The year’s more than half over and the next several months will bring a parade of contenders to knock movies and games off these lists. But here are my favorites of 2008 up this point:

FOUR-STAR MOVIES 2008
1. The Dark Knight – Best movie in years.
2. Wanted – Thrilling graphic novel adaptation with incredible action and killer dialogue.
3. Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour: 30 Days and 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland – Like watching the NCAA tournament, only with obscure comedians instead of tiny-school basketball teams.

FOLLOWED BY IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: For the Bible Tells Me So, Billy the Kid, Rambo, Under the Same Moon, Stop-Loss, Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation, Young at Heart, Iron Man, Son of Rambow, Chicago 10, Standard Operating Procedure, When Did You Last See Your Father?, The X-Files: I Want to Believe

TOP VIDEO GAMES 2008
1. Grand Theft Auto IV – A landmark achievement. Doubt we’ll see a better game this year.
2. Mario Kart Wii – Pretty much the same Kart as always – meaning perfection – plus online play.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – The cinematics rival anything to come out in theaters this year other than “The Dark Knight.”
4. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – Helped get me through my Las Vegas trip when I ran out of cash.
5. Boom Blox – Steven Spielberg is now better at designing games than movies.
6. God of War: Chains of Olympus – This game alone validates ownership of the PSP.
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Not as much replayability as Kart but still my favorite fighter.
8. Civilization Revolution – Finally, a console adaptation of a PC franchise that captures its essence.
9. No More Heroes – Wii swordfighting the way it should be done.
10. Grid – So good it made me give up Project Gotham Racing 4.