Monday, December 27, 2010

The Films Of 2010 (MCN) Dec 24 third tally

The latest iteration of the Movie City News tabulation of film critics' end-of-year Top Ten lists.

Movie City News | Critic Top Tens 2010
Dec 24 2010

1 Social Network, The | 466 points, 59 lists Videomatica Jan 11
2 Winter's Bone | 268.5 points, 41 lists Videomatica
3 Toy Story 3 | 199 points, 34 lists Videomatica
4 Black Swan | 185.5 points, 29 lists onscreen
5 Inception | 165.5 points, 25 lists Videomatica
6 Carlos | 155.5 points, 23 lists
7 Kids Are Alright, The | 151 points, 28 lists Videomatica
8 King's Speech, The | 143.5 points, 24 lists onscreen
9 Ghost Writer, The | 123.5 points, 22 lists Videomatica
10 127 Hours | 118.5 points, 23 lists onscreen

11 True Grit | 104.5 points, 24 lists onscreen
12 Another Year | 95.5 points, 17 lists
12 Exit Through the Gift Shop | 90 points, 17 lists Videomatica
14 Inside Job | 86 points, 14 lists onscreen
14 A Prophet | 69.5 points, 14 lists Videomatica
16 Dogtooth | 68 points, 12 lists
16 Wild Grass | 68 points, 10 lists Videomatica
18 Town, The | 67.5 points, 13 lists Videomatica
19 Fighter, The | 62.5 points, 14 lists onscreen
20 Let Me In | 62 points, 9 lists Videomatica Feb 1

21 Greenberg | 59 points, 7 lists Videomatica
22 Enter the Void | 51.5 points, 9 lists Videomatica Jan 15
23 Sweetgrass | 51 points, 11 lists Videomatica
24 Somewhere | 50 points, 8 lists
25 Please Give | 48.5 points, 10 lists Videomatica
25 I Am Love | 48.5 points, 9 lists Videomatica
27 White Material | 45 points, 9 lists
28 Mother | 44 points, 9 lists Videomatica
28 Shutter Island | 44 points, 8 lists Videomatica
30 Everyone Else | 40 points, 8 lists

31 Blue Valentine | 38 points, 7 lists
32 Animal Kingdom | 35 points, 8 lists Videomatica  Jan 11
33 Strange Case of Angelica | 32 points, 5 lists
34 Four Lions | 30 points, 5 lists
35 Rabbit Hole | 28.5 points, 7 lists onscreen
36 Never Let Me Go | 28 points, 5 lists Videomatica  Feb 1
37 Last Train Home, The | 26 points, 6 lists
37 Marwencol | 26 points, 5 lists
37 Boxing Gym | 26 points, 4 lists
37 Alamar | 26 points, 3 lists

41 Scott Pilgrim vs the World | 23.5 points, 7 lists Videomatica
42 Daddy Longlegs | 22 points, 4 lists
43 Trash Humpers | 21 points, 3 lists Videomatica
43 Red Riding Trilogy | 21 points, 3 lists Videomatica
45 Secret Sunshine | 20 points, 3 lists Videomatica
46 Restrepo | 19 points, 4 lists Videomatica
47 Fish Tank | 17 points, 5 lists Videomatica
47 Kick-Ass | 17 points, 5 lists Videomatica
47 Biutiful | 17 points, 2 lists
47 Hadewijch | 17 points, 2 lists

51 Illusionist, The | 16 points, 7 lists
51 Green Zone | 16 points, 3 lists Videomatica
51 Buried | 16 points, 3 lists Videomatica  Jan 18
54 Life During Wartime | 15.5 points, 3 lists
55 Oath, The | 15 points, 3 lists Videomatica
56 Vincere | 13.5 points, 4 lists Videomatica
56 Jackass 3D | 13.5 points, 4 lists
58 American, The | 13 points, 4 lists Videomatica  Dec 28
58 World on a Wire | 13 points, 2 lists
58 And Everything is Going Fine | 13 points, 2 lists

61 Secret in Their Eyes, The | 12 points, 3 lists Videomatica
61 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 12 points, 3 lists onscreen
63 Inferno | 11.5 points, 2 lists
64 Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | 11 points, 2 lists Videomatica

6 comments:

The Graduate said...

How is this point system tallied?

Ron Reed said...

Judging from the points given to the various "One Vote Wonders" at the bottom of the MCN tally (check it out via the link), it appears that a film gets 10 points for a #1 ranking, 1 point for a #10 ranking, etc.

Anonymous said...

I'm amazed at Ghost Writer being so high. It was a gorgeous looking film, and intriguing at times, but the ending seemed like such a cop-out. And The American is SO LOW! Below Shutter Island?

Ron Reed said...

Completely agree on both counts, Jason. Maybe my opinion of Ghost Writer was even lower than yours: I thought it was laughably bad. I also share your affection for The American, but am not surprised to find it ranking relatively low: even at the time, it wasn't a critical favourite.

Silly critics.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen an critical argument FOR The Ghost Writer? I don't understand the love affair with it. I'm not going to say it's laughably had: I liked the look and feel, even though at times I *knew* I was watching a movie. But the end was soooo bad, that I just can't recommend it. But maybe I'm missing something.

Hmmm... The American. My favourite of the last year. (Though I've yet to see Winter's Bone.)

Ron Reed said...

I may have to poke around some reviews and find out what people saw in GW. To my eye, Roman the Emperor has no clothes.

I think what pushed "Geez, that was a dumb movie" over into a certain animosity was an interview with the screenwriter (probably Creative Screenwriting podcast) where he belaboured the point that Polanski's watchword throughout their entire script development process was plausibility, character motivation, that no character should ever behave in any way that didn't make sense. Where I had found the central character's choices from the very beginning completely implausible from any perspective of human motivation, but patently required to move the story forward and increase tension, risk and suspense. "Let's see: the last guy who did this job ended up dead. So I think I'll just tell anyone who asks all the details of whatever I suspect, even when it's likely to put me in the same jeopardy." When I say it was laughable, I'm not exaggerating: very early in the film I started laughing at the movie, talking to the screen - "Oh yeah good, tell HIM you think there's a deadly cover-up going on. HE'LL never tell anybody..." Gack.