Top 10 Lists

On this page, you'll find my picks for the "Top 10 Best Films" of each year at the movies. For my eligibility guideline, I use the American Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences criteria of films which had premiere U.S. theatrical runs (of at least one week) between January 1 and December 31 of each year, including, of course, foreign films with domestic distribution.

• 2007 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. Away from Her 2. Brand Upon the Brain! 3. 3:10 to Yuma 4. Forever 5. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 7. No Country for Old Men 8. Ratatouille 9. Persepolis 10. Syndromes and a Century Runners-up: I'm Not There, There Will Be Blood, Atonement, The Savages, Taxi to the Dark... 

• 2006 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 2. Lady Vengeance 3. Inland Empire 4. Deliver Us From Evil 5. The Queen 6. The Departed 7. L'Enfant 8. Half Nelson 9. Three Times 10. Brick Honorable mention: Army of Shadows. Runners-up: Curse of the Golden Flower, The History Boys, A Scanner Darkly, Pan's Labyrinth, Old Joy, Bora... 

• 2005 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. Yes 2. Brokeback Mountain 3. Saraband 4. Syriana 5. Good Night, and Good Luck. 6. Asylum 7. Ballets Russes 8. Nobody Knows 9. Caché 10. Mysterious Skin Runners-up: 2046, The Aristocrats, Batman Begins, The Constant Gardener, Downfall, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, A History of Violence, Kung Fu H... 

• 2004 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. Hero 2. Vera Drake 3. Dogville 4. Spartan 5. Kinsey 6. Sideways 7. Crimson Gold 8. Touching the Void 9. The Five Obstructions 10. Goodbye Dragon Inn Runners-up: Bad Education, The Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, Before Sunset, Shaun of the Dead, House of Flying Daggers, The Mother, The Motorcycle Diaries, Spider-... 

• 2003 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 3. The Magdalene Sisters 4. Hulk 5. Cidade de Deus (City of God) 6. Mystic River 7. American Splendor 8. Lost in Translation 9. The Station Agent 10. The Fog of War Runners-up: House of Sand and Fog, Thirteen, Raising Victor Va... 

• 2002 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. Bloody Sunday 2. Adaptation 3. Spirited Away 4. The Hours 5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 6. The Pianist 7. Daughter From Danang 8. Rivers and Tides 9. Late Marriage 10. About a Boy Runners-up: 25th Hour, Spider, Minority Report, About Schmidt, The Believer, Y tu Mamá También (And Your Mom Too), Tal... 

• 2001 Top 10

  The Year's Best Films 1. Mulholland Drive 2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 3. In the Mood for Love (China) 4. Djomeh (Iran) 5. Memento 6. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 7. Ghost World 8. Startup.com 9. Tape 10. In the Bedroom Runners-up: The Pledge, Series 7: The Contenders, Waking Life, Thomas in Love, Iris, Faithless, Cure, The Ma...