Tops of 2011 – Visionary Directors, Riveting Characters
Here is my top ten for 2011. Hopefully, Ryan’s, Beth’s and Craig’s will follow.
Top Ten
1. Hugo
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes/Project Nim
4. Moneyball
5. Shame
6. The Descendants
7. The Artist
8. We Need to Talk About Kevin
9. Margin Call
10. Attack the Block
11. Rampart
12. J. Edgar
13. Drive
14. Tree of Life
15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
16. Poetry
17. Tyrannosaur
The imperfect but worthy:
18. War Horse
19. Contagion
20. Bridesmaids
21. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
More of my top ten for 2011.
Most unforgivably overlooked film of the year by the critics and industry: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Most overlooked film of the year period: Attack the Block
Best film I haven’t seen yet: A Separation
Biggest balls: Jason Reitman for creating a totally unlikable character in a film that is torture to sit through – but he stuck to his guns with Young Adult.
Top performances by an Actress
1. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2. Viola Davis, The Help
3. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
4. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
5. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
6. Bernice Bejo, The Artist
7. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
8. Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur
9. Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
10. Octavia Spencer, The Help
11. Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Top performances by an Actor
1. Michael Fassbender, Shame
2. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
3. George Clooney, The Descendant
4. Woody Harrelson, Rampart
5. Jean Dujardin, The Artist
6. Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
7. Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
8. Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin
9. Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
10. Kevin Spacey, Margin Call
11. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
12. Jonah Hill, Moneyball
13. Demian Bichir, A Better Life
14. Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The directors who rewrote the rules:
1. Martin Scorsese, Hugo
2. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
3. Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin
4. David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Lars von Trier, Melancholia
6. Steve McQueen, Shame
7. Terrence Malick, Tree of Life
8. JC Chandor, Margin Call
9. Rupert Wyatt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
10. George Clooney, The Ides of March
The directors who played by the rules but did so brilliantly:
1. Alexander Payne, The Descendants
2. Bennett Miller, Moneyball
3. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
4. Tate Taylor, The Help
5. Steven Spielberg, War Horse
6. Tomas Alfredson, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Singular elements that moved me beyond words–
Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross in their second collaboration with David Fincher almost reinvents the wheel of what film scoring can be. It’s hard to imagine anyone topping The Social Network’s score yet somehow they did. It is weird, deep, unforgettable and pulsates through Fincher’s thriller like controlled gusts of hot wind. It leaves you perplexed, disturbed, off balance and then all at once returns to sweetness.
Andy Serkis and the rest of the performance capture apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, still one of the biggest surprises of 2011. Watching them in their cages finding the spirit to break out of their prison and find freedom was one of the most rapturous cinematic moments of the year. The reason Rise of the Planets of the Apes is such a good film has to do with how Wyatt handled the touchy topic of portraying chimps. Unlike what Steven Spielberg did with War Horse, and to a less serious degree, Hazanavicius with the dog in The Artist, Wyatt treats the animals with respect to what they are. The chimps only become human-like when they are dosed with a drug that gives them the kind of intelligence we have. To see a mainstream Hollywood film get the basic tenants of anthropology and science right (within the realm of sci-fi) was an unexpected stroke of genius. I paired it above with the documentary Project Nim because, really, they do go hand in hand. Nim is what really happens to apes in our country. They are mostly mistreated, tested, used in silly ways — kept as pets, abandoned. We project ourselves onto them in hopes that they will obey by our rules of conduct. Alas, chimps have not evolved the way we have. They are wild at heart. That Nim is finally rescued and given a mostly livable life for his last ten years is a relief. But oh, the primal satisfaction of watching the chimps rise up in Wyatt’s film, that’s the stuff, my friends.
Martin Scorsese trying his hand at 3-D for the first time was something to behold. He didn’t waste a frame. And how anyone could say “the first part was slow” is beyond me: can they not see? Did they not look? There isn’t a more pronounced visual master than Scorsese — whose right hand man is a woman, his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. The two of them side by side shaping Hugo, one dazzling shot after another. Scorsese wanted to make a movie for his daughter, and that tender inspiration brought forth his most moving film, and one of the most unexpectedly magical films of the year. If you want a reason to plunk down your money to see a film, here is something wholly original.
