With the number of new lists stalling, it appears time to put 2012 in the books. Leading the way in 2012 was Zero Dark Thirty, making it the second time a Katherine Bigelow film has topped the list count in the past four years. Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom recently pulled ahead of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, making it Anderson’s highest ranked film to date.
791 lists are included for 2012. In addition, this updated list includes 2011 votes for films that were not primarily released in the United States until 2012. A special thanks needs to be made to Eric M. Van for his generous and strenuous work on determing the counts for lists prior to 2012. Thanks Eric!
Without further ado, here are the final 2012 rankings:
50. Barbara (34 lists; 3 top spots)
A sturdy suspense story, set in Stasi-infected East Germany, rich in moral compromise, individual integrity and general desperation, it’s elevated by Hoss to something sublime and unforgettable … — John Anderson, Newsday
49. 21 Jump Street (36 lists)
It was inevitable that one of Hollywood’s many recent reboots would eventually attain sentience. Hence the arrival of 21 Jump Street, a film that not only knows it’s a remake, but knows how absurd it has to be to succeed as a remake. — Andrew Lapin, NPR
48. Wreck-It Ralph (36 lists; 1 top spot)
There are a staggering number of rules governing the gameplay in Wreck-It Ralph, and one of the toon’s greatest pleasures comes in how intuitively audiences discover those parameters as the story unfolds. — Peter DeBruge, Variety
47. ParaNorman (37 lists; 2 top spots)
This swell stop-motion animation operates on a wavelength similar to that of Laika’s debut feature, Coraline, with assured character comedy counterbalanced by a solemn sense of macabre wonder. — J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
46. The Queen of Versailles (38 lists)
“The Queen of Versailles” ought to be required viewing for anyone who blames the rich for yanking the rug out from under America’s economy. — Rafer Guzman, Newsday
44. The Hunger Games (39 lists; 1 top spot)
Viewers who like a side order of political allegory with their science fiction will find much to savor here. So will romantics, fans of feminist heroines and action enthusiasts. “The Hunger Games” is that rare creation, an event movie of real significance. — Collin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
44. The Imposter (39 lists; 1 top spot)
“The Imposter” is slippery, manipulative, unstable and smoothly confounding. It’s also one of the most entertaining documentaries to appear since “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a film similarly obsessed with role playing and deception. — Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
43. The Impossible (40 lists; 3 top spots)
For all the visually impactful moments that all but put an audience directly into the horror of the Boxing Day tsunami in The Impossible, the true test of this drama comes in the emotion conveyed in its simplest moments. — Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
42. Safety Not Guaranteed (41 lists; 2 top spots)
A charming movie that blends comedy, romance and science fiction — not necessarily the most obvious combination of genres, but one that director Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly manage with assured ease. — Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
41. Compliance (42 lists; 5 top spots)
Likely to spur discussions about workplace safety, employee rights and broader awareness of sexual predation, Compliance is also a suspenseful psychological drama for viewers prepared to tolerate its extremes. — Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter
39. Flight (44 lists)
Flight reminds us of what Washington can do when a role hits him with a challenge that would floor a lesser actor. He’s a ball of fire, and his detailed, depth-charged, bruisingly true performance will be talked about for years. — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
39. How to Survive a Plague (44 lists)
We grow familiar with the names and faces of many of the leaders in the movement. Some look directly into the camera and say they expect to die of the disease. Some are correct. — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
38. Killing Them Softly (48 lists)
Jolting, suspenseful, full of twisted sympathy for its goons’ row of characters, and wickedly amusing to boot, Killing Them Softly summons up the ghosts of Goodfellas and a whole nasty tradition of crime pics. — Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
37. Take This Waltz (48 lists; 3 top spots)
This romantic drama, starring the always-extraordinary Michelle Williams as a restless married woman contemplating an affair with her neighbor, is chock-full of individual moments of great power and beauty, including visual beauty. — Dana Stevens, Slate
36. Anna Karenina (49 lists; 3 top spots)
A furiously ambitious literary adaptation, the best of Wright and Knightley’s careers, that tries to make us feel the intense sexuality and terror and grief of a classic novel … — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com
35. Searching for Sugar Man (50 lists; 2 top spots)
Fluid, open-ended documentaries that demand more of an audience than foregone assent or fleeting bouts of passive outrage are rare these days, which is what makes Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man such a gift. — Mark Holcomb, Village Voice
