to entertain, and perhaps manipulate, his new friend. The film explores the nature of storytelling and imagination as the events surrounding the stuntman's accident are revealed, including his own severe depression. Come for the absolute bowl-you-over beautiful images and stay for the story that is sure to tug on your heart-strings.

#1 Let The Right One In
Generally when I watch a very good film, it takes me a while to realize jut how original, interesting, or amazing it really is. This was not the case with Let the Right One In. As the credits rolled at the end of this breathtaking Swedish vampire film, I think the first words out of my mouth were "That is one of the greatest films I've ever seen." This early 1980s period piece is an absolute classic, and one so unique, that it is guaranteed to defy your expectations. It's also one of the best shot films of the last decade. The visuals in this film are not only impressive because of their sheer arresting beauty, but by how invisibly they are worked into the film, seemingly perfectly natural to the snowy urban surroundings, and never for a moment detracting from the narrative. In a fair world this would have at the very least been nominated for Best Picture, but I'll settle for everyone who reads this rushing out and watching this film as quickly as they can. You will not be disappointed as this little gem is truly something special.