"I drink your MILKShAKE!"
There Will Be Blood . "There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching?” Oh yes, Daniel, we are.
A hole in my heart
Iron Man . Pepper plays Operation with Tony’s arc-reactor. Funny, touching and not to be tried at home.
Fight of the year
Chocolate . JeeJa kicks arse high up on the window ledges of an apartment block. Ouch.
Losing your head
Cloverfield . The most daring image in Hollywood since Independence Day blew up the White House.
So hot right now
Lust, Caution . Were they? Weren’t they? They had to be. Ang Lee takes passion to the edge.
Breakdown
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead . Even Sidney Lumet was left in awe by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s emotional dam-buster.
Playa! Playaa Big dick playa!
Tropic Thunder . He swears! He dances! He’s Tom Cruise! The comedy performance of 2008.
The top score
The King Of Kong . No-hoper Steve Wiebe busting the Donkey Kong record score. Most thrilling thing we saw all year.
Walking The Dog
No Country For Old Men . A truly weird, wonderful chase sequence that could only have come from Coen country.
Hes behind you...
The Strangers . Film-school types would say, “Effective mise-en-scène.” We’d say, “Clean trousers please!”
Turning Japanese
Horton Hears A Who! A jolt of bizarro genius from the Ice Age makers, as Horton lurches into an eye-popping anime fantasy.
Scaffolding scrap
Quantum Of Solace . Best of the Solace set-pieces: shattering glass, swinging ropes and clattering scaffolding.
This is the end
The Mist . Se7en times four. Even author Stephen King was staggered by Frank Darabont’s gut-punch finale.
Jaw dropper
The Orphanage. Best shock-shot of the year, as roadkill old lady gets her face about the place. Mmm.
En-rah-hah!
Happy-Go-Lucky . Eddie Marsan’s powder-keg driving instructor makes his Hancock villain look like a softie.
What is that?
[rec] . Waiting in the darkness at the end of this terrifying shocker is… Well, we’re not even going to show you.
The conversation
Hunger . Two men, 18 minutes of riveting chat and one astonishing unbroken shot..
For a full review of the year, check out the 150 issue of Total Film ( subscribe here )
