When I saw this was a post by you, I was almost hoping you'd include something like Kung Fu Panda 2 just to fuck with people.

@ 1, seeing The Tree Of Life on this list, even with it's "first 30 minutes" qualifier, fucks with people enough.

I can't believe I agree with you on some of these. But I refuse to see any part of The Tree of Life. Fuck Malick. Never again will I waste minutes of my life on his crap.

Why not 'The Help'?

'tree of life' charles you tickle me..
@ 4 .. 'the help' ?surely, miss phoebe, you jest .

How to please Mudede at the movies: Be arty, non-American, and have an animal in the lead role.

@6 I was surprised there wasn't as much pure sex movies as there are.

Also, choosing a Spielberg film is totally fucking with people.

I will watch "War Horse" the day after I eat a chicken shwarma from Madeline Albright's buttcheeks.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was not very good.

I was composing the obligatory lame "but what about Tree Of Life, Charles?" comment in my head as I read your headline. But I see you kung-fu blocked that gag by (partially) including the movie in your list. You jerk.

I like the photo you picked for Tree of Life though. Was that your favourite scene?

Best wishes for a happy new year, by the way!

Charles,
I believe "The Debt", "Take Shelter" and "Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy" were excellent to outstanding. I did enjoy "Tree of Life" but agree some better editing could have been done. It wasn't Malick's best film.

Nostalgia for the Light, The Interrupters and Take Shelter for sure. Also: Louder Than a Bomb

Honorable mention for unique style and critique: Bellflower

Best boring/span> meditative film of the year: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Good; now I know which 10 films to remove from my Netflix queue. Now can you list your 10 least favorite movies? I need recommendations for the weekend.

What about "Certified Copy"? Holy fuck, that was 2010? How rapidly I am hurtling toward my death.

A thousand hurrahs for Vera Farmiga's acting and directing in Higher Ground. She gave my favorite performance of the year. Would be interesting to double-feature this film with Robert Duvall's The Apostle, which I also loved.

Does it make sense any more to talk about films "released this year" ?

We're all on Netflix and other streaming media. The Long Tail blends all years together.

It doesn't matter when it was released, it matters when I watched it on Netflix.

For example, one of the better movies I saw was Yellow Brick Road, a creep flick. When was it released? Who knows, some time late in the 00s I guess.

It was the movie equivalent of an indie rock band...it just kind of atemporally exists in the noosphere waiting for me to consume it.

So, it has no "year" until I collapse its superpositions by viewing it.

Seconding @9

7: Yes, it's a Spielberg movie, but Charles likes horse movies.

Totally agree on Nostalgia for the top spot.

(And on the first 30 min of Tree being amazing. But Melancholia beats all its minutes.)