Fourth Row Center

In advance of the Oscar nominations I thought I'd share a few thoughts about 2008's slate of movies. In thinking about the forthcoming Oscar noms it is strange that there was nothing huge this year that would make for typical Oscar fodder, big films such as Titanic , The English Patient , Braveheart or Shindler's List . I suppose those who produced the big-budget period picture Australia were hoping a late-year release might generate Oscar buzz. No one, apparently, went to see it. So this years best movies are, in my opinion, all over the board. Still having not seen a couple of flicks on many critics' top ten lists ( The Wrestler , Happy-Go-Lucky and Revolutionary Road among them), I will endeavor to offer one of my own: Frost/Nixon Slumdog Millionaire In Bruges Doubt Gran Torino Changeling The Dark Knight Man on Wire The Bank Job Iron Man Regarding Wall-E: although it failed to move me personally, I was impressed with the animation and particularly the storytelling