#1 with a question mark

Knitting has been put on hold while I clear out the cobwebs in my head from back-to-back days of basketball stats-keeping and attend to more immediate matters. This may seem like it's better suited for my other site, but I wouldn't want to erode my rock-solid authority by vacillating like this there, would I? *wink*

When I'm wearing my film critic hat--a fedora with a handwritten "PRESS" card sticking out of it, natch--the end of the year has the additional fun and stress of cobbling together the obligatory ten best list. There's also the list of honorable mentions and worsts, if so inclined, and awards nomination ballots. (Yes, plural.)

It's something I enjoy, but that stretch from Christmas to New Year's is already jam-packed with so much else that it is hard to find time for this nebulous process of weighing films and performances against each other, let alone squeezing in one more film for a first or clarifying second viewing. I'd like to do a best of 2007 music list, but that goes on the back burner. And the Archies have been on my mind on a regular basis throughout the year, but those can wait until January 2nd or 3rd at the earliest.

One of my ballots is due by the turn of the calendar, so I macheted my way through the thick overgrowth of the annual movie release list and the performances, music, and other technical achievements therein. I dashed off my nomination ballot because I figured I could live with something that would never be published. The hard work of nailing down my top ten list remains.

Really, though, it's the weight of what to put at #1. Do I go with There Will Be Blood, whose greatness has helped it burble its way up the list from where I would have put it immediately after seeing it? Daniel Day-Lewis' performance and that ending...goodness gracious. Or how about Ratatouille, certainly a less trendy pick but one of the most purely enjoyable films I saw all year? Of course, I really fell in love with Once too. And nearly every critic seems to have crowned No Country for Old Men for good reason. What about Atonement, which I might have liked even more if I hadn't been so tired when I saw it, or Zodiac, which has improved over time in my mind even if my initial evaluation wouldn't have it sniffing the top ten? Can I look at them again before carving my list in stone?

I know, it's hardly a life or death decision, but I want to be more certain in what film I anoint than I am right now. Complicating things more is that I have all of these on DVD except for Paul Thomas Anderson's oil epic, so I could put them to the test in a mini-marathon at home.

But can I even trust my instincts now? Ratatouille would be a novel choice--seriously, where's the year-end love, crix?--which lends it an edge. No Country for Old Men has the opposite problem. It's been feted by practically everyone, which is kind of a strike against it in a perverse sense. Once may have captured my heart the most, but it doesn't have the formal polish of the competition. Am I just a blind fanboy gushing over There Will Be Blood, especially since the director's Punch-Drunk Love topped my 2002 list?

Hashing this out in this space has helped cement one matter. Hot Fuzz goes no higher than five.