Meryl Streep told someone to find great material for Viola Davis and finally someone did. She is cast in exactly the right role at the right time. Yes, she’s playing a black maid in 2011. But she plays more than a maid when she’s “off work” — a mother, a closet writer, a revolutionary. If the film can’t be forgiven for its celebration of the success of a white writer, it should be remembered for its willingness to make a film that addresses the lack of voices of black women working as nannies and housekeepers. Someone did it in 2011. It took way too long but at least someone did it. The most unforgivable part of Whitey’s reception of The Help is that it is not PC enough for them. I admit to being one of those people. But i had to check myself because I wonder, what is is I’m really saying? Do I want everything to really have changed? Well, has it? I don’t know. Are there enough black women writers telling their stories? Are nannies treated well now? Hispanic nannies in Los Angeles? I sure hope so. Because if one white liberal yoga-going soy latte drinking mother comes at me whining about The Help while underpaying and overworking her own nanny?
A silent black and white film, you say? Michel Hazanavicius had the audacity to make it, pulled it off with a team of great actors and a command of story in The Artist, the frontrunner and new punching bag for people who don’t think it’s deep enough. I’ll admit it isn’t the deepest film but it is filmmaking at its most adept and pure. Sometimes the simplest stories are the best stories because you’re seeing something you’ve sort of seen before but you’re seeing it done totally differently. The actors in the Artist don’t act the way silent film actors acted. They act in a natural style and lampoon the way the actors acted in silent films. It’s a silent movie that makes a comment about sound as it selectively introduced it back in. It’s a silent movie where a dog can communicate wordlessly, as we know animals do, the same way the people are communicating wordlessly. We are saturated with dialogue-dependent cinema – it was something really special to see the power of story almost entirely without words. No one who appreciates film can turn their back on The Artist and live with themselves the next day. Yes, I would love to see a film by an American director in the American studio system win Best Picture. But to reward The Artist is to reward excellence. And that’s really all there is to it.
When I think of a film that defines 2011 for me, not necessarily one that reflects our past like Hugo or The Artist or War Horse, I think of Moneyball. Top to bottom, Moneyball is one of the most satisfying films of the year because it rings so true to me. It’s easy, in a way, to lump Moneyball with The Descendants for reasons that really have nothing to do with the original stories. But the one they do have in common is that they are decidedly American films. Moneyball is about baseball, yes. But it is also about our corruptive need to build people up and then watch them either burn out or fade away. Moneyball is about Billy Beane and how his life was almost ruined with premature adulation at a time when he wasn’t really ready for it. We don’t consider their futures, these superstars. We just want them to rise to the top as quickly as possible. And so Billy Beane falls. And he falls. And he falls. But eventually, he decides that he might be a mediocre ball player. He might be a mediocre general manager, but he’ll get another shot at trying a big move. He can’t do the genius work so he hires someone. But that success is bittersweet, of course. Here in America we want victories. We love triumphs and happy endings. Some movies gave us that. Some didn’t. But Moneyball is out for the truth: winning isn’t everything. But what touched me so deeply in Moneyball was how hard it was for Beane to have any amount of hope that things would work out. When he can’t watch the game or step onto the field, when he can’t believe that they didn’t triumph because they lost the series. Yeah, he hit a homerun and he didn’t even realize it.
War Horse is not a perfect film. It isn’t even one of Spielberg’s best, but it has within it some of the most stirring sequences Spielberg has ever shot. The one that really stands out, of course, is the horse running through the fields of war at night and getting tangled up in barbed wire. How that scene is set up, how it concludes, is worth the price of admission alone. And in those moments one can almost forgive the the way the film opens and the way it ends. In the Oscar race we look for perfection now. Though Spielberg overplayed his hand with the sentimentality, as he sometimes does, you won’t see any better footage than that horse in war. It is dazzling, heartstopping filmmaking.