34. Killer Joe (54 lists; 1 top spot)
Friedkin’s still got it – the “it” being his ability to infuse every frame of the film with powerful ambiguity and doubt, and also his ability to attract terrific actors and propel them in unexpected directions. — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com
A smoothly distilled collaboration that balances Mr. Tatum’s heat and charm – and ambitions that are as transparent as Mike’s – with Mr. Soderbergh’s cool, cinematic intelligence and ongoing preoccupations. — Manohla Dargis, New York Times
32. The Raid: Redemption (56 lists; 3 top spots)
Lean, fast-moving, and filled with game-changing fight sequences that have a brutally beautiful (or beautifully brutal) quality, Gareth Evans’s Indonesian martial-arts film The Raid: Redemption lives up to its viral hype. — Ernest Hardy, Village Voice
31. The Grey (56 lists; 3 top spots)
Impressively lensed by Masanobu Takayanagi on aptly rugged terrain in British Columbia, The Grey is thoroughly persuasive in its depiction of desperate men battling unforgiving elements. — Joe Leydon, Variety
30. Cosmopolis (59 lists; 7 top spots)
What we can’t argue is that Cosmopolis is the work of a master filmmaker, one who is determined to have us think about the ideas packed into the trunk of this limo bound for the furthest corners of the psyche. – Peter Howell, Toronto Star
29. Rust and Bone (60 lists; 3 top spots)
Audiard, who made the uncompromising prison saga A Prophet, is like a gritty, realist Douglas Sirk – throwing his characters into whirlwind scenarios that are filled with big emotions and fateful turns of events. — Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
28. The Sessions (61 lists; 1 top spot)
27. Bernie (70 lists; 4 top spots)
Pitch-perfect performances by Shirley MacLaine and an unusually restrained Jack Black hold together this offbeat true-crime saga, but Linklater’s keen eye for human eccentricity flowers most memorably on the periphery. — Justin Chang, Variety
26. Oslo, August 31st (74 lists; 1 top spot)
A coolly observed yet boundlessly compassionate day in the life of a recovering drug addict, “Oslo, August 31st” breaks your heart many times over. — Ty Burr, Boston Globe
25. Cloud Atlas (77 lists; 10 top spots)
It is so full of passion and heart and empathy that it feels completely unlike any other modern film in its range either measured through scope of budget or sweep of action. — James Rocchi, MSN Movies
An edge-of-your-seat emotional roller-coaster ride about ordinary people in a nondescript neighborhood, it’s sometimes terrifying, often heart-rending and completely worth it. — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com
23. Tabu (84 lists; 12 top spots)
22. The Deep Blue Sea (95 lists; 5 top spots)
The Turin Horse is an absolute vision, masterly and enveloping in a way that less personal, more conventional movies are not. The film doesn’t seduce; it commands. — Mark Jenkins, NPR
20. Les Misérables (105 lists; 9 top spots)
The squalor and upheaval of early 19th-century France are conveyed with a vividness that would have made Victor Hugo proud, heightened by the raw, hungry intensity of the actors’ live oncamera vocals. — Justin Chang, Variety
19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (111 lists; 7 top spots)
Perks deserves points for going beyond the typical coming-of-age drivel aimed at teens. Logan Lerman excels as Charlie and Emma Watson makes a dream girl to die for, but the movie is stolen, head to tail, by Ezra Miller. — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
157-minute police procedural at once sensuous and cerebral, profane and metaphysical, “empty” and abundant, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is closer to the Antonioni of L’Avventura, and it elevates the 52-year-old director to a new level of achievement. — J. Hoberman, Village Voice
16. The Avengers (129 lists; 13 top spots)
You don’t need to be a “comic-book person” to find the set pieces exhilarating. But if you are such a person, or a fan of the movies that comic books turn into, “The Avengers” feels like the moment you’ve been waiting for. – Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
15. The Cabin in the Woods (139 lists; 13 top spots)
For all of its many intellectual pleasures, and smart commentary, Cabin in the Woods is a visceral roller coaster of a movie at heart. And like the best thrill rides, when it’s over, you just want to get back on and go again. — Ian Buckwalter, NPR
A mind-bending ride that is not afraid to slow down now and again, to explore themes of regret and redemption, solitude and sacrifice, love and loss. It’s a movie worth seeing and, perhaps, going back to see again. — Christopher Orr, The Atlantic
10. Amour (235 lists; 37 top spots)
Cooper gives his most natural, affecting and compelling performance yet…Lawrence makes us forget her dewy youth just minutes into her brittle, biting turn as a woman whose unbalanced rage is even more cleverly concealed… — Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
8. Django Unchained (243 lists; 20 top spots)
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild (264 lists; 26 top spots)
5. Lincoln (289 lists; 32 top spots)
