I suppose I was a sophomore in high school when I first jotted down what I thought were the best films I had seen that "Oscar season," among them movies like
Chicago and
About Schmidt. (I later cheated and added a few when I saw them a few years later—something I try to avoid—such as
Monsoon Wedding and
The Kid Stays in the Picture.) Film critics are more or less required to create these kinds of lists at the end of the year, although the level of enjoyment varies from critic to critic. Dan Kois at the
New York Times wrote in 2011 that while he really has loved making top-ten lists at the end of the year ever since he wrote for his high school newspaper, he recognizes that for many critics, the lists are "artificial exercises, assertions of critical ego, capricious and necessarily imperfect." That same year, Emily Nussbaum at the
New Yorker wasn't shy about saying that she
hates making top-ten lists, writing that she felt her teeth grind as she made a list in that very same article.
Why do I keep making lists of my favorite films of the year? It's not like I'm getting paid to do it. Why would anyone enjoy making lists? Linda Weeks at NPR had a neat way of answering the question: "Lists," she said, "bring order to chaos." And off Robert Kraft's ten benefits of making lists, my favorite is the first: externalizing what we need to remember. I have a list for everything. I make to-do lists and grocery lists. I list my favorite fifty songs of different musicians I like, such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, the Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Janelle Monáe, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, the Notorious B.I.G., Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, and Paul Simon, among many others. I once even ranked the colleagues I disliked the most at a place I worked. But my favorite lists to make are top-ten movie lists.
Although I make lists to help me remember the films I've seen, I have forgotten much about a few movies that I once thought were best. These include 21 Grams, which Wikipedia tells me is a psychological drama from 2003 directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts; Millions, a 2004 British comedy-drama directed by Danny Boyle about a boy who speaks to imaginary saints and altruistically spends a bunch of money he's found; and Taxi to the Dark Side, a 2007 documentary directed by Alex Gibney about a taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and beaten to death by U.S. soldiers. There are some I remember a few moments from (like the ring stopping in mid-air like a tennis ball in Match Point) and how they made me feel (a bit nauseous, from the same film), but if lists are in fact for helping to externalize what we need to remember, then I owe these films another visit.
I've tried to make sure I don't go back and edit these lists once they're finalized. This relieves some pressure. By doing so, I avoid having to go back and contemplate shifting around a bunch of films I saw years ago. I also can only defend some of the selections by saying that they are a snapshot into who I was in the past. Of course I've changed. When I saw Crash as a freshman in university (after four years of going to a mostly white high school), I imagine I probably thought of it as a profoundly progressive and brutally honest depiction of racism. (I also figured that if the film was good enough to top Roger Ebert's top ten of that year, it would surely be good enough for me.) Yet progressive or not, well intentioned or not, and many years after all the backlash, I viewed it again when I watched all ninety Best Picture winners. It then really sunk in just how problematic the film was and is. Should I go back and change the list? What's the point? I barely have enough time to make a top-ten list each year; how could I possibly go back and continually edit previous years'?
Other than Crash, I think a lot of my early picks demonstrate a bit of maturity for a young person who knew nothing about film. Sure, I may have been a lot more into Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl twenty years ago than I am now, but that year's top pick was The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNama, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary and was shown to us by Mr. Brewer, my high school history teacher. Since then, and since I am not (except for a brief stint reviewing films for my college newspaper) a professional film critic who gets sent to see a whole bunch of films a week, I have usually used Rotten Tomatoes' annual list of top one hundred films to help me decide which films to try and make my way through throughout the year. (I usually see about sixty percent of those films.) It's for this reason that I don't get the, let's say, smug criticism some have levied towards the website. I recently saw and liked the film that made Rotten Tomatoes' top slot of last year: No Bears, directed by, written by, produced by, and starring Jafar Panahi, who was arrested last July and sentenced to six years in prison for "propaganda against the regime" of Iran. I also liked the movie directed by Panah Panahi, his son, called Hit the Road, a film that made Barack Obama's annual list. For whatever reason, I didn't like either enough to include them on my list from last year.
