Okay, if Pitchfork can do it with albums, I can do it with movies. Now that the decade is half over, I will be posting a countdown of my top 100 favorite films (in order of preference) that received their world premieres between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014. The list will be spread across four blog posts. I will be posting 25 titles per day, each accompanied by an image, over the course of the next four days — culminating in my posting capsule reviews of the top 25 movies on Tuesday.
This is also White City Cinema’s first official contest. Here’s how it works: you count up the number of films you’ve seen and post that number as a response to each of the four lists. On Monday, I will calculate who’s seen the most movies out of the top 100. The person who comes in first wins both a copy of my book Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry as well as dinner and a film on me (airfare to Chicago not included). The first runner-up will also receive a copy of Flickering Empire. Good luck!
100. Hugo (Scorsese, USA, 2011) – 8.1
99. The Rover (Michod, Australia, 2014) – 8.1
98. Marley (Macdonald, USA/UK, 2012) – 8.1
97. We are the Best! (Moodysson, Sweden, 2013) – 8.2
96. Our Children (Lafosse, Belgium, 2012) – 8.2
95. Oslo, August 31st (Trier, Norway, 2011) – 8.2
94. Le Havre (Kaurismaki, France/Finland, 2011) – 8.2
93. White Material (Denis, France/Cameroon, 2010) – 8.2
92. Laurence Anyways (Dolan, Canada, 2012) – 8.2
91. Land Ho! (Katz/Stephens, USA/Iceland, 2014) – 8.2
90. The Day He Arrives (Hong, S. Korea, 2011) – 8.2
89. Citizenfour (Poitras, USA/Germany, 2014) – 8.3
88. The World’s End (Wright, UK, 2013) – 8.3
87. Pretty Butterflies (Mereu, Italy, 2012) – 8.3
86. Spring Breakers (Korine, USA, 2012) – 8.3
85. Viola (Pineiro, Argentina, 2012) – 8.3
84. Prometheus (Scott, USA, 2012) – 8.3
83. Carlos (Assayas, France, 2010) – 8.3
82. Listen Up Philip (Perry, USA, 2014) – 8.4
81. Locke (Knight, UK, 2013) – 8.4
80. Snowpiercer (Bong, S. Korea, 2013) – 8.4
79. The Iron Ministry (Sniadecki, USA/China, 2014) – 8.4
78. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Anderson, USA, 2014) – 8.4
77. Bird People (Ferran, France, 2014) – 8.4
76. 13 Assassins (Miike, Japan, 2010) – 8.4
To be continued tomorrow . . .
White City Cinema 
January 17th, 2015 at 2:48 pm
Thus far I’ve seen 7, but I may see a few from this list before the contest is over. LOVE that Lawrence Anyways is on this list of course. One of my favorites ever.
January 17th, 2015 at 2:49 pm
Seven is good. You could end up winning dinner and a movie on me!
January 17th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Great idea Michael, both for the list and the competition.
I’ve seen 9 of these (numbers 100, 99, 88, 86, 84, 82, 81, 80 and 78).
Good to see The Rover on here. I have been thinking about that film a bit the past couple of days. To me, it seems like a pretty under-appreciated film (and whilst I like it, I think Michod’s other film Animal Kingdom is probably a touch over-appreciated). I found it to be really thought provoking, not to mention damn pretty.
January 17th, 2015 at 4:03 pm
Thanks for the response, Beer Movie. You have officially taken first place!
January 17th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
Eight
January 17th, 2015 at 4:10 pm
I’ve seen 14. Should honestly have seen more since I’ve been meaning to watch Laurence Anyways and Oslo for a while now.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:08 pm
That puts you neck-and-neck with Daniel Nava for first place. You can revise your total if you see either of those films before I post the final 25 on Monday.
January 17th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
And I take the lead with 15!
January 17th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Congrats, Daniel! I have a feeling you’re going to be hard to catch up with — especially as we get closer to number 1.
January 17th, 2015 at 4:41 pm
I’m really glad you’re posting this Michael. I’m working on my own Top so-and-so of the decade and could definitely use some more recommendations, particularly after having seen LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE based on your suggestion and being blown away.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE is one of my top five Johnnie To films. It deserves to be much better known. I greatly look forward to your own list.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:46 pm
4 😦
January 17th, 2015 at 6:56 pm
Let me guess: HUGO, MARLEY, SPRING BREAKERS and GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL?
January 18th, 2015 at 9:16 am
The fact that you are correct, makes it even worse.
January 18th, 2015 at 10:11 am
There’s a lot of other stuff on here you would like. In addition to LAND HO!, which we talked about the other day, you should definitely check out WE ARE THE BEST!, one of my favorite music-themed films of recent years. It’s about 13-year-old girls forming a punk band in Sweden in 1982.
January 17th, 2015 at 7:21 pm
This is a fun contest! I’ve seen 18, but Hugo only in 2D so not sure if that counts. I suspect there will be a movie higher on the list that needs to be watched in 3D. I’m missing #79, 82, 86-89, and 91.
January 17th, 2015 at 7:29 pm
That puts you in first, Dan (and, yes, I’ll count HUGO in 2-D). You are correct there’s another 3-D title coming up. You might say my love of symmetry has ensured that this list begins and ends in 3-D!
January 18th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Oh, I knew THE SMURFS was on your list but I didn’t think it would be #1.
January 18th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Ha!
January 18th, 2015 at 12:04 am
I’ve seen eight so far and that sucks donkeys.
January 18th, 2015 at 8:51 am
I realize I’m ineligible due to the fact I share watching so many screeners, however, you must sign my copy when you tell me where to pick one up.
January 18th, 2015 at 9:58 am
Who said you were ineligible?! In any event, the best place to purchase a copy is through amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flickering-Empire-Chicago-Invented-Industry/dp/0231174489/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421593053&sr=1-1
January 18th, 2015 at 10:18 am
i have seen ten of those so far. wish it could have been higher. still looking forward to the day he arrives and bird people.
January 19th, 2015 at 10:05 am
21 so far. Everything else is on the watch list. Great selections so far. Margaret is in my top five.
January 19th, 2015 at 11:37 am
Very impressive, Billy. Don’t forget to respond to the other posts relating to this contest.
January 19th, 2015 at 1:16 pm
I was really enjoying the list until I came to Prometheus. It’s almost impossible for me to put into words the intense feelings of disappointment I felt while watching it. Honestly, I’d kind of put it out of my mind until reading this piece! Hahaha!! Oh well, different strokes for different folks I suppose. If anything, it remains one of the most polarizing films of the decade. I look forward to reading the rest of your choices.
January 19th, 2015 at 7:00 pm
is it too late to enter? 6