This was the year of the comeback.

Underrated "actor's actors" Frank Langella and Richard Jenkins made everyone stand up and take notice for a change. Ed Harris heralded the comeback of the classic western, and Sean Penn blew up the screen to remind us that he's among the best actors of our generation.

Many of the other stories making the top 10 list - minus some of the juicy Christmas Day releases not seen at press time - told underdog stories, from single moms trying to pay the rent to a poor teen who gets his shot at love, and millions.

1. Slumdog Millionaire

A Dickensian rags-to-potential-riches story set in Mumbai claims the top slot this year. Danny Boyle, always full of surprises, is the director behind the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), who is one answer away from winning a fortune on the Indian equivalent of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". In flashback, we learn how he got there via an orphanage, a massive call centre, and with his love Latika (Freida Pinto) as inspiration. Vibrant and surprising, with affecting performances and the ultimate underdog to root for, Slumdog Millionaire is a winner.

2. Dark Knight

This movie commands one of the top spots because of its assault on all our cinematic senses. Skillful director (and co-writer) Christopher Nolan infuses his film with dark dread, from Hans Zimmer's pseudo punk score to the gritty corners of Gotham to which Batman (Christian Bale) is forced to retreat. All this is topped by Heath Ledger's haunting performance as The Joker, growling, cackling and slavering behind cracked pancake makeup and faded suits. Sporting memorable dialogue, fine performances, cool gadgetry and superlative special effects, The Dark Knight is the complete package.

3. Milk

Sean Penn is back, proving that Daniel Day-Lewis isn't the only actor who can morph into his subject. Penn plays Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician and member of San Francisco's board of supervisors, as though the future of gay rights depends on it. (And with the passing in California of Proposition 8, he's not far off the mark.) Equally superb supporting performances from Josh Brolin, James Franco and Emile Hirsch further bolster Gus Van Sant's powerful story of Milk's political transformation. Some will question the suitability of Milk as an icon for the screen: but if you can't take the heat, sexual or otherwise, stay out of the multiplex.

4. Frozen River

The current state of the nation -- and that of our neighbour to the south -- is in dire straits, no doubt. This makes Courtney Hunt's film, about two women who transport illegal immigrants across the New York-Quebec border, resonate that much louder. Melissa Leo is a woman whose husband has just skipped town with the deposit for their new double-wide, and now her kids can't eat. She meets Lila (Misty Upham), a Mohawk woman trying to get her toddler back. If it sounds like Hunt is painting in broad strokes, she's not: without getting overly sentimental, she exposes the women's desperation and their subsequent choices, challenging those snap judgments we make of the poor and others perpetually living on the brink.

5. Man on Wire

With a nod to Taxi to the Dark Side, my second documentary choice, there's no challenging James Marsh's gripping chronicle of Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between New York City's twin towers. Via black-and-white re-enactments, interviews with Petit's accomplices, and eerie footage of the World Trade Center's construction, we are absorbed in the whole process, from Petit's dream at 17 of crossing the space between the as-yet-unfinished buildings, to his arrest and fame afterward. It's a love story, a story of broken friendship, and a dirge to the towers themselves. "It was against the law but not wicked or mean," says Petit's friend Jean-Louis, "it was wonderful."

6. Appaloosa

Ed Harris directs, co-pens, co-produces and co-stars in this old-style western of the best kind. Harris plays marshall Virgil Cole, enlisted to clean up the town of Appaloosa, New Mexico; Viggo Mortensen plays his deputy, Everett. The two are a perfect pair (as are the actors, whether here or in 2005's A History of Violence): perfect, that is, until a woman shows up (Renee Zellweger). There are shoot-ups, sure, but Harris gives free rein and lets his actors stretch out or simmer some, as needs dictate.

7. Wall-e

While the unexpectedly hilarious buddy-stoner movie Pineapple Express nearly made my top ten list, I would have preferred that the woman who took her two young kids to see it at my screening had taken them to Wall-e, a far more age-appropriate and touching film. Wall-e is a wonder, courtesy of the genius Disney-Pixar marriage. It's a true movie for everyone, minus fart jokes for the kiddies and barely-above-their-heads sexual innuendo to placate the folks. Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) crafts a wordless love story for the first half, and a timely environmental message in the second. The film borrows but never imitates others of its genre, and is one of the best family movies in years.

8. Frost/Nixon

At first, the thought of two men sitting for 30 hours taping an interview promised all the claustrophobic excitement of Colin Farrell standing in a phone booth for two hours. But thanks to Ron Howard's savvy direction and the tag-team excellence of Frank Langella (as a semi-disgraced Nixon) and Michael Sheen (as semi-serious journalist David Frost) the plot sizzles with the intensity of a political thriller. Frost nearly ruined himself fronting money for an interview with the recently resigned president; Nixon's aides saw the interview as an opportunity for soft questions and as a platform to reinstate credibility after Watergate. Instead Nixon was ruined, twice, by television and the close-up.

9. The Visitor

Richard Jenkins shines as a man surrounded by people, but living as if in solitary confinement. When a young couple (Haaz Sleiman and Danai Jekesai Gurira), both living in the U.S. illegally, cross his path, his life will never be the same. Poignant performances and sharp observations about immigration injustice in a post 9-11 world play throughout this quiet heartbreaker of a film, written and directed by Thomas McCarthy.

10. Happy-Go-Lucky

Ending on a happy note, and with one of the most unabashedly optimistic pictures of the year. In a cheerful departure from his more sombre fare, Mike Leigh unleashes actress Sally Hawkins and her considerable talent onto the world. Watch for a rise in babies named Poppy after Hawkins' sweet portrayal of a woman determined to see the sunny side, regardless of what life and loneliness throws her way. The film pivots entirely around Poppy's everyday obstacles, but is engaging thanks to Hawkins' effervescent performance. Poppy isn't deluded, she's pragmatically dedicated to enjoying life. Who wouldn't want more of that?