I’m beginning to wonder. If the Academy were populated with critics, how would their eclectic taste ever overlap enough for any movie to get 5% of the vote?
(By the way, I named Detective Dee among my top 10 last year, and people averted their eyes the way they do when encountering street-corner doomsday preachers.)
1. The Artist
2. Hugo
3. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
4. The Tree of Life
5. War Horse
6. Super 8
7. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
8. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
9. Rango
10. Fast Five
I love a good rationalization, so I’ll re-post the reason Richard Corliss gives for including Fast Five after the cut.
This list is short on sensitive indie dramas, heavy on mainstream mayhem, but it was that kind of year. The big boys — Hollywood technicians, from FX gurus to stunt choreographers — used their tools with more craft and cojones than the Sundance auteurs. Fast Five, fifth in the Fast & Furious series, is a live-action movie with so much whirling tumult, so many moments of low genius, that it plays like an animated car-toon. The dialogue, characterizations and acting are irrelevant to the success of this first great film of the post-human era. As if recalling the epochal heist in 1903’s The Great Train Robbery and, a decade later, the auto carnage of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Kops, director Justin Lin goes back to basics with another train robbery and vehicular violence in police rides — souped up and stripped down like stock cars in a death race — on the streets of Rio. A carnival of roguish heroes and pretty girls, car chases and cliffhangers, Fast Five is as much a tribute as The Artist or Hugo to the cinema’s primal thrills.
This was my Top 10 Most Anticipated BTW at the start of the year-
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2. Tree of Life
3. Hugo Cabaret
4. Contagion
5. War Horse
6. A Dangerous Method
7. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8. The Ides of March
9. Young Adult (banking here on the fact that this is being directed by Jason Reitman and I loved his prior work: Up in the Air and Juno )
10. Crazy Stupid Love
Rango, really?
Forcryingoutloud!
(It was fun, but not really Top 10 material)
Rec’s = recommendations?
I name ten, based on what you have seen:
-Au revoir, les enfants (One of the best films ever made, by anyone)
-The Lives of Others (just about more suspenseful than anything from Hollywood)
-The Orphanage (you can make horror that is not horror)
-Das Boot / Downfall (what a great double feature in German language)
-Let the Right One In (2nd best film of the 00’s decade)
-Cinema Paradiso (Morricone’s music alone… wow)
-City of God (man, some people have it bad)
-The Tin Drum (could be weird, but at least you’ve seen a FILM)
-In a Better World (last year’s winner)
I actually based this on some of my friends who are more than used to US films, and rarely watch any other (we have them here, too, you know). Watch these first, we will gladly name you more.
So I’m curious, what now are your guys rec’s for foreign fare based on the list I posted of my favorite directors and whatnot?
Totally incomprehensive. F5 was without a doubt the worst film of the year!
And to think I had it as my #2 most anticipated as well, lol jeez what was I thinking?
“Yeah, I don’t know if it should really be my #2 most anticipated…maybe more on the intensely curious list? But there’s not really anything else in 2011 that has me more intrigued or I’ve seen a trailer for anyways. It may very well be thin on story, abstract, style over substance, etc like Kubrick’s 2001 or Days of Heaven (one of Malick’s prior films) but at the least you know the visuals will be worth seeing in theatre.
Plus, whereas the aforementioned Days of Heaven had very little dialogue I find it hard to believe that’ll be the case with actors like Brad Pitt and Sean Penn…that’d be a waste of talent. I’m hoping this one is incredible all around.”
Tree of Life is the most over-rated film of the year. Where does Malick get off thinking you can just throw a bunch of pretty images on a screen without cohesion of a story and call it a film? This is the 3rd film of his like that I’ve seen now…I had high hopes for this one due to Pitt and Penn’s involvement, but no, great actors were wasted in favor of whispered voiceovers, images ripped from Planet Earth, etc.
bump
it’s his job to have an opinion and try his best to articulate how it is he came to that opinion. of course a film like Fast Five will be harder to advocate for what with being a ‘mainstream action’ film starring the likes of the Rock and being the FIFTH in a series. my point is: it’s an opinion, like everything about the top ten and the award seasons. no one is right and no one is wrong. he just gets paid for it unlike most of us.
