I didn't see many films in the cinema last year, and I have a sneaking suspicion that 2009 is going to see that trend continue. Partly it's an objection to the price of tickets (where I live, a bargain matinee costs $9.00, and regular prices are in the $11.00 - $14.50 range, and that's just for a single ticket; let's not even talk about the small soda and small popcorn that will set you back another $10.00), and partly it's a combination of lack of free time and lack of interest. I finally got a membership to Netflix in September, and that's working out well. I may still want to see some films on the big screen, and subtitled films are certainly easier on the eyes there than having to squint at my 17-inch television screen, but otherwise I think I can just be patient and add the pending DVD to my Netflix queue. I don't know that anything's going to be a "must-see" film for me any longer, and that includes the rest of the Harry Potters.

For what it's worth, though, here are the films that got me out of the house and into a cinema seat in 2008:

1. Starting Out in the Evening
2. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
3. The X-Files: I Want to Believe
4. Tell No One
5. The Dark Knight
6. Traitor
7. Bottle Shock
8. W
9. I've Loved You So Long
10. Stranded: I've Come From a Plane That Crashed On the Mountains
11. Let the Right One In
12. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
13. Seven Pounds
14. Last Chance Harvey

Yes, I cringe now at number 3, but I was a fan of the show when it was on television....

The two best films on the list were the French thriller Tell No One and the Spanish-language documentary Stranded; just behind them is the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In. And as good as Heath Ledger's performance was in The Dark Knight, I don't think anything topped Kristin Scott Thomas's work in (another French film) I've Loved You So Long.

As for the others, Bottle Shock was cute, W had some spot-on casting (especially Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney), Prince Caspian was disappointing (and Peter and Caspian were boring, which suggests I'd be rolling my eyes at Merlin and Arthur in the new show that's the talk of a certain segment of my flist), and Seven Pounds was ... strange, and I think a very odd film to be given a Christmas release date. (If it had just opened now for Oscar consideration, it would have played one week in L.A. and New York, and then opened wide later.) Maybe Seven Pounds left some people feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, but I'm with the guy who, when asked if he found the film more heartwarming or more depressing, said "depressing" without a moment's hesitation.