Saturday, January 14, 2012

Ten Favorite Films of 2011

This list will change over time but here they are. The ten films, for right now, that meant the most to me this past year.

It didn't need to get made but no films really need to get made, do they? The most fun I had at a feel-bad film this year.

9. Hugo
The perfect material for a Scorsese kids' film. It's sliding from my mind already but I loved it when I saw it.

Brad Bird makes the best Mission Impossible film yet.

The rollicking non-sentimental adventure format of Herge's books forces Spielberg to make nothing but an action film. Not better than the comics but I would love to see Peter Jackson and Spielberg make several more of these films.

The backlash is starting because this film is so light and entertaining. Nothing wrong with that. Also, I feel like the last scene elevated this into something special.

Should have been longer. How often do you say that?

As someone who has always wanted to live in another time and place this film really hit home for me. Who knew Woody Allen had one more classic in him?

I'd bet money that Kristen Wiig will never be in a better film. Hopefully not true but this was a great character-driven comedy, and Wiig should be nominated for an Oscar.

A devastating, yet somehow magical, film about clinical depression. Like many Lars Von Trier's films, I find myself unable to shake this.

The music, the landscapes, the poetry, the impressions, the sad ending, and the many many laughs. Not for everyone but it felt as though this were made for me.

Runners up: Moneyball, The Muppets, Cedar Rapids, Insidious, Source Code, first half of X Men: First Class
Haven't seen: War Horse, The Tree of Life, The Descendants, A Separation, Shame

3 comments:

  1. The Trip was one of my favorite movies of the year too. It's worth watching for the Michael Caine impersonation alone. Great blog post!

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  2. No love at all for "Drive"? You drive (ha!) a hard bargain. Wait, that makes no sense.

    Anyhow, I am reading these backwards so I read your future top ten first, for 2012 before I read this, and I was thinking today while watching "MI:Ghost Protocol", I really wish (and hope) the makers of "Skyfall" watched it and sucked up all the lessons therein from that movie. Brad Bird and company did it much better.

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  3. I didn't hate Drive at all, but somehow I just didn't get wrapped up in it. A Brad Bird Bond film would be great, and not just for the alliteration.

    Jamie, I can watch that Michael Caine impersonation scene endlessly, and have, almost, on youtube. Looking forward to one day seeing the entire television series that the film was created from.

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