A note: we disregarded any films that we haven't reviewed or seen ourselves. Unfortunately that disqualified three of the best-reviewed films of the year, all documentaries (funny how that works out?). If you're looking for critical consensus, check out Marwencol, Waste Land, or GasLand, all riding high at 100% on the Rotten Tomatoes meter. Also not making the cut for our list, but apparently amazing: Inside Job, Mugabe And The White African, Animal Kingdom, and A Film Unfinished. It's been a bumper crop for documentaries, apparently! Should be interesting to see how the Academy sorts all that out in their Best Doc category.
 | 1. Toy Story 3 99% RT / 92 MC: Everyone found something to love in the year's highest-grossing film, perhaps the very definition of the four-quadrant blockbuster. (So called because these films appeal to men and women, young and old.) It's still a longshot for Best Picture, but that doesn't mean Pixar isn't going to try for it. |
 | 2. How to Train Your Dragon 98% RT / 74 MC: An interesting division in scores between Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic here, indicating that while practically everyone enjoyed How To Train, not all of them enjoyed it without reservations. Still, for my money one of the easiest films of the year to recommend and a real delight to watch. The best non-Pixar CGI film yet made, and hopefully headed for a number of excellent sequels. Now they just need to replace Jay Baruchel. |
 | 3. Exit Through the Gift Shop 98% RT / 85 MC: I can't say that I dug this film quite as much as everyone else did, if only because I didn't find the subculture it was examining all that interesting, but there's no mistaking the critical consensus here: this is a documentary to watch. I guess the question is, if this wins Best Documentary, will Banksy show up? We all know the answer is "no", but it'd still be quite a moment. |
 | 4. The Social Network 97% RT / 95 MC: Currently winning critics' awards from coast to coast (and the highest-ranking film of the year on Metacritic, indicating a lot of passion behind it), this could be seen as the front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars. They're traditionally a bit more conservative than critics, though, which could open the door for... |
 | 5. The King's Speech 96% / 87 MC: This seems like the kind of film that the Oscars would more traditionally seek to reward than The Social Network, but then again, David Fincher has enough goodwill around Hollywood that this might wind up being his year. We'll see! Regardless, this is a hell of a movie and one that you should definitely seek out if it comes near you. |
 | 6. Restrepo 96% RT / 85 MC: A tough look at the war in Afghanistan, and a movie that everyone seemed to like. Now available on Netflix Streaming! |
 | 7. Mesrine: Killer Instinct 96% RT / 70 MC: Another movie that is universally liked, but not passionately so. There are two films, interestingly enough, and the second one is slightly better-regarded than the first. |
 | 8. True Grit 95% RT / 80 MC: Higher scores than the Coens have almost ever gotten, aside from their critically-loved No Country For Old Men. It's well-positioned for an Oscar run, but maybe it'll be seen as a bit too commercial? But then, they said the same thing about The Departed. We'll see! |
 | 9. Winter’s Bone 94% RT / 90 MC: Another one of those films that everyone talked about, but which many people haven't seen yet, as it only made $6.2 million at the box office, the lowest non-documentary, non-foreign film total of any on the list. Still, it's the kind of small, character-driven piece that people enjoy, and John Hawkes gives one of my favorite performances of the year as Teardrop. |
 | 10. The Kids Are All Right 94% RT / 86 MC: I really liked this movie, but perhaps not to the point where I'd call it one of my favorites of the year. Still, if there was an Oscar for Best Ensemble, it'd be a shoo-in, and it's a hard movie to actively dislike. |
 | 11. The Town 94% RT / 74 MC: A shocker for inclusion on this list, edging out even 127 Hours for the token 11th slot, but there is no one happier in this world than Ben Affleck right now. When the year started, all everyone could talk about was that documentary his brother was shooting with Joaquin Phoenix, and now Big Ben has himself one hell of a follow-up to his excellent directorial debut Gone Baby Gone. |
Im also still sore on Dark Knight not even getting a nod for best picture.
Ok, who let Armond White in here?
There's no way Toy Story 3 wins Best Picture at the oscars, it's animated. As sad as that is, it's how the system works. It'll be either the Social Network or the King's Speech, only because there wasn't some really great war movie for them to pick again.
the IMDB rankings are a joke. its really only a popularity contest. and Inception has a 87 on rt and a 76 on meteoritic.
76 on metacritic, 87 on rotten tomatoes
To be honest, apart from the Oscar buzz which we're discussing in another thread, I'd say that The Social Network had a far greater hype en masse than the King's Speech does.
A fact I'm sure he still masturbates over to this day.