Top Ten of 2016

As it turns out, I never posted my top ten list for 2016. I had it mostly worked out at the time, but never got around to finalizing and posting it.

Very often, after a year has passed I come to regret certain decisions, but looking back I still think I can stand by this list.

10. El abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent) dir. Ciro Guerra - This was Colombia's entry in the Foreign Language Film category for the 2015 awards year. It was nominated, but opened commercially in the United States in early 2016, hence its inclusion on this list. Stunning black and white cinematography and a sedate tone make this one of the year's best, a meditative adventure story that weaves Heart of Darkness themes into a quest to find a mystical life-saving and mind-altering plant.

Top Ten of 2017

I had trouble this year putting together a top ten that I felt really excited about. My top two are hands down my favorite movies of the year and the two that struck the strongest emotional chord. After that we get into a few movies that I responded to strongly and then there's the movies that I perhaps admire more than feel enthusiastic about. I'm not entirely sure it's the movies that are changing.

10. Logan dir. James Mangold - Here's a director I admired much more early in his career until he went mainstream, but this unconventional take on the comic book superhero movie is refreshing.

9. Blade Runner 2049 dir. Denis Villeneuve - Expands on the themes first explored 35 years ago in Ridley Scott's original film. What does it mean to be human versus a synthesized human? It's a veritable masterpiece of technical filmmaking while also having an engrossing story.

8. The Square dir. Ruben Östlund - Biting satire about the intersection of the world of modern art and the human foibles that come with trying to live up to the moral standards that are explored in that art.

7. Call Me by Your Name - dir. Luca Guadagnino - Beautiful story of first love, self-discovery, growing up, and gorgeous Italian vistas.

6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri dir. Martin McDonagh - 

5. Lady Bird dir. Greta Gerwig - A really tremendous first feature from Gerwig who paints a portrait (along with a stunning performance by Saoirse Ronan) of the American teenager.

4. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - dir. Paul McGuigan - My rather unconventional choice to include in a top ten, and so far up the list too. But I was completely drawn in by the romance between aging Hollywood icon Gloria Graham (beautifully portrayed by Annette Bening) and her much younger beau played by Jamie Bell.

3. The Florida Project dir. Sean Baker - A movie that forces audiences to confront a forgotten class of people who live on the margins of society. The underclass, the poor, the destitute - however you choose to refer to them, they exist in our country and they raise children in conditions that we lament from our lofty middle and upper class economic positions. But Baker attempts to show us that even these children whom we believe to be disadvantaged have imaginations as rich or even richer than any others. Living just outside Walt Disney World Resort and financially barred from entrance (an irony considering these children could benefit from Disney magic perhaps more than the well-off children who frequent it), they nevertheless make vivid use of their surroundings to create a rich and developed fantasy world of their own.

2. Wind River dir. Taylor Sheridan - Even on a second viewing, Sheridan's crime thriller about suffering through grief was deeply, deeply moving. Jeremy Renner gives what I consider to be his best performance. If this movie had been released in December, I think it would have found its way into several Oscar categories.

1. Coco dir. Lee Unkrich - This movie is magical, emotional, moving, uplifting. It's simply perfect. And frankly I'm getting a little tired of Pixar making the year's most perfect movie.

Top Ten of 2015

I've been putting this off and putting this off, but I've finally just got to go for it. Here's my top ten movies of 2015. As always, this is a snapshot of the films I enjoyed and admire the most.

1. Spotlight dir. Tom McCarthy - watching this again yesterday affirmed its placement at the top of my list. Sets a new gold standard for journalism movies, depicting what real investigative reporting is like: a long slog of digging deep on a story. Important subject matter, wonderfully acted and written.

2. Son of Saul dir. Laszlo Nemes - this Hungarian Holocaust film and nominee (and likely winner) of the foreign language film Oscar is surprisingly unnerving. The surprise comes from the fact that I wasn't sure the subject matter could still unnerve me in new ways. Nemes keeps his camera with the main character, an Auschwitz sonderkommando, a Jewish prisoner whose job is to usher newly arriving Jews into the gas chambers, then clear out their possessions and remove their bodies to make way for the next herd. The entire story, taking place over the course of a day, is from Saul's perspective giving the film an incredible feeling of tension and horror and confusion.

Top Ten of 2014

I guess I'm just about ready to call my best movies of 2014. It's far beyond the end of last year, but I'm only just now in a place where I feel comfortable enough that I've seen most of the movies that would be likely to make my list.
This is one of the strangest top ten lists I've ever made. I don't think I've ever had two documentaries on the list. And as you get into the second half of my list, it's populated by films that I am less enthusiastic about than I am in admiration of. In years past it was a struggle to not leave a movie I really enjoyed off my list. This year it was about struggling to include something worthy. 2014 left me feeling chilly. There wasn't much I really went wild for.

10. The Babadook - directed by Jennifer Kent - Certainly not one of the absolute best of the year and not even one of the greatest scary films or thrillers of all time, but supremely effective and left me chilled to the bone about the psychological horrors of parenting and losing your mind.

Top Ten of 2013

I'm sort of sneaking this in even though we're fully three months into 2014. I just haven't really had the chance to get around to it in the last six weeks. But here it is officially - my top ten movies of 2013.

1. 12 Years a Slave dir. Steve McQueen - An all-around brilliantly executed movie and with the added bonus of being not only historically, but contemporarily significant. This is arguably the best slave narrative in the history of filmmaking. It gets the number one spot not only because it's a great film, but for its unparalleled historical significance.

2. Her dir. Spike Jonze - A beautiful, warm, and honest romance. The only thing the movie lacked for me was a real emotional hook. I was right there with it all the way through its marvelous production design and perfect screenplay. But it never had that emotional elevation moment for me.

Best Movies of 2012 (Or My Top Ten)

Update 2/13/13: I added The Turin Horse into the top ten list and bumped The Perks of Being a Wallflower out after seeing the marvelous Bela Tarr film.

Each year I find it more and more difficult to put together a ranked list of the ten best films of the year. Of course it's all just a subjective listing anyway and to call them the "ten best" of anything is sort of meaningless. It's more apt to refer to them as my "Ten Favorites" I suppose, like I did with my list of favorites of the '00s, which is an alphabetical listing.

Tradition still demands a ranked list, although many critics nowadays make their lists alphabetical. Still others don't limit their lists to ten, which is anyway an arbitrary number. When I'm looking at the films that moved me or excited me most in a given year, should I really limit myself to just ten? What if there were two or three others I really loved? Do I have to decide which to keep and which to cut? I have often listed, in addition to my top ten, several additional films I admired from the year.

When I look back over my previous years' lists (I've been doing this since 1996) I occasionally find decisions I made that I no longer agree with. That tells me that these things are fluid. Something at the bottom of my list ten years ago might now make my top 20 or 30 today. Did I really put a Harry Potter movie on one of my lists? So these lists become a snapshot of how I was feeling at the moment or at that time in my life. Bear in mind my lists only take into account the 70 - 120 movies I see in any given year. A professional doing this full time sees around 300 or more. In most cases I remain fairly satisfied with all my number 1 picks throughout the years. However, this year's list feels much more to me like a general listing rather than a ranking than any other previous list I've made. I've done my best to rank them, but if I made this lest a week ago, or if I redo it in two weeks' time, it could be a very different order.

