Coming Soon: The 2008 LiC Readers Top 10
As the blue planet some of us call home begins yet another circuit around the sun, it’s a perfect time to look back and reflect on the last 365 days and nights at the cinema. One of my favorite things at LiC last year was the Readers Top 10 where you collectively got to choose your favorite movies and some of you wrote blurbs about the winners. Encapsulating both the community spirit and the enthusiasm for movies I hope to foster here at my little corner of the Internet, the Readers Top 10 is really what LiC is all about.
Though 2008 is gone, movie release patterns and simple logistics mean many of you haven’t yet seen all the movies you want to see, but I hope you’ll begin compiling your own list of movie favorites now. Around the end of the month I want to tally everyone’s choices, ask some of you to write about them and then publish the results for the world to see.
Any time between now and January 31st (give or take), send your list to craig [at] livingincinema.com and I’ll do the rest. Also let me know if you’d be interested in writing about one or more of your favorites so I know who to turn to when the time comes.
Even if you don’t participate in the comment threads, I hope you’ll consider playing along with the Readers Top 10 by sending in your votes. Everyone who reads LiC is a part of the community and everyone’s voice counts even if you choose to remain anonymous.
Keep in mind this is a Top 10 list, not a Top 11 or 12. You’re allowed to have ties, but you can only pick ten total films. For example, if two films tie for the 2nd spot, the next film will be counted as #4 and only your first ten films will be counted. If you have a tie for the 10th spot, eleven films are allowed, but the last two will be tallied at half the normal value.
Enough with the fine print. Send in those lists! Due to the vagaries of email, I’ll send a confirmation to everyone who submits a top 10. If you don’t get a confirmation, I didn’t get a list so send it in again.
Filed under: Lists
Tags: LiC Readers Top 10
I can’t wait! (Of course, I will wait until I have my Top Ten put together.) Last year was a true blast.
I wrote Ken Turan a snarky little letter the other day that said, essentially, “Ten means ten.” He had managed to include, like, 14 or 15 or 16 films in his top ten list. He wrote me back. :) Basically, he gave me the “I will take every opportunity to avail the public of as many outstanding films as possible, yada, yada, yada ….” I think I’ll write him back.
I had so much trouble making out my top ten list this year that I ALMOST considered doing a tie or two. Even for #1!
But that seemed like such a cop-out. I hate seeing top ten lists with more than ten films.
It’s tempting as hell to qualify and add and squeeze in as much as you can, but I think it’s a cop-out too. There’s a precision to 10 that is appealing.
I’m normally so wishy-washy that it’s kind of refreshing to take a stand and stick to it, even if there are a ton of movies that get left off.
Turan has a point, but it’s still a cop-out.
LOL!!!!! My annual deceit is that I ALWAYS have a tie for #10. This allows for 11 choices, making me a bonafide cheater.
I look forward to this glorious endeavor.
Turan has a point. But that’s why God created the Honorable Mention.
I’m okay with sneaking in the cheeky 11th choice. Anything beyond that is a copout.
What? Is the number ten some sort of sacred number?
Living as I do in multi-plex-ville, I don’t see a lot of new releases until they come on DVD. Does it have to be a whole ten? i.e., can it be four? or seven?
I agree with you K. Bowen on that. Anything beyond the tenth-place tie is admittedly a cop-out. Even with that provisal, I admit it’s difficult getting this list down-pat.
Rick: Methinks any number under 10 is fine, but that decision rests with LIC’s effervescent pollmeister, who I predict will agree.
I’m sorry, a cop out for what? What makes 10 a sacred number?
Turan labeled his column “Best and Worst of 2008″ and while he did stay with ten picks, he states up front that he “doubled-up films on occasion to make it easier to acknowledge deserving work.” So what’s the beef?
I haven’t read any individual Top 10s until I could write my own, but if Turan didn’t label it a Top 10, then he’s definitely off the hook.
There’s nothing magic about 10. I just like it personally for the discipline it calls for, but anything up to 20 works. Beyond 20 the list starts to get wishy washy and lose meaning.
Rick: I was actually agreeing with your argument, NOT disagreeing with it.
The idea of having a TEN BEST list when one sees in the vicinity of 170 films a year is to offer some discipline and selectivity to the list-making process. There is nothing that says that 10 must be rigidly-adhered to, but I do feel that an overload of choices makes the process lose some of its intimacy and essence.
At the end of the day, most critics adhere to ten (or eleven or twelve) choices, but it’s true there is no rule to this endeavor, just the level of enthusiasm that each individual brings to it.
I remember this from last year.
FUN.
Craig, if you need me to write up any blurbs for posterity, then I’m the chick for the job.
But, seeing as a LOT MORE is riding on this than in 2007 (I have the site and all), I probably won’t turn in anything definitive until the very last minute.
Two things I’m convinced of, though…
From the position of other peoples’ perspectives concerning my choices, I imagine there are bound to be some BIG surprises.
And my list is not going to look remotely like anyone else’s…
I’ll be contributing as well, but, like Ms. M., pretty late in the game.
I don’t like ties either and I’m a big fan of “honorable mentions.” Nothing wrong with that (of course, I’m saying this because I already have a crowded top ten that runs around 14, so I’d rather add a few mentions than corrupt the list with ties and such).
What about films some people consider 2007 releases, like 4M3W2D and Young@Heart?
Like others here, there are a few films I need to see before compiling my list, but count me in. What’s the deadline, Craig?
Your eyes must have glazed over during the fine print Pierre, the deadline is the end of the month at the earliest, and I may even extend it a bit. I’d like to post the results before the Oscars, but that’s my outside limit.
SO yeah, Miranda and DP, take your time. It’s important you get to see as much as possible before settling on a list.
And Dorothy, of course you should feel free to honorably mention all the films you want. Only 10 will be counted for the purposes of the LiC poll, but I welcome all lists and I look forward to seeing them. Somehow I hope to keep the official LiC Top 10 list relevant so that people can post their lists there over the coming month. That’s probably not going to work out so well, but oh well.
K. Ihtink I lot of people will be picking 4 weeks in their top 10. Young@Heart counts as a 2008 release since that when it officially played theaters. I’d suggest making two lists. One with 4M and one without. If it looks like it has a shot at making the final top 10, I’ll use your list that includes it, if not, I’ll use your other list. That way your voice will count if it has a chance to make a difference, but if not you won’t end up wasting a vote on a film that doesn’t have a hope in hell of recognition. Does that make sense?
I guess I should make a whole new reminder post to clarify things.
Yeah I’m in. This was one of the best posts of last year. I’m going to have to wait until the end of the month, unfortunately, and there are still a couple I won’t have seen by then like Wendy and Lucy and The Class. Oh well. Should still be fun.
Alright, had to track this down to grab the email address, and now my list is in.