Now that may not be fair, but it's true. They are the movies which create the social perception of a year, they are the movies people know and can talk about with a fair expectation of at least some form of acknowledgement from others.

Now that isn't to say that there are not some great smaller movies, or films perhaps, out there. But one would not expect to be able to connect with others over them as easily by the very fact of their smallness. The joy of finding someone who shared The White Ribbon for example may be all the greater for finding those who have seen it, but it will never define what was a 'good year' to the whole as opposed to the individual.

I have not been able to see as many movies I would have liked this year, and so have not discovered many of the smaller gems, instead mainly going to the 'event' movies with friends and family. I'm lucky if i've seen a dozen movies at cinema in 2009, and when one has seen so few, one will define a year by it's blockbusters...which have by and large been massively disappointing.