Auteurs' Notebook. Writers' poll.

The Auteurs' Notebook is conducting its first annual writers' poll, in which each contributor presents a released-in-the-US top ten, an anything-goes top ten and then they're cut loose: "explanation, rant, annotation, or anything else that occurs to them about their film viewing in 2008." Stepping up to bat so far: Ryland Walker Knight ("my movie years continue to become defined more by the 'old' films I saw rather than the 'new'") and Neil Young (The Wrestler tops both of his lists).

Updated through 12/29.

Update: "[I]t looks to me as if world filmmaking is continuing its long display of strength across a variety of film cultures," writes Dan Sallitt. "Even the American art cinema is showing signs of taking root, and we are seeing the occasional American entertainment film that is successfully inflected by art-film qualities."

Update, 12/25: "For the past several years I've relied on the Berlinale, which takes place in early February, as a gauge of what to expect for the remainder of the year," writes Andrew Grant. "It's been a remarkably accurate instrument thus far, particularly in 2008 which was lackluster at best.... From the arthouse to the multiplex I found myself coddled more than challenged, and I'm convinced we're in the midst of a global will to mediocrity."

Updates, 12/26: "José Luis Guerín's En la ciudad de Sylvia, my favorite film this year, is, among other things, a sort of crystallization of cinema," writes Fernando F Croce. "Not so much Godard's old 'boys taking pictures of girls' definition (though that certainly plays into the film's use of voyeurism), but a distillation of the medium as a synergy of spaces, faces, and emotions. And time."

"Compiling a Top 10 list of films that enjoyed at least a one-week theatrical run in the US offers a frustrating glimpse into the current state of distribution," notes Darren Hughes, who puts Still Life at the top of his.

Updates, 12/29: Edwin Mak: "What strikes me in reviewing my selection is how many entries were touched by the moralistic - only the deliriously entertaining genre twister Sparrow and absurdist wonder that is The Sun Also Rises escape this category - offering one angle on looking back at this year's film."

Vadim Rizov puts A Christmas Tale at the top of his list and then adds "an alphabetical list of 10 terrific older movies I saw in pretty much pristine condition for the first time this year that are shamefully underknown and not available, as of right now, on Region 1 DVD."

Posted by dwhudson at December 23, 2008 4:01 AM