...just for the performances alone. Okay, I believe it--Beyonce can act--and act well. :)

I don't even mind the nod to chick-flickish popcorn movies like Zohan, Twilight and House Bunny. They all have their place. But a 10 Best list that does not include *Slumdog Millionaire*? Clearly, the list-maker hasn't yet seen this astonishing new classic.

dewey2e: ""Maybe it's cheating to put an unreleased movie on a 10-best list..."

Yes, it is an incredibly self-indulgent (or again, studio-induced) thing to do. It hasn't been released? In 2008? So she'll put in on this year's list AND next year's, if it DOES get released?

I stopped paying attention to this idiot several months ago."

It's quite clear that you weren't paying attention to Zacharek, dewey2e, because if you did then you too would have understood that the film has been released. Here's the part that you didn't pay attention to, dewey2e:

Johnnie To's "Sparrow" didn't get a theatrical release in the United States, but at least you can watch it at home -- the DVD is available from DVDAsian.com and other vendors, and it's also available on Blu-Ray.

Excoriating someone as an "incredibly self-indulgent... idiot" because the person doing the excoriating didn't pay attention to or understand what the other person actually wrote - I love irony.

I can't comment on the quality of any of the movies on Stephanie Zacharek's Top 10 list because I haven't seen any of them. For that matter I've only seen one of the films on her honorable mentions list - "Frost/Nixon". Unlike many here however that's fine with me - I don't watch nearly as many films as Zacharek does, and I read film critic reviews in part to be exposed to movies that I'm not familiar with.

Like many here I'm surprised that "Milk" and "Wall-E" didn't make Zacharek's cut; in my own 2008 Top 10 list I'd also put "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - which Zacharek thinks is just ok - as well as "Frost/Nixon".

So it's safe to say that Zacharek's taste in movies and mine are not identical. Unlike some here however I'm not bothered by that - Zacharek's an intelligent and thoughtful writer who obviously (to me, anyway - it surprises me that some people evidently think otherwise) loves movies, so I enjoy reading what she writes even though we don't always agree.

That said, we often agree too. For example, I found her review of "The Dark Knight" to be spot-on. ("[L]ooks as if it were made from a messy blackboard diagram with lots of circles, heavily underlined phrases... There's no dramatic arc in "The Dark Knight" -- only a series of speed bumps" - my thoughts exactly.)

I saw "The Dark Knight" with someone who loved it - for her it was the best movie she'd seen in years. And I'm glad I saw "The Dark Knight" with her instead of some of the movie's fans who've posted here - my friend and I disagreed about the film without either of thinking the other was an idiot (of the elitist or anti-elitist variety - take your pick). It's just a movie after all - nothing to get worked-up about.

Those American kids sure are serious about gettin' in all the playtime they possibly can, suited up in their BVD briefs, building swell GGI sandcastles in a semi-real sandbox, and playin' big boys with toys behemoth budget Batman...

Oh, wait, yes. In this plethora of obscure or (could it be?) payola-induced choices, the best film, the most moving performances, and best direction are totally overlooked.

Where are Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and where is the screenplay and the best picture mention for "Milk"? So, what do we get? We get the following:

"Maybe it's cheating to put an unreleased movie on a 10-best list..."

Yes, it is an incredibly self-indulgent (or again, studio-induced) thing to do. It hasn't been released? In 2008? So she'll put in on this year's list AND next year's, if it DOES get released?

I stopped paying attention to this idiot several months ago. I have only myself to blame for opening this article. And Salon: can't you get a real movie critic?

One gets whiplash reading the criticism of Stephanie Zacharek--some feel she takes movies too seriously, others complain she doesn't take them seriously enough. I don't agree with very many of her picks (and I haven't seen that many either), but her reasons for choosing her picks are well stated, and her full reviews spell out her reasoning quite clearly.