Wow, 500 films a year Tero? With college I simply don’t have that much time. I suppose when you add in all the films from prior years that I’m watching now though my total is likely over 100.
As for favorite directors…
Alfred Hitchcock (at last count I’ve seen 25 of his films)
Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Witness for the Prosecution, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Seven Yeah Itch, Sunset Blvd.)
Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, You Can’t Take it With You, Meet John Doe, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
Howard Hawks (The Big Sleep, Bringing Up Baby, Sergeant York, Ball of Fire, Monkey Business, Scarface (so much better then the Pacino version), To Have and Have Not, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, His Girl Friday)
Stanley Kubrick (not exactly a fav, but I’ve seen The Killing, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Lolita, 2001, and Dr. Strangelove…it’s been a mixed bag)
now for more modern…
Christopher Nolan (seen all 8 of his films)
Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones Trilogy, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Jurassic Park, Catch Me If You Can, Jaws, E.T.)
Martin Scorsese (including him under modern because I don’t really care for his older stuff with the exception of Raging Bull. Seen everything from the last decade)
As for foreign fare, I’ve seen Amelie, Life is Beautiful, Diabolique, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and given a few Bergman a try. Some have been alright. Diabolique was especially great…though no surprise there since I’ve seen it referred to as “the greatest film Hitchcock never made”
Oh BTW, I’m not really a fan of fantasy outside of Harry Potter and LotR :p
Why are people upset about Fast Five on the list? I thought including Super 8, Detective Dee, and War Horse on the list is more offensive. However, this list last year included Four Lions as its number 10 movie, so that is a departure!
People take top 10 lists way too seriously, like if you put Fast Five on your list it somehow completely invalidates your taste. The point of these list is to pick the ten films you enjoyed the most, not ten films that you liked that also happen to mesh with what everyone else is picking.
And before anyone complains about me being too colloquial I had a freaking Bela Tarr movie on my top 10 of the 2000’s. But a good trashy popcorn flick is always welcome.
Scott – when looking for foreign films, try some non-Eurocentric stuff, too. I think you would like Algerian Rachid Bouchareb’s companion pieces Days of Glory and Outside the Law. Ajami is recent and great, and if you want to see a major classic (in my all time top 10) Battle of Algiers. It’s amazing to see how well that film has held up over the decades.
Two great films that serve as a good introduction to Bollywood are Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.
Both are made with Western Audiences in mind, but both maintain the spirit of Bollywood, unlike the popular Monsoon Wedding or Slumdog Millionaire.
I highly recommend them both, I don’t think they are just great Bollywood films, they are just great films. They’d both be in my top 100 of all time were I to make a list. Both are very touching and have some great musical numbers. Most of the songs from these films are in my regular rotation on my Ipod as well.
Both are available from Netflix.
Certainly is the year of surreal dreams, isn’t it? I do hope the Academy wants to dream along with us…
Oh, yeah and Melancholia, but that won’t even be on my Top 100 of 2011. Most overrated picture of the year, says I.
but I like all the movies this year that give me the sensation of surreal dreams with lavish budgets and missing pages .
Well, my list is already fucked, because Win Win would have made the cut. I will be seeing The Artist, Hugo, Dragon Tattoo, The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, The Descendants, J. Edgar, Mission Impossible 4 etc. next week – so ask me again later:
From Ryan’s list, I have also seen the following (but they didn’t make my Top 10):
Margin Call
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
I Saw the Devil
Attack The Block
Warrior
Source Code
Meek’s Cutoff
Captain America
Hanna
It was deliberately Euro-centric, our films feeling more familiar to someone who has seen only US/UK-films. Sure, you could throw in Infernal Affairs, but he has already seen The Departed. I would not recommend John Woo to anyone, not my cup of tea. Many Korean/Japanese films might be too slow, hence I didn’t even mention Kurosawa by name. Animations I also left out.
Ryan, what are you still doing up??
Scott, for a great mainstream action/thriller watch Wages of Fear.
Ryan, what are you still doing up??
Just finished watching We Need to Talk About Kevin and afraid to go asleep because I don’t like to look of the red Christmas lights reflected in my cat’s eyes.