Tree of Life is a movie that is so hard to fathom. On the one hand it, like life itself, feels incomplete. On the other hand, what Terrence Malick renders is, in its own way, as silent a film as The Artist, only Tree of Life doesn’t have a traditional plot. It doesn’t tell a linear narrative the way The Artist does and yet, like that film, so much of it depends on an impressionistic view of life heard in whispers, seen in flickers of light. There is so much beauty in that film, so much mystery, it would take decades to really figure it all out. This is shares with Kubrick’s 2001. And damnit all if we didn’t have a director up to the task of delivering such a big Hollywood movie with big Hollywood stars that so tells its story with daring and very nearly dismisses the notion of needing a plot entirely.
The last few shots of violence played out in Lynne Ramsay’s exceptional horror masterpiece, We Need to Talk About Kevin, were among the most vivid, most memorable scenes of the year. Four characters – a mother, a father, a son and a daughter – the dynamics at play there never once accepted any of them as a stereotype. The mother was given complexity. The father, occasionally disconnected but unfailingly compassionate. The daughter, sweetly innocent and admiring of her big brother – the symbol of what sociopathic evil seeks to destroy. And the son – was he born that way or made that way? Who can deny the power of that performance? And yet, the awards race will never acknowledge this film in any major capacity, least of all to honor Ezra Miller as Kevin or the visual master, Lynne Ramsay. The darkness here, well let’s just say it took a woman to go there.
Finally, I don’t know that there was a more moving moment in cinema, and that includes all of the tears jerked for War Horse, than George Clooney saying goodbye to his wife in The Descendants. It was an unexpected moment of naked emotion and it felt so true, so necessary. That movie is about saying all of the things you can’t say to people when they’re alive. It’s about a lot of things but that’s one of them. To me it will be one of those tiny moments in movies that eventually become big moments because we all remember them and retell them to future generations of film lovers.
I feel like I’ve had to defend Steve McQueen’s Shame for the misinterpretations by critics, the mislabeling of the NC-17, and frankly I’m seeing too much conservatism in this year’s Oscar race — and those who write about it. It’s as though the notion of “family film” has now spread throughout the entire film community because no movie can make any money now unless it appeals to those younger audiences and so we thinking adults are forced to go underground to film festivals to find any sort of gnawing on humanity – you know, there is no replacing life experience. And the one thing people can’t seem to go near, can’t seem to touch – women especially – is sex. It’s been driven underground and seems to have no place in any of the films headed for Oscar. And yet Shame, and Steve McQueen must not have gotten the memo because he goes right for it. Beyond the subject matter being about sex, Shame is really about pain. I hope that McQueen is not stopped by the extreme response to his film over here. I hope he continues to dive deep.
My daughter is now 13. I bought her the Harry Potter series before she was old enough to read it. I didn’t know if she would take to it, of course. All of these years later I’ve watched her devour those books, reading them over and over again. I watched her grow up with Harry Potter movies – I had to sit with her through each and every one of them. I watched the series grow darker and more violent. Every year, the Harry Potter films were events for generations of kids who grew up on the books and the movies. To not acknowledge this series and the millions of fans who loved the films is something about this year’s Oscar race that we’ll never have a good answer for. Sure, if there were ten nominees this movie would get in. If there were ten nominees a lot of movies would get in. But they’re playing favorites with a group of voters who probably won’t go for the Harry Potter film, to put it mildly. If it couldn’t even make the BFCA’s top ten list it seems hopeless for Oscar. Still, you can’t really talk about 2011 without talking about Harry Potter.
