Still, I can’t help but go back to my Best Written Movies of 2008 list and revise it as I slowly but surely play catch up and watch all of the Oscar nominated films from last year.

The latest critically acclaimed movies I recently watched were both directed by Clint Eastwood: Gran Torino and Changeling. Both are amazing movies, and it could be said for both that it’s because it all started with the scripts.

Nick Schenk wrote the screenplay for Gran Torino (based on a story by him and Dave Johannson), giving Eastwood an opportunity to not only direct an emotional bulldog of a movie but also giving him a chance to play one of the most likable bigots on screen.

Eastwood plays a retired Korean War vet whose family is more interested in inheriting his home and cars rather than help him mourn after the death of his wife. Plus, he watches his Michigan neighborhood fall apart around him as more and more immigrants move in. When he catches his young Hmong neighbor trying to steal his vintage 1972 Ford Gran Torino, he’s drawn into a “strange” immigrant community and into an escalating war against local Asian gangsters.

As simple as that sounds, the screenplay is vividly complex — largely because it deals with its characters as full-blooded humans. Real. Flawed. Complicated. Schenk lays out in great detail the Hmong culture and how that plays in modern US society and gives Eastwood perhaps his most challenging role in a decade or more. Truly fantastic.

Then there’s Changeling by one of my all time favorite writers, J. Michael Straczynski. This man has single-handedly written the majority of the movies, TV shows, cartoons and comics that I’ve revered since I was a kid. And Changeling is no exception.

It is an original screenplay based on the true events of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. The film focuses on Christine Collins (played by Angelina Jolie) and her quest to find her kidnapped son, Walter. The Los Angeles police bring home a boy they claim to be Walter, and don’t want to hear it when Christine says they’ve got the wrong kid. Already corrupt and facing mounting criticism, the police ignore her complaints even when she has the dental records to prove it. Eventually, they try to sweep it all under the rug by throwing her into a pyschiatric ward.

The police actions give birth to an even more determined Christine, who is eventually freed and sets on a path to not only bring down the corrupt officials but also find her son.

Unless you’re familiar with this nearly 80-year-old kidnapping case, the script and movie come across as powerful, unpredictable, and (despite its depressing themes) hugely enthralling.

Both Changeling and Gran Torino are amazing works of art, and it’s no surprise the Eastwood directed both. But what makes both the films stand out are the scripts. Therefore, I’ve rewritten my Best Of 2008 list accordingly. Again.

BEST-WRITTEN MOVIES OF 2008

5. Iron Man The Dark Knight

4. Iron Man Tropic Thunder Gran Torino

3. Tropic Thunder The Dark Knight Changeling

2. The Dark Knight Kung Fu Panda

1. Slumdog Millionaire

BEST-WRITTEN MOVIES OF 2008

5. Iron Man

4. Iron Man Tropic Thunder

3. Tropic Thunder The Dark Knight

2. The Dark Knight Kung Fu Panda

1. Slumdog Millionaire

BEST-WRITTEN MOVIES OF 2008
Keep in mind I have not seen Slumdog Millionaire, Defiance, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wrestler or a half-dozen other awards bait that came out in late 2008.

4. Iron Man
Action-packed, witty and delicious. But apart from Robert Downing Jr.’s meaty performance, Iron Man stands up based on the script’s solid structural bones. The screenplay by two writing teams (Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway) lets the actors and CGI soar because it features a key element missing from a lot of action movies these days: a flawed hero with an actual character arc.

3. Tropic Thunder
When all aspects of a movie are this funny, it’s hard to separate the source of the brilliance. Sure, the entire cast (including Downing, yet again phenomenal) is gut-busting hilarious, but all the comedic magic starts with the words on the page. In this case, Justin Theroux’s words.

2. The Dark Knight
The greatest comic book adaptation? Ever? Quite possibly. Obviously, the acting by Heath Ledger as the Joker has practically overshadowed everything else amazing about this movie. Still, the story by director Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer honors the traditions of the source material without being bound by it -– allowing this bat tale to fly. Its only flaw? Batman never did get quite as questionably vigilante-ish as this classic title would suggest.

1. Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda? Seriously? A cartoon for best written movie? You better believe it. Especially if you’re a martial artist like me. This is the best amalgamation in recent years of a hero’s quest, Bruce Lee movies, old-school Shaw Bros. movies, and the most heart-filled kids flick. The clincher for me was Po’s (Jack Black) moment of enlightenment, perhaps one of the most authentic takes on martial arts mastery … and all it took was a CGI cartoon about an overweight bear and a great script by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Honorable mentions:

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Redbelt
• Role Models
• Traitor

WORST-WRITTEN MOVIES OF 2008
Keep in mind I have yet to see 88 Minutes, Speed Racer, and The Happening (the latter of which should probably top this list but I refuse to even entertain the thought of watching it –- let alone actually watch it).

3. Twilight
This is what would happen if Uwe Boll decided to make a soap-opera horror for 13-year-old girls instead of horrible video-game adaptations for adolescences. It’s never a good sign when you can predict every major plot point of the movie from watching just the first 10 minutes. More examples of bad writing: You know the script by Melissa Rosenberg from Stephenie Meyer’s novel is bad when … (spoiler alert!!!) it’s revealed that the reason the vampire hero can’t go into sunlight is because he’ll glisten like diamonds. Glisten? Vampires???

2. Burn After Reading
Considering I loved the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning script, No Country for Old Men, I thought this black comedy with a stellar cast would be just as outstanding. I was sadly mistaken. The script structure is banal, the story arc aimless, and the characters all unlikeable. Burn After Reading should be renamed Burn Before Reading And Don’t Bother Watching.

1. The Love Guru
Wow … in a bad way. I hate to use outdated colloquialisms, but, man, this movie bombed. Mike Myers and Graham Gordy’s script about an American-born, Indian-raised love expert is self-indulgently bland (who knew that could be possible?). The Love Guru has twice as many fart jokes and sexual innuendos as Wayne’s World but none of its charm. I think I laughed twice the entire 90 minutes — not a good batting average when you’re watching a comedy.

Dishonorable Mentions:
Thankfully, I don’t have three (or any) listed here. Otherwise, it would mean that I’d have lost another six hours of my life I’d never get back. Over the years of writing film criticism, I’ve developed a radar for must-avoid movies.