List Logic

It's that time of year again and top ten lists of the year's best movies are showing up everywhere. Everybody loves lists. They're simple, they rarely offer any thoughtful writing, and they rank the 10 best movies so that people know what to see, that they haven't already. Some years, there are far more than 10 movies worth mentioning, but too bad for them. It sounds like I might be against such lists, but that is not the case.

I bring this up because critic Roger Ebert has rebelled against the system this year. Instead of posting the normal list, he refused to rank films. His list is a top 20 in alphabetical order. Good for him, right? Ranking films isn't the best way to celebrate cinema, but I believe he has made a mistake. I agree it's silly to rank films but it is necessary to draw people's attention. By making an alphabetical top 20 he has removed the emphasis from any of the movies. Now, it's just a list of movies he really likes, and no one will be as compelled to check out his number one, two or even ten (even though ten is the lowest, simply by being numbered it draws more attention). His list will still have an influence because of his deserved popularity, but if this became a trend amongst all critics, I fear many people would lose some interest.

The top ten list is a means to get anyone, even the most casual of moviegoers to see what deserves to be seen. Even if a hypothetical #11 is just as great as 10, 9 and 8, the top ten list is still important. It is unfair to number 11, yes, but that's the price of grabbing the attention of a reader skimming through a newspaper. Many critics have a method of getting around this. I, like many, have an "honourable mentions" portion that alphabetically lists other great movies. I know it's not as influential, but at least the worthy get mentioned. So I do believe in the top ten list, but one of it's biggest flaws is that for most critics, it loses some relevance. Opinions change, two years later one realizes their number 9 should have been number 3. This is a bit silly. Really, ranking is the method with the greatest impact, but it shouldn't be read into too deeply.

For example, I will post my top ten list from last year, followed by a revised list to see how much has changed in a year.

My top ten list from 2007:

1. Juno
2. Ratatouille
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Superbad
5. Once
6. Hot Fuzz
7. Knocked Up
8. No Country For Old Men
9. Into The Wild
10. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead/The Savages (Tie)

Honorable mentions…
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Away From Her, The Darjeeling Limited, Eastern Promises, Rescue Dawn, Zodiac

Now, here is a revised list of how I feel now:

1. Juno
2. Ratatouille
3. Once
4. There Will Be Blood
5. No Country For Old Men
6. The Darjeeling Limited
7. Rescue Dawn
8. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
9. Into The Wild
10. Knocked Up

Honourable Mentions…
Away From Her, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, Hot Fuzz, The Savages, Superbad, Zodiac

Now, there have been some changes of course, but there isn't a single movie in the top ten or honourable mentions list that wasn't there before. Only the order has changed. This wont always be the case. Ten years from now I might discover a brilliant obscure 2007 picture that makes Juno look like What Happens In Vegas. Whatever. It doesn't matter. My goal, which was to put emphasis on the year's best movies was accomplished. The order has since changed but it's the same movies I wanted to honour in the first place. Top ten lists are important, and should continue to be an end of year event. As long as people take them as a semi-serious guide of what to see, but not a serious guide to which 2007 great movie was better than another 2007 great movie. Just see them both. Please.


All lists published on the Bronze can be found here

The Bronze. Lists

Here is a summary of all lists published on The Bronze.

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Adam's Top Ten 2005

1. Serenity
2. Crash
3. Batman Begins
4. The 40 Year Old Virgin
5. Sin City
6. The New World
7. The Constant Gardener
8. Brokeback Mountain
9. Walk The Line
10. Oldboy
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Adam's Top Ten 2006

1. Children of Men
2. Clerks II
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. The Departed
5. Letters From Iwo Jima
6. Borat
7. Blood Diamond
8. Pan’s Labyrinth
9. Babel
10. The Prestige
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Adam's Top Ten 2007