I will avoid commentary on each film here and instead provide links to my reviews, except where I have not written any full length review.

This list is based on 72 feature films I've seen that were released in cinemas in New York City and Long Island between January 1 and December 31, 2012.

1. The Intouchables dir. Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano - I was shocked this film didn't make the five nominated films for the Foreign Language Film Oscar, just as I was when France's Of Gods and Men didn't make it two years ago. This was simply one of the best and most enjoyable films ever made about a quadraplegic. It's touching, smart, funny, and electrifying without ever resorting to the usual cloying Hollywood cliches this type of film is known for.

2. Zero Dark Thirty dir. Kathryn Bigelow - review coming soon

3. Amour dir. Michael Haneke
4. The Turin Horse dir. Bela Tarr

5. Lincoln dir. Steven Spielberg

6. Holy Motors dir. Leos Carax

7. Argo dir. Ben Affleck

8. Silver LiningsPlaybook dir. David O. Russell

9. Beasts of the Southern Wild dir. Benh Zeitlin

10. Jack Reacher dir. Christopher McQuarrie - At the risk of losing some credibility, I thought this movie was simply fantastic. I loved every minute of it. It was the most thoroughly enjoyable movie experience I had all year. No, I don't think it's the best movie of the year, but given my reaction to it I simply couldn't leave it out of the top ten.

In alphabetical order, here are several more films that I greatly admired from the year:

Barbara dir. Christian Petzold

Friends with Kids dir. Jennifer Westfeldt

The Kid with a Bike dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Looper dir. Rian Johnson
The Perks of Being a Wallflower dir. Stephen Chbosky

Rust and Bone dir. Jacques Audiard

Searching for Sugar Man dir. Malik Bendjelloul

Skyfall dir. Sam Mendes

All feature films seen from 2012 (based on US commercial release dates)

* Full length review available on this site

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

*5 Broken Cameras dir. Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi [Palestinian Territories, Israel, The Netherlands, France]
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry dir. Alison Klayman [USA]
*The Amazing Spider-Man dir. Marc Webb [USA]
*American Reunion dir. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg [USA]
*Amour dir. Michael Haneke [Austria]
*Anna Karenina dir. Joe Wright [UK]
Arbitrage dir. Nicholas Jarecki [USA]
*Argo dir. Ben Affleck [USA]
*The Avengers dir. Joss Whedon [USA]
*Barbara dir. Christian Petzold [Germany]
*Beasts of the Southern Wild dir. Benh Zeitlin [USA]
Bernie dir. Richard Linklater [USA]
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel dir. John Madden [UK]
*The Bourne Legacy dir. Tony Gilroy [USA]
*Brave dir. Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman [USA]
Bullhead (Rundskop) dir. Michael R. Roskam [Belgium]
*The Cabin in the Woods dir. Drew Goddard [USA]
*Casa de mi Padre dir. Matthew Piedmont [USA]
*Cloud Atlas dir. Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer [USA]
*Compliance dir. Craig Zobel [USA]
*Damsels in Distress dir. Whit Stillman [USA]
*Dark Horse dir. Todd Solondz [USA]
*The Dark Knight Rises dir. Christopher Nolan [USA]
*Dark Shadows dir. Tim Burton [USA]
*The Deep Blue Sea dir. Terrence Davies [UK]
*Django Unchained dir. Quentin Tarantino [USA]
The Expendables 2 dir. Simon West [USA]
*The Fitzgerald Family Christmas dir. Edward Burns [USA]
*The Five-Year Engagement dir. Nicholas Stoller [USA]
*Flight dir. Robert Zemeckis [USA]
*Frankenweenie dir. Tim Burton [USA]
*Friends With Kids dir. Jennifer Westfeldt [USA]

The Gatekeepers dir. Dror Moreh [Israel]
*The Grey dir. Joe Carnahan [USA]
*Haywire dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
*Hitchcock dir. Sacha Gervasi [USA]
*The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey dir. Jackson [USA, New Zealand]
*Holy Motors dir. Leos Carax [France]
*How to Survive a Plague dir. David France [USA]
*The Hunger Games dir. Gary Rossi [USA]
*The Impossible dir. J.A. Bayona [Spain]
The Imposter dir. Bart Layton [USA]
The Intouchables (Intouchables) dir. Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano [France]
*The Invisible War dir. Kirby Dick [USA]
*Jack Reacher dir. Christopher McQuarrie [USA]
Jeff, Who Lives at Home dir. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass [USA]
*Jiro Dreams of Sushi dir. David Gelb [USA]
The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo) dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne [Belgium]
*Killer Joe dir. William Friedkin [USA]
Kon-Tiki dir. Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg [Norway]
Lawless dir. John Hillcoat [USA]
*Les Miserables dir. Tom Hooper [UK]
*Life of Pi dir. Ang Lee [USA, Taiwan]
*Lincoln dir. Steven Spielberg [USA]
*Looper dir. Rian Johnson [USA]
Magic Mike dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
*The Master dir. Paul Thomas Anderson [USA]
Mirror Mirror dir. Tarsem Singh [USA]
*Moonrise Kingdom dir. Wes Anderson [USA]
On the Road dir. Walter Salles [USA]
*ParaNorman dir. Chris Butler and Sam Fell [USA]
*Perks of Being a Wallflower dir. Stephen Chbosky [USA]
The Pirates! Band of Misfits dir. Peter Lord [USA, UK]
*Premium Rush dir. David Koepp [USA]
*Prometheus dir. Ridley Scott [USA]
*The Queen of Versailles dir. Lauren Greenfield [USA]
Robot & Frank dir. Jack Schreier [USA]
A Royal Affair (En kongelig affaere) dir. Nikolaj Arcel [Denmark]
Ruby Sparks dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris [USA]
*Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) Audiard, Jacques [France, Belgium]
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen dir. Lasse Hallstrom [UK]
*The Salt of Life dir. Gianni Di Gregorio [Italy]
*Savages dir. Olive Stone [USA]
*Searching for Sugar Man dir. Malik Bendjelloul [Sweden, UK]
*The Sessions dir. Ben Lewin [USA]
*Seven Psychopaths dir. Martin McDonagh [UK]
*Silver Linings Playbook dir. David O. Russell [USA]
*Skyfall dir. Sam Mendes [UK, USA]
Snow White and the Huntsman dir. Rupert Sanders [USA]
*Take This Waltz dir. Sarah Polley [Canada, Spain, Japan]
*Ted dir. Seth MacFarlane [USA]
*This Is 40 dir. Judd Apatow [USA]
*To Rome with Love dir. Woody Allen [USA, Italy, Spain]
*Trouble with the Curve dir. Robert Lorenz [USA]

*The Turin Horse (A torinói ló) dir. Bela Tarr [Hungary]

War Witch (Rebelle) dir. Kim Nguyen [Canada]
*Wreck-It Ralph dir. Rich Moore [USA]
*Zero Dark Thirty dir. Kathryn Bigelow [USA]

Top Ten Movies of 2011

updated on 22 February after seeing Pina.

updated at 11:30 pm on 30 January after someone pointed out that I titled this post "Top Ten Movies of 2012." It only took a little more than 4 days for someone to alert me to my error.

updated at 4:30pm on 26 January to reflect the glaring oversight of having accidentally left off The Tree of Life.

updated at 10:45 am on 3 May 2014 after seeing Senna

I still have a handful of movies from 2011 to see, but nothing that is likely to make any real impression on this list. Of course these lists are arbitrary, but I like to put together a list of the films that had the strongest emotional effect on me.

