Top Films of the Year

With most year-end movie lists bask in the glow of award-season contenders, Dana Stevens grudgingly runs through her unranked, alphabetized top 10 on Slate, despite being "allergic to hierarchies, lists, and ranking."

• A Christmas Tale: A French film about a crazed family that's "a glorious feast of a movie, with the bitter served right next to the sweet."

• The Class: A "whip-smart vérité film about a Parisian teacher" that is only for people who " happen to be interested in love, loyalty, race, class, language, or life."
• The Edge of Heaven: It's "everything Crash and Babel should have been."
• Encounters at the End of the World: Werner Herzog's take on the South Pole's McMurdo research station is "an invaluable tour of one of the weirdest spots on earth"
• Man on Wire: The 1974 tightrope walk between the two World Trade Centers, "was simple and yet breathtaking—just like this documentary."

For more of 2008's best, click the link below.
(More Best of 2008 stories.)