Year in Review Update

It's that time of the year again - one where every critic in the world releases their top 10 list. Loyal readers will remember that I tend to go overboard on this - I certainly did last year - and this year will be no exception. There will be a ranked list of my favorite 30 films of the year, as well as lists for the Best Documentaries, Debut Films, Best performances in each Oscar category, worst films of the year and worst performances. It will be a week long event. But unfortunately it won't happen until late January.

You see, there are simply too many films that haven't opened in Toronto yet for me to do my list at this point. I will be seeing True Grit tonight, but after that we still have Barney's Version (which opens tomorrow), Somewhere, Blue Valentine (both on January 7th), Another Year, Biutiful (both apparently January 14th, although Biutiful maybe as late as the 28th), The Illusionist and The Way Back (both January 21st). That is quite simply too many potentially great films by great directors for me in all good conscience proclaim anything the best of the year at this point. I have next week off, and will spend much of it catching up with a bunch of smaller films that were released earlier this year that somehow slipped by as well - as well as heading to the theater to catch up on films like Tron: Legacy, How Do You Know, Little Fockers and Gulliver's Travels (those waiting for my Yogi Bear review will be sadly disappointed as you couldn't drag me to see that). Hopefully, I will be able to start the week of January 24th - but if Biutiful really doesn't open until the 28th, then it will be the week of January 31st. Sucks, I know. But it should be worth the wait.

I will however post my lists for the Best and Worst Movie Posters of 2010 late tonight, so check back tomorrow for those lists. For now, it's the best I can do.

Update: It now appears that Biutiful may not open until Feburary 11, 2011. If that is the case, I'm not sure what I'll do. On one hand, I feel I should see the film, with its acclaimed performance by Bardem before I make up my list. On the other, pushing it that far back is a ridicilous move by the studio, and reflects their lack of faith in the film. I still really want to see it, but at some point, I need to a draw line. Still, I will probably wait until I see the film - but this is really stretching it.