With NBR, we should start having the first wave of year-ending top 10 lists. On top of that, Engin just updated his awesome site to get ready. Here is what he said at OW:

Thoughts on 2001-2004:

Go Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!!!

Look how high the LOTR films are.

that site just reminds me how reletively bad this year truly has been. :/

Before Sunset

40 #1's!!!
5th Best in all of the films throughout the 4 years the top ten lists have been out!

No kidding. Almost all of the top 20 is better.

I can't imagine the amount of time it takes to compile all the lists.

Hm, in the past four years I've not seen 23 of the (103) films with the most critical support.

I'm almost afraid to admit which ones, for fear of being eaten by some around here, but...here goes:
(excuse the CAPS LOCK, that wasnt me. :O)

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
IN THE BEDROOM
MOULIN ROUGE
THE PIANIST
FINDING NEVERLAND
THE STATION AGENT
COLD MOUNTAIN
VERA DRAKE
SEXY BEAST
ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER
HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH
BLOODY SUNDAY
TIME OUT
THE FOG OF WAR
THE DEEP END
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
TOGETHER
THE GLEANERS & I
FAT GIRL
24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE
MONSOON WEDDING
NO MAN'S LAND
QUIET AMERICAN

Which should I make a priority? :O

I haven´t seen a few of those (and don´t wanna check the whole list of 103 films or I´ll get depressed) but of the ones I saw, there are a few really great ones, IMO: "Hedwig" and "No man´s land" I enjoyed the most. Truly amazing. I am amashed that I haven´t seen "The pianist", yet...

The Pianist, Moulin Rouge and Cold Mountain!

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
Is actually a movie I don't really like. It has great Cinematography and the dreamy side-stories about Mexico's past give the film a lot of power. The trio will be discussing blow jobs and then it will talk about local lore... But the ending is just contrived and it doesn't all add up. The lady in this is great, and it is decently well written. But the ending. Hmmmm.

IN THE BEDROOM
In the Bedroom's ending is a bit of a strech, but the performances here make it deserving of it's nomination.

MOULIN ROUGE
One of the best films of this new century. This is a must.

THE PIANIST
Pianist is a good movie that tells a story that we seem to know by heart now. In that sense it is "another World War II" movie, but a good one. Adrien Brody and the Production design are the pull here. This one has some harrowing images though... especially what happens to the man in a wheel chair. The "set" at the end of the movie with the destroyed buildings is amazing (quotes because they are real destroyed buildings!)

FINDING NEVERLAND
Personally I think this film is awful. Depp is good here (like usual) but it's manipulative and uninteresting. If you've seen Shakespeare in Love this is about the same.

THE STATION AGENT
I actually thought this one was a bit over-rated. The performances were praised to death but there's nothing here which really gives them any chance to excel. It's basically about a dwarf, and when his friend at the train store dies, Patricia Clarkson (who is better in Pieces of April) and this other guy who I can't remember become friends and have minor drama. Lots of scenes of quiet moments.

COLD MOUNTAIN
Jude Law is dumbstruck for most of the film. Nicole Kidman frets about. Renee is over the top in every scene. I would say avoid it if it wasn't for the wonderful production design, the excellent opening battle, and 5-minutes of the best Natalie Portman performance ever committed to film.

VERA DRAKE
Old lady who performs abortions for local women. It's kind of one of those old-world-meets-new-world type of stories. Mostly great movie with great performances, although the arrest itself seems to take up 1/3 of the film and has a lot of crying.

SEXY BEAST
Haven't really seen this (it's a long story) but my friend Mike... this is his favorite film.

ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER
It's not very good in my opinion. The story told here is not true although it's presented a bit like a documentary. Once I found out it wasn't a true story then I was pissed about relatively bad acting and a movie that needed to be MUCH shorter than it's 3 hour length. I like heavy Russian dramas and it took me 3 separate viewings to get all the way through Atanarjuat.

HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH
See it. It's a fun film with great music. After you see it, buy the CD with the songs. In the vien of Rocky Horror Picture Show. With more penis. Don't fight it. You know you like it. The film is, in a large sense, about inadequacy!

