Typically, I try to contain my excitement about film to exuberant dinner table conversations and heated debates, but every once in a while (just about once a year, in fact), there comes a time to compile a “Best Of” list for the past year. If you disagree with any of the choices presented herein or if you feel that a film was omitted, please remember that there were far too many films to fit in a top ten list and that we are cold to your pleas.

“Brick” (March)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in this neo-noir indie that seamlessly combines the seemingly incongruous conventions of the noir genre and the high school drama. What might initially sound like grounds for a successful comedy ends up as one of the most engaging, clever films of the year, with a jargon so unique that the adolescent sleuth sounds like a veritable Sam Spade. Subtle references to noir films like “The Maltese Falcon” and a dark humor extremely suitable to the roughness of high school make the mystery in “Brick” as satisfying as its resolution.

“United 93” (April)

While some feel that making a film about the events of September 11th is simply Hollywood’s way of capitalizing on a national tragedy, “United 93” forsakes weighty political implications in favor of a humanist approach, one full of fear and confusion in the face of truly frightening circumstances. Set in real time aboard the fourth plane intended for an unknown target, Paul Greengrass constructs a film more about humanity at its most desperate rather than an inflammatory call to arms against terrorism.

“A Scanner Darkly” (July)

Philip K. Dick has fueled the fires of science fiction cinema for a considerable part of the last few decades. Though this film is hindered slightly by a somewhat schizophrenic plot and a crutch named Keanu, “A Scanner Darkly” is a cinematic graphic novel filled with paranoid delusions, drug-induced visuals and an underlying warning that is gorgeously envisioned with an eye squarely pinned on the imaginative.

“Little Miss Sunshine” (July)

A gay suicidal Proust scholar, an honesty-obsessed mother, a failed motivational speaker father, a porn/drug addict grandfather, a Nietzsche-reading mute teenager and a girl named Olive Hoover. All in a canary yellow VW bus with a broken clutch on the way to a beauty pageant. I don’t know about you, but I’m sold. This little film that captured the audiences at Sundance with its sometimes morbid sense of humor and unexpected optimism will undoubtedly receive a few nods in awards season and deservedly so. Vacillating between incredibly touching to gut-bustingly hilarious, the film was one of the few rays of sunshine (pardon the pun) in an otherwise dark and forgettable summer of blockbusters.

“The Illusionist” (August)

Despite its striking similarities to Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige,” Edward Norton pulls the veritable rabbit from his hat and edged out his magical competition. Though the ending is reminiscent of Bryan Singer’s “The Usual Suspects,” the film offers plenty of ambiguity for discussion — does Eisenheim truly possess supernatural abilities or is it all smoke and mirrors?

“The Departed” (October)

Mark my words — if Scorcese doesn’t receive the Best Director Oscar for this film, the universe is going to implode. After being snubbed five times, putting him in the same category as Alfred Hitchcock for number of Oscar cold shoulders, Scorcese delivers a film less ambitious than his previous two yet one that is vastly more engaging. Crooked cops and straight crooks shine with spectacular performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson and yes, even Alec Baldwin. Gritty, gory and fun, “The Departed” is everything gangsters in “fahking” south Boston should be.

“Borat” (November)

Jagshemash! I like-ah this moviefilm. Who knew that the most racist, intolerant, emotionally scarring (two words: fight scene) movie would turn out to be the funniest film of the year? Sasha Baron Cohen’s bumbling Kazahkstani reporter pokes a satirical stick at America’s heartland with a character so overtly anti-Semitic that Cohen’s own devotion to Judaism and his Cambridge education are unrecognizable behind that stupid grin and thick sexy time moustache.

“Volver” (November)

Pedro Almodóvar has always been known for films with a strong sense of drama. The most famous Spanish director since Luis Buñuel has created a film with both beautiful cinematography and beautiful women. Salma Hayek stops oozing sex with her thick Spanish accent in silly American romantic comedies and steps back into her native tongue in one of her best roles after “Frida.” Coupled with Almodóvar’s trademark painteresque use of color and his concerns with women, you can certainly rank this among his other films, “Talk to Her” and “All About my Mother.”

“Casino Royale” (November)

After all the controversy surrounding Daniel Craig’s casting as the new Bond, everyone was expecting “Casino Royale” to be a bigger bomb than “Heaven’s Gate.” Little did they know that Craig would revitalize a franchise that had sunk into ridiculous plots (movie moguls taking over the world), absurd gadgets (an invisible car? Really?) and lame villains (diamond-faced North Koreans) with a Bond who wasn’t suave but certainly sexy. Expect many more sequels in the years to come.

“Children of Men” (December)

Director Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian view of a future where mankind is unable to have children can only be described as hauntingly resonant. Disregarding the whole infertility angle, the film’s Orwellian take on the year 2027 does something few movies in the age of mindless blockbusters manage to pull off — it makes you think about the world you live in. The film’s commentary on humanity at its worst is difficult to shake off.

“El Laberinto del Fauno” (Pan’s Labyrinth) (December)

Without a doubt, Guillermo Del Toro’s adult fairytale set during the Spanish Civil War is a masterpiece. The director best known for a film about a pancake-eating demon (“Hellboy”), weaves an enchanting tale about a young girl coming to terms with the atrocities of war with pure imagination. The fantastical landscapes, creepy mythological references and horror movie elements are perfectly balanced with the film’s bittersweet ending, making for a film so beautiful that it is difficult not to cry when the credits start rolling.