Also Tero – I can’t imagine a world without Tarkovsky or Eisenstein. I love La Strada but not the biggest Fellini fan. But that is my world, follow your own path.
Here’s my Top 10 so far (still a bunch I haven’t seen, including A Separation, The Artist, Tinker Tailor, Le Havre, Dangerous Method, Dragon Tattoo, Shame, Kevin, Take Shelter).
1. Certified Copy
2. The Tree of Life
3. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
4. Another Earth
5. Hugo
6. Drive
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. The Rum Diary
9. Meek’s Cutoff
10. Rango
@Tero, I couldn’t agree more. That was just my story.
I write to this Finnish movie magazine and we have Oscar stuff in December issue (written by yours truly). If you want to see how Rooney Mara was chosen on the cover, see here: http://www.episodi.fi/nain-syntyi-episodin-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-kansi-16663/
You may use Google Translate, but I tell you this in short. It was already chosen that either Williams (Marilyn), Mara (Dragon) or Rapace (Sherlock 2) would be on the cover. Mara won the vote. And then five variations of the cover. The last one on the right is the final version.
Also notable is the fact that they let the film’s title to remain The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo even when the book and the Swedish film were called Men Who Hate Women (=”Män som hatar kvinnor” is the original title from Stieg Larsson). This is good strategy – to distance the Fincher film from the wildly popular (in my country) Swedish film. I could compare this to Let the Right One In / Let Me In.
Mattoc, for someone not familiar with foreign films, I don’t think that you should recommend films from Bunuel, Murnau, Pabst or even Bergman. For now, Scott should stay away from Tarkovski, Eisenstein or Fellini (I can’t believe I just said that).
For Scott (being a more mainstream type of guy) I would recommend easily accessible mainstream movies from recent decades (I’m using IMDb Top 250 here for help). Stuff like the recent Spanish horror scene (stay away from the gory French ones) with The Others (although in English), Thesis, The Orphanage. Inventive romantic stuff like Amélie. Make sure you watch The Lives of Others.
Oscar-y titles like City of God or Life Is Beautiful might interest him. Pan’s Labyrinth he must have seen, it’s fantasy. Das Boot, Cinema Paradiso, Downfall, Y tu mama tambien, Let the Right One In… You’ll love all these.
Something like Fanny & Alexander or even Seven Samurai would be too much to start from. I think.
For Scott (being a more mainstream type of guy) I would recommend easily accessible mainstream movies from recent decades
Those films you name are a nice set of mainstream international essentials, but — maybe by accident — they’re all Eurocentric.
Scott, I’m sure you’d really like the 80s & 90s crime sagas of John Woo, – A Better Tomorrow (1986) ,The Killer (1989), Bullet in the Head (1990), Hard Boiled (1992). Check out recent Hong Kong gangster epics Election and Triad Election. Then of course I’d be surprised if you haven’t already discovered the Vengeance Triology by Park Chan-wook, and from there branch out to a dozen other first-rate contemporary Korean thrillers.
Back to Europe and more vintage, it’s easy to find classics that are not so dreary and deep — all the early Truffaut and Jean-Pierre Melville from the 1960s. I envy you seeing all these for these first time.
We’re doing this? My list is still really fluid so the rankings will be shifting around over the next few weeks.
I don’t even want to number them yet, but I’ll put them in loose order.
Drive
The Tree Of Life
A Separation
Hugo
Moneyball
13 Assassins
Mysteries of Lisbon
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Margin Call
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Beginners
The Housemaid
The Double Hour
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Certified Copy
Jane Eyre
Melancholia
I Saw the Devil
Attack The Block
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Contagion
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2
The Guard
The Ides of March
Point Blank
Rango
Warrior
Rampart
Double Hour
Midnight In Paris
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Source Code
Meek’s Cutoff
Captain America
Hanna
Super 8
Win Win
50/50
Glaring omissions are most likely things I haven’t yet seen or, um, already forgot that I saw.
@tero – I have not seen enough yet to even begin. But either has anybody I guess. I’ll give you my list in 2020.
My favorite time at the movies so far would be Midnight in Paris, followed by A Seperation, then Meatballs. I lied it was probably Sunrise.
Ok, just for the fun of it. Here’s my Top 10 of TODAY. Note that I have not yet seen Hugo, War Horse, Dragon Tattoo, The Descendants, The Artist, Tinker Tailor and the most foreign films. I exclude non-fiction films for this list.
1. The Tree of Life
2. A Separation
3. Drive
4. Beginners
5. Moneyball
6. 50/50
7. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
8. Midnight in Paris
9. Le Havre
10. Super 8
Bubbling under:
The Help, Beyond, Harry Potter 8, The Ides of March, Rango, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Good Son (I had the former higher up before, but reconsiderations are possible).
Biggest disappointment of the year: The Turin Horse. I can’t believe I sat through this, two and a half hour film made of 30 single takes, and the music was annoying.
@scott – I think that’s great you are watching more films, you clearly have a passion for them.
In regards to films with a Non-English language, it’s something you get used to over time…if you’re interested.
When I was about 13yo, I got a four star book by Roger Ebert. I was basically into horror only, eith the osccasional comedy at the time. I read the reviews of films I has seen, and it gave me a much better appreciation of films I thought I understood. From there I kept going, making my way through his list. So there were the films of Scorsese, Allen, Mazurky, Altman, Cassavettes…I watched them all and then sought out their other films not in the book. But who was this Bergman, Bunuel and Kirosawa guys? None of their films were at the video library except Autumn Sonata which had ‘dubbed’ on the video jacket. I didn’t hire it due to my bad experience hiring dubbed horror movies from Europe. A few years went on, watching as many films as I could from the library (the only one at that stage) when I noticed a Bunuel film was playing at theatre at midnight. my mother dropped me off and waited in the car. It only went for 60 minutes, but I could not believe what I saw. The following week was another film by Bunuel, this time in a foreign language – Spanish. I didn’t really read the subtitles, just watched the screen. It didn’t matter. I was hooked. Sooner or later VHS were available to purchase and I was finally able to buy my way through Ebert’s little book. I don’t think I disagreed with any of his choices in the book. If I didn’t ‘get’ it or like it, I just read his review to see his take on it again. What can I say, I was young and impressionable.
My point is, I guess, that you won’t be told about how good a film is if you have no interest to start with. My route was with directors. Start with Directors you like and go through their catalogue. Once you have done that by a book on that directors, find out their influences. For example, you like
Scorsese – watch Coppola, Kazan, Di Palma- buy a book on Scorsese watch Powell
Lynch, watch Bunuel, Wilder, Jodorowsky, Murnau, Pabst, Cocteau
Allen, watch Bergman, Edwards, Cassavettes
Eastwood, watch Leonie, Siegel
It depends where your interests are in film. For me though, I count at least half the films of my all time favorites as films that speaka no English.
While i can I watch Stepmom or 50/50 and enjoy them – I am thankful that I had the determination to seek out Cries and Whispers.
I’m not Joe-what’s-his-name. I see around 500 new titles per year, half of them are the so-called foreign films. I can make a good Top 10 list when the time is right. But as many films arrive here quite late, I can’t do that until late March or so (I dislike lists that include films from former years). Well, neither can American critics. You don’t see many foreign films until early in the following year. Any Top 10 list released in December is bound to fail.
I agree to some extent Mattoc…over the past few years I’ve tried to really broaden my film viewing. For instance I never thought I’d be caught dead watching a classic film, particularly those in black and white film and now there are many amongst my favorites. And in any given year I used to see maybe 20 films at most…but for the last 2 I’ve seen over 50, including 9 of the Best Pic nominees from each. Foreign language films are still tough to watch though…
The way I see it, if you’re in to films, you make it your business to become knowledgeable about what is out there, not just films released but films that are in production or touring the festival circuits. There aren’t many if any films of any given year that I haven’t at least heard of – and I live in Australia, where Meatballs just opened (that Chris Makespeace is sure going places)
I don’t want to sound arrogant. I just don’t see why someone would seek out a top ten film list and complain about not knowing about a movie. I get excited when I see a film on a list that I haven’t heard of, or more often, didn’t think it was worth my time.
