The Social Network tops Sight & Sound 2010 list

Sight & Sound, the legendary film magazine of the British Film Institute, has published its annual list of top films of the year and David Fincher's The Social Network has been named best film of 2010.

It is certainly surprising that a publication usually accused of elitism and snobbery gives top honours to an American major studio film. The last American picture to top the list was Brokeback Mountain back in 2005. However the film was not produced by one of the major studios. Other recent winners include the Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the British Hunger and the French A Prophet, which appears again in this year's list at number 8.

85 international critics were invited to submit their top 5 films of 2010 and The Social Network gathered the most votes. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, appears at number 2, which seems logical given the highbrow reputation of the BFI's publication. However, I still don't understand the general praise the film has been able to gather since its release. I think it's a fascinating film at times, but painfully dull as a whole.

I'm delighted to see Mike Leigh's Another Year in the Top 3 of the list. It is still my favourite film of the year and that's the kind of recognition it deserves. The guys from the European Film Academy, who have snubbed it in the Best Picture, Director and Writing categories, should take note. Other of my favourite films of the year also in the list include Winter's Bone, I Am Love, Poetry, A Prophet, Certified Copy, Of Gods and Men and The Ghost Writer.

Here is the complete Sight & Sound 2010 Best of list:

1. The Social Network (David Fincher)
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. Another Year (Mike Leigh)
4. Carlos (Olivier Assayas)
5. The Arbor (Clio Barnard)
6. Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik)
6. (tied) I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino)
8. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (Andrei Ujica)
8. (tied) Film Socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard)
8. (tied) Nostalgia for the Light (Patricio Guzman)
8. (tied) Poetry (Lee Chang-dong)
8. (tied) A Prophet (Jacques Audiard

13. Certified Copy
13. (tied) Meek’s Cutoff
15. Dogtooth
15. (tied) Enter the Void
15. (tied) Mysteries of Lisbon
15. (tied) Of Gods and Men
19. Aurora
19. (tied) Exit Through the Gift Shop
19. (tied) Four Times
19. (tied) The Ghost Writer
19. (tied) Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow