DuracellEnergizer said:

I have given 7-8 ratings before, but sparingly, and usually to films that I've grown up watching.

Such as?

DuracellEnergizer said:

And I have no list of movies rated 9-10. I've never seen a movie that qualifies for such high ratings and, IMHO, I doubt any exist.

How can that be? There are no perfect films, so it's pointless to reserve 10s for perfection. A 10 doesn't mean the film is flawless, it means that it is the best of what there is. It's a relative thing. Whether it's an attempt at an objective rating of all films, or a subjective rating of what films you've personally seen, it's relative. For instance, Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, Barry Lyndon, Sunset Blvd., Vertigo - these are the best films I've ever seen, films of incredible technical skill and beauty that I've become more emotionally and intellectually invested in than any other film. I'm passionately in love with each of them, I could watch them each 1,000 times, so they receive 10s. Maybe there's a better film out there that will lower the score of all of the above, but I haven't seen it yet.

To me, not giving any film a score above a 9 is like saying that there are no films that you are passionately in love with. You must have a favorite film or two that you think are almost perfect and you love and could watch again and again.

It also brings up the issue of whether we're trying to give objective or subjective ratings to films. Are you trying to be objective? Because I don't believe that individuals can give objective ratings, so that's why I tend to use the term "favorite films" instead of "best films". I think the closest we can get to an objective list of the best films is through consensus, by compiling A LOT of subjective lists.