I assume people on this site either know their stuff (personal taste aside) or are wanting to enrich their knowledge.
I firmly believe if everyone, joe schmo, etc…HAD to view every film made in a calendar year, including festivals only, straight to DVD, etc…top ten and the people choices would be a bit different.
I know it’s an impossible task (given India makes about 4,000 each year) but you can chip away.
“You’re free to construct a Top 10 list that you think is more representative of the typical guy who only sees 5 movies a year.”
Well I’d probably start by taking the Top Box Office list and removing any films that too chick flicky, geeky, etc.
And so I think that would leave something like this…
1. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (initially would have said this was just for the geeks but it’s proven otherwise)
2. The Hangover Part II
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
4. Fast Five
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
6. Bridesmaids (maybe, though might consider this too much of a chick flick)
7. Super 8 (though perhaps too sci-fi)
8. Horrible Bosses
9. Paranormal Activity 3
10. Bad Teacher
I’m not including Potter on principle…and because I’m going to say Joe Shmoe is one of those idiots who thinks Potter is just for kids.
Rooney Mara. I am DYING for it.
I love me a withholding woman.
#GayMenLoveaBitch
(anyway, I wasn’t talking about Black Swan. But I think this fictitious guy would’ve seen Friends With Benefits.)”
I don’t think he would have seen either, unless a girl dragged him to it…
I meant to say pre-teen girls. What’s so amazing about HP is how it has nearly equal appeal amongst males and females and furthermore is seen by all ages, races, and social groups(ie nerds, jocks, etc)
But yes, Deathly Hallows is one of those rarities that transcends genre and demographics combining quality and mass appeal. It’s not like Twlight that just has a massive fanbase of pre-teens and pedo moms for instance.
But yes, Deathly Hallows is one of those rarities that transcends genre and demographics combining quality and mass appeal.
I agree.
You’re free to construct a Top 10 list that you think is more representative of the typical guy who only sees 5 movies a year. I don’t think my list is unreasonable and sure didn’t intend for it to be insulting.
(anyway, I wasn’t talking about Black Swan. But I think this fictitious guy would’ve seen Friends With Benefits.)
And then I went back up and saw that FAST FIVE WAS ONE THIS LIST?
Jesus.
*then critics and Oscar voters
Aware of yes, but Joe Shmoe would not understand either of those 3. I think more apt would be IMDB or Flickchart voters (like I posted earlier) as they are presumably more knowledgeable about film then the average citizen but with more mainstream taste
but Joe Shmoe would not understand either of those 3
Not deeply, you’re right.
That’s why I had our hypothetical Joe Schmoe call it “Harry Potter and the Deadly Horrors”
I didn’t want to make a list exclusively of the dumbest movies possible. I don’t want to think about the people who would name Jack & Jill in their Top 10.
it’s only a joke, Scott. I’m just teasing.
I feel like I haven’t seen ANY movies this year and that I’m totally out of the loop! What is the deal? Why does it seem like the movies are so much more inaccessible for me this year!? Will this prove the same for others? Is this the Oscars of the small(est) movies yet?
Am I just being ridiculous?
The awards season is so much less exciting for me without Nicole Kidman. haha.
Not ridiculous at all, Kholby,
We’ve heard that same complaint from other readers.
I had to drive an hour to another state to see Hugo the weekend it opened. Drive was at my multiplex for maybe 2 weeks.
Studios seem to think the top-quality movies can only make money in bigger cities. I’ll have to say, when I saw Drive the day it opened, there were about a dozen people on the theater.
You have to transfer your passion for Nicole Kidman to Rooney Mara this year. I can validate and notarize the paperwork for you.
Ryan, I resent you for putting Potter, Black Swan, and Inception on that fictitious list…
c’mon though, Scott — I’m saying Deathly Hallows is a hugely popular movie that even the most casual moviegoer will be aware of.
I seriously tried to imagine the mind of a typical guy who sees the movies his drinking buddies talk about. How is it a bad thing that Harry Potter has a fan base that includes all segments of society?
You want to boost it on the basis of it’s enormous popular appeal. Then you have to allow for the fact that a lot of people bought tickets who aren’t all film scholars.
