half way there

Every year I compile a list of the top ten films that straddle the line between my personal favorites and what is truly some of the strongest, most compelling, and resonate filmmaking. Some years I feel like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to make a solid ten, but this year I have not been disappointed in the least bit. It's been a varied and interesting year that I will further write about once I have seen the rest of the must-see films of the holiday season as well as the ones on DVD I didn't get around to in the theaters and then some. One film that is a very strange and strong contender for one of the best films of the year, Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", was unfortunately the "Children of Men" of this year, a somewhat flawed masterpiece that is as visually poetic as it is beautiful in its own language and poorly marketed by the major studio behind it. On BBC Radio 4's Film Programme, Dominik explains the film's visual references, the necessity of its divisive pace, and his disinterest in the western genre. Click here to listen.

Here are some of the best films of the year so far (or more accurately, the best of what I've seen):

• "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", dir. Andrew Dominik
• "2 Days in Paris", dir. Julie Delpy
• "Michael Clayton", dir. Tony Gilroy
• "Eastern Promises", dir. David Cronenberg
• "I'm Not There", dir. Todd Haynes
• "No Country for Old Men", dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
• "Zodiac", dir. David Finch
• "The Bourne Ultimatum", dir. Paul Greengrass
• "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead", dir. Sidney Lumet