Ebert's Top 10 -- Er, I mean, 20

Posted by Michael Dance

Roger Ebert's recent health troubles, plus the confirmation that he and Richard Roeper will never be going back to their old TV show, seems to have freed the man. He's started his own blog where he frequently chats with the commenters, his reviews have in general gone off-topic in comedic directions more often, and he's finally made good on his long-standing complaint that it's impossible to rank the "top ten movies of the year." (Heck, he even reviewed a movie recently without having seen it, although he did admit that in the review, and apologize afterwards.)

This year, his list consists of twenty movies. And -- are you ready for this? -- they're in alphabetical order. That means no movie will be able to claim it was Ebert's "favorite" of the year -- just "one of" Ebert's favorites.

The list:

• Ballast
• The Band's Visit
• Che
• Chop Shop
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• The Fall
• Frost/Nixon
• Frozen River
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• Iron Man
• Milk
• Rachel Getting Married
• The Reader
• Revolutionary Road
• Shotgun Stories
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Synecdoche, New York
• W.
• Wall-E

If you only recognize about half of those and have only seen three or four (or less), you're not alone. Seems Ebert has also become more of a realist:

Looking back over the list, I think most moviegoers will have heard of only about 11, because distribution has reached such a dismal state. I wrote to a reader about "Shotgun Stories," "I don't know if it will play in your town." She wrote back, "How about my state?" This is a time when home video, Netflix and the good movie channels come to the rescue. My theory that you should see a movie on a big screen is sound, but utopian.

It's good to know that despite that, he's still championing the tiny films -- alongside Iron Man and The Dark Knight, of course.

Recent Entries:
· The Crowded Animated Feature Problem
· 'An Education' Heats Up
· Roman Polanski's Arrest Makes Everyone Go Insane

[ READER COMMENTS ]

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.

Your Name: (required)

Your Email Address: (required, will be kept private)

Your Website's URL: (optional)

Would you like us to remember your info for next time?
YesNo

Your Comments:

Email this item to: Your name: Your email address:

Message (optional):