I meant to say about just the Artist and Detective Dee, since they placed so high. Of course, I should’ve said that up front because you’d have to be in a bunker to not see previews for Hugo, Apes, Super 8, War Horse…
that’s ok, I knew we arguing past each other instead of head-on at each other.
But really, Paul H, we’re not really concerned here with what the proverbial “guy on main street” knows about movies, are we? Haven’t we seen enough of that guy on Jay Leno’s Street Walking? Isn’t he the doof who can’t name who was President during the Civil War and thinks Freedom of Speech is one of the Ten Commandments?
You don’t seriously want us to us dumb down the site and talk only about movies the guy on main street has heard about, do you?
I understand by now that you’re not wild about the idea of a black-and-white silent movie. Despite all evidence to the contrary, you’re convinced it’s worthless. I’m sorry we can’t accommodate you by ignoring it or pretending it’s “dubious.”
How about at least wait until you see it before you hate it. Can you try that?
Meanwhile, here’s the Top 10 Films of 2011 according to the Guy on Main Street.
1. The Hangover Part II
2. Bad Teacher
3. Harry Potter and the Deadly Horrors, The End
4. Fast Five
5. that one with Mila Kuntis whatshername
6. how many is that?
7. oh yeah, Inception.
8. was there a Jackass 4 yet?
9. Zookeeper
10. can I say Sherlock Holmes 2 even if it’s not out till Xmas?
Ryan, this comment:
“How ill-informed are some of TIME’s readership?
sample comments to the Corliss Top 10
– Oh please! A silent, black and white French film? Now where locally is that showing outside of Manhattan?
– Were these movies in theaters? Were they advertised on TV? I honestly don’t think I’ve heard of any of them.”
Smack of someone being in a cocoon. Who in main street America has heard of “Detective Dee and a lot of other words”? Who’s heard of the gimmick French silent movie outside of NY/LA? I didn’t hear of the former until I read this article. So don’t write off those who legit haven’t heard of these movies, or think critics’ choices of what they think is the best is dubious.
PaulH
My point is that Awards Daily readers are far better informed about movies than your friend who’s always wandering around on main street. (Can’t he remember where he parked his car?)
Smack of someone being in a cocoon.
Are you kidding me, PaulH?
I honestly don’t think I’ve heard of any of them. Were they advertised on TV?
This guy is asking if Hugo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super 8, War Horse were ever advertised on TV?
You’re saying it smacks of being in a cocoon for me to raise an eyebrow about that?
What sort of cocoon in a box under a rock beneath the Titanic at the bottom of the sea does someone have to be in not to have heard of War Horse or Rise of the Planet of the Apes?
Holy hell…Social Network was on over 400 lists last year? Does every single critic make a Top 10 list? lol, I didn’t even realize there were that many…
And Drive on 23 lists?! Wow! I haven’t seen that film yet (really want to) but I’ve been saying all along it should have never been removed from the Contender Tracker.
Ah, ok…so someone is already one that, lol. Interesting…where are the 6 lists that Deathly Hallows is mentioned on? I’ve only seen 2.
As the critics’ lists continue to come in, you guys might want to keep an eye on this site. It’s a very comprehensive tally, and by the time all the 2010 lists were compiled, every single BP nominee was included in the Top 11.
fast five is worse choice than many oscar bait films ??? doubt that it is…
and just in case you missed this… 😉
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/11/fast-five-for-best-picture.php
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/11/fast-five-oscar-watch-best-adapted-screenplay.php
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/11/fast-five-oscar-watch-best-original-screenplay.php
and even if this joke.(but hey maybe it not) it seems legit with the parade of oscar bait films that get drooled over/or are supposed to be a contender/that everyone has on ‘watch list’ 10 months in advance.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hasn’t been on a single list so far…..that sucks
How could Richard include Fast Five in his list and leave out Drive? That’s stupid!!!!
It does seem like The Tree of Life is a top critic fav…however, if the BFCA 85+ trend holds it won’t be Oscar nominated.
Just glad to see THE TREE OF LIFE on yet another list. Frankly, it should top everyone’s list.
