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philosoraptor42It always annoys me that lists at the end of the year often contain many films that have not even been released in the UK at the time and miss out films that were released the previous year in the US. While my 2010 list included anything that IMDB classes as a 2010 movie (whether because first aired abroad in 2010 or even sometimes because it appeared at a film festival or two in 2010), this list combines anything that did not receive a cinema release in the UK prior to 2011. That means some crossover, but it also means that this isn't a list of just 9 films I really liked, rather than a gradual build up to the best of the best.
There's a few cases below where I've reassessed a film's original score after a second watch.
23. Attack The Block (2011)
While I really enjoyed this, I think there were problems with the underlying morals. I liked that there was a message of taking responsibility for your actions. However, it's not clear that at the end of the film the protagonists have actually learnt their lesson. Trying to get us to not only empathise but sympathise with a teenage gang who are happy to mug a nurse as she comes home from work was always going to be a rather ambitious project, particularly when the gang are, essentially, the protagonists of the film. I can't help but feel that Jodie Whittaker's part should have been bigger, partly because she is an awesome actress and partly because she very much acts as the voice of reason during the story. Some might say that it is not only classism but also racism that is being tackled here, so making the story all about a white woman could miss the point. Still, it seems like they could have put someone like Lenora Crichlow (from Being Human) in the role if that was really an issue. The problem is that it is difficult to care about the protagonists for the first third of the movie and the introduction of an even bigger baddie in the form of the drug dealer Hi-Hatz (played by Jumayn Hunter) is of limited help. Still, this is a good little feature film with a good mixture of comedy, action and horror in even measure and, to my mind (speaking as someone who liked Raiders of the Lost Ark and hated E.T.), actually does a good job of capturing some of that old 80s Spielberg magic.
22. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
Luc Besson's ridiculous, intentionally absurd, comic adaptation.
(See 2010 List)
21. Treacle Jr.
This is actually Aiden Gillen's imdb pic now. It's directly tied to this movie.
(See 2010 list)
20. Get Low
Goodness knows why this was so delayed into the UK. A wonderful film with great star turns from both Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.
(See changes to 2009 list)
19. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)
This has got far more attention than anyone could ever imagine. Before it was released, and in fact even after it was released, it was very hard to work out how it could be anything but a disappointment. We'd already seen what happens when you try to update Planet of the Apes (or so we thought) in the dire reboot attempt by Tim Burton. First of all, the trailer for Rise was awful, and I couldn't really imagine this being anything other than a remake of Deep Blue Sea only with apes instead of sharks. (For the record, for the complete brainless joy of the whole thing I actually love "Deep Blue Sea", but that's all the more reason why I didn't feel the need for a new version of it with apes.) Even when the reviews tried to praise this film, I found myself concerned. The idea that lines from the original movie were inserted into this as a homage didn't exactly sound like a good idea. The news that the ape characters were rather more interesting than cliched human characters wasn't promising. And praising the special effects isn't really enough to get me excited since a beautiful movie with a poor story might be pretty, but it isn't entertaining.
As it turned out, there were good human performances where it counted. John Lithgow was on top form as the dad suffering from Alzheimers. David Oyelowo was unsurprisingly great as the self-interested businessman, even if some of his lines were a hard sell and the workings of his company kind of puzzling. (Who needs careful testing when we've had success with one ape, eh? One ape went crazy and acted in a dangerous way? Well we'll have to dump all our research and kill all our test subjects! - WTF???) Even Tom Felton gives a pretty great performance as one of the more exaggeratedly cliched characters of the film. (Seriously if you don't like apes there are other jobs you can go for. I'm pretty sure workers in ape sanctuaries normally really love apes.) Actually the poorest (though quite capable all the same) performances seemed to come from James Franco (supposedly the protagonist of the piece) and (with far more limited material to work with) Freida Pinto.
What held the movie together more than anything was Andy Serkis' performance as Caesar, the ape who begins the eponymous "rise". This convinced me, much more than his acting as Gollum ever did, that motion captured performances have a lot of potential.
