A “new movie” is defined herein as any of the following:
– a movie released in 2010 (e.g. Black Swan)
– a non-2010 movie I saw in theaters in 2010 (e.g. The White Ribbon)
– a non-2010 movie I saw on video in 2010 which I couldn’t reasonably have seen sooner (e.g. The Headless Woman)
1. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
The only movie I saw twice in theaters this year, so I am sure about this.
2. Wild Grass (Alain Resnais)
Perhaps if I understood it, I’d enjoy it less. Finally Resnais’s wild sense of mystery has returned.
3. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
One of everybody’s favorite movies of last year is now one of my favorite movies of this year.
4. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Maybe only my second-favorite Weerasethakul movie I watched this year, but they’d sure be close. It’s the one on this list which I still think about most often.
5. The Social Network (David Fincher)
Everyone else’s favorite movie of the year is at least my favorite one in the English language.
6. Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar)
7. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Edgar Wright)
8. Mother (Bong Joon-ho)
9. Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich)
10. A Single Man (Tom Ford)
11. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Terry Gilliam)
12. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
Honorable mentions: Revanche, The Headless Woman, the weirdly awesome It Felt Like a Kiss, music doc It Might Get Loud, Miike’s Yatterman, and Shutter Island.