I looked at the running time before beginning to watch Martin Scorsese’s 2006 crime-drama and thought it might be too long. My girlfriend certainly thought so – she was asleep after half an hour and woke up with about forty minutes left. As I tried to bring her up to speed with what had happened, I found myself breathlessly retelling events without a pit-stop for oxygen or chance for her to really take it all in. When I finally said, ‘so that’s it, I’ll just pause it and go for a wee,’ I realised I was on the edge of my seat (an exceptionally comfortable sofa) and had been for the past hour and a half. As I relieved myself of half a bottle of wine I knew, as I reminisced about the film, I was experiencing Scorsese’s most polished and entertaining film since Goodfellas.

“An American Werewolf In London” is the film that I remember most distinctly as a child. It’s partly because I knew I wasn’t allowed to watch it, partly because it scared me so much. It’s only later in life that I fully appreciate the frightening influence it had on me – the reason I slept with the light on for weeks afterwards – was because it was so good. It is the cinema of attractions, the spectacle. An immediate and direct injection of emotion, be it humour, fear, anger, happiness. John Landis was a master at toying with his audience’s primal emotions. But, with classic Hollywood narrative as his blueprint, he could also tell a great story.

Throughout the decade we were wowed by fantasy, thrilled by action, and frightened by horror, all the while being annoyed by remakes and endless sequels. We had everything turned on its head with numerous twist endings and welcomed new and old Superheroes. New directors entered the scene (Christopher Nolan) and others were finally recognised by mainstream audiences (Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne), while older pros continued to make great movies (Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg).

So here at Top10Films HQ we went for Ken Loach’s diversion to happier trails with the uplifting, heartwarming and funny “Looking For Eric” as our pick for the best movie of 2009. But did anyone agree with us?
It’s time to peer at the blogosphere and see what other online writers are picking for their favourite films of last year. While we do that, we’ll also check out which films the biggest names in the critic world have gone for in their own top 10s.
To kick off lets quickly remind ourselves …

Part of our “Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman” feature
Dir. Bob Fosse; screenplay by Julian Barry; starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Considered by many US-based critics as a film lacking the sort of anti-establishment relish that made its origin of study the darling of counter-culture 1950s and 1960s Americana, “Lenny” plays better in the United Kingdom where mainstream media is more open to the real meaning of the comedian’s ‘blah blah blah’ skit and other obscene eccentricities. Frequently, we see Hollywood actors, musicians, and comic stars appear on talk shows …

Part of the Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman feature
Dir. Alan J. Pakula; screenplay by William Goldman; starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Jason Robards, Ned Beatty
My first cinematic introduction to the Watergate saga arrived in the form a simpleton named Forrest Gump phoning the police after seeing some people burglarising the building across from his hotel. Of course, at the time I was eleven years old and neither understood the reference or had much interest in it. Watching the film now, the moment is another lovely touch in the …

The film is a ‘nightmare’ envisioned on the screen – call it Ripley’s nightmare, indeed she’s asleep when we first meet her at the beginning and she’s asleep when we leave her at the end. It’s one of those dreams where you’re being chased and you just can’t seem to wake yourself up, as the thing that wants your blood gets ever closer. What James Cameron was able to do was recreate the adrenaline, the anxiety, the impending terror of ‘those’ dreams, and sit you on a roller coaster as …

Listverse.com posted an interesting Top 10 list of the very best movies looking at alcoholics and alcoholism. The list was created by Listverse.com user Kazorek who says, “Alcoholism has always fascinated me more than any other drug addiction. It is separated in its legality and social acceptability, so thus there exists a legion of alcoholics far greater in number than junkies of any other sort. An entire subculture, one that’s often miserable, exists within almost every human civilization – the culture of the alcoholic.”
Expecting Billy Wilder’s brilliant “The Lost Weekend” …