Toronto’s NOW critics merge & diverge Top 10 lists

“Toronto’s Village Voice” NOW creates a Top 10 that combines the favorite titles from each of it’s movie critics, and then the writers break it down to their more personal lists of 10.

1. The Social Network – David Fincher (“The classic American tale of success, power and greed is updated for the online generation: There Will Be Blood on apps. Broad themes and contemporary resonance aside, Fincher‚Äôs masterful comedy is also the most accessibly entertaining movie this year, featuring a talented cast that can compute Aaron Sorkin‚Äôs rapid-fire dialogue faster than your MacBook.”)
2. A Prophet – Jacques Audiard (“A young, illiterate French-Arab prisoner (Tahar Rahim) manoeuvres through the institution‚Äôs ever-shifting social and ethnic power structure and, in the process, learns how the world works ‚Äì inside and outside the concrete walls. Audiard‚Äôs audacious epic, anchored by frighteningly natural performances by Rahim and Niels Arestrup as the prison‚Äôs Corsican gang leader, deserves its comparisons to all those other great crime films, including The Godfather.”)
3. Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy (“Banksy‚Äôs smart, self-effacing and hilarious satire is a scathing look at how genuine street art becomes that most cringe-inducing adjective: commercial. The film‚Äôs suspect origins might be a Borat-style ploy and we may never get to know the real Banksy, but what‚Äôs clear is his discomfort with his own mass popularity.”)
4. True Grit – Joel and Ethan Coen
5. Police, Adjective – Corneliu Porumboiu
6. Inception – Christopher Nolan
7. 127 Hours – Danny Boyle
8. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Apichatpong Weerasethakul
9. Marwencol – Jeff Malmerg
10. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – Edgar Wright

Individual critics lists, after the cut.

Glenn Sumi’s Top 10 movies

1. A PROPHET An illiterate, penniless Arab works his way up the rungs of a French prison and learns everything about life.
2. THE SOCIAL NETWORK A digital reboot of Revenge Of The Nerds becomes the moral thriller for our times.
3. TRUE GRIT The Dude, out-Duking John Wayne, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld saddle up for the most thrilling adventure of the year.
4. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
   
5. INCEPTION
   
6. 127 HOURS
   
7. I AM LOVE
   
8. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
   
9. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
   
10. LAST TRAIN HOME

Runners-up

• La Danse, Black Swan, The King‚Äôs Speech, Marwencol, Inside Job, Client 9, How To Train Your Dragon, Rabbit Hole

Ten hours of my life I’ll never get back

• Burlesque, For Colored Girls, Piranha 3D, The Girl Who Played With Fire And Then A Couple Months Later Kicked The Hornet‚Äôs Nest

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Radheyan Simonpillai’s Top 10 movies

1. A PROPHET РA beautiful, expressionistic coming of age tale… in prison.
2. THE SOCIAL NETWORK – If Citizen Kane and Bill Gates had a baby, it would be Mark Zuckerberg.
3. POLICE, ADJECTIVE – Sombre movie about detectives choosing the right words leaves you speechless.
4. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
   
5. TRUE GRIT
   
6. 127 HOURS
   
7. THE KING’S SPEECH
   
8. INSIDE JOB
   
9. LIFE DURING WARTIME
   
10. THE FIGHTER

Runners-up

• Kick-Ass, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, Marwencol, Never Let Me Go, Rabbit Hole, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

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Susan G. Cole’s Top 10 movies

1. HOWL James Franco is poetry in motion as bad boy Allen Ginsberg.
2. MOTHER AND CHILD Annette Bening deserves her Oscar for this, not that other film.
3. THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES A knockout study of memory, passion and regret from Argentina.
4. LIFE DURING WARTIME
   
5. LAST TRAIN HOME
   
6. PLEASE GIVE
   
7. TRUST
   
8. LIFE WITH MURDER
   
9. CYRUS
   
10. GROWN UP MOVIE STAR

Screen blessings

• Kristen Stewart shows a pulse in The Runaways. Noomi Rapace rocks The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Sally Hawkins lights up Made In Dagenham. Michael Douglas gets his mojo back in Solitary Man.

Screen sins

• SALT If you‚Äôre gonna make an actioner with Angelina Jolie that isn‚Äôt sexy or funny, can you at least make it smart?
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT A dumb take on lesbian parenting and sperm donor angst, even if Annette Bening does look great as a dyke.