Best 10 - Wait, Make that 11 - Films of 2011 by philippine-la
11. Thor
Natalie Portman manages another non-annoying performance after Black Swan. The guy who plays Thor could totally convince me that he is a Viking god if I ran into him at Shotwell's and were on my third Duchesse. Who doesn't like Asgard-meets-small-town-Southwest-USA? I would watch every movie in that genre, if it were a genre!
10. Another Earth
Tarkovsky was clearly reincarnated as a pair of sharp American indie filmmakers with absolutely no money at all and a flair for sci-fi that takes place in characters' minds and in their relationships with one another, not in CGI. I thought this was some apocalyptic space opera. Boy was I wrong.
9. Beginners
Crazily, this is my favorite talking dog movie ever. Also, a touching and funny and sort of profound tale in which Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer rock the house, the blonde Frenchwoman from Inglorious Basterds is charmingly mute, and the Velveteen Rabbit somehow turns into an awesome fairy tale about coming out when you're old.
8. Drive
I should put this higher because it's better than some movies that rank above it on this list, but it's a tad scary and a bit of a downer (depending on how you interpret the ending) and so I'm slotting this at #8. But what a number 8. Maybe 8 is appropriate because it's totally the very best eighties film that no one ever saw before. Stark and simple action, lots of cars, and neon like you wouldn't believe. Gorgeous. And mark this the first time that I ever thought Albert Brooks is more than a comedian. His villainy scared the crap out of me!
7. Midnight in Paris
Match Point is better, and so is Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But this belongs on the third rung after those two as Woody Allen's Great Late Films. Allen may have 10-15 more years, and thus films, left in him, so the list of Great Late Films will have to be constantly re-assessed and re-ordered as we go on. But for now, MiP holds third place on that list. A happy witty melancholy sad serious beautiful and inspiring movie, all done with a very light touch. It's kind of like the Mary Sue fanfic that we all dream of.
6. Captain America First Avenger
Kickass action with romance and a touch of tragedy (the first date that never was...). The CG rendering of Captain America as a scrawny shrimpy soldier with a big heart was almost the best of the year, only to be beaten by...
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The pathos of Andy Serkis's performance as Caesar is crazy, just crazy good. Plus after I saw the original, I realized that much of RotPotA is a hilarious response/rewrite/reversal of the original script. Lithgow, Franco, and Serkis all made me cry a little bit. And it was a rockin' action flick! I cannot wait for the sequel.
4. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Best documentary of the year. Who funded a team of Swedish journalists to film footage of the black power movement in the U.S. for EIGHT YEARS? I don't know and I don't care. I just want to thank that person for making possible the most phenomenal archival footage and 36-years-later awesome documentary.
3. Margin Call
This movie cost like 2 cents but starred every great male actor I know between the ages of 25 and 70. I don't get the math, but then neither did Lehman Brothers (snap!). This is the most Shakespearean/Mamet-ian drama about credit default swaps ever. I hope New!Spock produces more movies b/c hez a gud prodooser.
2. Bridesmaids
Louis B. Mayer (I think) said a good movie is made up of 3 great scenes and no bad scenes. Great Scene #1: Bridesmaids' Toast Showdown. Great Scene #2: All the scenes with Kristen Wiig and the sweet Irish cop. Great Scene #3: All the scenes with Melissa McCarthy. Okay I realize that was totally cheating. But doesn't that illustrate how awesome this movie was?
1. Fast Five
This franchise is only getting better after, count 'em, FIVE installments. Vin Diesel vs. the Rock was seriously the best action sequence of 2011. The winner was America. #BESTFRANCHISEEVER