First, some honorable mentions. These are movies that I really admired, but I like to stick to the tradition of a top ten: 50/50; Contagion; Martha Marcy May Marlene; Moneyball; Rango; Warrior; We Need to Talk About Kevin.

11. Take Shelter dir. Jeff Nichols - A disturbing portrait of a man succumbing to severe mental illness and the effect it has on his wife and child. Michael Shannon gives a brave performance that isn't afraid to go to some very dark human places. (3 May 2014 update: the addition of Senna to this Top Ten effectively bumps Take Shelter off, but for historical purposes I'm leaving it in 11th position.)

Top Ten Movies of 2010

Better late than never, I suppose. We're only 3 1/2 months into the new year and I'm just getting around to posting my top ten films of 2010.

I compiled this list sometime in January but never really felt like it was finalized. This is the problem with being limited in the number of films you can see in a given year. I saw 71 feature films from the year 2010. I'm already starting off with something of a misrepresentation. My list includes one film that actually dates from 2009 and won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year, but it was released commercially in the United States in calendar year 2010, which is what I use to determine a film's year for the purposes of my film lists. However, those 71 films mentioned earlier include 3 films not released in the United States and one theatrical film from Europe that only got a direct-to-video release in the US (none of those 4 made my top ten).

It may seem somewhat arbitrary to use the US release dates to decide what year to place a film into, but it's no more arbitrary than choosing to highlight 10 films instead of 12 or 13 or any other number.

So here they are from bottom to top:

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical):

The American (Anton Corbijn)

Animal Kingdom (David Michod)

I Am Love [Io sono l'amore] (Luca Guadagnino)

Inside Job (Charles Ferguson)
The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko)
A Prophet (Jacques Audiard)

Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich)

and on to the top ten...

The Ten Best Films from the All-Time Top 100 Box Office

Star Wars remains in the top ten all-time box office after 33 years

The list of the top 100 box office successes is measured only in terms of pure dollars. For this reason the list is heavily slanted in favor of more recent films. This is not only because of standard economic inflation, but also because of ticket price inflation, which generally has not matched inflation of the dollar. Star Wars remained atop the list from 1977 until it was unseated by Titanic in 1998. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial was number 2 from its 1982 release until 1998. Home Alone (released at the end of 1990 and earned a significant amount of its box office in early 1991) now sits in 45th position despite having been in the top 10 for a decade or more. In less than ten years it has dropped 35 places. That's an incredibly precipitous drop when you consider the kind of staying power older films had. But with exponential growth in ticket prices we're left with a constantly shifting list of the top box office kings.

List: Top Ten Palme d'Or Winners

The Cannes Film Festival is always an exciting time for seeing what's on the world cinema docket for the coming year. This year's festival is a few weeks away and the lineup is set. In addition to new films from Cannes regulars Mike Leigh (Palme d'Or 1996 for Secrets and Lies; Best Director 1993 for Naked), Abbas Kiarostami (Palme d'Or 1997 for Taste of Cherry) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (Best Director 2006 for Babel) there is a sequel to Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun (1994 Grand Prix winner), a new film from Doug Liman based on the memoir of Valerie Plame.

Burnt by the Sun 2 picks up the story of Col. Kotov several years after his execution (he was never executed on screen, but a post-script revealed he'd been shot) as a soldier in Stalin's army fighting back the Nazis in WWII.

Liman's Fair Game stars Naomi Watts as Plame, the former CIA operative, whose identity was revealed by Washington Post reporter Robert Novak, and Sean Penn as her husband Joseph Wilson who claims the Bush administration leaked her identity in order to discredit him after he criticized the Iraq invasion. Liman had a promising start to his career with his hilarious debut Swingers followed up by the Pulp Fiction-for-kids Go and then the first in the Bourne trilogy. After that he started a two-film downward spiral that culminated in the horrifically received (16% on the Tomato Meter) Jumper. I don't imagine his new film will be much more than standard Hollywood boilerplate conspiracy theory. And that Liman has established himself as a premiere action director, I would expect this new film to have several unnecessary action sequences thrown in for good measure. Don't look for any awards to be handed to this film.

As for the rest of the line up, I have no idea. It's virtually impossible to make any kind of prediction about the festival until it kicks off and we hear what critics, producers, executives and attendees are saying.

So with that in mind, I decided to throw together a list. I promised lists at the beginning and I haven't delivered any yet. Well I looked over the list of Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winners and selected what I think are the 10 best, listed below alphabetically. In so doing I discovered how deficient my knowledge of foreign films is. I've really only seen about half the big winners of the last 60 years. Hopefully I will correct that one day and revise this list to reflect it.

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days (2007) dir. Cristian Mungiu - The herald of a New Romanian Cinema. This is a harrowing story of a young woman who enlists the help of a close friend to obtain an illegal abortion during Ceausescu's reign.
Barton Fink (1991) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen - Possibly the Coens' best film. It's certainly the darkest. About a New York playwright who tries his hand at Hollywood screenwriting on the eve of WWII.
Blow-Up (1967) dir. Michelangelo Antonioni - A brilliant comment on the truth and nature of photography, especially as it is delivered in the medium of motion pictures. A photographer thinks he's photographed a murder, but the blown up photo isn't clear enough to reveal truth while his own investigation fails to turn up evidence outside his own observation.
The Conversation (1974) dir. Francis Ford Coppola - Brilliant filmmaking in this exploration of paranoia in a post-Watergate America.
MASH (1970) dir. Robert Altman - Hilarious anti-war satire set during the Korean War but ostensibly a commentary on Vietnam.
The Mission (1986) dir. Roland Joffe - A Spanish slave trader in colonial South America does penance and slowly converts to the Jesuit order to help bring Christianity to the native people. This is one of the best films you've probably never seen.
Paris, Texas (1984) dir. Wim Wenders - A man is found wandering in the desert and brought to his brother. He can't make peace with himself until he finds his ex-wife and asks her forgiveness for his past treatment of her.
Pulp Fiction (1994) dir. Quentin Tarantino - Surely you know this one.
Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese - Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle goes a little funny in the head trying to clean up the streets of New York.
The Third Man (1949) dir. Carol Reed - In a divided post-WWII Vienna, Harry Lime has been killed just before his close friend arrives from America. It turns out Harry has been involved in a black market trade of penicillin that has left many children horribly disfigured. One of the best of the original films noirs.

Favorite Films of the decade 2000-2009

To kick this blog off I will lay out a list of 70 films from the 00's decade that I consider my favorites. The films on this list find their way there for various reasons: some I honestly consider great movies; others I have a lower regard for on technical and artistic merits, but somehow I connected with them.

What they all have in common is the joy and excitement I felt when first watching each one. Also, most of them are films I own or would like to own and would gladly watch again. That said, there are several films on this list I've seen only once and perhaps with several years' distance my opinion may have changed. But at this moment, these are the ones I remember most fondly.

