Some years, directors dominate. Occasionally, writers take a bow.

But this year actors pushed 10 films to the top of the must-see list.

Heath Ledger, with his galvanizing performance as the Joker, started the trend with “The Dark Knight.” Robert Downey Jr. had a one-two punch with “Iron Man” and “Tropic Thunder.” James Franco made waves with “Pineapple Express” and “Milk.”

And, then, the parade began.

Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon,” Sean Penn in “Milk,” Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis in “Doubt,” Angelina Jolie in “Changeling,” Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in “Revolutionary Road” and, finally, Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler.”

For every film on the 10 best list, there’s at least one performance that’s not just memorable, it’s unforgettable.

In order, the best films of 2008:

1. Slumdog Millionaire. Director Danny Boyle combined a seemingly harmless game of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” with the life story of a young Indian man. The result? A winner on all counts. Its screenplay, its cinematography, its editing and its performances (particularly from Dev Patel, the lead) combined to make a film you want to see again and again. Interestingly, it wasn’t a whitewashed version of what life is like for a young boy thrust onto the streets. It was brutal at times but filled with such hope it could serve as a beacon for everyone. When Boyle tosses in a typical Bollywood production number at the end, you want to join the cast and celebrate. It’s worth its weight in rupees.

2. The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger died way too early. But the performance he left as the Joker will live on. It’s such a finely nuanced character study you wonder why director Christopher Nolan didn’t center the film around him. Still, Christian Bale’s Batman held his own and turned what could have been another franchise installment into a piece of high art. The film lingered, but its pacing was fine. When Ledger squared off with Bale, it crackled, giving us new appreciation for comic book heroes and villains.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This could have been a cheesy attempt at following in “Forrest Gump’s” footsteps. Instead, it was a way for director David Fincher to show what a fine actor Brad Pitt can be. As Benjamin Button, a man with reverse aging disease (he starts out old, then gets young), he delivered a full-bodied performance at every juncture, using the latest special effects to his benefit. In love with a woman named Daisy, he realized love shouldn’t be constrained by time, even though they faced a problem when he got younger and she got older. Like a ’50s movie romance, “Benjamin Button” recalled just how enveloping a drama can be. It pulled us in, made us care and gave us a memorable Brad Pitt portrait.

4. Doubt. John Patrick Shanley won the Pulitzer Prize for a story without a resolution. The truth? It lies within the viewer. A demanding school principal (Meryl Streep) is convinced a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has made inappropriate advances on a black student. She’s operating off the observations of a timid teacher (Amy Adams) and the desire to see order return. When she confronts the boy’s mother, “Doubt” introduces a new wrinkle: desire. As the mother, Viola Davis gave her better-known co-stars a run for their Oscars. In five minutes she stole the film and helped muddy the waters of accusation and truth. Shanley directed the film but he didn’t need lavish sets and tracking shots, just that quartet of stellar performances.

5. WALL-E. Those forward-thinking folks at Pixar got us to consider global warming, obesity and conservation in ways Al Gore couldn’t imagine. Using the plight of a robot left on Earth, they were able to connect a number of dots and come away with a film that had several messages. The animation was pretty spectacular, too, and the romance between two machines made you understand why “2001’s” HAL didn’t find happiness. The film wasn’t just a great cartoon. It was a great movie.

6. Iron Man. Next to the expensive “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “Iron Man” didn’t look like it had a chance. Yet director Jon Favreau (who later turned up as Tim McGraw’s brother in “Four Christmases”) was able to make his much smaller budget a virtue. He got Robert Downey Jr. back on the track to stardom and created a franchise that has “Spider-Man”-sized legs. Clever, fast and telling, it introduced a hero who didn’t have to save the world, just himself.

7. Revolutionary Road. Directors have wanted to reunite Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio since they clung to a hunk of wood in “Titanic.” Sam Mendes (Winslet’s husband) did it without retracing old steps. Instead, “Revolutionary Road” pitted one against the other. Set in the ’50s, the film tracked the dissolution of a marriage and the steps both partners took to make it happen. Sad and heartfelt, the film had a devastating ending. Still, that end gave its stars the acting cred “Titanic” couldn’t.

8. Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Woody Allen was a staple on most Top 10 lists during the ’70s and ’80s. Then he hit a rough spot and didn’t make much of an impression. With “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” however, he was able to tap into so much. Two women vacation in Spain, meet an attractive man who offers to whisk them away on a romantic weekend. One balks, the other leaps head first. The result? A dizzying romance that managed to give Penelope Cruz a part that used to be the sole property of Sophia Loren. Javier Bardem registered, too, as the lothario and Rebecca Hall left everyone else in her wake as the reluctant romantic.

9. The Wrestler. Plastic surgery hasn’t been kind to Mickey Rourke. At times, he has looked like a wax figure of himself. Still, the look of a road warrior was perfect for this anti-”Rocky.” In the harsh, often cruel film, he played a wrestling has-been who doesn’t quite know what to do when the screaming stops. His health has deteriorated. His inner circle has, too. Clinging to a nebulous relationship with a daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), he tries to pick up the pieces. Only an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei) bothers to reach out. Rourke distinguished himself in the ring (he could have done something like this) but really scored in the quieter moments. He’s the man who can put a hammerlock on Sean Penn and win the Oscar for best actor.

10. Frost/Nixon. Ron Howard has dabbled in history before (see: “Apollo 13″) but hasn’t pulled back the curtain as completely as in “Frost/Nixon.” Detailing the negotiations behind an historic one-on-one between former President Richard Nixon and British journo David Frost, he provided Frank Langella and Michael Sheen the perfect opportunity to reveal the Shakespearean drama inherent in contemporary politics.

The worst: “Speed Racer,” “Rambo,” “Penelope,” “88 Minutes” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

I was on Allegiant Air last week from Sioux Falls to Orlando and, get this, they ran a raffle on the flight. Proudly declaring themselves the first airlines to sanction gambling, they held a 50/50 and gave out a bunch of airline-related merchandise before drawing the big winner.

Sadly, the airline didn’t provide a single free thing before the big gamble-a-thon. You had to pay $2 for water and you couldn’t find blankets or pillows anywhere.

Needless to say, I didn’t win a coloring book, a T-shirt or the $150 jackpot.

OK, before you say anything, just know I was sicker than a dog while I was there. But spending Christmas at Disney World was pretty darn cool.

Everything is decorated (even though locals say the Disney folks cut back this year) and there’s plenty of holiday-only stuff to make you glad you’re there and not home. In the snow.

Among the really cool things:

1. Cinderella’s castle is covered in lights. Each night, they light it up (Mickey and Minnie help) because Cinderella wants it decorated for Christmas. It looks like an ice castle.

2. At the Disney Studios a family’s Christmas decorations have been strung all over the New York streets. It looks like something Clark Griswold would envy. But it is fun to watch, particularly when the lights blink in time to music. (Barbra Streisand’s “Jingle Bells,” though, is a little schizo.)

3. Religion isn’t ignored. At Epcot, there’s a processional of lights. Then, a big honkin’ choir sings every Christmas carol known to man while a guest star (on Christmas eve it was Steven Curtis Chapman) reads the story of Jesus’ birth. Pretty awesome and the crowd it gets is huge.

4. Good will is pretty much a given. Even though there’s a lot of crass commercialism, the Disney folks aren’t so mercenary that they can’t give you something. So, every day at the hotel, they’d hand out Christmas cookies and lemonade. The staff was extra Christmas-y, too, and alternated between “happy holidays” and “Merry Christmas” depending on how you looked to them.

5. The characters are all in Christmas garb. The bad thing? You’ve got to stand in line to get your picture taken with them. They used to roam freely. Now, they’ve got specific corners. Bad idea.

6. The makers of “WALL-E” must have visited the parks during the holidays. There are a lot of overweight people riding around in scooters sucking on huge drinks. Was this their inspiration?

7. Although “Bolt” was a big film for the company, it’s almost nonexistent at the park. I saw one stuffed animal (a bad one at that) on sale and three of the characters hidden away in a picture-posing area at the Disney Studio. The costumes are so bad, Rhino scares just about every little kid he meets.

8. If you stay at Disney World, you get extra hours before or after the park’s official opening and closing. That meant we were up most days at 6 a.m. The Magic Kingdom stayed open until 3 a.m. on Friday. Can you say “slave labor”?