There aren’t many directors who have as much control over the canvas as David Fincher does. Of course, the main thrust of Dragon Tattoo is its heroine, Lisbeth Salander, a woman whose been mistreated by men her entire life becomes a survivor. Because she is still sexual, because that sex bends back and forth between men and women it seems to have made some critics uncomfortable. I even heard someone mention sexism on Twitter. Of all the things to talk about with Dragon Tattoo I never thought anyone would go there. But go they did. Yes, let’s please always have female characters that check off a list of what they are and aren’t supposed to be because you know, if there’s one thing 2011 needs more of it’s films about men! Men, it seems, are the only people who are allowed to play a wide variety of characters in film. Women and minorities — well, you better be PC because otherwise, watch out. Yes, by all means let’s dismiss any unique characters and successful films with women and minorities because they don’t fit into our ideas of what they SHOULD be. Nothing makes my blood boil more, frankly. Dragon Tattoo is easily one of the best films of the year — it’s an adult film, finally, in a sea of films aimed at younger audiences. And for me, it was like a midnight ride bareback, wind whipping past me, not knowing what’s coming next. And then when I go back looking for the intricacy I know Fincher laid out, it’s there. Frame by frame, it’s there. But I always knew people would mostly have their knives sharpened for Fincher coming off of a year like last. I also figured they’d be made mighty uncomfortable by such a threatening female character. I don’t think Fincher would have made the film otherwise. This movie is a tribute to her.
When I look back on 2011, how it all started so hopefully in Cannes, and continued through the festival circuit and now to the ugliest part of the year, the unforgiving, most hideous awards race where we must judge films by things they should never be judged by, where we let a few people to a few hundred thousand people decide what should be called best of the year. And as we all catalog them and place them and rank them — each of knows, because we’ve been here before, what happens during the awards race STAYS in the awards race. It rarely escapes, up to and including all of the years to come when films have nothing to live up to except how wonderfully they play. It’s been a great year for filmmakers all over the world. Whatever film wins Best Picture this year it’s going to be a great movie. They are all great, aren’t they? — beautiful visions, delightful declarations of feeling and inspiration this year, in these films.
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I wondered how it is possible that “A Separation” did not enter even the top 20, but then I read you hadn’t seen it
Not one single non-english language film in the top 10 and only one in the top 20. Mysteries Of Lisbon, Le Havre, The Gamin Au Velo, A Separation, Certified Copy and many others were not even considered. Typical from someone who isn’t able to get out of the Hollywood shell. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes above of the Tree Of Life is outrageous.
Great list all around, and incredibly in-depth. Hopefully, your feelings towards Potter are heard by Oscar voters. It has truly been snubbed as of late, and is frankly the only interesting contender in terms of “Will this movie get nominated?” The rest like “Artist” and “Hugo”, etc are locks, so I really have no desire to follow their awards path.
Surprised that you didn’t like Melancholia and Kirsten Dunst’s performance that much, but there are so many good films and performances to mention, some of them are sure to fall short of your list. Also surprised that Andy Serkis isn’t higher – did you put him below the others because you feel his performance is too different in technique to be grouped with the others?
“I hope that McQueen is stopped by the extreme response to his film over here. I hope he continues to dive deep.”
Sasha- Did that sentence mean to say, “I hope that McQueen is NOT stopped by the extreme response to his film over here…”?
i don’t mean to be rude at all but do you ever see any films that aren’t in the english language?
Knee Play — of course I do. But there are so many great films this year that ARE in the English language. There are so many critics, NY Times and Ebert who list foreign films. Surely you can take comfort in that.
Yes, Film Fatale – and thanks.
Sasha
Berenice Bejo — over Michelle Williams? I repeat — Berenice Bejo over Michelle Williams? In what world? I believe you have an issue with holding Marilyn Monroe so near and dear to your heart or something, but Michelle Williams’ hard work is eons and eons above the larkish little turn by Bejo, who does virtually no heavy lifting and pays homage to a spirit more than any real character work.
By contrast, Williams’ employed four separate trainers for voice, mannerisms/movement, singing and dancing — to create a completely engigmatic take on a legend that she made her totally her own. It is quite an achievement and so startlingly more accomplished than Bejo it is hard to know what your measuring stick is with such a ranking.
Not one single non-english language film in the top 10 and only one in the top 20. Mysteries Of Lisbon, Le Havre, The Gamin Au Velo, A Separation, Certified Copy and many others were not even considered.
I hated Certified Copy, though I could appreciate it. Sorry, you’re on the wrong site perhaps.
Typical from someone who isn’t able to get out of the Hollywood shell. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes above of the Tree Of Life is outrageous.