I appreciate the honesty, but the list is as consistently dumb as Corliss’ reviews
Well it wouldn’t be that hard really…maybe an hour to set up a spreadsheet with the formulas and whatnot. But I don’t necessarily see value in weighted scoring.
Oh, i see…Movie City News…well that’s a nice list but I’m not sure placement is necessarily relevant, just that the film receives mention. So I’m just going to keep track of overall tally, not a weighted scoring like they’ve done.
weighted scores might be interesting, but don’t knock yourself out going to all that trouble.
if these same critics were to make new lists from scratch two weeks from now, I’ll bet the rankings would be different than their first swing at it.
(speaking for myself, I couldn’t tell you own my Top 10 from this summer without looking it up.)
Paddy what is MCN? And actually it’s not that arduous of a process, particularly if they aren’t numbered (makes it easier for the Excel sort feature)
Metacritic needs to hire you guys for a couple of weeks every December so you can go back through the year’s scores and fix them so they’re consistent.
Scott, Corliss does not assign a grade to his films (I’m pretty sure.)
The people at Metacritic assign that value. So it’s arbitrary at best. I’m sure Corliss tailors his reviews for the intended audience of the film, so comparing these arbitrary scores is next to impossible.
Also, once again, people’s opinions of films change over time so if one was enthusiastic over a film when they first saw it, it may not necessarily stay that way.
For example, my opinion of Meek’s Cutoff grows over time since it’s a pretty cerebral piece and I have time to think about what was presented to me. And Win/Win, which I loved at the time, slowly decreases over time as I slowly discover the ways I was manipulated into feeling that emotion.
I would have said, at the time, Win/Win was the better film. But as the year ends and I would compile my Best 10 list, I’d definitely put Meek’s Cutoff higher (although both would likely make the list)
@ Scott
If you’re serious about compiling all that data over the next few weeks, the wisest thing to do might be to keep abreast of MCN’s Top Tens scoreboard. I don’t know if they have one up yet, but that’d probably be the most concise way of going about that arduous process.
@ Ryan
I’m full of similar fascinating facts. Willing to oblige any time 😀
Paddy M
you’ve earned one Free Typo Correction Coupon
oops, and spent it already.
I will k-a…this first time was the hardest, if I do it as they come in then I can quickly add another tally to whichever films get mention. Oh, and I had to use a bit of discretion with the Empire list for instance…removing the 2010 titles to take the Top 10 for 2011.
Let’s not forget Corliss also chose Meryl Streep and Brad Pitt as top female and male performances of the year, respectively.
@scott – keep it up 🙂
Oh shoot, I forgot that foreign critic’s list…so add another tally for Tree of Life and Super 8
Also, to answer Ryan’s question I threw the Top 10 mentions from each of the lists so far into an Excel spreadsheet and sorted and this is what we’ve got…
The Tree of Life 5
Hugo 4
The Artist 4
Margin Call 3
Rise of the Planet of the Apes 3
The Descendants 3
Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy 3
War Horse 3
A Separation 2
Bridesmaids 2
Certified Copy 2
Drive 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two 2
Margaret 2
Super 8 2
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn 2
We Need To Talk About Kevin 2
Contagion 1
J. Edgar 1
Midnight in Paris 1
Moneyball 1
Source Code 1
The Help 1
Loved Super 8! I am so glad to see it on a top 10, I also loved Cave of Forgotten Dreams and am really happy that it won a couple of best documentary awards already! Thrilled for Hugo, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes! And please bring The Artist to Michigan I am dying to see it! I will be watching Rango and Fast Five soon on dvd!
Oh, and not sure where to post this so I’ll just do so here in the most recent…love seeing the Moneyball ads finally! I was wondering where the FYC ads for that film were.
Fast Five was amazing.
This is one of the more refreshing lists I’ve seen in awhile. I totally agree with his Fast Five rational and Super 8 was my favorite film of the year so I’m glad to see it’s getting some recognition here and other places. Just because a film’s a mainstream summer tentpole doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of being considered for these types of lists.
I’m thinking pretty hard about putting Fast Five in my top ten, actually. It’s like every guilty thing (fast cars, thin hotties, extreme macho) about the reality of movies placed in one cylinder.
