My top ten films for each year of the 2010s. These are always up for revision as I watch more films, revisit ones I’ve seen before, and think about them over time. The films as listed in the “Best of Year” section are held fast at the end of the year (and include a listing of all films I saw that year as well as films released that year).

Oh, and I don’t really believe in top “ten” lists, despite using the common nomenclature for the title of this page. This is going to be the top several films of each year, down to whatever point I think the films stop being worthy of inclusion. Might be eight one year, might be twenty-three another.

2012

1. The Avengers
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. The History of Future Folk
4. Safety Not Guaranteed
5. Cabin in the Woods
6. Prometheus
7. Haywire
8. The Raid
9. The Hunger Games
10. John Carter
11. Chronicle

TOP FIVE YET TO SEE (only counting January-June releases, since this is about what I’ve missed, not what I’m anticipating)
Damsels in Distress
The Pirates: Band of Misfits
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Grey
21 Jump Street

2011

1. The Tree of Life
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin
3. Drive
4. The Innkeepers
5. Attack the Block
6. Hanna
7. Melancholia
8. The Artist
9. Winnie the Pooh
10. The Dynamiter
11. Café de Flore
12. Carnage
13. The Adventures of Tintin
14. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
15. Kill List
16. Jane Eyre
17. This is Not a Film
18. Extraterrestrial
19. Rango
20. Midnight in Paris

TOP FIVE YET TO SEE
The Descendants
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Skin I Live In
50/50
The Muppets

2010

1. The Social Network
2. Certified Copy
3. Blue Valentine
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
5. The New Year
6. Attenberg
7. Black Swan
8. Inception
9. Meek’s Cutoff
10. The American
11. True Grit
12. Never Let Me Go
13. Julia’s Eyes
14. Shutter Island
15. Hahaha
16. The Illusionist
17. Rubber
18. Parade
19. Toy Story 3

TOP FIVE YET TO SEE
127 Hours
Another Year
Incendies
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Tabloid