2008
Reykjavik-Rotterdam
(2008)
Arnaldur Indriðason (screenplay), Óskar Jónasson (screenplay)
5 wins & 2 nominations.
Financial concerns tempt a security guard to return to his smuggling ways.
RocknRolla
(2008)
Guy Ritchie
1 win & 5 nominations.
In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city's scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick. While the city's seasoned criminals vie for the cash, an unexpected player -- a drugged out rock 'n' roller presumed to be dead but very much alive -- has a multi-million dollar prize fall into...
Shifty
(2008)
Eran Creevy
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.
Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and ...
Taken
(2008)
Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
2 wins & 2 nominations.
A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008)
John Boyne (novel), Mark Herman (screenplay)
7 wins & 7 nominations.
Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
The Hurt Locker
(2008)
Mark Boal
Won 6 Oscars. Another 109 wins & 117 nominations.
An intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever.
The Wrestler
(2008)
Robert D. Siegel
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 53 wins & 75 nominations.
This is a drama about an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom.
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon
(2008)
Ho Leung Lau, Daniel Lee, Guanzhong Luo (novel)
2 wins & 7 nominations.
His country torn asunder by civil war, Zhao Zilong, a common man heeds the call of duty and from the humblest of roots rises through the ranks on wings of courage and cunning to command an army charged with liberating the land from an evil warlord. Inspiring by action, honor and a dream of unifying his divided nation, Zhao Zilong's heroism becomes legend, but as the years pass and the throne changes hands the war still rages on. When a newly enthroned king decides peace can only be achieved by defeating the warlords once and for all, the aging Zhao Zilong embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.
Transsiberian
(2008)
Brad Anderson, Will Conroy
2 wins & 11 nominations.
Americans abroad. Roy and Jessie finished a volunteer stint in China. He loves trains, so they go home via the Trans-Siberia Express. There are strains in the relationship, including her past. They meet Carlos, a Spaniard, traveling with Abby, a young American. Carlos keeps close to Jessie, and when Roy is left behind and waits a day for the next train so he can catch up, Jessie and Carlos take a trip into the dead of winter to photograph a ruined church. Carlos may be running drugs, so, later, when Roy catches up and introduces Jessie to his new pal, an English speaking Russian narcotics detective, he's the last person Jessie wants to see. Will the Siberian desolation be their undoing?
Tropic Thunder
(2008)
Justin Theroux (screenplay), Ben Stiller (screenplay), Etan Cohen (screenplay), Ben Stiller (story), Justin Theroux (story)
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 37 nominations.
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
Valkyrie
(2008)
Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander
2 wins & 11 nominations.
In Nazi Germany during World War II, as the tide turned in favor of The Allies, a cadre of senior German officers and politicians desperately plot to topple the Nazi regime before the nation is crushed in a near-inevitable defeat. To this end, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an Army officer convinced he must save Germany from Hitler, is recruited to mastermind a real plan. To do so, he arranges for the internal emergency measure, Operation: Valkyrie, to be changed to enable his fellows to seize control of Berlin after the assassination of the Fuhrer. However, even as the plan is put into action, a combination of bad luck and human failings conspire on their own to create a tragedy that would prolong the greater one gripping Europe.
Vantage Point
(2008)
Barry L. Levy
2 wins & 2 nominations.
The President of the United States is in Salamanca, Spain, about to address the city in a public square. We see a plain-clothes cop, his girlfriend with another man, a mother and child, an American tourist with a video camera, and a Secret Service agent newly returned from medical leave. Shots ring out and the President falls; a few minutes later, we hear a distant explosion, then a bomb goes off in the square. Those minutes are retold, several times, emphasizing different characters' actions. Gradually, we discover who's behind the plot. Is the Secret Service one step ahead, or have the President's adversaries thought of everything?
Wanted
(2008)
Michael Brandt (screenplay), Derek Haas (screenplay), Chris Morgan (screenplay), Michael Brandt (story), Derek Haas (story), Mark Millar (comic book series), J.G. Jones (comic book series)
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 19 nominations.
A young man finds out his long lost father is an assassin. When his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father's old organization and trained by a man named Sloan to follow in his dad's footsteps.