Yeah, being a dick isn’t going to win you points here – plenty of other sites to massage your fancy. I liked these films. Am I in the Hollywood shell? Very well, then. I’m in the Hollywood shell. I haven’t yet seen A Separation. I know I will love it.
I wondered how it is possible that “A Separation” did not enter even the top 20, but then I read you hadn’t seen it
You didn’t read my whole post.
mine:
1. Melancholia
2. The Tree of Life
3. Drive
4. Meek’s Cutoff
5. Certified Copy
6. Beginners
7. Poetry
8. Le Havre
9. We Need to Talk About Kevin
10. A Separation
Knee Play, your list is good but it’s totally “the internet’s” list. The Internet always has its pet favorites and if you go against the grain you sure hear about it. I’ve never been able to really go along with “the internet” and I refuse, really, to be bullied into it.
Thanks. Love the choices, love seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dragon Tattoo among the top 5 and love the reasons / description. Also, thanks again for the sublime Dragon Tattoo article. I read that here the day it was posted but when I saw the link and nod to that little gem on Movieline’s Oscar index, I had read my favorite parts again.
The only ones I disagree with are J. Edgar (Really think Eastwood is overrated and doesn’t deserve praise for most of his recent works), Poetry which I don’t know much about and lack of Tinker Tailor and The Guard among the top choices. LOVE those two.
I thought Dragon Tattoo was your No.1 of 2011!
No Melancholia? And A Separation should be on every list.
Looking forward to Ryan’s list.
i really wasn’t saying you should. those are your favourites and our own individual lists ultimately mean nothing. i didn’t care for most of what’s on your list but that’s fine. although i suspect “the girl with the dragon tattoo” might make its way into my list in a few days.
your list, however, does read like every middlebrow, mainstream american critics’ list, if we’re gonna get bitchy about it.
Everyone’s doing it. In no particular order
Drive, Harry Potter, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hugo, 50/50, Source Code, Bridesmaids, A Better Life, Super 8, Contagion, We Bought a Zoo, X-Men:First Class
Haven’t seen yet, but I know I’ll love…or at least like.
War Horse, The Artist, Tinker Tailor, The Descendants, Tin Tin, Extremely Loud, Shame
I love in Wyoming, we don’t get a lot of foreign or independent films.
Live*
Wish I’d seen a lot more of the contenders by this point to formulate my own list…but having having only seen a few and whatever else I’ve been able to see that has hit dvd my Top 10 as of the moment includes films such as The Adjustment Bureau, which surely won’t make my final Top 10 for this year…heck I doubt Super 8 (#5 currently will when all is said and done either.
While I may not share your enthusiasm for some of your other choices, the fact that you have Attack the Block in your top 10 leaves me so, so happy. Such an entertaining and all around fun film, and so wildly underrated.
In regards to singular elements that move beyond words…I’m curious how the non-readers reacted to it but for someone that has read the books The Prince’s Tale sequence in Deathly Hallows was masterfully translated to screen with terrific editing, and emotion. In a perfect world that scene alone should be enough to get Rickman a nod.
Film Comment’s Top 10 was just released (looks a lot like mine/ie. “the internet’s”)
1. The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick, U.S.
2. Uncle Boonmee, Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directedy by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/U.K./France/Germany
3. Melancholia, directed by Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany
4. A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi, Iran
5. A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg, Canada/Germany
6. Mysteries of Lisbon, directed by Raúl Ruiz, France/Portugal
7. Certified Copy, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, France/Italy/Belgium
8. Meek’s Cutoff, directed by Kelly Reichardt, U.S.
9. Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese, U.S.
10. Poetry, directed by Lee Chang-dong, South Korea
Oh I forgot to add 13 Assassins, Midnight in Paris and Ip Man 2
Sasha is right, 6 of kneeplay’s can be found in the Top 10 of the Critics Top 10 list tally
woot woot. Hugo #1 and Attack the Block in the top 10. Love it. Great list.