How is this list helpful to anyone else? All lists of the "Best of..." are clearly subjective. Anyway, I'm not even calling this a "Best of..." list but a favorites list. The expression "my favorite" automatically suggests subjectivity the same way "best of..." suggests objectivity. But think of it as similar to Netflix recommendations. If you've already seen half the movies on this list and you enjoyed most or all of them, then you and I probably have similar taste and you'd most likely enjoy any of the others. Perhaps you can use it as a guide for a new film to check out that you might not have otherwise considered.

One note I should add is that I composed this list only a couple months after the decade ended. There are probably films from 2009, 2008 and possibly even 2007 that might well have ended up on this list if I'd waited a year to put it together. Sometimes these things need to gestate for a while.

I present this list alphabetically by film title with the year of United States release and the director's name. If you're interested in reading a paragraph's worth of thoughts on each film, I have previously written about these films on another blog, grouping the films by theme in many separate posts made between January and April. You can read the initial post here; several films from the year 2000 here; the crime films here; one of my favorite genres, the heist films here; broad comedies in two posts here and here; action, fantasy and adventure films here; animation here; the romance here; foreign films here; indie films split into two parts here and here and (within the next week) the prestige films here.

* indicates films I own on DVD

*Almost Famous (2000) – dir. Cameron Crowe
*American Pie 2 (2001) dir. J.B. Rogers
Bad Santa (2003) dir. Terry Zwigoff
*Before Sunset (2004) dir. Richard Linklater
Big Fish (2003) dir. Tim Burton
*The Bourne Identity (2002) dir. Doug Liman
Brick (2006) dir. Rian Johnson
*Caché (2005) – dir. Michael Haneke
*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) dir. Ang Lee
The Departed (2006) dir. Martin Scorsese
*Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber
*Donnie Darko (2001) dir. Richard Kelly
Eastern Promises (2007) dir. David Cronenberg
*Elf (2003) dir. Jon Favreau
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. Michel Gondry
The Fall (2008) dir. Tarsem
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) dir. Wes Anderson
The Fog of War (2003) dir. Errol Morris
*The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) dir. Judd Apatow
Four Brothers (2004) dir. John Singleton
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000) dir. Jim Jarmusch
*Gosford Park (2001) dir. Robert Altman
The Hangover (2009) dir. Todd Phillips
*Heist (2001) dir. David Mamet
*High Fidelity (2000) dir. Stephen Frears
*A History of Violence (2005) dir. David Cronenberg
The Incredibles (2004) dir. Brad Bird
*The Italian Job (2003) dir. F. Gary Gray
Italiensk for begyndere [Italian for Beginners] (2002) dir. Lone Scherfig
Juno (2007) dir. Jason Reitman
Kill Bill (2003/2004) dir. Quentin Tarantino
L’Auberge Espagnol (2003) dir. Cedric Klapisch
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
*The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) dir. Peter Jackson
Lost in Translation (2003) dir. Sofia Coppola
Love, Actually (2003) dir. Richard Curtis
*The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) dir. Joel Coen
Me, Myself & Irene (2000) dir. Peter and Bobby Farrelly
La meglio gioventú [The Best of Youth] (2005) dir. Marco Tullio Giordana
Minority Report (2002) dir. Steven Spielberg
*Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) dir. John Woo
Monsoon Wedding (2002) dir. Mira Nair
*Moulin Rouge! (2001) dir. Baz Luhrmann
*Napoleon Dynamite (2004) dir. Jared Hess
*No Country for Old Men (2007) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
No Man’s Land (2001) dir. Danis Tanovic
*Ocean’s 11 (2001) dir. Steven Soderbergh
Once (2007) dir. John Carney
Pineapple Express (2008) dir. David Gordon Green
Roger Dodger (2002) dir. Dylan Kidd
*The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) dir. Wes Anderson
The Score (2001) dir. Franz Oz
Serenity (2005) dir. Joss Whedon
*Shadow of the Vampire (2000) dir. E. Elias Merhige
Shrek (2001) dir. Andrew Adamson and Joe Stillman
*Sideways (2004) dir. Alexander Payne
Signs (2002) dir. M. Night Shyamalan
*State and Main (2000) dir. David Mamet
Superbad (2007) dir. Greg Mottola
Thirteen Days (2000) dir. Roger Donaldson
Tillsammans [Together] (2001) dir. Lukas Moodysson
Tropic Thunder (2008) dir. Ben Stiller
*28 Days Later… (2003) dir. Danny Boyle
*25th Hour (2002) dir. Spike Lee
*WALL E (2008) dir. Andrew Stanton
*Wedding Crashers (2005) dir. David Dobkin
Whale Rider (2003) dir. Niki Caro
*Wonder Boys (2000) dir. Curtis Hanson
*Y tu mamá también (2002) dir. Alfonso Cuarón
You Can Count on Me (2000) dir. Kenneth Lonergan

Top Ten of 2009

This list was made in early 2010, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2010.

1. Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) dir. Michael Haneke

2. The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow

3. Up in the Air dir. Jason Reitman

4. Precious dir. Lee Daniels

5. Bright Star dir. Jane Campion

6. Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson

7. Up dir. Pete Docter

8. An Education dir. Lone Scherfig

9. A Serious Man dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

10. The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips

All feature films seen from 2009 (based on US commercial release dates)

* Full length review available on this site
+ from my collection
^ no United States theatrical release

