I'll say this right now: 2008 was not my favorite year for movies.

In fact, I don't think I've ever had this hard of a time coming up with a list of my favorite 10-plus films that I saw during the calendar year.

It doesn't help that I've been less than overwhelmed by a lot of the last-minute arrivals that were supposed to be the year's best.

And the fact that 2008 is ending on a particularly sour note — with the release of "The Spirit," a mean-spirited dud of a film that ranks up there with the worst of 2008 — is a little dispiriting. (Forgive the bad pun.)

However, there were a few really bright spots. Especially Disney/Pixar's "WALL*E." If you'd told me that a digitally animated movie about a lonely, trash-compacting robot would have more warmth, more humanity than anything else released during the year I probably would have laughed in your face.

But it was wonderful. Kudos to screenwriter/director Andrew Stanton for 2008's best — at least for me.

While I'm at it, I'd prefer to talk about several of the 2008 films I genuinely loved, rather than the ones I loathed. The former category includes:

1. "WALL*E." There are animated films. And then there are Pixar animated films. 'Nuff said!

2. "The Wrestler" (opening locally either Jan. 16 or 23). Mickey Rourke's comeback vehicle is a surprisingly moving, "Rocky"-like tale about professional wrestling, of all things.

3. "Waltz With Bashir" (Feb. 20). Is it a documentary? Is it an animated film? Ari Folman's recollection of his horrifying experiences as Israeli soldier is a stunning mix of both.

4. "Rachel Getting Married." Jonathan Demme's comedy-drama starring Anne Hathaway is messy, long and rambling — just like most of our own, dysfunctional family gatherings.

5. "The Visitor." It's depressing to think that so few people saw this independent gem, starring Richard Jenkins as a college professor whose eyes are opened to immigration issues.

6. "Revolutionary Road" (Jan. 16). Kate Winslet rarely gives a bad performance. And this domestic drama suggests a Virginia Woolf take on TV's "Mad Men."

7 (tie). "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man." The year's two best comic book movies. The former has the best story elements, as well as Heath Ledger's riveting performance as The Joker. The latter has much better action scenes and better thrills, though.

9. "Frost/Nixon." The adaptation of the award-winning stage play is mostly talk. But it's interesting talk, exchanges between David Frost (Michael Sheen) and Richard Nixon (Frank Langella).

10. "Role Models." It was politically incorrect and just wrong. But I laughed harder at this calculated-to-offend comedy than I would have ever imagined.

The Rest of the Best (in alphabetical order): "Appaloosa," "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" "Encounters at the End of the World," "Let the Right One In," "Man on Wire," "Milk," "Reprise," "RocknRolla," "Trouble the Water," "Young@Heart."

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com