Our Best of 2008 Awards

Yes, friends. The last day of 2008 is nigh and it's time for us to run down what made the year worthwhile for Maxim readers. We polled the masses in everything from music to video games to even the best thing to happen to guys and, well, here...we...go...

MOVIES
1. The Dark Knight, 70.59 percent of the vote
This one was a laugher. Heath Ledger and Christian Bale combined to score first place in your hearts, and a billion dollars (and counting) at the box office. Bats had some stiff competition this summer, but no crystal skulls or flying playboys could touch Gotham's nuttiest.


The Best of the Rest:
2. Iron Man, 12.67 percent
3. Pineapple Express, 3.85 percent
4. Quantum of Solace, 3.39 percent
5. Wanted, 2.49 percent
6. Burn After Reading, 2.26 percent
7. Rambo, 2.04 percent
8. Cloverfield, 1.36 percent
9. The Incredible Hulk,  0.9 percent
10. The Foot Fist Way, 0.45 percent



VIDEO GAMES
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PS3), 21.39 percent of the vote
When a game is both critically acclaimed and breaks sales records, it makes our job of awarding "Best Ofs" quite easy. While this year's crop of video games had a wide range of spectacular games, it's hard to not go with one that outsold every movie, including The Dark Knight, and had every video game journalist, New Jersey wannabe gangsters, and even Conan O'Brien singing it's praises. Niko Bellic's story of revenge-driven immigration and Rockstar's decision to take the series in a new direction–you're not trying to become the crime Kingpin, rather trying to take them all down–are just a couple of reasons why this one stands out from the rest and with downloadable content coming soon to the Xbox 360, it's sure to continue spinning in your console well into 2009.


The Best of the Rest:
2. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360), 19.48 percent
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3), 15.91 percent
4. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360, PS3), 12.09 percent
5. Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii), 6.52 percent
6. Fable 2 (Xbox 360), 5.57 percent
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo Wii), 5.3 percent
8. Left 4 Dead (PC, Xbox 360), 4.96 percent
T-9. Resistance 2 (PS3), 2.7 percent
T-9. Dead Space (Xbox 360, PS3), 2.7 percent
11. Little Big Planet (PS3), 2.26 percent
12. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP), 1.13 percent



MUSIC
1. Metallica - Death Magnetic, 32.65 percent of the vote
Addressing complaints that the sound on Death Magnetic is too compressed and tinny, Lars told us recently that "part of being Metallica is that there's always somebody who's got a problem with something that you're doing." Most don't have a problem though with the Rick Rubin-produced album, and would agree that it's Metallica's best in years.


The Best of the Rest:
2. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III, 27.89 percent
3. AC/DC - Black Ice, 15.99 percent
4. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs, 7.99 percent
5. TV on the Radio - Dear Science, 5.78 percent
6. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges, 4.76 percent
7. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago, 2.89 percent
8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, 1.02 percent
9. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash, 0.51 percent
10. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind, 0.51 percent



TV
1. Chuck/Entourage -- Tie, 16.14 percent of the vote
Whether it's a goofy computer geek hanging out with a smoking hot government agent or a movie star and his crew sampling Hollywood's smorgasbord of ladies, this year readers proved that must see TV involved guys getting lucky, or at least doing their best to get lucky. Well done lads. And while strong showings by Lost and Mad Men certainly kept us entertained, in the end, sci-fi, 60s-throwback and other creative scenarios proved no match for titties, and the scoring there of. Hmm, sounds a lot like a Web site we know...


The Best of the Rest:
3. The Office, 15.79 percent
4. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 11.58 percent
5. Dexter, 11.23 percent
6. Fringe, 8.07 percent
7. 30 Rock, 7.02 percent
8. The Daily Show/Colbert Report, 6.32 percent
9. Mad Men, 4.56 percent
10. SNL, 3.16 percent



DVDs
1. Batman Begins [Blu-Ray], 25.93 percent of the vote
It really was the year of the Bat. Maybe it was the inclusion of the Dark Knight bank heist scene, maybe it was the cool packaging, maybe it was the fact that having a movie like this only available on HD-DVD seemed a cruel joke—whatever it was, this one rocketed to the main spot on your shelf.


The Best of the Rest:
2. Casino Royale: Collector's Edition [Blu-Ray], 25.93 percent
3. Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy [Blu-Ray], 22.22 percent
4. The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Set [Blu-Ray], 12.96 percent
T-5. Jack Skellington Bust Nightmare Before Christmas Collector's Editon, 4.63 percent
T-5. Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Collection, 4.63 percent
T-7. Columbia Pictures Best Pictures Collection, 3.7 percent
T-7. Spaced: The Complete Series, 3.7 percent
9. Zodiac: Two-Disc Collector's Edition, 2.78 percent
10. Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom Criterion Collection, 1.85 percent
11. Planet of the Apes Collection [Blu-Ray], 0 percent

Honorable Mention:
The Dark Knight [Blu-Ray] - It was unfair to ask you to vote on a DVD you hadn't seen at the time of the voting, but we're pretty sure this one would be the undisputed No. 1 had it come out earlier.



GUY MOMENTS
1. Guy Ritchie gets rid of Madonna; gets $76 million in settlement, 39.91 percent of the vote
We love women. We really, really do. But, while things from the 80s seem to be making a fierce comeback, the mere sight of Madonna makes us want to pull on our Alf jammies and hide underneath our bed covers. The memo must have reached the 40-year-old film director as he and the pop icon have split up. Even better for him, he netted a nice going away present by way of a divorce settlement. Who says the judicial system is broken?


The Best of the Rest:
2. Scientists may have found the female G-spot, 22.48 percent    
3. Presidential politics got hotter with the pick of Sarah Palin, 19.72 percent           
4. The world was introduced to the cheeky Wii Fit Girl, 7.8 percent
5. David Letterman called out the utterly worthless Spencer Pratt, 6.88 percent
6. Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize in Economics, 2.29 percent
7. Bill Gates retires from Microsoft, .92 percent




SPORTS MOMENTS
1. David Tyree's helmet catch on game-winning Super Bowl drive, 25.42 percent
Some may say that NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning's scramble away from the Patriots offensive linemen was a miracle unto itself, but Tyree, a little used receiver in the regular season, made a catch that will forever be known by the East Coast city dwellers as the "holy mother f---ing hell" catch. Not only did it lead to the eventual game-winning touchdown, but also spared the rest of America the sight of seeing another parade down the filth-infested Mass Pike.


The Best of the Rest:
2. Jason Lezak runs down the French for Michael Phelp's seventh gold in the 4x100-meter swimming relay, 21.19 percent
3. Tiger Woods winning the US Open on one leg, 18.64 percent     
4. Usain Bolt breaks three world records in the 100-, 200-, and 4x100-meter relay, 10.17 percent
5. Mario Chalmers' buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the NCAA title game into OT, 8.47 percent
6. Kevin Garnett wins his first NBA title after 13 years in the league, 6.78 percent        
7. Morgan State receiver Edwin Baptiste makes an amazing 60-yard grab, 4.24 percent      
T-8. No. 10 seed Davidson makes the Elite 8, defeating a No. 2, No. 3, and No. 7 seed, 2.54 percent
T-8. The Tampa Bay Rays make the playoffs for the first time in team history, lose in the World Series, 2.54 percent            
10. Jimmie Johnson becomes the second person to ever win three straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, 0 percent