Argo is a triumph. It has tension, sincerity, mystery, artistic responsibility, entertainment value, technical expertise, a narrative arc and a thrilling respect for the tradition of how to tell a story with minimum frills and maximum impact. — Rex Reed, New York Observer
It’s a film of breathtaking cinematic romanticism and near-complete denial of conventional catharsis. You might wish it gave you more in terms of comfort food pleasure, but that’s not Anderson’s problem. — Karina Longworth, Village Voice
2. Moonrise Kingdom (344 lists; 43 top spots)
1. Zero Dark Thirty (366 lists; 77 top spots)
[Its] moral ambiguity will drive some viewers nuts, but in my view it is also the quality that makes “Zero Dark Thirty” something close to a masterpiece. — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com
Includes the following 2011 votes: The Turin Horse (24 lists, 4 top spots); The Kid With a Bike (16 lists); Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (14 lists; 1 top spot); This is Not a Film (10 lists; 1 top spot); The Deep Blue Sea (5 lists); Oslo, August 31st (3 lists); The Grey (1 list); Take This Waltz (1 list)
I don’t remember The Assassination of Jesse James coming to my city
I saw No Country for Old Men, and I paid attention. I am still flummoxed at the number of people who are making excuses for this films non-ending. I liked the movie alot, but it lacked KEY elements of a story like climax and dynamic characters. And if you think you paid attention and “got it” then you tell me and everyone else who reads this site what the climax was and who was/were the dynamic character(s)! I bet some people will try but I dont think anyone can do it. And if youre reading this Peter Travers, Im calling you out. You tell us what you gathered when you “paid attention”. Edify me!
David – I’m not a big fan of the movie (21/2 out of 5, at best), but one of the reasons I did like it was that the structure of the story DIDN’T include a normal climax and tried to do something different. There was a climax but it happened off-screen and we missed it. Is this the best way to tell a story? I don’t think it worked but I’m happy that someone tried to do something different.
With that said, I agree with your frustration with film critics who say they like something but never justify their reasons. I watched the VH1 special on the broadcast film critics awards and some of their reasons for liking a film or a performance sounded more like the reasons why any 16 year old would like something. Tell me your opinion and then give me real examples to back up your opinion. “It blew me away” or “I fell in love with this movie” should be outlawed from any future movie reviews.
Here’s what I thought about No Country (which I loved by the way).
The obvious theme of the movie is good versus evil. If you think about it, this struggle is on going. This movie did not have a definite climax or ending in order to represent that real life battle that continues as we type.
I also think that Tommy Lee Jones’ character was pretty dynamic. For most of the movie he is a “good guy” who is fighting the good fight without questioning because he knows his father is waiting for him and that it is all worth it. But this country is “no country for old men.” He is realizing throughout the movie that times are changing, new evil is creeping in (represented by Anton) and he wonders whether he should even bother trying to keep up with it anymore.
That was my take on it, anyway, I hope to hear back from you, David.
I agree with Daniel. I felt like the story was a contrast between the apparition of evil to an honest man and a dishonest man. If Anton represents the presence of evil in this world, implacable and immutable, as his final scene would suggest, then what ultimately happens to Llewellyn and the sheriff is the basis for the film’s morality, and each of the three characters reaches his own personal resolution by the film’s end. And if you look at Tommy Lee Jones’ struggle as the viewer’s struggle, then the end of the film provides absolute closure for the question at the heart of the film.
Don’t read this if you haven’t seen No Country For Old Men yet.
No Country For Old Men is a meditation on the fear of growing old and dying. It is told from the point of view of an aging sheriff who sees death everywhere he looks. His fear throughout the film is that he is getting too old to contribute anything anymore and he is just going to wither away and die. He tells his crippled uncle that he feels “over-matched”. The end of the film, specifically the final monologue delivered by Tommy Lee Jones, represents acceptance of death. He says he knows when he gets there, his father will be waiting for him. He looks sad and terrified, because death is such an unknown frontier. But he has at least come to terms with it.
The storylines of Llewellyn Moss and Anton Chigurh are metaphorically significant to this theme. Llewellyn represents how people indulge in superficial pursuits over their lives without giving much of a second thought to their own mortality until they get to be Sheriff Bell’s age (that is, if they make it that far). Anton Chigurh represents the Angel of Death himself. Sheriff Bell’s uncle responds to the news of the sheriff’s retirement and his feeling of being “over-matched” by telling him the story of another uncle in their family who was meaninglessly gunned down on his own front porch many years ago and says “What you got aint nothing new.” Obviously this refers to the same fears we’ve been discussing here.