Okay--re: The Dark Knight: I say this as a big fan of "The Dark Knight," and I'd put it on my own ten best list if I had one--Look, Christopher Nolan (and screenwriters Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer) are dealing with big themes and important messages--questions of torture, interrogation, surveillance vs. privacy in a free society, hero vs. vigilante, what it means to be a hero anyway--in "The Dark Knight." bquick , I *guarantee* they want their movie to be taken seriously as a work of ideas. They spent at least a year of their life making that thing, and they didn't do it just because they like comic books. For you and others to say "it's only a movie" is to insist that we ignore everything Nolan, Nolan, and Goyer were trying to do; to ignore all their hard work is to do them a giant disservice. Who cares? The people who actually made the movie care.

Stephanie Zacharek *engaged* with "The Dark Knight"; she took it seriously and treated it with the respect it deserved. She didn't like it, largely because Christopher Nolan screwed up one of the basics of action filmmaking--being clear, visually, at all times, what's happening. There is no law that says every American is required to like "The Dark Knight," and to say, "Well, X, Y, and Z liked it, so that means you're wrong!" or "you should have your critic's license" revoked is the height of absurdity. Before you post an angry response, you should *read* Ms. Zacharek's review in full. (And, sheesh, I wish salon would get its act together and have a moderated comments section. Carping from the likes of dalivus and baraboo jane are just useless. And really, chano8a? Was it not obvious from the freakin' BYLINE labelled "BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK" that these were her opinions? Whose top-ten list did you think it was?)

Aaron G--I gotta stick up for ZAcharek here;Paglia is an incoherent loon who deliberately throws bombs; ZAcharek, by contrast, is a coherent, logical writer. When I don't agree with her tastes--which is frequently--I can read her reviews and say, "Ah. I see how she got there." Trying to follow the misfirings in Paglia's brain is like watching cows tap-dance on Mars: it doesn't make any sense, and you wouldn't believe it if you saw it.

I'm not sure why you think ZAcharek is so invested in an image as a rebel, particularly since you offer no evidence to back that up (Armond White, by contrast, writes every word to further his image as the Heroic Rebel Taking On The Masses--it was fun to read for a while, then it got old. I started seeing him as a poseur when he bashed School of Rock not for the film but for using the same typeface as Rolling Stone in its title.)

Filmmakers: School of Rock is about rock music. School of Rock = Rolling Stone.

Armond White: School of Rock is using same typeface as Rolling Stone. School of Rock is deliberately trying to appeal to middle-aged movie critics, and I shall expose their dastardly scheme!)

Yeah, whatever, Armond.

I choose to take Stephanie's reviews at face value--an organized response to the films she sees. And, honestly, if she were really interested in playing to salon's demographic, do you really think she would have put "Ghost Town" on her Top 10 list?

My list? It's a lot closer to WonderLaw's. I liked Milk a lot, and Synecdoche NY; I loved "Let the Right One In." I thought Happy-Go-Lucky was just okay.

Gosmar: "I've hated your reviews for a long time because you trashed La Vie en Rose, and because I have spent hundreds of dollars watching miserable crap you've praised time after time. " I'm a bit skeptical of that claim. I have a three strikes and you're out rule for critics. If a critic recommends three films I absolutely hate, I stop using them to decide whether or not to see a movie. So let me get this straight? You saw, what, nine movies Zacharek recommended, hated them all, and then went to see a tenth? Either you were using other critics as well to judge--in which case Stephanie is not solely to blame--or you're a glutton for punishment. In any case, you're clearly a bad match for Ms. Zacharek and should seek out other film critics to read and use as guidelines; hating a movie critic seems like a waste of energy on my end. (Hating a nasty, part-time loser theatre critic who trashed one's play--that's entirely different.)

But seriously--to future posters--if you're thinking of posting an angry response here, about "The Dark Knight" or whatever, first *read* all ten of Stephanie's full reviews here. If you haven't *seen* most of the movies on her list, she ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. If you want to know why "Zohan" and HSM3 got honorable mentions from her, you can read her damn full reviews and take it from there.

Jesus Christ does this country need a nationwide, emergency logic & rhetoric class. People are stupid, and the internet makes them stupider.