I find it remarkable that this is now probably my second favourite movie in the Planet of the Apes series. My favourite being "Escape of the Planet of the Apes". The ideas set up in Escape seem to capitalised in Rise in a way that the sequel to Escape, Conquest, never seemed to manage. There's a particular event prophesised in Escape that comes true in Rise. That moment could easily have been cheesy and yet it came together in a wonderful cinematic way that seemed to leave the whole audience stunned.
This is still pretty low in the rankings because the cliched human characters are still a problem. However, the director has managed to capture the spirit of the Planet of the Apes franchise and I must say, I'm really excited for the planned sequel now.
18. X-Men: First Class (2011)
As with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, this is another film that I've rewatched and now have a higher opinion of. Only more so. Even at the time I was clear about saying that this was, to my mind, the best of all the X Men movies. However, my issue when I first saw it was that this was my least favourite Matthew Vaughn movie so far (the others being Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass.) I think perhaps I was a little unfair there, since I'd probably put this ahead of Stardust. Still, my expectations were particularly high and this may have led me to slightly underrate this film, considering it as only very good rather than as excellent. (I generally give an A+ to movies that I would highly recommend without reservations rather than limiting it to movies that I expect to be all-time masterpieces.)
The acting is great, the action on screen stirs emotions, the plot pulls you along and there's plenty of visual inventiveness. And what's more I must admit something very important. I do not understand the negativity aimed at January Jones. I didn't notice her being particularly poor the first time around and on a second watch I understood the criticism even less. She doesn't give such as exciting performance as Michael Fassbender, but she isn't a block of wood either. I'm sorry, but I actually think January Jones is a pretty good actress.
The movie remains this low in the list for the reasons set out in my original review. However, I cannot deny that this is another triumph from Matthew Vaughn and that the movie easily stands up to a second and third viewing (particularly the Nazi hunting scenes towards the beginning).
17. Animal Kingdom
Gritty Australian drama about bank robbers. Kind of like "The Town" only without the cheesy hollywood mentality in the background begging us to like the main character because he's played by Ben Affleck ("I don't kill anyone even when I'm in a violent gun battle with the police and you should probably love me even if I threatened you at gunpoint." Meh!) No, Animal Kingdom portrays hardened criminals as hardened criminals with no illusions that deep down they've all got hearts of gold. Quite the opposite in fact...
(See 2010 list)
16. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
After a strong recommendation for this on the SlashFilm Podcast, I decided to finally check out the first movie. The first movie is pretty sweet, but the way the sequel follows up on it is just perfect. Overall however, I'd say the thing I enjoyed most about this was the relationship between Po (Jack Black) and his father Mr. Ping (James Hong i.e. Lo Pan from "Big Trouble In Little China), particularly the bits involving the baby panda (so cute!!!!). However, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh and Dustin Hoffman also all provide some great voice work and the film is generally stunning and inventive. This was an absolute joy to watch.
15. Point Blank
The latest offering from the director of the excellent "Pour Elle" (English title: "Anything For Her". Given the inferior remake treatment with "The Next Three Days" starring Russell Crowe). This film has a similar feel, but not the same level of grit. It's great fun, ties together nicely and has some very fun moments. This director really knows how to set the pace and this action-packed thriller is no exception.
(See 2010 list)
14. The Woman (2011)
Lucky McKee's film didn't seem to get a cinema release, but when I saw it on DVD I thought it was brilliant. Probably my favourite of Lucky McKee's films so far. The mix of disturbing elements and seemingly more upbeat and quirky elements came together in a way that worked perfectly due to McKee's unique style of direction. Naturally Angela Bettis, who regularly appears in McKee's films, gave yet another brilliant performance, though the acting was of a very high quality all round. Awesome.
13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Not really what I was expecting and the heavyweight cast and director raised expectations pretty high. I was expecting this to be by far the best film of 2011 and that's not really what I got. Still, the film captured the cold war grittiness very nicely, giving us a rather more genuine story of spies rather than reverting to kung fu and car chases. With characters who have learnt how to reveal very little about themselves, the movie gives very few hints to the audience. However, the audience has everything they need to piece the story together and there are some absolutely gripping moments. Everything is depicted in a very stylish and memorable way and, now I think I've got the story pieced together in my head, I'm really interested in seeing the film again to work out what little touches I might have missed.
12. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Brilliant central performances from the two eponymous protagonists and some hilarious little touches (e.g. the main 'college kid' camper punctuating everything he does with a shot of his inhaler). It's criminal that this went straight to DVD. An excellent horror-comedy which errs more on the comedy side and definitely one of my favourites of this year.
(See 2010 list)
11. Source Code (2011)
Duncan Jones' ability as a director was put to the test when he was brought on board this project at a fairly late stage and expected to make it work. The plot is presented tightly and effectively, with every emotional shift perfectly executed. The audience is drawn into this simple but effective sci-fi story. A sure sign that Duncan Jones has great things still ahead of him.
THE TOP TEN!!!!
I'll list the nine films I decided deserved a place on the list of films marked by imdb as "2011" movies at the end. However, if we are truly considering all the films that were actually released in 2011 over here, then what follows is la creme de la creme.
10. True Grit
I was so annoyed at how long we were expected to wait for this, but when it arrived I was blown away. Fantastic humour, beautifully shot and with some wonderful performances from the three main protagonists, particular Hailee Steinfeld.
(See 2010 list)
9. TrollHunter
Probably the best "found footage" film so far. Well ahead of the competition, asides from possibly REC. This film about a bunch of film students who happen to catch a secretive troll hunter when he's in a more sharing mood is absolutely brilliant. There's a few parts where the film's pace slows down quite a bit, but then again that may be what you'd expect from the kind of documentaries it's apeing. There's some fantastic CGI work and some very inventive ideas. Try not to let anyone spoil this for you too much. It's a real treat.
(See 2010 list)
8. Oranges and Sunshine
Showed at a couple of film festivals in 2010 but essentially a 2011 movie. Passed strangely silently into and then out cinemas without much fanfare. This might have been an opportunity for Emily Watson to go for an Oscar if this had received the response it deserved. Absolutely gripping drama about a major real life story. If only Bill Donohue had done a rant about it, perhaps that would have given it the publicity boost it needed. Fantastic central performance and generally a wonderful movie about a very important topic. A very good script means that the issues are well considered while at the same time there are some very effective emotional moments. Seriously, I didn't just put this on my list to be quirky. More people really ought to see this.
(See 2010 list)
7. Submarine
Showed at a couple of film festivals in 2010 but essentially a 2011 movie. Passed strangely silently into and then out cinemas without much fanfare. So yeah, the same issue as with Oranges and Sunshine. Not such lofty subject matter, but some quite wonderful dark humour with a particularly awesome performance from Paddy Considine, channelling David Icke to brilliant comic effect. I'm a little concerned at how a few critics (notably Roger Ebert, though now also the hosts of the Slash Filmcast) seem to think that this is a sweet film about a sympathetic character. It's about a very odd and pretentious character who imagines his life is vitally important and whose selfishness gets in the way of actually really caring about those around him. The ending is certainly not "tender". The fun of this film is watching the various ways that the main character is tormented, though the main character is still able to keep our sympathy because his few friends are actually somewhat worse than he is. In spite of being compared to Wes Anderson's films (mainly because of a few stylistic similarities) this is quite an original story with a fair bit of depth (albeit not in the way the protagonist believes). This is a great black comedy.
(See 2010 list)
6. The Fighter
An Oscar winner that didn't make it to the UK within 2010. I actually was a bit unsure of this one, but when I caught it on DVD I was really impressed. I'm not generally into sports movies, but this was much more about the drama than the boxing. And yes, it turns out that Christian Bale DID deserve his best supporting actor Oscar (even if I was personally rooting for Geoffrey Rush). Mark Wahlberg isn't an actor who normally impresses me, but I thought he did a good job here.