We all choose to live our lives however we see fit, many times we act selfishly and forget our place. But at the end of the day, we “can’t stop what’s coming”. We all go to the same place, and someday we must all accept that. I’d say that acceptance is as satisfying a conclusion to this story as there could possibly be.
I love this movie/book and this is the best explanation I’ve ever heard on it. However, the story is also a comment on the (author’s perceived) moral de-evolution of modern day American society. The morbid remains of the Mexican stand-off serves as a microcosmic foreshadowing of the entire chain of events that is about to occur – as well as a prophetic statement about the younger generations taking control of American society.
The explanations are all good; but, it’s an extrapolation of what’s presented on the screen.
There Will Be Blood is a bulldozer of a movie. Or should I say Daniel Day-Lewis bulldozes his way through the Daniel Plainview character. I saw this film at a screening in September and the thing still resonates with me. I don’t remember the last time I have seen a movie where practically every human emotion is displayed on screen, to where you are moved with the same types of emotions. Near perfect movie making all the way around, and Anderson has made a gigantic leap forward in his writing and directing. And Day-Lewis IS Plainview. You are watching Daniel Plainview, not Daniel Day-Lewis. It’s almost scary how that guy can become another person. Total immersion. You just shake your head in wonderment. I can’t wait to see it again when it’s released in January. Oh… No Country For Old Men is also my top film of 2007.
, No, I booked my fihglt online and rode the plane. Oh and another one I also get is Do you still live in teepees. Which is wrong cuz I’m not a plains Indian that you see on those old black and white western videos but rather Navajo and our traditional home is the hogan. All in all, I agree with ya on your blog about your view of stereotypes. But sometimes, you find a person that embodies the stereotype and you can’t help but smile. And as for the Japanese one. I gotta do some research of my own to see if it is true. Haha. J/K.
I like all the different views on No Country for Old Men and I felt it was such a great film because it’s so rich with layers and different themes one could draw from. So, I’d like to share mine, it’s similar to other people’s but I’d still like to share it.
When I first walked out of the theater I saw it as being a story about how it’s impossible for any of us to prevent death. The line “You can’t stop what’s comin’ ” from the Sheriff’s cousin towards the end of the film is key. Throughout the entire film the characters are constantly trying to escape Anton (an agent of death) and buy their way out. In the end though Moss still dies, and while it wasn’t by Anton’s hand it still happened. Then after that Anton goes to Moss’ wife and offers her a chance to get out of dying and she rejects it, proving herself to be the only person in the entire film that will accept her fate.
Then the final moments of the film help solidify this theme. After leaving the wife’s house Anton is the car wreck, basically the universes’ way of reminding him that no matter how he sees himself he’s not the angel of death, he’s not a supernatural force, he’s just another superhuman being and it might not happen today, it might not happen tomorrow but he’s still going to die.
The sheriff’s final dream at the end involves his father riding off to prepare a camp for him, his father doesn’t even look at him. His father’s ashamed that his son didn’t keep fighting for the good in the world. He might have died at Anton’s hand if he kept on searching but it would have been an honorable death. But just because he escaped Anton does not mean he’s escaped death and his father is still going ahead of him to prepare a place for him.
Also, I thought I’d add in addition to No Country for Old Men my other favorite movies of 2007 are The Assassination of Jesse James and Zodiac. There’s alot on this list I haven’t gotten the oppurtunity to see yet because in my town we don’t get alot of the limited release stuff till later but I’m eagerly awaiting There Will Be Blood and Juno among others.
I’d just like to say one more thing, my favorite movie of the year so far isn’t on this list (I haven’t seen Sweeney yet which will probably become my favorite when I do). That movie is Lars and the Real Girl. I highly reccomend it to everyone who likes comedies or dramas, because really its both. Its a definate must see, one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
Yes. Lars and The Real Girl, Rescue Dawn, Gone Baby Gone, 3:10 To Yuma I would say personally, are missing from this list.
Greetings: Thanks so much for including my list from MSNBC.com. But for future reference, my first name has no “f” in it. Cheers, and Happy New Year.
The top three films on this list are killer. “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood” and “Zodiac” will be remembered for a long time as masterpieces by The Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher.
Top 10 list from The Times-Picayune in New Orleans
DAVID -
I loved this movie and paid attention enough to interpret it in my own way…great films are ambiguous.
This is a film about a man who wishes he could have known his father better…and that he could have ‘saved’ him, had he known him better. At the end of the film it is clear that either time has past and Tommy lee is now retired, or no time has passed and he has BEEN retired. The main action has been his dream.
