1. A Separation (by a mile*)
2. Winter’s Bone (by a half-mile)
3. Inception
4. Hugo
5. Greenberg
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. The Tree of Life
8. Inside Job
9. Poetry
10, Mysteries of Lisbon
11. 127 Hours
12. Pina
13, Moonrise Kingdom
14. The Social Network
15. The Master
*And I honestly think that anyone who doesn’t see this has failed to completely parse the narrative. It was 4th on this list before I saw it a second time, and started connecting all the threads.
Missed some 2010 (most notably Carlos), have bought Margaret and am about to watch it, and am behind in 2012.
Obviously the pleasures afforded by a film like The Dark Night Rises (or Avatar from 2009, which would rank 6th) are almost entirely different from those of A Separation or Poetry. I feel lucky to have broad tastes and feel no need to defend the former against those poor souls who like only the latter!
Black Irish
As of today:
- The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
- Mistérios de Lisboa (Raúl Ruiz, 2010)
- Marriage Material (Joe Swanberg, 2012)
- Cold Weather (Aaron Katz, 2010)
- Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011)
- Boxing Gym (Frederick Wiseman, 2010)
- The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo, 2011)