(See 2010 list)
5. The King's Speech
The big British Oscar winner didn't actually make it to the UK until 2011. However, it quickly built up a reputation and I wasn't immune to its charms. Colin Firth proved he had real acting chops (something I hadn't believed for a long while) with his starring role in "A Single Man" (a wholly depressing film rather lacking in closure, but Colin Firth is excellent in it). Meanwhile Geoffrey Rush who has proven himself again and again to be versatile and a fantastically talented (particularly in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" which was a pretty mediocre movie, but in which Geoffrey Rush really showcases his incredible talent. - Okay, so mediocre movies with incredible central performances don't automatically assure you an Oscar then? *Yes I'm looking at you Meryl Streep*) does so again here.
(See 2010 list)
4. The Guard (2011)
Showcasing the brilliant and darkly comic talents of Brendan Gleeson and co-starring the excellent Don Cheadle, this manages to provide a similar quality to the prior work from the director's brother: "In Bruges". It's not quite as good as "In Bruges", but is possibly more consistently hilarious.
3. Sarah's Key
A unique take on the holocaust? Surely not! Kristin Scott Thomas stars in this absolutely fascinating tale of a girl involved in the French "Roundup" as the journalist slowly piecing together her story. Wonderful acting, a multitude of characters who all have individual depth and solid pacing all come together to produce what is clearly one of the best films of the year.
(See 2010 list)
2. Drive (2011)
If I'm not allowed to choose films that people in the US saw in 2010 then clearly, without a doubt, Drive has to be the best film. I've given a lot of details on this already when considering my own personal choices for the Oscars, but essentially I feel that this was a unique cinematic experience which brought together the best from Nicolas Winding Refn's previous films while allowing his bizarre imagination to provide a new spin on those elements. An 80s themed movie about a socially awkward driver with a mysterious past and his encounter with the mafia. I was very surprised how this turned out. Absolutely incredible film.
1. Black Swan
Another film which didn't reach the Uk until 2011 (much to my annoyance, since I was really looking forward to it). The latest film by Darren Aronofsky shows that he is only getting better as time goes on. Incredible visuals emphasise a general sense of unease which hits the audience right in the gut. This darkly tragic tale is a wonderful, if tough, cinematic experience which might possibly leave you a little shell-shocked.
(See 2010 list)
The Top Nine 2011 Movies (So Far):
9. Attack The Block
8. Rise Of The Planet Of the Apes
7. X-Men: First Class
6. Kung Fu Panda 2
5. The Woman
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. Source Code
2. The Guard
1. Drive
There's a few cases below where I've reassessed a film's original score after a second watch.
23. Attack The Block (2011)
While I really enjoyed this, I think there were problems with the underlying morals. I liked that there was a message of taking responsibility for your actions. However, it's not clear that at the end of the film the protagonists have actually learnt their lesson. Trying to get us to not only empathise but sympathise with a teenage gang who are happy to mug a nurse as she comes home from work was always going to be a rather ambitious project, particularly when the gang are, essentially, the protagonists of the film. I can't help but feel that Jodie Whittaker's part should have been bigger, partly because she is an awesome actress and partly because she very much acts as the voice of reason during the story. Some might say that it is not only classism but also racism that is being tackled here, so making the story all about a white woman could miss the point. Still, it seems like they could have put someone like Lenora Crichlow (from Being Human) in the role if that was really an issue. The problem is that it is difficult to care about the protagonists for the first third of the movie and the introduction of an even bigger baddie in the form of the drug dealer Hi-Hatz (played by Jumayn Hunter) is of limited help. Still, this is a good little feature film with a good mixture of comedy, action and horror in even measure and, to my mind (speaking as someone who liked Raiders of the Lost Ark and hated E.T.), actually does a good job of capturing some of that old 80s Spielberg magic.
22. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
Luc Besson's ridiculous, intentionally absurd, comic adaptation.
(See 2010 List)
21. Treacle Jr.
This is actually Aiden Gillen's imdb pic now. It's directly tied to this movie.
(See 2010 list)
20. Get Low
Goodness knows why this was so delayed into the UK. A wonderful film with great star turns from both Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.
