Lists, 12/18.

Movie City News launches its "2005 Top Tens" chart. Some good news: So far, David Cronenberg's A History of Violence scores highest. On the "List of Critics," you'll find top tens from Roger Ebert and Peter Travers, among others.

Do check Ebert's full list, where he not only explains his #1 choice - "What is wonderful about Crash is that it tells not simple-minded parables, but textured human stories based on paradoxes. Not many films have the possibility of making their viewers better people; anyone seeing it is likely to leave with a little more sympathy for people not like themselves" - but also reflects on each title, including the dozens that didn't make his top ten (they get special jury mentions), best docs, animated films and candidates for his Overlooked Film Festival.

Sujewa Ekanayake puts Caveh Zahedi's I Am a Sex Addict at the top of his 2005 top ten.

It's one of those weeks for the newsweeklies. While Time looks back on 2005 (you'll have heard that Bono, Melinda and Bill Gates have been named "Persons of the Year"; no best-of lists online as yet), Newsweek is already looking ahead to 2006, putting Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou on the cover. Yes, The Da Vinci Code won't open until May, but I guess you can't rev up that PR machine too early. Devin Gordon writes that one.

The Observer's Philip French introduces his top ten: "The welcome tendency in the States has been the return of political cinema to the Hollywood mainstream for the first time since the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam years."

Posted by dwhudson at December 18, 2005 9:13 AM