Sasha,
Is there a reason why everyone is forgetting “Take Shelter?” It is clearly one of the best films of the year, and you said as much in one of your past “State of The Race” columns. And now apparently it does not even crack your Top 20? I’m sorry, but I’ve seen all the films on your list, and for my money “Take Shelter” is one of the most haunting, well acted, well made films of 2011. At least Ebert had the good sense to include that in his Top 20. Why are you now forgetting it?
Hugo is a movie I like less and less reflecting on it
Here’s my list, pre-Dragon Tattoo/War Horse/Extremely Loud/A Separation:
1. Hugo
2. Drive
3. 13 Assassins
4. Midnight In Paris
5. The Artist
6. Warrior
7. Take Shelter
8. Win Win
9. Hanna
10. Young Adult
11. Melancholia
12. The Descendants
13. The Guard
14. Attack The Block
15. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
16. We Need To Talk About Kevin
17. Terri
18. The Tree Of Life
19. Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol
20. Contagion
Like your lists, Sasha – especially your splitting of directors who “rewrote the rules” and “played by the rules…brilliantly”. There is a big difference between the two and it seems nobody takes the time to recognize that fact. Very thoughtful.
Hugo baby! My favorite film of the year as well! Followed by Shame, Super 8, X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Drive, Moneyball, The Help, The Ides of March, and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Still haven’t seen The Artist, The Descendants, TGWTDT, Melancholia, TTSS, Young Adult, A Separation, etc.
No Olsen and Mulligan in the actress category.
But good to see Fassbender at #1 in actor category!
A lot of my favorites here – love that you included Attack the Block. Did you get a chance to see Weekend?
Just read the bit on Potter…wow your daughter is young, the majority who “grew up with the series” started at 11, 12, or 13 and are now in their 20′s.
*to say she’s grown up with it
I am distressed by the lack of recognition for Vanessa Redgrave.
Ever since the premiere of Coriolanus (Cannes?) she seemed to be the front runner
for supporting.
What happened? No SAG, no GG, no critics (SF only).
Is the movie not being seen?
Hope is the last thing to die, so I still will be crossing my fingers come Oscar nominations time.
Dragon Tattoo was so bad. If you have never read the book you’ll be so confused with the plot. The last 20-30 minutes are unbearably bad. Rooney Mara plays the character so one note. I wanted to like it, but I was disappointed. I went in with an open mind, but the script is just trying too hard. Definitely a film made for fans of the book and nobody else.
really don’t understand any brad pitt love. in moneyball he plays the exact same character he plays in ocean’s 11 and has been playing in most of his movies of the last ten years (i.e., himself). his performance in tree of life, on the other hand, was pretty good
“I am distressed by the lack of recognition for Vanessa Redgrave.”
Me, too, @manrico1967. There’s still hope, but considerably less after the SAG omission. If she’s neglected by her peers for that, it’s an uphill to the oscar. It’s not over, yet.
“his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. The two of them side by side shaping Hugo, one dazzling shot after another.”
I kind of think you are short changing Robert Richardson here….
Love the splitting of directors. Helps me make sense of Alexander Payne, who always impresses me, but never dazzles me.
I guess my Top Ten looks something like this now. So MANY movies are yet to be seen:
1. The Tree of Life
2. A Separation
3. We Need to Talk About Kevin
4. Drive
5. Win Win
6. Beginners
7. Moneyball
8. 50/50
9. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hey knee play, if you’re gonna go off on some elitist tangent about foreign films, at least categorize them by their proper dates of release. Of which Uncle Boonme, Mysteries of Lisbon and Certified Copy should probably be on your list for last year, considering thats when they came out.
Also bitching on a site dedicated to Oscar watching about foreign films being excluded when he operator of the site watches American Award films for a fuckin living is kind of a stupid thing to do. Go troll Slant if you have nothing better to do. The boys over there would probably cater more to your taste.
