2010: Alberto Zambenedetti

My list derives from films I saw in a theater in 2010, including titles that have not yet been released in the United States. Some I had the fortune to see at the New York Film Festival (and will hit the theaters in 2011), while some others I viewed in Italy (and may never make it across the Atlantic). Re-releases and repertory screenings were obviously excluded from the run. Enjoy!

1. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
2. Le quattro volte (Michelangelo Frammartino)
3. The Robber (Benjamin Heisenberg; pictured)
4. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
5. The Social Network (David Fincher)
6. Film Socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard)
7. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese)
8. Everyone Else (Maren Ade, 2009)
9. Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek)
10. Inception (Chris Nolan)

Alberto is a PhD candidate in Italian Studies at New York University.

2010: R. Emmet Sweeney (Films + Music)

1. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apitchatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raoul Ruiz)
3. Ruhr (James Benning, 2009; pictured)
4. Alamar (Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, 2009)
5. The Social Network (David Fincher)
6. Sweetgrass (Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2009)
7. The Strange Case of Angélica (Manoel de Oliveira)
8. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (Andrei Ujica)
9. Erie (Kevin Jerome Everson)
10. Aurora (Cristi Puiu)
11. Agrarian Utopia (Uruphong Raksasad, 2009)

Short Films of the Year: Future So Bright (Matt McCormick), Shadow Cuts (Matthew Arnold)

Albums of the Year: 
1. Saturn Sings, Mary Halvorson Quintet 
2. Marrow of the Spirit, Agalloch
3. Ten, Jason Moran and the Bandwagon

4. Apex, Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green
5. Spiral Shadow, Kylesa
6. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West 
7. Speak Now, Taylor Swift 
8. Grinderman 2, Grinderman 
9. This Brings Us To, Vol. 2, Henry Threadgill Zooid
10. Welder, Elizabeth Cook 
11. Throat, Little Women

Songs of the Year:

1. "MC Hammer," Rick Ross

2. "Runaway," Kanye West

3. "Don't Look Back," Kylesa

4. "Dear John," Taylor Swift

5. "General Patton," Big Boi

2010: Soren Bailey

1. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy)
3. Terribly Happy (Henrik Ruben Genz, 2008)
4. The Fighter (David O. Russell)
5. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)
6. I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino, 2009)
7. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright)
8. True Grit (Joel and Ethan Coen)
9. Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)
10. 127 Hours (Danny Boyle)

Runners-up: A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009), Splice (Vincenzo Natali, 2009), Inception (Christopher Nolan), Greenberg (Noah Baumbach), The Town (Ben Affleck).

Soren holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University.