Much as we did last year, we’re devoting the last column of the year to a look back rather than a look forward. As recently as a few months ago, it seemed 2008 was going to end up an uneven year at the movies, at least lacking the sort of instant classics and works of mad genius that made 2007 such a thrill. But in the end, we had a lot of trouble assembling this list — not out of a lack of great material, but more because there were so many titles which we were reluctant to not recognize.

There are some troubling signs in this list, though. The dearth of material from major Hollywood studios is unsurprising; but many titles here were made via the studios’ specialty divisions, many of which are folding or have already been absorbed back into the studios. With specialty divisions collapsing and studios increasingly reticent to sink money into material without a proven audience (even Frost/Nixon, one of the two major studio films on this list, only managed to get made with the support of European money from StudioCanal), it could be a bleak near-term future for marquee American filmmaking. But then again, considering the quality of much of the relatively low-budget foreign, documentary, and true indie films out there this year, maybe we won’t even miss it.

So with that, our top ten, with the usual weekly caveats of “highly subjective” and “hardly comprehensive”.

• The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke gives both the performance of the year, and of his career, as a broken down professional wrestler at a crossroads. Terribly and deeply alone, he seeks companionship and friendship in a stripper facing similar issues in her own life. Estranged from his daughter after years of being an absent father and an all-around asshole, he clumsily tries to mend their broken relationship. Facing career-ending (and potentially life-ending) health trouble, he tries to figure out where his life is going next, even as he looks for one last shot at glory in the ring. You don’t have to be a fan of wrestling to be a big fan of the glorious and heart-breaking highs and lows that director Darren Aronofsky has achieved in this picture.
• Che (Part 1 and Part 2): When Steven Soderbergh’s lengthy biopic of the life of Che Guevara comes out in wide release in January, it’ll arrive as two separate movies, which is the way the pair were made. But seeing the two together — as one singular epic — makes one wish the producers would allow for more screenings of the two together, as they provide a beautifully distilled dichotomy of the life of the revolutionary leader. The first half deals with Che’s time in the Cuban revolution, and presents him as an uncompromising idealist whose passion is reflected in every soldier under his command. The second covers his final campaign in a gritty and meticulous verite style, detailing the many failings of both philosophy and strategy in the Bolivian revolution that would kill the man. Soderbergh is apolitical and unsentimental, depicting Che as neither hero nor villain; he is simply presenting arduously researched realities and letting the audience make their own judgements. Benecio del Toro — much like Rourke — delivers his tour de force in a film that will, sadly, be seen by very few in the U.S. due to its dense subject matter, subtitles (the dialogue is not changed from the historically accurate Spanish to cater to a U.S. audience), and January release. But it deserves to be seen. And greatly admired.