The Best Films of 2011

Well, it's Oscar night, so I think it's time I look back over the past year, and pick my favorite films of 2011. Yeah, I know, it's nearly March, and most people do this sort of thing at the end of December. But, as a regular paying filmgoer, I choose to hold off on this list until I get to see as many of the year's films as I can. And since many of the big films released at the end of the year usually expand slowly (sometimes very slowly) into wide release from December-February, I choose to wait until the day of the Oscars to post my picks.

As usual, I will be naming my favorite film of the year, followed by the great films of 2011. The great films can be anything that grabbed my attention, so they can be dramas, comedies, kid's films, whatever. Then I'll be listing the "honorable mentions" (the runner ups), and my 10 favorite actor and actress performances of the year. Aside from "Best Film", all of these choices will be listed in no particular order.

So, with that out of the way, let's get down to the really important stuff - the movies.


THE BEST FILM OF 2011

THE DESCENDANTS - In his eight year absence from making films, co-writer and director, Alexander Payne, has thankfully not lost his gift for mixing quiet observation and dark humor, or his ability to perfectly depict a man silently breaking down in the midst of a personal crisis. He displays all of this in The Descendants, which just may be the top of a very fine career. George Clooney gives one of the best performances of the year as a married man who is forced to be a father for the first time in his life to his two daughters, when his wife goes into a coma after a speedboat accident. He is then forced to question his entire relationship, and even his life up to this point, when he learns that his wife may have been planning to leave him for another man before she was in the accident. This is probably the most realistic film to come out of 2011 - Nothing seems forced or calculated, and the performances are top notch throughout. This movie won my heart like very few were able to last year.


THE GREAT FILMS OF 2011

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - Woody Allen's light and frothy meditation on nostalgia is a pure delight, and was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year. Owen Wilson is charming as a man vacationing in Paris with his materialistic fiance (Rachel McAdams), who just wants to get lost in the romance and the romantic history of the city itself. He finds a way to journey back into the past when a mysterious car picks him up at the same spot every night at the stroke of midnight, and takes him into the past to meet some his favorite writers and playwrights like Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, and most importantly, a young woman named Adriana (Marion Cotillard), who has connections with Pablo Picasso, and fantasies of the past as well. Midnight in Paris is a very funny and heartfelt look at our tendency to romanticize the past, and how the present may not be quite as bad as it seems. It may not be revolutionary or very hard-hitting, but it is a lot of fun, and a very sweet fantasy.

50/50- Or know by the large number of people who refused to give this great little movie a chance, "that comedy about cancer". Giving 50/50 such a simple brushoff is a real crime. This is an honest, emotional, and yes, frequently funny look at a young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who's life nearly comes undone when he is diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening form of spinal cancer. Screenwriter Will Reiser based this film on his own experiences with and beating cancer, and it shows in this very realistic, thoughtful, wise, sad, uplifting, and highly entertaining film. There's some fine acting on display, including Anjelica Huston (as his supportive and worrying mother), Seth Rogen (as Levitt's best friend), and especially Anna Kendrick, as the therapist who is assigned to work with him during his illness. A lot of people missed this one at the theater, so I'm hoping it gets a second chance on DVD.

THE IDES OF MARCH - George Clooney is two-for-two here in this engaging political drama, which he not only co-stars in, but also co-wrote and directed. Based on an Off-Broadway play, The Ides of March follows an idealistic young campaign aide (Ryan Gosling), who fully supports Presidential candidate Mike Morris (Clooney), and believes that Morris truly has the ability to change things for the better in the government. The film deals with the aide's dreams of honesty and integrity crumbling as he discovers the dark political secrets of the people he's working with, for, and even working against. The story and theme of corruption in government is sadly nothing new, but that does not take away from the fact that this is a taut and emotional drama, filled with A-grade performances, and a tone that starts out casual and almost documentary style, and then turns into a gripping emotional thriller. The Ides of March paints a very bleak picture, where everyone is corrupt and no one can be trusted, but it is no less entertaining, thanks to Clooney's energetic direction.

