As for Scott Pilgrim, (sorry to focus in on the 1 of 2 I\’ve seen), It just fell completely flat for me. I didn\’t recognize any of the characters as human beings since everyone\’s behavior and line delivery was SO stylized. I also didn\’t think it was funny because the rhythm of dialogue is just so forced. And this is coming from someone who LOVES Edgar Wright (and enjoyed the SP books). I wanted to love it, even rewatched it just to be sure, but felt nothing.

Didn\’t even know that “The Temptation of St. Tony” existed and it sounds amazing.

Also, that list with films without distribution will keep me entertained in 2011 trying to catch one of them on the festival circuit. This is catnip for avid movie nerds who are trying to find something that will surprise them.

Thanks again mr Bell

There has been plenty of variety across the lists, and there have been plenty of American films worth talking about this year. Playlisters clearly do frequent the arthouse, so it\’s foolish to say they have some sort of narrow-minded, US-centric view of film.

According to Stephen, you are adding to the discourse by including more foreign films, even though he didn\’t like the foreign films that were picked? Ludicrous, and snobby, argument.

If a french critic included solely European films on his list, would be be going after him for not including a bunch of American indies he had no access to? Unlikely.

2. Stephen what would you put up there instead? Not being confrontational just legitimately curious.

The notion that one should try and surprise and or impress anyone with a top 10 list is an absurd one, generally made by kids. Everyone groan’s when top 10 lists look the same and then they covet something different, but contrarianism for the sake of contrarianism is juvenile.

Look at our underrated lists if it makes you feel better, because that’s prolly what Reverse Shot did in their top 10. It’s silly to just be different because you think you should stand out.

(not saying that the Bell is doing that at all, but comments thus far about our top 10 lists being \”conventional\” or \”disappointing\” or whatever are just silly. We\’ve had obscure stuff in our top 10 lists before — our at least our EIC\’s — but we didn\’t this year, so what. Those who think obscure = cool or better…. well, just silly).

If you like, check out my own Favorites of 2010 published here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6189444/my_favorite_films_of_2010.html?cat=40

Given, it doesn\’t claim to be a best of the year list, just my favorites with US theatrical releases and brief blurbs on why.

Firstly, Black Swan\’s inclusion initially disappointed me, but you did manage to soften my negative opinion of it by giving me more than just catchphrases like \”Natalie Portman is a revelation\” and \”Aronofsky crafts a nightmarish psychosexual thriller the likes of which have long since been extinct.\” I still am lukewarm on it, but you\’re the first writer here to convince me I actually may need to revise my opinion of it. Which I think is a great thing for a Top Ten list to do.

The Secret in Their Eyes has been overshadowing many other worthy Latin American movies, including the far superior The Milk of Sorrow. Hopefully this will make some people expand their tastes as far as Latin American cinema goes; one can\’t simply watch the Academy Award Winner of Best Foreign Film and expect to understand what is really going on in countries outside of the United States.

The Oath has been hilariously ignored by everyone, audiences and critics alike, despite it being easily better, subtler, and more thought-provoking than any of the documentaries garnering plaudits this year (The Inside Job, Waiting for \”Superman\”, etc.). Good on you for remembering it.

And I could kiss you for spotlighting Alamar as the best film of the year. I am a big fan of Reverse Shot, who have been lobbying hard to get people to pay attention to this unassuming little gem, and here at last is someone else who has seen it, understood it, and recognized its worth.

And I guess I\’ll end by saying that obscure is not necessarily better. I\’m fine with Black Swan and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World being here, as they\’re justified by insight and genuine appreciation and actual variety and wide-ranging tastes outside of those two selection. To again cite Reverse Shot, anyone who praises mostly American films \”either wasn’t watching enough movies or watching movies well enough.\” It\’s not so much that there were no good American films this year, but more that anyone who has really seen what the (entire) world had to offer in 2010 wouldn\’t be doing so. Which is where my contention with previous lists lies: most of the previous writers, even ones I respect and usually like, give no evidence of having even seen these worthy contenders, let alone considering them for their predictable and uninteresting lists.

I read just about everything you guys put up, and I think you have the best movie site on the internet. I would be very surprised if anyone has retweeted more of your posts in the past few months than I have. But the bulk of your year-end lists, in my opinion, really bespeak the cinematic equivalent of a Ptolemaic view of the universe, with the United States at the center, which I, frankly and bluntly, think is *INSANE*. We are only one country in the world. And while I think we have, year-to-year on down through the history of the medium of cinema, created more great works as well as greater works than any other country out there, to act as if we are the only other film-producing country in the world strikes me as ridiculous. The very law of probability must bend to near breaking for someone to posit that nine of the best ten films of the year came from the same place. It\’s a ludicrous contention and I sincerely think that anyone who makes it just isn\’t trying hard enough, which is why the language that Reverse Shot (whose writing is typically pretty damn obnoxious – see http://www.reverseshot.com/article/reverse_shots_11_offenses_2010, though i don\’t disagree with most of their conclusions) led their year-end list with struck me.

It seems like, with the proliferation of film criticism and other kinds of film coverage on the internet, what should be fostering a diversity of voices and opinions is instead lending itself towards a herd mentality, and more so this year than in previous years. And I find that disappointing. And hence, I find Bell\’s list refreshing.

Access is obviously an issue, and lord knows I\’m aware that it must be difficult to have a day job and also write for a blog whose quality is as high as yours is (which is why, as a recent law school graduate, I only voraciously read film crit and news on the internet and don\’t really write much of anything), but if you\’re taking the time out of your life to write for a blog that purports to really, truly cover cinema, especially with dispatches and news from and about the major international film festivals, I would expect that purported coverage to be more reflected in the year-end lists than it was. I\’m willing to concede that, living in New York, I have a slanted view of film screening availability, but even before I moved here, the internet served me incredibly well when it came to polishing off viewings of all the films in a given year.

And Edward, this: \”The notion that one should try and surprise and or impress anyone with a top 10 list is an absurd one, generally made by kids.\” is a bullshit strawman argument and I don\’t think it\’s adding anything to the discussion. I don\’t think I said that anywhere, or even intimated it. I would think that it is pretty clear that what I meant was that the Ptolemaic \”U.S. at the center and nothing else even really matters\” view just speaks to lazy film viewing. One shouldn\’t put \”outside the box\” movies in their lists just to surprise or impress anyone. One SHOULD, however, see \”outside the box\” movies over the course of the year, and if one really knows and loves cinema, I\’d expect one who does see such films to have them more represented on their year-end list. I frankly think your entire comment, even beyond what I just quoted, is a strawman argument that doesn\’t address what I\’m saying at all.

Chris, since you asked, my top 30 films of the year are listed here, along with who I think deserves to be nominated and win for Oscars for their work this year (both lists which have been dynamically worked on for a few months now), as well as some scattered thoughts on some movies that did and didn\’t make my list (which I wrote up last night…hence they are VERY scattered): http://sk2k10.tumblr.com/post/2633556153/the-cinema-of-2010-30-best-films-oscar-worthy-work

And yeah…I agree with Michael\’s last paragraph in his comment, too. I think we\’re on the same page. I apologize if my initial comments were unclear, but I don\’t think that Edward\’s response was fair at all.