9. The crowds are intense. At some points (particularly around parade time) the parks are so crowded you can barely move.

10. Disney has learned a lot from other resorts. You can get your face painted, your hair braided and your arms tattooed while you’re walking around the park. They’ve also got some odd boutique that turns little girls (and not so little girls) into princesses. Basically, they put a wiglet on top of their heads, add a crown and a sash and douse them with a lot of glitter. It’s odd on little kids but it’s even worse on adults. Quick! Take the magic wand away!

Bruce Miller previews the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which opens Christmas Day.

I figured out a way to survive the snow. Pretend you’re at a theme park.

The streets aren’t slippery. They’re like a roller coaster!

The air isn’t biting. It’s like going into a gift shop with air conditioning. Cool!

Snow cones? Just put a paper cup in a snow bank and scoop. (But watch the yellow snow.)

Shoveling? Tell the wife it’s a new form of aerobics and Jack Frost is teaching the class.

Napping? It’s the best attraction of all. It isn’t over in five minutes and it might lead to dreams — of warmer weather.

Stay safe!

The Screen Actors Guild has revealed its list of acting nominees and, guess what? There are no surprises.
Sure, the usual suspects are here, but it’s interesting to note that no one had a solid lock on anything. If there’s a ringer, it’s Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight.” Beyond that…anyone could win. Even Brad Pitt.
That means this year’s Oscar race could be pretty exciting.
The SAG folks were thin on the nods for “The Dark Knight” but they loved “Doubt,” which hasn’t done well in other races. “Slumdog Millionaire” is making an impression and Melissa Leo (for “Frozen River”) is a new name in the mix.
Early predictions:
Best Actor: Frank Langella or Sean Penn
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway or Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (there is no one close to him)
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet or Viola Davis

It’s still early…and most of the films haven’t even gotten a foothold in theaters. Box office results could skew everything.

Bruce Miller previews “Yes Man,” “Seven Pounds” and “The Tale Of Despereaux.”

Some changes are coming with “American Idol.” No, Paula’s not getting dumped — yet. Producers for the show say she’s securely in place, even though they’ve added a fourth judge, writer Kara DioGuardi. Paula, meanwhile, has been making the talk show circuit, presumably to promote her bad jewelry line, but also to field questions about “Idol.” “I’m under contract,” she says slyly. Either she’s angling for a raise or she’s planning to bail by the end of the season.
Could that mean a run on “America’s Got Talent”?
Also, “Idol” producers said they’re going to bring back the “wild card” finalists so good singers won’t get dumped right away.
What that means, of course, is that novelty acts like Sanjaya won’t bump someone with true talent.
Great.
There’s nothing like controversy to heat up several cold winter’s nights of “Idol” viewing.
Look for Paula to be extra loopy this year.

Bruce Miller previews The Day the Earth Stood Still, Delgo and Nothing Like the Holidays.

Holy mistake, Batman!
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association released its list of Golden Globes nominees and totally forgot “The Dark Knight” as best picture.
Only Heath Ledger (who’s a lock for Oscar) turned up in the supporting category.
“Milk” was snubbed pretty soundly, too, and “WALL-E” missed out on a nod as best comedy or drama.

Other snubs: Dev Patel for “Slumdog Millionaire,” Cate Blanchett for “Benjamin Button,” Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor” and James Franco, “Milk.”
Considering the Globes folks have two categories (for comedies and dramas), the snubs are even more significant.

Still, this means “Frost/Nixon,” “Benjamin Button” and “Revolutionary Road” are the films likely to figure into the Oscar derby. Kate Winslet could be a double nominee this year (and, hopefully, a winner). She has two Globe nominations and a solid clip book of reviews.

The odd inclusions:
Clint Eastwood got a couple of music nominations but not a single acting or directing nod.
“Tropic Thunder” got two supporting actor nominations (Tom Cruise as the wild studio head and Robert Downey Jr. as the uber-actor) but “Iron Man” (Downey’s summer hit) was missing.

In TV categories, Siouxlander January Jones was nominated for “Mad Men” and Kiefer Sutherland got a mention for “24″ even though the series only had a single episode this year.