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

2012 dir. Roland Emmerich [USA]
+*(500) Days of Summer dir. Marc Webb [USA]
^*About Elly (Darbareye Elly) dir. Asghar Farhadi [Iran]
Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) dir. Pedro Almodóvar [Spain]
Adventureland dir. Greg Mottola [USA]
Amelia dir. Mira Nair [USA]
*Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier [Denmark]
Avatar dir. James Cameron [USA]
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog [USA]
The Blind Side dir. John Lee Hancock [USA]
*The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio) dir. Richard Curtis [UK]
+*Bright Star dir. Jane Campion [UK, Australia]
Brothers dir. Jim Sheridan [USA]
The Brothers Bloom dir. Rian Johnson [USA]
Brüno dir. Larry Charles [USA]
The Burning Plain dir. Guillermo Arriaga [USA, Argentina]
^Celda 211 dir. Daniel Monzón [Spain]
Chéri dir. Stephen Frears [UK]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller [USA]
Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel) dir. Anne Fontaine [France]
Coraline dir. Henry Selick [USA]
The Cove dir. Louie Psihoyos [USA]
Crazy Heart dir. Scott Cooper [USA]
The Damned United dir. Tom Hooper [UK]
District 9 dir. Neill Blomkamp [USA, New Zealand]
Il Divo dir. Paolo Sorrentino [Italy]
Drag Me to Hell dir. Sam Raimi [USA]
An Education dir. Lone Scherfig [UK, USA]
Everybody's Fine dir. Kirk Jones [USA]
Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson [USA]
Fifty Dead Men Walking dir. Kari Skogland [UK]
Food, Inc. dir. Robert Kenner [USA]
Funny People dir. Judd Apatow [USA]
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra dir. Stephen Sommers [USA]
Gigante dir. Adrián Biniez [Uruguay]
The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
The Hangover dir. Todd Phillips [USA]
*Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince dir. David Yates [USA]
The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow [USA]
I Love You, Man dir. John Hamburg [USA]
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus dir. Terry Gilliam [USA]
In the Loop dir. Armando Iannucci [UK]
The Informant! dir. Steven Soderberg [USA]
Inglourious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino [USA]
Invictus dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
It Might Get Loud dir. Davis Guggenheim [USA]
It's Complicated dir. Nancy Meyers [USA]
Julie & Julia dir. Nora Ephron [USA]
^The Last Pulcinella (L'ultimo Pulcinella) dir. Maurizio Scaparro [Italy]
*The Last Station dir. Michael Hoffman [UK]
The Lovely Bones dir. Peter Jackson [USA]
*Mammoth dir. Lukas Moodysson [Sweden]
Map of the Sounds of Tokyo dir. Isabel Coixet [Spain]
The Men Who Stare at Goats dir. Grant Heslov [USA]
The Messenger dir. Oren Moverman [USA]
*Moon dir. Duncan Jones [USA]
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian dir. Shawn Levy [USA]
Nine dir. Rob Marshall [USA]
Paris 36 (Faubourg 36) dir. Christophe Barratier [France]
Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo) dir. Hayao Miyazaki [Japan]
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire dir. Lee Daniels [USA]
The Princess and the Frog dir. Ron Clements and John Musker [USA]
Public Enemies dir. Michael Mannl [USA]
Revanche dir. Goetz Spielmann [Austria]
The Road dir. John Hillcoat [USA]
The Secret of Kells dir. Tomm Moore [Ireland]
+A Serious Man dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen [USA]
Sherlock Holmes dir. Guy Ritchie [USA]
*Sin Nombre dir. Cary Fukunaga [Mexico, USA]
A Single Man dir. Tom Ford [USA]
Star Trek dir. J.J. Abrams [USA]
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 dir. Tony Scott [USA]
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dir. Michael Bay [USA]
Triage dir. Danis Tanovic [Ireland, Spain]
Trucker dir. James Mottern [USA]
Two Lovers dir. James Gray [USA]
+*Up dir. Pete Docter [USA]
+Up in the Air dir. Jason Reitman [USA]
Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder [USA]
+Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) dir. Michael Haneke [Austria]
*Whatever Works dir. Woody Allen [USA]
Where the Wild Things Are dir. Spike Jonze [USA]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine dir. Gavin Hood [USA]
The Young Victoria dir. Jean-Marc Vallée [UK, USA]
*Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer [USA]

Top Ten of 2008

This list was made in early 2009, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2009.

1. WALL-E dir. Andrew Stanton

2. Doubt dir. John Patrick Shanley

3. Milk dir. Gus Van Sant

4. Man on Wire dir. James Marsh

5. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days dir. Christian Mungiu

6. Happy-Go-Lucky dir. Mike Leigh

7. Entre les murs (The Class) dir. Laurent Cantet

8. Revolutionary Road dir. Sam Mendes

9. The Dark Knight dir. Christopher Nolan

10. Slumdog Millionaire dir. Danny Boyle

All feature films seen from 2008 (based on US commercial release dates)

* review available on this site
+ from my collection
^ no United States theatrical release

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

21 dir. Robert Luketic [USA]
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile) dir. Christian Mungiu [Romania]
Appaloosa dir. Ed Harris [USA]
Australia dir. Baz Luhrmann [Australia, USA]
Be Kind Rewind dir. Michel Gondry [USA]
Body of Lies dir. Ridley Scott [USA]
Bolt dir. Chris Williams and Byron Howard  [USA]
+Burn After Reading dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen  [USA]
Cadillac Records dir. Darnell Martin [USA]
+Cassandra's Dream dir. Woody Allen [USA, UK]
Changeling dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
Che: Part One dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
Che: Part Two dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian dir. Andrew Adamson [USA]
The Class (Entre les murs) dir. Laurent Cantet [France]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button dir. David Fincher [USA]
The Dark Knight dir. Christopher Nolan [USA]
*Defiance dir. Edward Zwick [USA]
Doubt dir. John Patrick Shanley [USA]
The Duchess dir. Saul Dibb [USA, UK]
Elegy dir. Isabel Coixet [USA]
^Empties (Vratne lahve) dir. Jan Sverak [Czech Republic]
Encounters at the End of the World dir. Werner Herzog [USA]
The Fall dir. Tarsem Singh [USA]
Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky [Austria]
Frost/Nixon dir. Ron Howard [USA]
Frozen River dir. Courtney Hunt [USA]
Gomorra dir. Matteo Garrone [Italy]
*Gran Torino dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
*Hancock dir. Peter Berg [USA]
The Happening dir. M. Night Shyamalan [USA]
Happy-Go-Lucky dir. Mike Leigh [UK]
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay dir. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg [USA]
Hellboy II: The Golden Army dir. Guillermo del Toro [USA]
In Bruges dir. Martin McDonagh [UK, USA]
*The Incredible Hulk dir. Louis Leterrier [USA]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull dir. Steven Spielberg [USA]
Iron Man dir. Jon Favreau [USA]
I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) dir. Philippe Claudel [France]
Kung Fu Panda dir. Mark Osborne and John Stevenson [USA]
Let the Right One In (Lat den rätte komma in) dir. Tomas Alfredson [Sweden]
Man on Wire dir. James Marsh [USA]
*Milk dir. Gus Van Sant [USA]
Miracle at St. Anna dir. Spike Lee [USA]
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day dir. Bharat Nalluri [UK]
Pineapple Express dir. David Gordon Green [USA]
Quantum of Solace dir. Marc Forster [USA]
Rachel Getting Married dir. Jonathan Demme [USA]
The Reader dir. Stephen Daldry [USA]
Recount dir. Jay Roach [USA]
*Revolutionary Road dir. Sam Mendes [USA]
Righteous Kill dir. Jon Avnet [USA]
Role Models dir. David Wain [USA]
Saw V dir. David Hackl [USA]
*Seven Pounds dir. Gabriele Muccino [USA]
*Shine a Light dir. Martin Scorsese [USA]
Slumdog Millionaire dir. Danny Boyle, Danny
Smart People dir. Noam Murro [USA]
Standard Operating Procedure dir. Errol Morris [USA]
Step Brothers dir. Adam McKay [USA]
Synecdoche, New York dir. Charlie Kaufmann [USA]
Tropic Thunder dir. Ben Stiller [USA]
Valkyrie dir. Bryan Singer [USA]
*Vicky Cristina Barcelona dir. Woody Allen [UK]
The Visitor dir. Thomas McCarthy [USA]
+Wall-E dir. Andrew Stanton [USA]
Waltz with Bashir (Vals im Bashir) dir. Ari Folman [Israel]
*Wanted dir. Timur Bekmambetov [USA]
^Die Welle (The Wave) dir. Dennis Gansel [Germany]
Wendy and Lucy dir. Kelly Reichardt [USA]
The Wrestler dir. Darren Aronofsky [USA]
Zack and Miri Make a Porno dir. Kevin Smith [USA]

Top Ten of 2007

This list was made in early 2008, but posted here on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2008.