(See changes to 2009 list)
19. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)
This has got far more attention than anyone could ever imagine. Before it was released, and in fact even after it was released, it was very hard to work out how it could be anything but a disappointment. We'd already seen what happens when you try to update Planet of the Apes (or so we thought) in the dire reboot attempt by Tim Burton. First of all, the trailer for Rise was awful, and I couldn't really imagine this being anything other than a remake of Deep Blue Sea only with apes instead of sharks. (For the record, for the complete brainless joy of the whole thing I actually love "Deep Blue Sea", but that's all the more reason why I didn't feel the need for a new version of it with apes.) Even when the reviews tried to praise this film, I found myself concerned. The idea that lines from the original movie were inserted into this as a homage didn't exactly sound like a good idea. The news that the ape characters were rather more interesting than cliched human characters wasn't promising. And praising the special effects isn't really enough to get me excited since a beautiful movie with a poor story might be pretty, but it isn't entertaining.
As it turned out, there were good human performances where it counted. John Lithgow was on top form as the dad suffering from Alzheimers. David Oyelowo was unsurprisingly great as the self-interested businessman, even if some of his lines were a hard sell and the workings of his company kind of puzzling. (Who needs careful testing when we've had success with one ape, eh? One ape went crazy and acted in a dangerous way? Well we'll have to dump all our research and kill all our test subjects! - WTF???) Even Tom Felton gives a pretty great performance as one of the more exaggeratedly cliched characters of the film. (Seriously if you don't like apes there are other jobs you can go for. I'm pretty sure workers in ape sanctuaries normally really love apes.) Actually the poorest (though quite capable all the same) performances seemed to come from James Franco (supposedly the protagonist of the piece) and (with far more limited material to work with) Freida Pinto.
What held the movie together more than anything was Andy Serkis' performance as Caesar, the ape who begins the eponymous "rise". This convinced me, much more than his acting as Gollum ever did, that motion captured performances have a lot of potential.
I find it remarkable that this is now probably my second favourite movie in the Planet of the Apes series. My favourite being "Escape of the Planet of the Apes". The ideas set up in Escape seem to capitalised in Rise in a way that the sequel to Escape, Conquest, never seemed to manage. There's a particular event prophesised in Escape that comes true in Rise. That moment could easily have been cheesy and yet it came together in a wonderful cinematic way that seemed to leave the whole audience stunned.
This is still pretty low in the rankings because the cliched human characters are still a problem. However, the director has managed to capture the spirit of the Planet of the Apes franchise and I must say, I'm really excited for the planned sequel now.
18. X-Men: First Class (2011)
As with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, this is another film that I've rewatched and now have a higher opinion of. Only more so. Even at the time I was clear about saying that this was, to my mind, the best of all the X Men movies. However, my issue when I first saw it was that this was my least favourite Matthew Vaughn movie so far (the others being Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass.) I think perhaps I was a little unfair there, since I'd probably put this ahead of Stardust. Still, my expectations were particularly high and this may have led me to slightly underrate this film, considering it as only very good rather than as excellent. (I generally give an A+ to movies that I would highly recommend without reservations rather than limiting it to movies that I expect to be all-time masterpieces.)
The acting is great, the action on screen stirs emotions, the plot pulls you along and there's plenty of visual inventiveness. And what's more I must admit something very important. I do not understand the negativity aimed at January Jones. I didn't notice her being particularly poor the first time around and on a second watch I understood the criticism even less. She doesn't give such as exciting performance as Michael Fassbender, but she isn't a block of wood either. I'm sorry, but I actually think January Jones is a pretty good actress.
The movie remains this low in the list for the reasons set out in my original review. However, I cannot deny that this is another triumph from Matthew Vaughn and that the movie easily stands up to a second and third viewing (particularly the Nazi hunting scenes towards the beginning).
17. Animal Kingdom
Gritty Australian drama about bank robbers. Kind of like "The Town" only without the cheesy hollywood mentality in the background begging us to like the main character because he's played by Ben Affleck ("I don't kill anyone even when I'm in a violent gun battle with the police and you should probably love me even if I threatened you at gunpoint." Meh!) No, Animal Kingdom portrays hardened criminals as hardened criminals with no illusions that deep down they've all got hearts of gold. Quite the opposite in fact...