HUGO - Martin Scorsese's engaging and heartfelt fantasy, Hugo, not only celebrates the early special effects pioneers in cinema, it is also a masterful demonstration of modern day 3D, and how it should be done. A young boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives alone within the walls and clock tower of a massive train station in Paris in the 1930s. The plot involves his friendship with a young girl who is always at the station (Chloe Moretz), a mysterious mechanical man that Hugo's father was obsessed with repairing before he died in a tragic fire, and the grumpy old man who runs a toy shop within the station (Ben Kingsley, giving his best performance in a while), who not only eventually warms up to young Hugo, but may also hold the answers he seeks about the mysterious mechanical man his father brought home from a museum years ago. Full of imagination, passion, charm, memorable characters, ingenious set designs, and a sense of wonder that most big budget epics can only dream to match, Hugo is one of the year's most unforgettable films.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN - Steven Spielberg's lively and exciting motion capture animated adventure story, based on the classic comic books by Herge, was a huge success all over the world...except in the United States, mainly due to the character's relative obscurity over here. Nonetheless, this is Spielberg in rollicking adventure mode, and he brings us a lot of memorable action set pieces, some very sharp humor, and a wonderful art style. The film follows the adventurous young Tintin (Jamie Bell), his companion Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), and Tintin's faithful dog, Snowy, as they go on a globe-spanning adventure to seek out a lost treasure, the clues leading to said treasure contained within three model ships. This movie captures the fun, excitement, and thrill ride action sequences of the Indiana Jones films much better than Spielberg's own Crystal Skull did. He takes full advantage of the 3D animation, bringing us memorable images, and some action sequences that would be near impossible to do in live action. This was some of the most fun I had at the movies last year.

THE ARTIST - The favorite to win at the Oscars tonight. While I greatly preferred The Descendants to this, The Artist is still a remarkable achievement in the way it perfectly recreates the look, feel, and tone of a 1920s Hollywood melodrama. The plot is familiarity itself, as we witness two actors - one, an established star (Jean Dujardin) whose career goes downhill when movies go into sound and talking, and the other a young hopeful (Berenice Bejo) who starts out as a background actor in the established star's movies, and quickly finds her career rising to the point that she has been dubbed "America's Sweetheart". The movie follows both of their lives and careers as they intersect over a five year period, from the final days of silent movies, to the rise of talking pictures, and finally the early days of the Great Depression, when the established star hits rock bottom, and the hopeful may be his only chance at a new life and a second chance in Hollywood. This is a simple, graceful little film that embraces what it is - a throwback to a simpler time of storytelling in Hollywood.

That concludes this year's list of great films. Now let's take a look at the Honorable Mentions of 2011.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rango, Gnomeo and Juliet, The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids, The Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code, Arthur, Win-Win, The Conspirator, Thor, African Cats, Bridesmaids, Kung Fu Panda 2, X Men: First Class, Super 8, Horrible Bosses, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2, Captain America, Crazy Stupid Love, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, One Day, Buck, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Debt, Contagion, Warrior, Drive, Moneyball, Real Steel, The Big Year, The Skin I Live In, Paranormal Activity 3, Norman, The Way, The Muppets, Arthur Christmas, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, War Horse, My Week with Marilyn.


MY 10 FAVORITE PERFORMANCES BY AN ACTOR IN 2011:

Albert Brooks in Drive
George Clooney in The Descendants
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Ed Helms in Cedar Rapids
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Ben Kingsley in Hugo
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close


MY 10 FAVORITE PERFORMANCES BY AN ACTRESS IN 2011:

Viola Davis in The Help
Elle Fanning in Super 8
Anjelica Huston in 50/50
Anna Kendrick in 50/50
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Chloe Moretz in Hugo
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

Well, that's it for this year. Another year topped off. Enjoy the Oscars tonight, and may the best movie win!

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