Llewellen (Brolin) represented Tommy Lee Jones’s father as “the younger man’ in the main action. Tommy says he had two dreams at the end of the film: one where his father gave him some money and then he lost it…and the other where his father was “the younger man”.
I decided to read the book to see if it would confirm my take on it…there are things that link and things that don’t…but to me the most profound evidence for my interpretation comes in the final sentence of the novel: “And then I woke up.”
Cool site! I can tell you put a lot of work into it. Here’s my top 10 list from 2007, I write for Study Breaks Magazine, INsite Magazine and keep all my reviews archived on coleandbobby.com. Thanks!
Is it a typo that the text for #31 and #34 are the same?
Any updates coming up?
Guess not lol
I will do one final update this weekend. There aren’t many additional lists coming out, but I do hope to add 2000 – 2005 in the next few weeks as well.
I found you another 10 best list. It’s from the Corsair Newspaper in Santa Monica, Ca. I found it in their print edition but it wasn’t posted on their online. It’s done by Jonathan Ramos, their Arts & Leisure editor.
1. The Kite Runner
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Once
4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
5. 3:10 to Yuma
6. I’m Not There
7. The Darjeeling Limited
8. Juno
9.Away From Her
10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
i am really excited of 2008 version . when will it be posted on this site??
I enjoy checking out this compilation each year. Thanks so much for your hard work.
Here’s my 2008 list if you’d like to add it to the pot:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28303301/
Cheers (and Happy Holidays),
Alonso
Time for an update
Send me an email when you get a chance and I will send you our member’s individual top 10 lists–I see you already have our combined list up. I thought I had your email from last year but I guess not. Talk with you soon.
I don’t understand this chart. where are the lists? which lists are being calculated?
re @Nathaniel
Its not that hard to figure it out; just click on critics top 10 lists.
Is there a final update coming? It’s been saying for weeks that there will be one final one, but so far there’s been nothing!
Halo! The babes are here! This is my favorite site to visit. I make sure I am alone in case I get too hot. Post your favorite link here.
Oops. I hadn’t checked the individual lists until too late.
I see you’ve already included the Slant staff’s Top Tens.
Here’s a 2008 top ten from Aaron Dumont:
10. Death in the Land of Encantos
9. Rachel Getting Married
8. Let the Right One In
7. The Beaches of Agnes
6. Standard Operating Procedure
5. My Winnipeg
4. Hunger
3. United Red Army
2. Che
1. Synecdoche, New York
Oops. That shouldn’t say Death in the Land of Encantos.
That should read “Import/Export”. My bad.
Hey… when are we getting 2009′s list? Movie City News has their first list up!
…that was timely
Nice to see the 2009 list up (and especially nice to see the Coens placing so well again). Will there be a best-of-decade page up as well?
Am I not seeing it, or is there no page that has the individual lists for 2009 up yet? Is there going to be?
Yay! Glad to see the list up, and already surprised and intrigued by some of the placements (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Headless Woman). I’m sure you’ve got enough work on your hands right now, but I look forward to seeing the quotes to make the case for each one! In the meantime, happy to see Hurt Locker atop the heap, and Coraline sneaking in there.
thanks for the update
no.2 film inglourious basterds should have 174 lists, 23 top spots so far if i’m not mistaken.
Wow – it doesn’t seem anything is going to catch The Hurt Locker. If it hadn’t come out in the summer and grossed only a tiny amount, I’d say it was a lock for a nomination and perhaps a win.
I’ve seen a couple of end-of-decade polls but they only cover a couple dozen lists at the most; it would be interesting to see what a big survey would contain. I really hope you’ll put up a best-of-decade page here!
Hey! You have already upload the first 2010 list! That’s awesome!
Any chance you can post the individual lists of the critics for 2010? I am interested in seeing the breakdown, but also in each critics list.
This site is pretty cool. Looking forward to see who’ll take the #2 spot.
Where are these lists?! There’s only been like 5 or 6 lists posted on AwardsDaily yet you’re saying there’s 23 already? Where are they?
Where are these lists?! There’s only been like 5 or 6 lists posted on AwardsDaily yet you’re saying there’s 23 already? Where are they?