THE FOG OF WAR
One of the best documentaries. I liked it because despite the director's ambition, McNamara (sp? sorry) obviously is stearing the discussion to some extent. In that way it seems a little unchained and unexpected. McNamara is an interesting man. He is responsible for what he considers to be war crimes yet he's also one of the ones responsible for helping create the seat-belt, which have saved hundereds of thousands of lives.

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
It's okay. It's not really that special in my opinion.

TOGETHER
I've seen Together but can't remember it much :o

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE
I love this movie. Coogan is great here. It's a little crazy in parts. If you are in to British music at all (Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, etc.) then you will get a kick out of this movie.

MONSOON WEDDING
My Big Fat Indian Wedding. Nah, it's not that bad. It's a lush little wedding movie.

NO MAN'S LAND
Surprising.

QUIET AMERICAN
Boring with good performances.


You should see Moulin Rouge immediately. Otherwise, the only things here that are necessary are Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Fog of War, The Pianist and maybe Cold Mountain (so you have a point of reference).

Maybe it's because I love political movies and the Graham Greene's novel, but I don't it's boring at all. I think it's a brilliant movie. The best about the american role in Vietnam.

First real critic top 10 list of the year, from Newsweek's David Ansen:

1. HEAD-ON: A rough German masterpiece about two lost Turks transformed by love.
2. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: Clooney's stunning, stirring tribute to a brave journalist.
3. KINGS AND QUEEN: Exhilaratingly unpredictable French gem about the havoc wreaked by a bourgeois femme fatale.
4. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: Ang Lee's devastating gay love story of the New West. A watershed.
5. THE BEST OF YOUTH: This Italian epic follows two brothers from '66 to now. It's six hours. You don't want it to end.
6. CAPOTE: Smart, unblinking portrait of a charming, ruthless genius.
7. CACHÉ: This chillingly ambiguous thriller shows a French couple under siege. Is the enemy without or within?
8. MUNICH: Spielberg's tense, disturbing study of terrorism and reprisal.
9. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE: Painfully funny comedy of a bookish family's self-destructing.
10. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Small-town hero or savage gangster? Cronenberg's tight, provocative teaser.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10414362/site/newsweek/

That is quite an interesting list! Odd mix, but very interesting. I expect Good Night, and Good Luck to end up in the top 3 of the year with these critics lists.

yeah, that's a great list (judging purely by me expectations/anticipations.) i really wanna see best of youth. i've heard that "6 hours but you dont want it to end" thing more than a lot...id love for that to be the case. is it out on (american) dvd yet?

I think it's coming out this month if it hasn't come out yet. I really wanted to see that when it was playing near me but I think I was taking exams at the time or something and it was only a one week engagement. I dunno, but I was pissed I missed it.

Hmmm kinda suprised Kong didnt make Ansen's top 10, he did rave about it.

I saw it, it's great. Will most likely end up in my Top 10 of the year as well.

That seems like a good list... but I have to say, "Head on", while ok, didn´t feel all that much to me at all...

Y Tu Mama Tambien. Hands down. Followed by Moulin Rouge. Fog of War was good too.

As a cinephile and lover of all genres, Im always a bit leery when films I havent seen or followed show up on top 10 lists.

foreign films shouldn't be factored into any top 10 lists.

well thats the the thing...you havent seen em, cuz they get two week two theater runs in LA/NY. you live in what? idaho? course you ahvent seen em.



:O

as for not following, there are tons of movies youre not gonna "follow" every year, for the simple fact that there are way too many. that said, i'd heard of every film on that list, most of them enough to want to see em.

you fail, loyal. :O

One, I'm currently living in Tampa and my package goods reside in Iowa, not to be confused with IDAHO.

Two, I also think foreign films and extreme indies should be excluded from Top 10 lists.

Those lists scream pretention and really, who wants to be like Dolce.

meh, corn, potatoes same difference.
half my top ten in the past two years have been foreign...
but you do have a point...

*rearranges top ten lists*





:O;)