I did a similar list for the first four months of the year and the second four months (the summer), but really it's all about these last four months. That's when it all comes out. The first eight months were pretty bland, and I had a hard time picking 10 worthwhile movies for those lists, but for this one I had a very hard time keeping it to 25. A lot of very promising movies coming out, and even more movies that are not on this list that could very well breakout and become hits. I know for a fact that I would not have been anticipating "A Prophet" or "The King's Speech" all that much last year, and they both made my top 10 of 2010.
Most of these movies chosen were chosen based on some combination of director (like Martin Scorsese being the sole reason I am anticipating "Hugo"), trailer ("The Lady" and "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" both have brilliant trailers), early buzz ("Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Take Shelter" got some great buzz from Sundance), and other miscellaneous tidbits (like Jonsi is doing the music for "We Bought a Zoo" and "50/50" is based on the life of the screenwriter).