Oops, didn’t realize that double posted…sorry
Here is my list of 10 best movies of 2011
1.Hugo
2.Nader and Simin, A Seperation
3.The Tree of Life
4.Beginners
5.Margin Call
6.Drive
7.The Descendants
8.The Artist
9.Moneyball
10.War Horse
Top Ten as of 12/16/11 (Still 10+ films to see)
01- The Tree of Life
02- This is Not a Film
03- Mysteries of Lisbon
04- Take Shelter
05- The Muppets
06- Certified Copy
07- A Separation
08- The Kid with a Bike
09- Midnight in Paris
10- Melancholia
So glad to see The Tree of Life clambering to the top spot – it’s easily my #1 movie of a pretty good year – considering it came out over the summer & I was sure a backlash would have started to build by now. It will get nominated but has no chance in hell of winning (I’d say Hazanavicius, Payne or Fincher will get it – the latter two more in recognition of past films than of their new ones).
A bigger surprise is Drive doing so well – it’s also been pretty polarizing & I was expecting, like the Malick film, to see its acclaim drop in the months since it came out, but the opposite seems to have happened. I had mixed feelings about it back in September but I really should take another look.
The love for The Tree of Life is unfounded considering that film lacks a remotely entertaining or coherant story…in reality it’s little more then a video art installment. I think the critics were brainwashed or something by the eyegasms from the Planet Earth sequence.
“The love for The Tree of Life is unfounded considering that film lacks a remotely entertaining or coherant story”
I’m glad you can determine that for us. But, in reality, the fact that you found that it lacks a “remotely entertaining or coherent story” doesn’t mean that everyone else feels the same way. I personally found it to be an enormously entertaining film, and one of enormous emotional resonance. While I do have some problems with the structure and overall worldview of the film, I do think it is a pretty exceptional film. Also, the “video art installation” line has been making it’s way around the internet, and the only thing that the line reveals is the fact that most people have never seen a “video art installation,” nor do they have any familiarity with art cinema.
A general clue for life: If your best argument is “I didn’t like the film therefore anyone who did must be brainwashed,” you automatically fail. That is to say, your opinion that the film isn’t very good is perfectly valid – your opinion on the “brainwashed” nature of those who do like it isn’t valid, and the fact that you think it is says a lot about your own maturity.
No matter how strong your feelings are on the subject, you do not have the one true reading of the film, nor is your opinion strong and definitive enough that anyone who disagrees with it reveals themselves to be “brainwashed.”
Or, to use your tactics of assigning ulterior motives to those who disagree with your opinion and/or questioning the legitimacy and “objectivity” of opinions that differ from your own, it’s too bad you’re such a contrarian that, even though you loved it, you feel obligated to bash “The Tree of Life” just because other people praised it. Stop being brainwashed by anti-conformists and start learning to express your true feelings.
The love for The Tree of Life is unfounded considering that film lacks a remotely entertaining or coherant story…in reality it’s little more then a video art installment, lol
Do you consider foreign list? Here is Norway’s largest paper, VG’s list. They do a pretty good list every year.
1. Drive
2. Kongens tale
3. Melancholia
4. Winter’s bone
5. Under huden
6.Black Swan
7. Another Year
8. True Grit
9. Rango
10. Tree of Life
source: http://www.vg.no/film/artikkel.php?artid=10016729
I don’t want this to become a slippery slope, but I’d really love to see a list for 1999. It’s often considered one of the best years in film history, and this site goes back to 2000… just one year away, come on now!!!
critics from Sydney, Australia:
http://www.mattriviera.net/2011/12/sydney-film-critics-best-of-2011.html
The problem with including foreign lists are that release dates are different. Black Swan, True Grit, Another Year were released in 2010 in North America, but several other countries got them in 2011. Also, not all of these movies will open in every country so that’s a bit of a disadvantage when you include a country’s list that had no access to said film.
Very true Jesse. Although most festival titles have opened as far as I know, while missing some studio titles like J.Edgar.
Annual list from different critics by allocine:
http://www.allocine.fr/article/dossiers/cinema/dossier-18591747/
another foreign list however, from France.
Thanks for the list! The other lists doesn’t even come close to the number of lists you have here.
And if you haven’t already have these, here’s a few top 10s from the folks at Film Threat: http://www.filmthreat.com/features/44746/comment-page-1/
Thanks so much for maintaining this page. It’s an invaluable resource for me every year.
First: awesome site. I love trying to record this stuff.
Secondly: you really need to get some citations. I would love to see which lists gave which movies top spots. Please? Thanks.
I’ll add to the thanks – every year this is always fascinating to look at.
As you mentioned at the top of the page, it’s interesting that there’s been no real runaway winner this year, or even any films making a majority of lists – Brokeback Mountain, I think, was the last ‘winner’ not to reach that threshold.
critics from Brisbane, Australia:
http://www.thefilmpie.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2313:brisbane-film-critics-select-drive-as-best-of-2011-&catid=38:blog&Itemid=59
Reverse Shot’s top 10:
http://reverseshot.com/article/reverse_shots_best_2011
I love this site. But nobody seems to make any comments any more.