1. No Country for Old Men dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly dir. Julian Schnabel

3. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

4. There Will Be Blood dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

5. Eastern Promises dir. David Cronenberg

6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford dir. Andrew Dominik

7. Once dir. John Carney

8. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead dir. Sidney Lumet

9. Michael Clayton dir. Tony Gilroy

10. Zodiac dir. David Fincher

All feature films seen from 2007 (based on US commercial release dates)

* Full length review available on this site
+ from my collection
^ no United States theatrical release

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination


28 Weeks Later dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo [UK]
+*3:10 to Yuma dir. James Mangold [USA]
Across the Universe dir. Julie Taymor [USA, UK]
American Gangster dir. Ridley Scott [USA]
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford dir. Andrew Dominik [USA]
Atonement dir. Joe Wright [UK]
Away from Her dir. Sarah Polley [Canada]
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead dir. Sidney Lumet [USA]
Black Book (Zwartboek) dir. Paul Verhoeven, Paul
The Bourne Ultimatum dir. Paul Greengrass [USA]
Charlie Wilson's War dir. Mike Nichols [USA]
The Darjeeling Limited dir. Wes Anderson [USA]
Death Proof dir. Quentin Tarantino [USA]
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon) dir. Julian Schnabel [France]
+Eastern Promises dir. David Cronenberg [Canada, USA, UK]
Elizabeth: The Golden Age dir. Shekhar Kapur [UK]
Fay Grim dir. Hal Hartley [USA]
The Golden Compass dir. Chris Weitz [USA]
Gone Baby Gone dir. Ben Affleck [USA]
The Great Debaters dir. Denzel Washington [USA]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix dir. David Yates [USA]
Honeydripper dir. John Sayles [USA]
*I Am Legend dir. Francis Lawrence [USA]
I'm Not There dir. Todd Haynes [USA]
In the Valley of Elah dir. Paul Haggis [USA]
Into the Wild dir. Sean Penn [USA]
Juno dir. Jason Reitman [USA]
The Kingdom dir. Peter Berg [USA]
Knocked Up dir. Judd Apatow [USA]
+Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck [Germany]
^*Love Is All (Alles is liefde) dir. Joram Lürsen [The Netherlands]
Lust, Caution (Se, jie) dir. Ang Lee [Taiwan]
+Michael Clayton dir. Tony Gilroy [USA]
A Mighty Heart dir. Michael Winterbottom [USA, UK]
+No Country for Old Men dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen [USA]
+Ocean's 13 dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
Once dir. John Carney [Ireland]
Persepolis dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parranoud [France]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End dir. Gore Verbinski [USA]
Planet Terror dir. Robert Rodriguez [USA]
+Ratatouille dir. Brad Bird [USA]
Red Road dir. Andrea Arnold [UK]
Reservation Road dir. Terry George [USA]
The Savages dir. Tamara Jenkins [USA]
Saw IV dir. Darren Lynn Bousman [USA]
*Shrek the Third dir. Chris Miller [USA]

The Simpsons Movie dir. David Silverman [USA]
Spider-Man 3 dir. Sam Raimi [USA]
Starting Out in the Evening dir. Andrew Wagner [USA]
Sunshine dir. Danny Boyle [UK, USA]
Superbad dir. Greg Mottola [USA]
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street dir. Tim Burton [USA]
+There Will Be Blood dir. Paul Thomas Anderson [USA]
Transformers dir. Michael Bay [USA]
La Vie en Rose (La Mome) dir. Olvier Dahan [France]
The Wind that Shakes the Barley dir. Ken Loach [UK, Ireland]
Zodiac dir. David Fincher [USA]

Top Ten of 2006

This list was made in early 2007, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2007.

1. Little Miss Sunshine dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

2. The Departed dir. Martin Scorsese

3. El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) dir. Guillermo del Toro

4. Letters from Iwo Jima dir. Clint Eastwood

5. Volver dir. Pedro Almodóvar

6. Children of Men dir. Alfonso Cuarón

7. Babel dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu

8. The Last King of Scotland dir. Kevin MacDonald

9. Apocalypto dir. Mel Gibson

10. Thank You for Smoking dir. Jason Reitman

All films seen from 2006 (based on US commercial release dates)
* review available on this site
+ from my collection
bold titles received at least 1 Oscar nomination

16 Blocks dir. Richard Donner [USA]
2 Days in Paris dir. Julie Delpy [USA]
49 Up dir. Michael Apted, Michael [UK]
Apocalypto dir. Mel Gibson [USA]
Ask the Dust dir. Robert Towne [USA]
Babel dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alejandro [USA, Mexico, France]
The Black Dahlia dir. Brian De Palma [USA]
Blood Diamond dir. Edward Zwick [USA]
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan dir. Larry Charles [USA]
Brick dir. Rian Johnson [USA]
+*Cars dir. John Lasseter [USA]
Casino Royale dir. Martin Campbell [USA]
Children of Men dir. Alfonso Cuarón [USA, UK]
Clerks II dir. Kevin Smith [USA]
Copying Beethoven dir. Agniezska Holland [USA]
The Da Vinci Code dir. Ron Howard [USA]
+*The Departed dir. Martin Scorsese [USA]
The Descent dir. Neil Marshall [USA]
*The Devil Wears Prada dir. David Frankel [USA]
Dreamgirls dir. Bill Condon [USA]
Factotum dir. Bent Hamer [USA]
Find Me Guilty dir. Sidney Lumet [USA]
Flags of Our Fathers dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
Flannel Pajamas dir. Jeff Lipsky [USA]
The Fountain dir. Darren Aronofsky [USA]
Free Zone dir. Amos Gitai, Amos [Israel]
The Good German dir. Steven Soderbergh [USA]
Hostel dir. Eli Roth [USA]
The Illusionist dir. Neil Burger [USA]
An Inconvenient Truth dir. Davis Guggenheim [USA]
Inland Empire dir. David Lynch [USA]
+*Inside Man dir. Spike Lee [USA]
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) dir. Guillermo del Toro [Mexico]
Lady in the Water dir. M. Night Shyamalan [USA]
The Last King of Scotland dir. Kevin MacDonald [USA]
Letters from Iwo Jima dir. Clint Eastwood [USA]
Little Children dir. Todd Field [USA]
Little Miss Sunshine dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris [USA]
Manderlay dir. Lars von Trier [Denmark]
Marie Antoinette dir. Sofia Coppola [USA]
*Miami Vice dir. Michael Mann [USA]
Mission: Impossible III dir. J.J. Abrams [USA]
Nine Lives dir. Rodrigo Garcia [USA]
Notes on a Scandal dir. Richard Eyre [UK]
The Painted Veil dir. John Curran [USA]
Paris, je t'aime dir. various
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest dir. Gore Verbinski [USA]
The Prestige dir. Christopher Nolan [USA]
The Queen dir. Stephen Frears [UK]
Saw III dir. Darren Lynn Bousman [USA]
A Scanner Darkly dir. Richard Linklater [USA]
Scoop dir. Woody Allen [USA, UK]
Shortbus dir. John Cameron Mitchell [USA]
Stranger Than Fiction dir. Marc Forster [USA]
Superman Returns dir. Bryan Singer [USA]
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby dir. Adam McKay [USA]
Thank You for Smoking dir. Jason Reitman [USA]
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story dir. Michael Winterbottom [UK]
Tsotsi dir. Gavin Hood [South Africa]
United 93 dir. Paul Greengrass [USA]
V for Vendetta dir. James McTeigue [USA]
Venus dir. Roger Michell [USA]
+*Volver dir. Pedro Almodóvar [Spain]
World Trade Center dir. Oliver Stone [USA]
X-Men: The Last Stand dir. Brett Ratner [USA]

Top Ten of 2005

This list was made in early 2006, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2006.

