My top tens have been appearing on this blog every year but I've been cranking them out since long before their was an internet to post them on. I've got copies of them on this substance called paper dating back to the mid 1980s. Looking at them now they're sometimes a source of embarrassment. The phrase what the hell was I thinking often comes to mind. It is after a second viewing of a film that it really comes into focus. A really good film generally is much better appreciated after a second viewing although sometimes the initial impact diminishes. Of course there are the movies you miss during their theatrical run or the ones that are released in your area well after the calendar year. I didn't get a chance to see Amour until March of last year. Had I seen it in time it would have topped my 2012 list.
I'm sure many others who put out top ten lists would have very different versions after second viewings of films or after finally seeing one that had been missed. This does not diminish the fun and even importance of putting out a top ten list in late December. I'll continue to the practice for as long as I am able.
This year I intentionally set about to re-watch all the movies that made my top ten. This was no great chore as I liked them all. I completed the task the other night with Her which finally got its DVD release on Tuesday. I now offer the top ten list I posted on this blog in late December and a revised list based on second viewings. Frankly I'm surprised at there was so much difference. But not very. I even had a new number one. A few years ago I revised my top ten list a few days after posting it. Watching Melancholia a second time made me realize it was my favorite of the year and I quickly admitted and re-posted the list sending shock waves throughout the film world (okay that was an exaggeration there were no shock waves.)
That's enough ado. Here are my revisions.
ORIGINAL LIST
1. Nebraska (Payne)
2. Inside Llewyn Davis (Coens)
3. Frances Ha (Baumbach)
4. Blue Jasmine (Allen)
5. Kill Your Darlings (Krokidas)
6. La Grande Belleza (Sorrentino)
7. Her (Jonze)
8. 12 Years a Slave (McQueen)
9. Blue is the Warmest Color (Kechiche)
10. Reality (Garrone)
REVISED LIST
1. Inside Llewyn Davis (Coens)
2. Her (Jonze)
3. Nebraska (Payne)
4. Blue Jasmine (Allen)
5. Frances Ha (Baumbach)
6. Reality (Garrone)
7. 12 a Slave (McQueen)
8. Kill Your Darlings (Krokidas)
9. Blue is the Warmest Color (Kechiche)
10. La Grande Belleza (Sorrentino)
1 comment:
You make a good point about Top 10 lists that shift over time. I usually only get the chance to double-watch films from the first half of the year. I'm sure I'd make a few changes if I was able to do that with all of them.
Long live lists, tho.
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