I don’t understand why Drive only recieved one Oscar nomination
i agree
It’s not very accessible, is it? You need to invest some thought and a special appreciation for it cause otherwise it could seem like an empty arthouse exercise about nothing in particular. Same reason MMMM, Take Shelter and Shame didn’t have a shot last year. Not to mention the extreme violence in Drive…
Awesome site. Keep up the great, hard work. I use this as a main resource for 2000s movies, while I use They Shoot Pictures for older films.
What’s happening with the 2004 list?
Great site. (one mistake: in 2006 I don’t think you spell ”The Queen” —> ”The Qeen”)
2011 IMO:
1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Rundskop
4. Margin Call
5. The Tree of Life
6. Drive
7. The Artist
8. Ides of March
9. Carnage
10. Moneyball
11. A Separation
12. Les Intouchables
13. Hugo
14. Rango
15. The Help
So when’s the party kicking off this year?
Exactly? You still have some followers here.
Hurrah. Been checking up on this page for a couple of weeks now. Glad it’s back.
Given what the critics’ groups have been saying so far, looks like Kathryn Bigelow will top the list again – it may even be by a margin like The Social Network or No Country for Old Men managed, but of course it’s too early to tell for sure. Looking forward to seeing what other films place in the top ten – hopefully Looper won’t get squeezed out.
Hey, this is a great blog, but some suggestions:
1. PLEASE update your banner pictures.
2. Try to make the comments MOST RECENT on top, instead of seeing comments from 2007
3. You need to show citations and data, because I’m not sure how accurate some of these numbers are.
I always look forward to this site in December. Keep up the great work!
Bellissima lista ma non trovare film come On The Road o Snow White & the Huntsman è una vera delusione….! Ma si sa i critici quest’anno ce l’hanno con Kristen Stewart e così facendo non si accorgono che con il loro fare ci rimettono grandi attrici e attori come CharlizeTheron , Chris Hemsworth , Sam Claflin, Hedlund, Sam Riley , Tom Sturridge, Kirsten Dunst, e una grande Amy Adams che sicuramente si porterà a casa molti premi a gennaio tra cui il Golden Globes e può essere anche un Oscar!!!!
I would like it if you could supply a database of links to every top 10 used.
yay!!! The Master is leading!!!
I really hope Killer Joe gets a place.
I’d love to see if Killer Joe gets a place.
Hmm, where are The Sessions, Monsieur Lazhar, Middle of Nowhere, Elena, Frankenweenie, Sister, Footnote, Chico and Rita, Keep the Lights On and In Darkness?
All of these received great reviews – in general descending order. Are critics schizophrenic or is some stuff missing here??
I was wondering that too. The Master was not well received by critics with only 85% at RT but it’s at No. 1. The same thing happened last year with The Tree of Life.
There are definitely some movies that are legitimate critical hits but fare poorly in Top 10 rankings, because they seem to be a lot of people’s #15 choice but somehow nobody’s #10. (This is especially true of documentaries, by the way.) End of Watch is another.
It’s paradoxical, in a way. How many of the movies you named were in your top 10? I’m disappointed to not see Monsieur Lazhar — but it’s #11 on my list right now. If we see a ton of films, we would like this top 40 list to match our own, but that requires some people liking our number 11 to 40, which we really, really liked, even better than we did — much better, in fact. I thought it scandalous that The Prestige got 0 votes in the Sight and Sound Poll and hence does not rank among the 1000++ movies of all time, when I have it as #20 … but if I had been voting, I wouldn’t have voted for it myself! Given that, it’s surprising that the system works as well as it does.
To answer your general question, though, there are way more than 40 movies in a year that get significant critical love.
It’s fabulous to see this site back up (when did that happen?). The re-design, with the photos and critic blurbs, makes for a very attractive experience.
However, for a true film buff, it’s frustrating. There’s no longer any links to the actual separate lists, from which I used to compile my own rankings, rankings that included any film that got a mention. I’d include mentions from previous years for films that were making the rounds of festivals, and eventually from subsequent years for critics who came to a film late.
And I suspect that the person compiling the lists is not a math fan, because the proper way to do this is to not simply count the number of list inclusions, but to give points depending on where a film is ranked 1 through 10 (18 points down to 9) — the problem of course then being that any critic who futzes with a strict 1 to 10 ranking (like giving a top 3 and listing 7 more films alphabetically, or worse yet, 8 more films) needs to be treated correctly, and that requires a certain comfort level with the math.