Some of the years, I found many of the films to be wonderfully enticing, like 2013, which saw the release of films like American Hustle, Fruitvale Station, The Past, and 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Picture. Other years, like 2019 and 2022, I struggled (and failed) to find even ten films that really stayed with me. But all of the following films I (at least one point in time) really liked. Anyway, here is my list of my top-ten lists:
The Best Films of 2002
10. Insomnia
9. The Hours
8. Chicago
7. Catch Me If You Can
6. Adaptation
5. Road to Perdition
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Bowling for Columbine
2. About Schmidt
1. Spirited Away
Honorable Mentions: One Hour Photo, Spider-Man, The Pianist, Red Dragon, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Gangs of New York, The Count of Monte Cristo, Punch-Drunk Love, Monsoon Wedding
The Best Films of 2003
10. Mystic River
9. Monster
8. Finding Nemo
7. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
6. X-2: X-Men United
5. Peter Pan
4. 21 Grams
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
2. Whale Rider
1. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNama
Honorable Mentions: Seabiscuit, The Last Samurai, 28 Days Later, Shattered Glass
The Best Films of 2004
10. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
9. Vera Drake
8. Million Dollar Baby
7. The Aviator
6. Fahrenheit 9/11
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Team America: World Police
3. Collateral
2. Finding Neverland
1. The Passion of the Christ
Honorable Mentions: Hotel Rwanda, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Shrek 2, Super Size Me, Shaun of the Dead, The Machinist, Meet the Fockers
The Best Films of 2005
10. Transamerica
9. Grizzly Man
8. Good Night, and Good Luck
7. The Three Burials of Melquidas Estrada
6. Brokeback Mountain
5. Syriana
4. Sin City
3. Mysterious Skin
2. Downfall
1. Crash
Honorable Mentions: The Squid and the Whale, Match Point, Capote, Walk the Line, Weather Man, Hustle and Flow, Millions, Body of War, Cinderella Man, Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins
The Best Films of 2006
10. The Last King of Scotland
9. The Queen
8. The Good Shepherd
7. Casino Royale
6. The Prestige
5. The Departed
4. Little Miss Sunshine
3. Children of Men
2. An Inconvenient Truth
1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Honorable Mentions: Akeelah and the Bee, The Pursuit of Happyness, World Trade Center, Little Children, The Fountain, Jesus Camp, V for Vendetta, Crossing the Line
The Best Films of 2007
10. Things We Lost in the Fire
9. Into the Wild
8. Enchanted
7. Zodiac
6. Sicko
5. American Gangster
4. Lars and the Real Girl
3. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country For Old Men
1. Hot Fuzz
Honorable Mentions: Stardust, Charlie Wilson's War, Black Snake Moan, Atonement, Taxi to the Dark Side
The Best Films of 2008
10. Be Like Others
9. Mamma Mia!
8. Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
7. Gran Torino
6. Frost/Nixon
5. The Wrestler
4. Milk
3. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Dark Knight
1. WALL-E
Honorable Mentions: Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
The Best Films of 2009
9. Let the Right One In
8. Food, Inc.
7. Departures
6. Up
5. Coraline
4. Watchmen
3. Paranormal Activity
2. World's Greatest Dad
1. Collapse
Honorable Mentions: Anvil! The Story of Anvil, The Lady and the Reaper, Zombieland, Star Trek
The Best Films of 2010
10. Exit Through the Gift Shop
9. Rabbit Hole
8. Best Worst Movie
7. Dogtooth
6. The King's Speech
5. Winter's Bone
4. Wo Ai Ni, Mommy
3. The Kids Are All Right
2. Mother
The Best Films of 2011
10. A Better Life
9. Hot Coffee
8. The Kid With a Bike
7. A Seperation
6. The Interrupters
5. Horrible Bosses
4. Hugo
3. We Need to Talk About Kevin
2. The Tree of Life
The Best Films of 2012
10. Looper
9. Argo
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
6. Django Unchained
5. Amour
4. The Woman in Black
3. Rust and Bone
2. Monsieur Lazhar
1. Moonrise Kingdom
Honorable Mentions:
Life of Pi,
The Grey,
The Sessions,
Skyfall
The Best Films of 2013
10. The Past
9. Nebraska
7. American Hustle
6. This Is the End
5. The Hunt
4. Fruitvale Station
Honorable Mentions: The Wolf of Wall Street, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Saving Mr. Banks, Mud, Europa Report, Blood Brother, The Angel's Share, August: Osage County
The Best Films of 2014
10. The Overnighters
9. Snowpiercer
8. In Bloom
6. The Rocket
4. Leviathan
3. The Babadook
2. Pride
The Best Films of 2015
9. I Am Big Bird: The Carol Spinney Story
8. Ex Machina
7. What We Do in the Shadows
6. Where to Invade Next
5. Trainwreck
4. Paddington
3. Brooklyn
2. Inside Out
1. Room
Honorable Mentions: The Hunting Ground, The Walk
The Best Films of 2016
10. Moana
9. Toni Erdmann
8. Florence Foster Jenkins
7. Eye in the Sky
6. Under the Shadow
5. Lion
4. Arrival
3. O.J.: Made in America
2. Kubo and the Two Strings
Honorable Mentions: Weiner, Captain Fantastic, Don't Breathe
10. Get Out
9. Battle of the Sexes
8. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
7. The Post
6. Coco
4. Kedi
3. The Big Sick
2. The Salesman
1. The Florida Project
Honorable Mentions:
The Disaster Artist,
The Lego Batman Movie,
Thor: Ragnarok,
It,
Call Me By Your Name,
Spider-Man: Homecoming,
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
The Best Films of 2018
8. Widows
7. Mary Poppins Returns
6. Paddington 2
4. The Hate U Give
2. Hereditary
1. Won't You Be My Neighbor?
The Best Films of 2019
8. Marriage Story
7. The Lighthouse
6. Honeyland
5. Toy Story 4
4. The Farewell
3. Knives Out
2. Rafiki
1. Little Women
The Best Films of 2020
10. On the Record
9. The Invisible Man
8. Host
7. Minari
6. Boys State
5. Crip Camp
4. Saint Frances
2. His House
Honorable Mention: Disclosure
The Best Films of 2021
10. Lead Me Home
9. Bo Burnham: Inside
8. Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It
7. Old Henry
6. The Power of the Dog
3. Two of Us
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home
1. The Rescue
Honorable Mention: A Quiet Place Part II
The Best Films of 2022
6. Fire Island
5. The Duke
4. Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe
3. The Red Suitcase
2. Hustle
1. Official Competition
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