Well, so far it looks like this:
1. You Can Count On Me - A++++
2. Requiem For A Dream - A+++
3. Keeping the Faith - A
4. Erin Brockovich - A
5. Unbreakable - A-
6. Chocolat - A-
7. Pay It Forward - B+
8. Girlfight - B+
9. Cast Away - B+
10. What Lies Beneath - B+
If my top ten could be stretched out just a tad, I would include...
Finding Forrester - So it was another Good Will Hunting... Who cares? The story was still very inspiring. To me, at least - B
Traffic - Pretty damn good; not great. Does look like a film that may grow on me with time though - B
Chicken Run - Gotta respect those guys for having the creativity and patience to put something as entertaining as this together - B
State and Main -
Very funny, indeed. Mamet was a little too quick for me, but I still absorbed enough to enjoy most of it - B
Possible 'top ten' films I have yet to see are...
Yi Yi
Pollock
Before Night Falls
Billy Elliot
Croupier
Girl on the Bridge
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
George Washington
Sunshine
Shadow of the Vampire
Malena
Highly acclaimed films that did not 'fully' click with
me were...
Almost Famous - Good writing, but I just couldn't relate to any of the characters - C+
Wonder Boys - Again, good writing, but way too slow, and just not all that interesting, period - C
Gladiator - Come on, guys... Yes, it was entertaining, has lots of action and has a semi-decent story, but -even though I do have it on DVD - was it really
that good?!?! Good enough to deserve all these high accolades?! Don't think so. To me it's just another enjoyable big-bugeted summer epic - B-
Guilty pleasures...
Charlie's Angels - I just can't get enough of'em.
The Perfect Storm - Yeah, a corny ending, but still, I left the theater exhausted and very saddened. The alst film that had this effect on me was
Titanic. And that, to me, says a lot about the movie.
Remember the Titans - Though quite formulaic, it had some very solid performances backed up by strong themes.
VERDICT: Last year ended well, but was hampered by a roster of some of the least entertaining films I have seen in recent years.

- A.
PS: List will be updated as I go along.