(See 2010 list)
16. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
After a strong recommendation for this on the SlashFilm Podcast, I decided to finally check out the first movie. The first movie is pretty sweet, but the way the sequel follows up on it is just perfect. Overall however, I'd say the thing I enjoyed most about this was the relationship between Po (Jack Black) and his father Mr. Ping (James Hong i.e. Lo Pan from "Big Trouble In Little China), particularly the bits involving the baby panda (so cute!!!!). However, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh and Dustin Hoffman also all provide some great voice work and the film is generally stunning and inventive. This was an absolute joy to watch.
15. Point Blank
The latest offering from the director of the excellent "Pour Elle" (English title: "Anything For Her". Given the inferior remake treatment with "The Next Three Days" starring Russell Crowe). This film has a similar feel, but not the same level of grit. It's great fun, ties together nicely and has some very fun moments. This director really knows how to set the pace and this action-packed thriller is no exception.
(See 2010 list)
14. The Woman (2011)
Lucky McKee's film didn't seem to get a cinema release, but when I saw it on DVD I thought it was brilliant. Probably my favourite of Lucky McKee's films so far. The mix of disturbing elements and seemingly more upbeat and quirky elements came together in a way that worked perfectly due to McKee's unique style of direction. Naturally Angela Bettis, who regularly appears in McKee's films, gave yet another brilliant performance, though the acting was of a very high quality all round. Awesome.
13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Not really what I was expecting and the heavyweight cast and director raised expectations pretty high. I was expecting this to be by far the best film of 2011 and that's not really what I got. Still, the film captured the cold war grittiness very nicely, giving us a rather more genuine story of spies rather than reverting to kung fu and car chases. With characters who have learnt how to reveal very little about themselves, the movie gives very few hints to the audience. However, the audience has everything they need to piece the story together and there are some absolutely gripping moments. Everything is depicted in a very stylish and memorable way and, now I think I've got the story pieced together in my head, I'm really interested in seeing the film again to work out what little touches I might have missed.
12. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Brilliant central performances from the two eponymous protagonists and some hilarious little touches (e.g. the main 'college kid' camper punctuating everything he does with a shot of his inhaler). It's criminal that this went straight to DVD. An excellent horror-comedy which errs more on the comedy side and definitely one of my favourites of this year.
(See 2010 list)
11. Source Code (2011)
Duncan Jones' ability as a director was put to the test when he was brought on board this project at a fairly late stage and expected to make it work. The plot is presented tightly and effectively, with every emotional shift perfectly executed. The audience is drawn into this simple but effective sci-fi story. A sure sign that Duncan Jones has great things still ahead of him.
THE TOP TEN!!!!
I'll list the nine films I decided deserved a place on the list of films marked by imdb as "2011" movies at the end. However, if we are truly considering all the films that were actually released in 2011 over here, then what follows is la creme de la creme.
10. True Grit
I was so annoyed at how long we were expected to wait for this, but when it arrived I was blown away. Fantastic humour, beautifully shot and with some wonderful performances from the three main protagonists, particular Hailee Steinfeld.
(See 2010 list)
9. TrollHunter
Probably the best "found footage" film so far. Well ahead of the competition, asides from possibly REC. This film about a bunch of film students who happen to catch a secretive troll hunter when he's in a more sharing mood is absolutely brilliant. There's a few parts where the film's pace slows down quite a bit, but then again that may be what you'd expect from the kind of documentaries it's apeing. There's some fantastic CGI work and some very inventive ideas. Try not to let anyone spoil this for you too much. It's a real treat.
(See 2010 list)
8. Oranges and Sunshine
Showed at a couple of film festivals in 2010 but essentially a 2011 movie. Passed strangely silently into and then out cinemas without much fanfare. This might have been an opportunity for Emily Watson to go for an Oscar if this had received the response it deserved. Absolutely gripping drama about a major real life story. If only Bill Donohue had done a rant about it, perhaps that would have given it the publicity boost it needed. Fantastic central performance and generally a wonderful movie about a very important topic. A very good script means that the issues are well considered while at the same time there are some very effective emotional moments. Seriously, I didn't just put this on my list to be quirky. More people really ought to see this.
