FROM MTV.COM: December’s end brings with it once again the curious need for movie reviewers to pretend there’s some sort of objective standard by which to determine the year’s best picture, director, actors and whatnot. This is an undertaking that doesn’t bear extensive contemplation. If more than a thousand films were released in this country in 2008 (the figures are a little murky), you’d have to sit through two or three a day, every day of the year, to see them all. I don’t know anyone with little enough of a life to manage this. Then there’s the apples-and-oranges problem. “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Elegy” and “Tropic Thunder” are all top-level movies, but in no way do they resemble one another; attempting to discern which among them is “the best” would be like comparing androids and avocados, with the winner facing off against a chunk of Appenzeller cheese.

But I guess best-of lists, while very light in the meaningful department, can be sort of fun. Below are some of the year’s standout people and pictures, with one in each category arbitrarily allotted the top perch, and some other candidates, often equally deserving of that placement, sub-grouped below. So:

Best Picture: “The Wrestler”

Continue reading Kurt Loder’s look at the best films and performances of 2008 on MTV.com!