More lists, 12/25.

"[A]s we should all know by now, fewer films can be (or at least are) affordably shown theatrically than ever before, and as a result, scores of worthwhile movies see their first 'release' in the US on DVD every year." So at IFC News, Michael Atkinson salutes "The Best Non-Theatrical Debuts of 07," topping that list with Ryuichi Hiroki's Vibrator: "Urban cool, until it sneaks up to your soft side with a sledgehammer." And at his own site, Michael Atkinson posts his annotated top ten.

Stephanie Zacharek presents a top ten, "somewhat in order of preference, although beyond the top three I always find making such distinctions difficult." And those three are: I'm Not There, Control and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Also in Salon, Andrew O'Hehir and Matt Singer look back at the year's best documentaries and Tom Tomorrow presents "2007: An Incomplete, Subjective and Altogether Inadequate Year in Review, Part the First."

Matt Riviera lists 20 films, "a mental snapshot," with No Country for Old Men at the top. "Some of my favourite filmmakers turned in slightly underwhelming pictures (Van Sant, Ozon, Anderson, Winterbottom, Araki) but newcomers dazzled. Debuts by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories), Matthias Luthardt (Pingpong), John Carney (Once) made my heart beat faster for an hour or two, and Ryan Gosling, Ellen Page, Casey Affleck and Eva Green became stars (at least in my eyes)."

The "2007 Top Tens" chart at Movie City News is now thick enough to provide an overview of critical consensus.

"I decided to compile a tiny list of Malaysian films, but not pertaining solely to their quality or box-office performance," writes The Visitor at Twitch. "They're just a small bunch of films that got notable attention for whatever reasons."

The Creative Review Blog Top Ten.

Online listening tip #1. Back at IFC News, Matt Singer and Alison Willmore "look ahead to 2008 and list some of the things we're looking forward to, from the bad movie month of January (hello, two films from Uwe Boll!) to upcoming work from our favorite directors to fabulous films we caught at festival in the past year that are finally making their way to theaters."

Online listening tip #2. On Fresh Air, John Powers weighs in on the "Top 10 Cultural Trends of 2007."

Posted by dwhudson at December 25, 2007 1:51 PM