1. Caché (Hidden) dir. Michael Haneke

2. Capote dir. Bennett Miller

3. Brokeback Mountain dir. Ang Lee

4. Match Point dir. Woody Allen

5. Munich dir. Steven Spielberg

6. A History of Violence dir. David Cronenberg

7. Grizzly Man dir. Werner Herzog

8. Good Night, and Good Luck dir. George Clooney

9. Syriana dir. Stephen Gaghan

10. Der Untergang (Downfall) dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel

All films seen from 2005 (based on US commercial release dates)

+ part of my collection
* review available on this site

bold titles received at least one Oscar nomination

+The 40 Year Old Virgin dir. Judd Apatow
9 Songs dir. Michael Winterbottom
The Aristocrats dir. Paul Provenza
The Ballad of Jack and Rose dir. Rebecca Miller
Batman Begins dir. Christopher Nolan
Be Cool dir. F. Gary Gray
The Best of Youth (La meglio gioventu) dir. Marco Tullio Giordana
Bewitched dir. Nora Ephron
Breakfast on Pluto dir. Neil Jordan
+*Brokeback Mountain dir. Ang Lee
Broken Flowers dir. Jim Jarmusch
Brooklyn Lobster dir. Kevin Jordan
+Caché (Hidden) dir. Michael Haneke
Capote dir. Bennett Miller
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dir. Tim Burton
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe dir. Andrew Adamson
Cinderella Man dir. Ron Howard
The Constant Gardener dir. Fernando Meirelles
Corpse Bride dir. Tim Burton
Crash dir. Paul Haggis
Elizabethtown dir. Cameron Crowe
Everything Is Illuminated dir. Liev Schreiber
The Exorcism of Emily Rose dir. Scott Derrickson
The Family Stone dir. Thomas Bezucha
Fantastic Four dir. Tim Story
Fever Pitch dir. Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly
Flightplan dir. Robert Schwentke
Four Brothers dir. John Singleton
Good Night, and Good Luck dir. George Clooney
The Great Raid dir. John Dahl
Grizzly Man dir. Werner Herzog
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire dir. Mike Newell
Heights dir. Chris Terrio
High Tension (Haute tension) dir. Alexandre Aja
+*A History of Violence dir. David Cronenberg
Hitch dir. Andy Tennant
Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro) dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Hustle and Flow dir. Craig Brewer
In Her Shoes dir. Curtis Hanson
Inside Deep Throat dir. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato
The Interpreter dir. Sydney Pollack
The Island dir. Michael Bay
Jarhead dir. Sam Mendes

Junebug dir. Phil Morrison
King Kong dir. Peter Jackson
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang dir. Shane Black
Kung Fu Hustle (Gong fu) dir. Stephen Chow
Layer Cake dir. Matthew Vaughn
The Libertine dir. Laurence Dunmore
Look at Me (Comme une image) dir. Agnes Jaoui
March of the Penguins (La Marche de l'empereur) dir. Luc Jacquet
The Matador dir. Richard Shepard
+Match Point dir. Woody Allen
Me and You and Everyone We Know dir. Miranda July
Melinda and Melinda dir. Woody Allen
Memoirs of a Geisha dir. Rob Marshall
Millions dir. Danny Boyle
Mr. and Mrs. Smith dir. Doug Liman
Mrs. Henderson Presents dir. Stephen Frears
Munich dir. Steven Spielberg
Murderball dir. Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
The New World dir. Terrence Malick
Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai) dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
North Country dir. Niki Caro
Palindromes dir. Todd Solondz

Paradise Now dir. Hany Abu-Assad
Pride & Prejudice dir. Joe Wright
The Producers dir. Susan Stroman
Protocols of Zion dir. Marc Levin
Red Eye dir. Wes Craven
Rent dir. Chris Columbus
Saw II dir. Darren Lynn Bousman
Separate Lies dir. Julian Fellowes
*Serenity dir. Joss Whedon
Sin City dir. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
The Squid and the Whale dir. Noah Baumbach
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith dir. George Lucas
Syriana dir. Stephen Gaghan
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada dir. Tommy Lee Jones
Transamerica dir. Duncan Tucker
Unleashed dir. Louis Leterrier
Der Untergang (Downfall) dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Walk the Line dir. James Mangold
War of the Worlds dir. Steven Spielberg
The Weather Man dir. Gore Verbinski
+*Wedding Crashers dir. David Dobkin
The World's Fastest Indian dir. Roger Donaldson

Top Ten of 2004

This list was made in early 2005, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2005.

1. Sideways dir. Alexander Payne

2. Million Dollar Baby dir. Clint Eastwood

3. Vera Drake dir. Mike Leigh

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dir. Michel Gondry

5. The Aviator dir. Martin Scorsese

6. Maria Full of Grace dir. Joshua Marston

7. Kill Bill Volume 2 dir. Quentin Tarantino

8. Hero dir. Yimou Zhang

9. Hotel Rwanda dir. Terry George

10. Finding Neverland dir. Marc Forster

All films seen from 2004 (based on US commercial release dates)

* review available on this site

+ from my collection

^ no United States release

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

50 First Dates dir. Peter Segal

After the Sunset dir. Brett Ratner

The Alamo dir. John lee Hancock

Alien Vs. Predator dir. Paul W.S. Anderson

*Along Came Polly dir. John Hamburg

Assassination of Richard Nixon dir. Niels Mueller

The Aviator dir. Martin Scorsese

Baadasssss! dir. Mario Van Peebles

+*Before Sunset dir. Richard Linklater

Being Julia dir. Istvan Szabo

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi dir. Takeshi Kitano

The Bourne Supremacy dir. Paul Greengrass

The Brown Bunny dir. Vincent Gallo

Cellular dir. David R. Ellis

Close Your Eyes dir. Nick Willing

Closer dir. Mike Nichols

*Coffee and Cigarettes dir. Jim Jarmusch

Collateral dir. Michael Mann

Dawn of the Dead dir. Zack Snyder

The Day After Tomorrow dir. Roland Emmerich

Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) dir. Walter Salles

+Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber

Dogville dir. Lars von Trier

The Door in the Floor dir. Tod Williams

The Dreamers dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

Envy dir. Barry Levinson

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dir. Michel Gondry

Eurotrip dir. Jeff Schaffer

Fahrenheit 9/11 dir. Michael Moore

Fahrenhype 9/11 dir. Alan Peterson

Finding Neverland dir. Marc Forster

Flight of the Phoenix dir. John Moore

^The Football Factory dir. Nick Love

Friday Night Lights dir. Peter Berg

+*Garden State dir. Zach Braff

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle dir. Danny Leiner

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban dir. Alfonso Cuarón

Hellboy dir. Guillermo del Toro

Hero (Ying xiong) dir. Yimou Zhang

A Home at the End of the World dir. Michael Mayer

Hotel Rwanda dir. Terry George

House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu) dir. Yimou Zhang

I Heart Huckabees dir. David O. Russell

I, Robot dir. Alex Proyas

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead dir. Mike Hodges

In Good Company dir. Paul Weitz

+The Incredibles dir. Brad Bird

Intermission dir. John Crowley

+*Kill Bill: Volume 2 dir. Quentin Tarantino

King Arthur dir. Antoine Fuqua

Kinsey dir. Bill Condon

Ladder 49 dir. Jay Russell

The Ladykillers dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events dir. Brad Silberling