And of course the biggest problem now is that you’re showing just 40 films a year. I think that’s a good number to show (50 might be better), but you also have to have a list that goes much deeper. You probably would have missed Blade Runner entirely in its year! I’d say that there are easily 100 films truly worth seeing in any given year, and I’ve discovered a bunch by spotting them in the 41-100 range of previous lists.
I wouldn’t complain like this if I weren’t actually willing to *do all the work to provide corrected, complete lists for each year.* Just give me the raw data! Besides being an insane film buff, I’m a nationally-known stats guy for my work in baseball; in fact, ESPN Magazine is interviewing me next week for an article they’re doing on former baseball statistical consultants.
You’ve done an incredible service to the film-buff community by collecting these lists. It would be a shame to have that data languish with its full potential untapped, and I’d love to help you extract the maximum value from it (I’ve got ideas that go way beyond just listing the results.) Please e-mail me!
Why would you specifically start at 18 points for Number 1 and end with 9 points for Number 10 ? You could choose any range for this allocation of points, depending on whether you most value consensus or passionate support in your rankings (though it’s arguable that any movie listed even at 10th place from a film critic is already a passionate choice given the amount of films they see every year). You could also scale the range (of points awarded) with a multiplier. Since you have an infinite number of choices isn’t it almost impossible to get a sense of what it means really when you choose this range instead of that one? I know you just have to choose whatever in the end and get on with it, but it’s just that your 9 to 18 method seems like such a random choice.
It’s admittedly somewhat arbitrary. You want the ratio of points awarded for #1 to points awarded for #10 to reflect the ratio of perceived excellence or worth of the two films. Obviously, no one thinks their favorite film of the year is ten times as good as their tenth favorite film. A 2:1 ratio seems right to me. It makes the #1 film 20% better than the #4 film, and 50% better than the #7 film. When I look at last year, that means A Separation is 20% better than Poetry, 50% better than Take Shelter, and twice as good as Incendies. All of that seems reasonable to me. (I didn’t invent the 9 to 18 scale, by the way.)
Having established the ratio of values for #1 and #10, you then need to construct the scale for the intervening ones. In reality, it’s probably not linear, but assuming it is makes the math much easier. And the linear scale where #1 is twice as large as #10 is 18 to 9.
In practice what you’re really doing is giving 1 to 10 points for the ranking, plus X for just getting mentioned at all. I’m saying I believe the best value for X is 8, because it produces the 2:1 ratio. But I would be open to counter-arguments: if most other people thought the 2:1 ratio should be higher or lower, I’d go with the consensus.
Oh, in case it wasn’t clear, those 2011 movies were from my personal top 10. Anyone testing whether the 2:1 ratio feels right to them, obviously, should use their own top 10 from some year. But for the opinion to be valid, I think you have to have seen essentially everything of merit (I’ve seen 122 films from 2011). If you miss a film that would have actually made your top 10, that will make the 2:1 ratio seem too small.
This is my favorite website for approx. 8 weeks every year.
Thank you.
Now that some mentioned it I am quite confused that End of Watch and The Sessions aren’t even in the top 40. Both hugely popular movies with the critics this year.
Having said that, looking at other Top 10 aggregated lists at Indiewire and Metacritic, I can see that neither of these made their top 50/20s either. I suppose that’s the difference between a review aggregator like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic, and a Top 10 list aggregator, which doesn’t measure how many critics liked a movie, but how much they LOVED it.
And so he said they shall be 50, and there were 50.
Apparently this is what the esetmeed Willis was talkin\’ \’bout.
dro3JR zgmrearjtsng
The “always extraordinary” Michelle Williams!?!?!?! She and Anne Hathaway RUINED Brokeback Mountain.
You say Toy Story got 1st place in 1995, where are the critics compilations of 90s films?
My top 10 films of 2012
10. Compliance
9. Les Miserables
8. Silver Linings Playbook
7. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Searching for Sugar Man
4. Life of Pi
3. Looper
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild
1. The Master
Thank you for doing this. This a great amount of work.
My Top films for the century:
NOTE: I’m still missing some acclaimed masterpieces like Yi Yi, In the Moo for Love, Before Sunset, Walking Life….
1. L’enfant
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Mulholland Drive
4. The Master
5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
6. Punch-Drunk Love
7. Lost in Translation
8. Capote
9. The Ghost Writer
10. (Memento, it’s from 2000 so I don’t know if this counts)
10.’ WALL-E