(See 2010 list)
7. Submarine
Showed at a couple of film festivals in 2010 but essentially a 2011 movie. Passed strangely silently into and then out cinemas without much fanfare. So yeah, the same issue as with Oranges and Sunshine. Not such lofty subject matter, but some quite wonderful dark humour with a particularly awesome performance from Paddy Considine, channelling David Icke to brilliant comic effect. I'm a little concerned at how a few critics (notably Roger Ebert, though now also the hosts of the Slash Filmcast) seem to think that this is a sweet film about a sympathetic character. It's about a very odd and pretentious character who imagines his life is vitally important and whose selfishness gets in the way of actually really caring about those around him. The ending is certainly not "tender". The fun of this film is watching the various ways that the main character is tormented, though the main character is still able to keep our sympathy because his few friends are actually somewhat worse than he is. In spite of being compared to Wes Anderson's films (mainly because of a few stylistic similarities) this is quite an original story with a fair bit of depth (albeit not in the way the protagonist believes). This is a great black comedy.
(See 2010 list)
6. The Fighter
An Oscar winner that didn't make it to the UK within 2010. I actually was a bit unsure of this one, but when I caught it on DVD I was really impressed. I'm not generally into sports movies, but this was much more about the drama than the boxing. And yes, it turns out that Christian Bale DID deserve his best supporting actor Oscar (even if I was personally rooting for Geoffrey Rush). Mark Wahlberg isn't an actor who normally impresses me, but I thought he did a good job here.
(See 2010 list)
5. The King's Speech
The big British Oscar winner didn't actually make it to the UK until 2011. However, it quickly built up a reputation and I wasn't immune to its charms. Colin Firth proved he had real acting chops (something I hadn't believed for a long while) with his starring role in "A Single Man" (a wholly depressing film rather lacking in closure, but Colin Firth is excellent in it). Meanwhile Geoffrey Rush who has proven himself again and again to be versatile and a fantastically talented (particularly in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" which was a pretty mediocre movie, but in which Geoffrey Rush really showcases his incredible talent. - Okay, so mediocre movies with incredible central performances don't automatically assure you an Oscar then? *Yes I'm looking at you Meryl Streep*) does so again here.
(See 2010 list)
4. The Guard (2011)
Showcasing the brilliant and darkly comic talents of Brendan Gleeson and co-starring the excellent Don Cheadle, this manages to provide a similar quality to the prior work from the director's brother: "In Bruges". It's not quite as good as "In Bruges", but is possibly more consistently hilarious.
3. Sarah's Key
A unique take on the holocaust? Surely not! Kristin Scott Thomas stars in this absolutely fascinating tale of a girl involved in the French "Roundup" as the journalist slowly piecing together her story. Wonderful acting, a multitude of characters who all have individual depth and solid pacing all come together to produce what is clearly one of the best films of the year.
(See 2010 list)
2. Drive (2011)
If I'm not allowed to choose films that people in the US saw in 2010 then clearly, without a doubt, Drive has to be the best film. I've given a lot of details on this already when considering my own personal choices for the Oscars, but essentially I feel that this was a unique cinematic experience which brought together the best from Nicolas Winding Refn's previous films while allowing his bizarre imagination to provide a new spin on those elements. An 80s themed movie about a socially awkward driver with a mysterious past and his encounter with the mafia. I was very surprised how this turned out. Absolutely incredible film.
1. Black Swan
Another film which didn't reach the Uk until 2011 (much to my annoyance, since I was really looking forward to it). The latest film by Darren Aronofsky shows that he is only getting better as time goes on. Incredible visuals emphasise a general sense of unease which hits the audience right in the gut. This darkly tragic tale is a wonderful, if tough, cinematic experience which might possibly leave you a little shell-shocked.
(See 2010 list)
The Top Nine 2011 Movies (So Far):
9. Attack The Block
8. Rise Of The Planet Of the Apes
7. X-Men: First Class
6. Kung Fu Panda 2
5. The Woman
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. Source Code
2. The Guard
1. Drive
