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.