The American Film Institute have released their annual list of top ten films
"which best advance the art of the moving image; enhance the rich cultural heritage of America's art form; inspire audiences and artists alike; and/or make a mark on American society". Which is a quote that basically means Brit made hits like
The King's Speech and
Another Year aren't invited to the dance, but films like
Inception and
127 Hours that were made by Brit directors with large non-U.S. crew are ok. Basically the AFI list only includes those movies made by the American dollar. Personally, I'm loving the shout-out for
The Town, which is one of my personal favourite films of the year and as I'm beginning to put together my list of the year's best films, it's certainly in the top three. I hope it can squeeze into the Oscars Top 10 - though with The King's Speech inevitably to be added, it's hard to knock off too many films from that list. The Town and maybe
Winter's Bone are vulnerable, the rest are certain locks, but I it's most likely to be The Town that gets dropped. Here's the ten;
BLACK SWAN THE FIGHTER INCEPTION THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT 127 HOURS THE SOCIAL NETWORK THE TOWN TOY STORY 3 TRUE GRIT WINTERS BONE
This year the AFI list was picked by a jury chaired by former studio chief
Tom Pollock, and which included; Juno scribe
Diablo Cody, Precious director
Lee Daniels, editor
Donn Cambern, academics
Jeanine Basinger, Jane Gaines, Akira Mizuta Lippit and
Michael Wood, AFI exec
Bob Gazzale and critics
Leonard Maltin, Elvis Mitchell, Claudia Puig and
Lisa Schwarzbaum. As far as Oscar prognostication goes, last year's AFI list only included
5 of the eventual 10 Best Picture nominations and shamefully for an annual list whose first criteria for inclusion is the motto for films 'which best advance the art of the moving image' - they missed off
Avatar but included
The Hangover. However they also left off
The Blind Side, so kudos for that.
Last years AFI Films of the Year with Oscar nominees in bold;
* Coraline * The Hangover * The Hurt Locker * The Messenger * Precious * A Serious Man * A Single Man * Sugar * Up * Up in the Air