1. Juno
2. Ratatouille
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Superbad
5. Once
6. Hot Fuzz
7. Knocked Up
8. No Country For Old Men
9. Into The Wild
10. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead/The Savages (Tie)
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List Logic
An article about the point of top ten lists, and why they work. The article includes a revised Top Ten 2007 list.
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Adam's Top Ten 2008

1. Synecdoche, New York
2. The Dark Knight
3. In Bruges
4. Entre Les Murs
5. Paranoid Park
6. The Wrestler
7. Wall-E
8. Milk
9. Rachel Getting Married
10. Revolutionary Road

Parker's Top Ten 2008

1. In Bruges
2. The Dark Knight
3. Synecdoche, New York
4. The Wrestler
5. Wall-E
6. Milk
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. Slumdog Millionaire
9. The Fall
10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
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The 10 Greatest Works of Joss Whedon (as of July 2008)

1. Once More With Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6, Episode 7)
2. Serenity
3. The Body (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5, Episode 16)
4. Hush (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4, Episode 10)
5. Restless (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4, Episode 22)
6. Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog
7. The Chain (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, issue #5)
8. Objects in Space (Firefly Episode 14)
9. Waiting in the Wings (Angel Season 3, Episode 13)
10. Fray
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The Masterpieces, an ongoing list of the best movies of all time can be found here.

Best of 2007: The Top Ten Films

Here it is, the main event. Each year from day one to the end, I maintain a top ten list of the years films. I work surprisingly hard on it, many collective hours spent by the finish. A difficult task, to rank films, but it leads to further time spent analysing the years best movies. By the end, I am usually quite confident in my choices, and this edition is no different. Genre-wise, it was truly the year of the Comedy. Acting-wise, it was truly the year of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who turned in three brilliant performances (something Christian Bale did as well, but not quite at the level of Hoffman). Also a year to remember for film maker Judd Apatow and Canadian buddy writer/actor Seth Rogen. Otherwise memorable for the rise to fame for Canada's Ellen Page. A wonderful 12 months for a true film lover filled with surprises. Counting down from 10 to 1, here are the best films of 2007...

10. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead/The Savages (Tie)It was far too difficult to choose between these Phillip Seymour Hoffman driven films. Both equally brilliant and well acted yet completely different. Each film is filled with despair and darkness. The Savages is a little more willing to show optimism however, while Before The Devil Knows You're Dead refuses to budge. Both must-sees that had to make my list. To really put 2007 in perspective, these two films would have been in my top 5 the last couple years, easily.

9. Into The WildAt turns exhilarating and heartbreaking, the true story Into The Wild is a brilliant character study. Relentlessly gorgeous to watch, Sean Penn does a fantastic job writing and directing this great film. Sprawling across a huge journey with unforgettable characters along the way. Filled with lessons learned, as well as lessons ignored, which leads to devastating consequences.

8. No Country For Old MenThe ultimate suspense film. The Coen Brothers do it again, but this time better. Displaying all the tricks up their sleeve with even more control and intelligence. Probably the best writing of their impressive career. Filled with excellent characters that are perfectly cast (Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem are great). In typical Coen style, the movie is darkly funny and immensely thrilling. This is the Oscar-front runner.

7. Hot FuzzThe only through and through comedy on my list, Hot Fuzz is too hilarious to ignore. Writer/star Simon Pegg along with best friends director/writer David Wright and actor Nick Frost deliver their best effort yet. Previously with their TV show Spaced and cult film Shaun Of The Dead they were already at the top of the comedy world, but this is their masterpiece. A surprisingly interesting plot combined with some memorable action and dozens of laugh out loud jokes, Hot Fuzz is one of the best films this year.

6. Knocked UpIn 2005 The 40-Year Old Virgin shocked audiences by bringing a level of sincerity and heart not usually included in a raunchy comedy. Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow continues that tradition with Knocked Up, which turns down the laughs a little bit and increases the humanity, heart and, yes, even dramatic scenes. On one side, a pitch-perfect comedy, on the other a wonderful tale of unexpected pregnancy and unlikely love.