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou dir. Wes Anderson

Lightning in a Bottle dir. Antoine Fuqua

The Machinist dir. Brad Anderson

La Mala Educación (Bad Education) dir. Pedro Almodóvar

Man on Fire dir. Tony Scott

The Manchurian Candidate dir. Jonathan Demme

Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside) dir. Alejandro Amenábar

Maria Full of Grace dir. Joshua Marston

Mean Creek dir. Jacob Aaron Estes

Mean Girls dir. Mark S. Waters

Meet the Fockers dir. Jay Roach

The Merchant of Venice dir. Michael Radford

+Million Dollar Baby dir. Clint Eastwood

Mind the Gap dir. Eric Schaeffer

*Miracle dir. Gavin O'Connor

+Napoleon Dynamite dir. Jared Hess

National Treasure dir. Jon Turtletaub

*The Notebook dir. Nick Cassavetes

+*Ocean's 12 dir. Steven Soderbergh

Open Water dir. Chris Kentis

Osama dir. Siddiq Barmak

P.S. dir. Dylan Kidd

The Passion of the Christ dir. Mel Gibson

The Phantom of the Opera dir. Joel Schumacher

*Primer dir. Shane Carruth

Ray dir. Taylor Hackford

Riding Giants dir. Stacy Peralta

Rosenstrasse dir. Margaretha von Trotta

Saved! dir. Brian Dannelly

Saw dir. James Wan

Shaun of the Dead dir. Edgar Wright

Shrek 2 dir. Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon

+Sideways dir. Alexander Payne

Silver City dir. John Sayles

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow dir. Kerry Conran

Spartan dir. David Mamet

Spider-Man 2 dir. Sam Raimi

Stage Beauty dir. Richard Eyre

Starsky & Hutch dir. Todd Phillips

The Stepford Wives dir. Frank Oz

Story of the Weeping Camel dir. Luigi Falorni and Byambasuren Davaa

Super Size Me dir. Morgan Spurlock

Tarnation dir. Jonathan Caouette

Team America: World Police dir. Trey Parker

The Terminal dir. Steven Spielberg

*Troy dir. Wolfgang Petersen

Undertow dir. David Gordon Green

Vera Drake dir. Mike Leigh

A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de finacailles) dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

The Village dir. M. Night Shyamalan

We Don't Live Here Anymore dir. John Curran

When Will I Be Loved dir. James Toback

Wimbledon dir. Richard Loncraine

The Woodsman dir. Nicole Kassell

Young Adam dir. David MacKenzie

Top Ten of 2003

This list was made in early 2004, but posted on 17 April 2014 and backdated to 1 January 2004.

1. Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola

2. Cidade de Deus (City of God) dir. Fernando Meirelles

3. Mystic River dir. Clint Eastwood

4. The Fog of War dir. Errol Morris

5. Whale Rider dir. Niki Caro

6. Capturing the Friedmans dir. Andrew Jarecki

7. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World dir. Peter Weir

8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dir. Peter Jackson

9. Les Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville) dir. Sylvain Chomet

10. Winged Migration dir. Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, Jacques Perrin

All feature films seen from 2003 (based on US commercial release dates)

* review available on this site

+ from my collection
^ not released in the US

titles in bold received at least one Oscar nomination

21 Grams dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu

+28 Days Later... dir. Danny Boyle

American Splendor dir. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

American Wedding dir. Jesse Dylan

Anger Management dir. Peter Segal

Anything Else dir. Woody Allen

L'Auberge Espagnol dir. Cedric Klapisch

Bad Santa dir. Terry Zwigoff

The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) dir. Denys Arcand

Bend It Like Beckham dir. Gurinder Chadha

Better Luck Tomorrow dir. Justin Lin

Big Fish dir. Tim Burton

Bruce Almighty dir. Tom Shadyac

Capturing the Friedmans dir. Andrew Jarecki

Casa de los Babys dir. John Sayles

City of God (Cidade de Deus) dir. Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund

Cold Mountain dir. Anthony Minghella

Confidence dir. James Foley

The Cooler dir. Wayne Kramer

Daredevil dir. Mark Steven Johnson

^Días de fútbol dir. David Serrano

Dirty Pretty Things dir. Stephen Frears

Dummy dir. Greg Pritikin

Elephant dir. Gus Van Sant

+Elf dir. Jon Favreau

Final Destination 2 dir. David R. Ellis

Finding Nemo dir. Andrew Stanton

The Fog of War dir. Errol Morris

Freddy vs. Jason dir. Ronny Yu

Girl with a Pearl Earring dir. Peter Webber

The Good Thief dir. Neil Jordan

House of Sand and Fog dir. Vadim Perelman

Hulk dir. Ang Lee

*Identity dir. James Mangold

In America dir. Jim Sheridan

In the Cut dir. Jane Campion

+Intolerable Cruelty dir. Joel Coen

+The Italian Job dir. F. Gary Gray

Just Married dir. Shawn Levy

+*Kill Bill: Volume 1 dir. Quentin Tarantino

*The Last Samurai dir. Edward Zwick

The Life of David Gale dir. Alan Parker

Lilja 4-ever dir. Lukas Moodyson

+*The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dir. Peter Jackson

Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola

*Love, Actually dir. Richard Curtis

Love Liza dir. Todd Louiso

Los Lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun) dir. Fernando León de Aranoa

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World dir. Peter Weir

Matchstick Men dir. Ridley Scott

The Matrix Reloaded dir. Lana and Andy Wachowski

The Matrix Revolutions dir. Lana and Andy Wachowski

A Mighty Wind dir. Christopher Guest

Monster dir. Patty Jenkins

+My Life Without Me dir. Isabel Coixet

Mystic River dir. Clint Eastwood

Old School dir. Todd Phillips

+*Once Upon a Time in Mexico dir. Robert Rodriguez

Open Range dir. Kevin Costner
El Otro lado de la cama dir. Emilio Martínez Lázaro

Out of Time dir. Carl Franklin

Owning Mahowny dir. Richard Kwietniowski

Phone Booth dir. Joel Schumacher

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl dir. Gore Verbinski

The Recruit dir. Roger Donaldson

S.W.A.T. dir. Clark Johnson

School of Rock dir. Richard Linklater

Seabiscuit dir. Gary Ross

Shanghai Knights dir. David Dobkin

Shattered Glass dir. Billy Ray

Something's Gotta Give dir. Nancy Meyer

Stuck on You dir. Peter and Bobby Farrelly

Swimming Pool dir. Francois Ozon

Thirteen dir. Catherine Hardwicke

Touching the Void dir. Kevin MacDonald

The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplette de Belleville) dir. Sylvain Chomet

Tupac: Resurrection dir. Lauren Lazin

Under the Tuscan Sun dir. Audrey Wells

Veronica Guerin dir. Joel Schumacher

*Whale Rider Niki Caro

Winged Migration dir. Jacuqes Perrin, Jacuqe Cluzaud, Miche Debats

X2 dir. Bryan Singer

XX/XY dir. Austin Chick