December 17: Now Playing / MCN Critic Poll

The charts are up at last, the Movie City News compilation of critic top ten lists. They'll keep updating it every few days until early January, and you can expect things to shift around. But count on Wall-E, Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire staying in the top five or so. Gratifying for me that In Bruges, a personal favourite, hasn't been forgotten at year end, even though it debuted in late winter: pity that SILENT LIGHT and SHOTGUN STORIES have been so little noticed, due to limited distribution. 

DOUBT is new this week, a definite Soul Food must-see: Pacific Theatre didn't manage to get the rights for John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer play, so you'll have to settle for Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in place of Gina Chiarelli, Kyle Rideout and Rebecca Deboer. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE relocates director Danny Boyle's fascination with the spiritual effect of sudden wealth to the slums and televisions of India - terrific film. 

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL remake is also new in town: director Scott Derrickson spoke at the film festival Regent College held a few years back, and considering his other films (HELLRAISER: INFERNO, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE) it's no surprise he's turned to this 1950s B-movie sci-fi classic with Christological overtones

Here's more of the MOVIE CITY NEWS list...
(With the numbering corrected, plus other bits and pieces)

1 . Wall-E (Videomatica)
2 . Dark Knight (Videomatica)
3 . Slumdog Millionaire (5th TT) Soul Food, RR#6
4 . The Wrestler (limited US release Dec 17)
5 . Milk (5th Scotia etc)
6 . Curious Case of Benjamin Button (new: RC 5th SC etc)
7 . Rachel Getting Married (gone: DVD not yet available) Soul Food, RR#10
8 . Christmas Tale (G7)
9 . Frost/Nixon (TT)
10 . Synecdoche, New York (G7)
11 . In Bruges (Videomatica) Soul Food, RR#2
12 . Let The Right One In (gone: DVD not yet available)
13 . Edge Of Heaven (Videomatica)
14 . The Visitor (Videomatica)
15 . Man On Wire (Videomatica)
16 . Happy-Go-Lucky (gone: DVD not yet available)
17 . I've Loved You So Long (gone: DVD not yet available)
18 . 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Videomatica)
19 . Wendy & Lucy (limited US release Dec 10)
20 . The Reader (limited US release Dec 10, wide release Jan 9)
21 . Revolutionary Road (limited US release Dec 2)
22 . Pineapple Express (DVD Jan 6)
23 . Iron Man (Videomatica)
24 . Changeling (G7 SC etc)
25 . Doubt (new: 5th SC) Soul Food
26 . Frozen River (gone: DVD not yet available)
27 . Waltz With Bashir (Dec 26)
28 . Encounters at the End of the World (Videomatica)
29 . Standard Operating Procedure (Videomatica)
30 . Gran Torino (limited release Dec 12, wide release Jan 29)
30 . Vicky Cristina Barcelona (TT)(DVD Jan 27)  

OTHER FILMS OF INTEREST

Appaloosa (DVD Jan 13) RR#5
Australia (TT SC Park Rio etc.)
Ballast (NY release Oct 1)
Be Kind, Rewind (Videomatica)
Bella (most video stores) Soul Food, RR#9
Boy In The Striped Pajamas (gone: DVD not yet available)
Burn After Reading (DVD Dec 23)
Che (limited release Dec 12, wide Jan 24)
Chop Shop (Videomatica)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (SC RC Oak Scotia P&T etc) Soul Food?
Defiance (limited release Dec 31: wide Jan 16)
Fall, The (Videomatica)
Four Christmases (TT SC RC P&T etc)
I.O.U.S.A. (limited release since August)
Miracle at St Anna (gone: DVD not yet available) Soul Food?
My Winnipeg (Videomatica)
Paranoid Park (Videomatica) RR#11
Redbelt (Videomatica) RR#7
Shotgun Stories (Videomatica) Soul Food, RR#3
Silent Light (gone: DVD not yet available) Soul Food, RR#1
Son Of Rambow (Videomatica) RR#8
Tell No One (gone: DVD not yet available)
Tropic Thunder (Videomatica)
Trouble The Water (limited release since August)
U23D (gone: DVD not yet available) Soul Food, RR#4
Valkyrie (new: SC Dunbar etc)
W. (gone: DVD not yet available)

5th = Fifth Avenue
G7 = Granville 7
Oak = Oakridge
P&T = Park & Tilford
RC = Richmond Centre
SC = Silvercity
Scotia = Scotiabank
TT = Cinemark Tinseltown

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PS Here's the previous chart, the first of this year's MCN scoreboards, from December 15. Just for the record.