That movie is concentrated joy juice.

That movie is concentrated joy juice.

Shawshank is fine, but it's basically good TV. There is nothing in it that remotely approaches the craft and inventiveness of Jaws or Goodfellas or even Pulp Fiction (a movie which I, being a terrible person, like but do not love).

Shawshank is fine, but it's basically good TV. There is nothing in it that remotely approaches the craft and inventiveness of Jaws or Goodfellas or even Pulp Fiction (a movie which I, being a terrible person, like but do not love).

Really? You're going to plump for Jurassic Park and Shawshank and then deride the movies that did make the Top 10 as "middlebrow"? Rather than being gobsmacked, I think I will instead admire your king-sized balls.

Really? You're going to plump for Jurassic Park and Shawshank and then deride the movies that did make the Top 10 as "middlebrow"? Rather than being gobsmacked, I think I will instead admire your king-sized balls.

It's a play now. Happy?

It's a play now. Happy?

THG: I'm pretty sure I can speak for the group when I say absolutely not. These are, for better or worse, the movies we love—although I doubt anyone agrees with the entire list. It's not something you can measure, but as a rule I think the only think the only thing that differentiates most film writers from the…

THG: I'm pretty sure I can speak for the group when I say absolutely not. These are, for better or worse, the movies we love—although I doubt anyone agrees with the entire list. It's not something you can measure, but as a rule I think the only think the only thing that differentiates most film writers from the…

Silence was certainly on my initial list—I think it's a masterful film—but Jurassic Park meh, and Shawshank is (IMHO, obviously) a mediocrity, well-crafted but unexceptional. It's the kind of movie, like Argo, that ought to be the baseline for Hollywood product rather than any kind of high water mark.

Silence was certainly on my initial list—I think it's a masterful film—but Jurassic Park meh, and Shawshank is (IMHO, obviously) a mediocrity, well-crafted but unexceptional. It's the kind of movie, like Argo, that ought to be the baseline for Hollywood product rather than any kind of high water mark.

For what it's worth, Out of Sight was one of five movies that was on all of our independently formulated initial lists. Not surprisingly, that's half the final top 10 right there.

For what it's worth, Out of Sight was one of five movies that was on all of our independently formulated initial lists. Not surprisingly, that's half the final top 10 right there.

American Beauty will be written about before the week it out, although not in a way that is likely to make you any happier.

American Beauty will be written about before the week it out, although not in a way that is likely to make you any happier.

Altering the methodology to get the results any one of us might want would utterly invalidate the entire process, although I'm sure there's an election bureau in Florida that would like you to expand on your ideas.

Altering the methodology to get the results any one of us might want would utterly invalidate the entire process, although I'm sure there's an election bureau in Florida that would like you to expand on your ideas.

I myself dislike Hartley's smug, inert movies intensely, so I'll gladly take (underserved) credit for the omission.

I myself dislike Hartley's smug, inert movies intensely, so I'll gladly take (underserved) credit for the omission.