He lists them alphabetically – but we have to assume that The Artist is his number one choice:
“The Artist.” A black-and-white silent movie that creates the most modern kind of witty and entertaining fun.
“City of Life and Death.” A Chinese film about World War II’s Rape of Nanking that is strong enough to change your life, if you can bear to watch it at all.
“Like Crazy.” Director Drake Doremus and his cast bring compelling intimacy and heart-stopping delicacy to the push and pull of love, longing and regret
“Midnight in Paris.” When Woody Allen is funny, attention must be paid.
“Of Gods and Men” and “Poetry.” A pair of films, one French, the other Korean, show how compellingly dramatic moral dilemmas can be.
“A Separation.” An Iranian film unlike any Iranian film you’ve seen before. In theaters Dec. 30 and worth the wait.
Sundance gets real: More memorable documentaries come from this festival than anywhere else. This year’s group included “Buck,” “If a Tree Falls,” “The Interrupters,” “Project Nim,” “The Redemption of General Butt Naked,” “Senna” and “We Were Here.” Mention should also be made of non-Sundance docs “Circo” and “Nostalgia for the Light.”
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” A version of the allusive John le Carré novel that couldn’t be more deliciously, thrillingly, brilliantly complex.
“Win Win.” Written and directed by Tom McCarthy with an impeccable feel for off-center human comedy at its funniest and most heartfelt.
Saddest situation: The huge number of excellent foreign-language films that played in Los Angeles with hardly anyone seeing them. The list includes “Double Hour,” “Carancho,” “Conquest,” “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life,” “The Human Resources Manager,” “Le Havre,” “Kawasaki’s Rose,” “Point Blank,” “The Princess of Montpensier,” “Queen to Play” and “The Women on the Sixth Floor.” Where were you when these films needed your help? Can you do better next year? The city’s movie community is holding its breath. We need your help.
Turan’s top film is The Clock.
The best film of 2011 was technically not a film at all. It never played in a commercial theater and likely never will. But those fortunate enough to have seen “The Clock” during its all-too-brief run at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art know how remarkable an event it was.
Nice to see Like Crazy singled out. One of my favorites this year
I like the final paragraph where he “rants” that people don’t see foreign films enough – even when they are brought to their city. A big city like LA should be lucky to get these.
It’s different where I live. A small country, but I think we are even luckier. We bring the most obscure titles here cause the government compensates to the importer if the movie has no viewers. So, it’s practically risk-free. But they have to be known for something (for example a Foreign Language Film nominee/a festival selection), and not just some mindless action B-movie no-one saw in their homeland even.
I’m looking at my city’s movie program now. We have 81 films playing today. 36 of them are in English (29 of them are American). 15 are from nordic countries and the rest are worldwide. A Separation is playing in two theaters – two out of 81. That’s not hard to find.
So, even when American movies dominate, they are still just 1/3.
Yeah, why do we have to assume artist as his favourite?
I wish ‘ the clock’ is released on home video sometime, or I have no way of ever watching it. There are some interesting mentions at the end of the article too.
Turan mentions in the first paragraph of the article that “The Clock” is his #1 film of the year. All others are listed alphabetically.
Why assume The Artist is #1? It could easily be any other film.