“Disappointing we’re not seeing Dragon Tattoo on this list”
Not really, it is beginning to make sense why the studio had so much sensitivity behind building buzz for it. Since it is just a remake of a story anyone can already go and see, it’s not surprising people aren’t listing it in the top 10. The only buzz it actually has is Fincher and Mara, who could be the films only chance. but a remake is a remake (I could be dead wrong. last year I said The Fighter and True Grit had no shot at noms)
Ok, wtf…Corliss gave HP7B a 90, I highly doubt the 10 on his list were all scored higher then that.
Fast Five, Rango, Planet of the Apes, Super 8. someone take away his film critic card immediately.
This list makes me seriously wonder if Corliss has ADD. There are a few good films here, and I’m pleased he included Detective Dee but still.
@Ryan Adams
That’s just it. These films DO NOT play around normal people. So when they read a list like this that’s the reaction they have. THE ARTIST has not been advertised on TV that I’ve seen. If that person lives in normal America then THE ARTIST probably hasn’t played within hundreds of miles of them. People have lives. Everyone isn’t online talking about movies all day. If I didn’t come to this site and get tweets from The Weinstein Company and other Oscar watchers, I probably would not have heard of THE ARTIST either at this point. Once the Globe nominations come out it’ll be a different story. But as of this moment, I have not seen a TV spot or a trailer for this film in real life.
Disappointed we aren’t seeing Dragon Tattoo on any of these lists…As for me it’s The Artist, The Descendants, and Moneyball as my top 3 heading into the last month.
Bellflower, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Drive also appear to have a firm grasp on my year end top 10.
I like Tree of Life, love Chastain especially, but I’ve never really been a Malick fan.
Seeing Meloncholia this weekend, hope Tinker Tailor comes close by the end of the year.
“[Fast Five] really was a great and fun action movie. It deserves some recognition. Not best picture or anything but nobody can say it was not entertaining.”
I can.
“…Fast Five is as much a tribute as The Artist or Hugo to the cinema’s primal thrills.”
Thanks for posting that, Ryan – now I’m really nuts. If Walker, Diesel and Johnson “fassied” in the buff thru the whole thing, it would still be way down on my “maybe DVD” list.
I never cared for the Fast & Furious films but saw most of them, including the fifth. And I have to admit, the stunts were insane! All the stunt executions were mindblowing. Great cinematography as well.
Also, Ryan, in response to your (rhetorical?) query in regard to films receiving 5% of the critic vote, the answer is this (based on last year’s lists):
127 Hours, Black Swan, Carlos, Inception, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone
So that’s eight.
Thanks, Paddy M
that’s the Fascinating Fact of the Day.
Don’t know how hard it was for you to crunch that data, but I hope you do it for us again the first week in January.
Rango, yay!
I don’t agree with him, but I think his argument pro “Fast Five” is, somehow, cool. And about “Detective Dee”, Ryan, in the films buffs circles nexto to me, precisely the opposite happened. There Tsui Hark is a modern days genius, and every shot the did, praised. I like him (didn’t see “Dee”), but nobody convinces to the contrary: that some people take the french cinephilia opinion (the famous magazines and critics there) so serious, at the point of a freak cult. Yesterday I was talking to two people outside a theater. One told me that “Shame” probably is not a good film, because “Cahiers du Cinema” wrote about it in the editorial of the current number (didn’t read, I don’r read french), that the movie has “risible seriousness”. The other replies that the movie is probably great because “Cahiers” rival, “Positif” put it on the cover for the new issue, and claims it’s excellent.
before all the Fast Five haters start. It really was a great and fun action movie. It deserves some recognition. Not best picture or anything but nobody can say it was not entertaining. And it something you can rewatch and enjoy more than then something like the Descendents
@ Ryan Adams
I do love you, but those comments you referenced in your comment make me want to die, and take whomever posted those comments initially down with me.
I like this list though. Still have to see Detective Dee – don’t know why that has taken me so long!
Fast Five? Really?
Fast Five should be higher, but other than that, no beef
Is he kidding?
How ill-informed are some of TIME’s readership?
sample comments to the Corliss Top 10