Sight & Sound Honors ‘The Social Network’

He is writing math, on the window. Now we've seen EVERYTHING. Sony Pictures
He is writing math, on the window. Now we've seen EVERYTHING. Sony Pictures

is a seriously fancypants British film magazine that is best known for its best-film-of-all-time polls every decade. The last five have all picked "Citizen Kane," but generally speaking, the Brits aren't so infatuated with American movies. This year, though, is an exception.

For the first time since Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," an American film topped the year best-of Sight & Sound poll: It's David Fincher's "The Social Network,". The last four winners: "Hidden," "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," "Hunger" and "A Prophet," which is technically a 2010 release here in America.

The top 10 of 2010, according to Sight & Sound:

1. "The Social Network" (David Fincher)
2. "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. "Another Year" (Mike Leigh)
4. "Carlos" (Olivier Assayas)
5. "The Arbor" (Clio Barnard)
6. "Winter's Bone" (Debra Granik)
6. (tied) "I Am Love" (Luca Guadagnino)
8. "The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu" (Andrei Ujica)
8. (tied) "Film Socialisme" (Jean-Luc Godard)
8. (tied) "Nostalgia for the Light" (Patricio Guzman)
8. (tied) "Poetry" (Lee Chang-dong)
8. (tied) "A Prophet" (Jacques Audiard)

None of those films, with the possible exception of "Another Year" and "Winter's Bone," has any chance at a Best Picture nomination this year, other than "The Social Network" of course. "The King's Speech" is still considered "The Social Network"'s main competition, but Sight & Sound's list verifies what many have suspected: The cineasts' choice is Fincher. That the film might pass the $100 million mark is just gravy.

Still: The producers of "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" are just kicking themselves for missing out on Justin Timberlake right now. He clearly would have made that last bit of difference.

Sight & Sound names 'Social Network' best of 2010 [In Contention]