5. OnceFlying under the radar of North American audiences this year was the Irish film Once. One of the best reviewed movies of the year according to www.rottentomatoes.com, it is difficult not to fall in love with the film and it's characters. Rare is a film so true to life, let alone a musical. Staggeringly beautiful and heartfelt, with a tremendous ending Hollywood would never have allowed. Oh, and the music is brilliant.

4. Superbad
An unusually accurate portrait of high school students thanks to the fact it was written by high-schoolers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Now age 24, they began the script for the film at 13. Filled with non-stop laughs and overwhelming heart, Superbad is a classic.

3. There Will Be Blood
The scariest film of the year comes from an unexpected source. Paul Thomas Anderson provides a bloody good tale of greed. A sprawling, dark epic of madness. Even the score is unsettling. Featuring a stunning show from Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood is incredible.

2. Ratatouille
Ratatouille will unfortunately be overlooked by many movie-goers because it is an animated film marketed for children. A terrible shame indeed. Writer/director Brad Bird continues to single-handedly save American animation from convention and boundaries. His filmography is a short list but masterful (The Iron Giant and The Incredibles were brilliant as well). A Multi-leveled story with fascinating characters and clever, original writing. Ratatouille is among the best animated features ever made.

1. Juno
Perhaps the largest surprise of the year, Juno showed up late in 2007, winning many hearts in the process. Brilliant writing and superb direction. Stunning acting from Micheal Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, J.K. Simmons, and Allison Janney. Featuring a legendary performance from Ellen Page, all the actors bring all the right stuff to their characters. Even the soundtrack is unforgettable, perfectly capturing the spirit of the film. It is hard to compare Juno to other comedies and/or comedy-dramas as its' serious content brings unprecedented emotional resonance and insight. I really don't need to defend its' spot at number one of 2007 because it actually deserves to be discussed in contrast to films of any year before or after it. Nor would I make the statement that it is "the best of it's kind", because, simply, it is truly one of a kind.



Click on the film titles to check out what other critics had to say at Rotten Tomatoes.

Best of 2007: The Top Ten Films (Runner-Ups)

2007 was an incredible year for film, making it especially difficult to narrow the best films into a top ten list. I always like to point out the films that almost made the cut. Even between my runner up list and my actual top ten, there are many unmentioned films worthy of recognition. This time around, the films on my runner-up list would have easily made many top ten lists of recent years. In alphabetical order, they are...

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days© IFC Films

Away From Her© Lions Gate Films


The Darjeeling Limited© Fox Searchlight Pictures


Eastern Promises
Paris, Je T'aime© First Look


Rescue Dawn© MGM


Zodiac© Paramount Pictures

All links in film titles lead to their "Rotten Tomatoes" page

Best of 2007: The Film Awards

The 1st Annual Bronze. Film Awards...

Best Score

The Runner-Ups:

Matt Messina & Kimya Dawson, Juno

John Murphy & Underworld, Sunshine

The Winner: Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood


Best Supporting Actor

The Runner-Ups:

Ethan Hawke, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Tommy Lee Jones, No Country For Old Men

The Winner: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Best Supporting Actress

The Runner-Ups:

Allison Janney, Juno

Catherine Keener, Into The Wild

The Winner: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Actor

The Runner-Ups:

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages

The Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress

The Runner-Ups:

Julie Christie, Away From Her

Laura Linney, The Savages

The Winner: Ellen Page, Juno


Best Screenplay

The Runner-Ups:

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men

The Winner: Diablo Cody, Juno


Best Director

The Runner-Ups:

Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men

Jason Reitman, Juno

The Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best of 2007: Album Of The Year

This was so very easy. There were a few great albums released in 2007, but one stood very far above them. Here are the ones that KINDA got close...

Cassadaga by Bright Eyes

The Cool by Lupe Fiasco

Hospital Music by Matthew Good

Neon Bible by Arcade Fire


...And the very best album...

In Rainbows by Radiohead