I always look forward to your top 10 ever since you were one of the only people that put The Lovely Bones on their list. I think you always pick good films. I still need to see dragon tattoo, margin call, attack of the block, the artist, we need to talk about kevin, extremely loud, war horse, tintin, and shame to make my list so I can’t comment to much on your films. But Hugo is a great pick, love that film best movie I saw all year. Though I think mine would be similar I would probably have Drive a little higher. Still can’t stop thinking about that movie. I am surprised about the lack of Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan in performance and the fact you like Melissa Mccarthy and many other actresses other than Michelle Williams. I am a huge fan of Bridesmaids and Mccarthy is the one of the main reasons why that movie works so well. But Michelle Williams was dazzling, beautiful and unforgettable as monroe.
Anyone seen the new Top 100 of All Time list that The Times posted?
http://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/
Was happy to see Charade and Kind Hearts and Coronets on there but dumbfounded to not find Rear Window…and in fact only a couple Hitchcock films. I thought the explanation page at the end of how the list was compiled was quite interesting though.
this is an interesting read as well-
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/12/09/filthy-secrets-of-the-10-best-movies-list/
Well, I’ll be off in my lonely corner where The Turin Horse is not only the movie of the year but also the movie of our times. A dark mirror that refuses even an ounce of hope. Probably the most uncompromising film of the year, too.
And I know that I sound like the hipster douche who only likes bands no one has ever heard of.
cinematic soul – first off, i didn’t name 2 of the 3 movies you said i did. i think uncle boonmee was the best film of 2010 but certified copy was not released here in canada until 2011. hence it’s inclusion. you’ll also find that most critics consider it a 2011 release, along with uncle boonmee.
secondly, there is such a thing at the oscars as a foreign language category. foreign films have also been nominated (and won) in other categories such as screenplay (talk to her). in some cases, they’ve even been nominated for best picture (life is beautiful, il postino). i was simply asking if sasha watched any films that aren’t in the english language. only 4 out of my personal top 10 list aren’t.
it’s not about being an elitist. i just happen to think that movies like the artist, moneyball and the descendants are grossly overrated and i don’t understand why they keep poopping in top 10 lists.
it’d be nice to see other movies get recognized. but i’m not saying this is sash’a responsibility.
@knee_play because people like it
Julia: The Turin Horse was the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I guess I was expecting too much, or… anything.
I am so happy Sasha we both have the same #1 film of the year, Hugo! What a masterpiece! I love old movies and I love even more Scorsese’s dedication to film preservation! Watching this film and seeing his love for movies shine through moved me more than any other film in a long time.
I also loved Rise of the Planet of the Apes! Wow what an entertaining movie!
Moneyball- Loved Jonah Hill so happy for his gg nomination, Contagion- bleak but so good, Harry Potter- so well done and that snake and dragon in IMAX wow!, Drive- it was messed up, but it was so cool, with the crazy score and the hot pink 80′s titles, I loved it, and The Descendants that scene with Clooney saying goodbye was so amazing I was blown away.
Did you just move HArry Potter from 14 to 15? Hahaha..
Sorry I forgot to put my top 10 on!
1. Hugo
2. The Descendants
3. Super 8
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
6. Midnight in Paris
7. Rango
8. Moneyball
9. Drive
10. Hannah
wasn’t it beat by Harry Potter, Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, Rise of the Planet Apes, and Kung Fu Panda 2 during the summer?
1.The Tree of Life
2.Drive
3.Midnight in Paris
4.Take Shelter
5.Moneyball
6.Hugo
7.The Ides of March
8.Crazy, Stupid, Love
9.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
10.50/50
11.Warrior
12.X-Men: First Class
13.Super 8
14.The Muppets
15.The Descendants
16.The Help
17.Bridesmaids
18.Rango
19.Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene
20.Hesher
So happy to see so much love for Shame, Dragon Tattoo (Fassy/Rooney also my #1 Actor/Actress performances of the year) and Attack the Block. And glad you are changing your mind about The Help, but not resorting to trashing The Artist like so many others.
Mine, in order:
1. Shame
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. The Descendants
4. Attack the Block
5. Midnight in Paris
6. Jane Eyre
7. Rise of the Apes
8. Martha Marcy
9. The Help
10. Warrior
11 and onwards include Take Shelter, Captain America, 50/50, Bridesmaids, The Artist, Adventures of TinTin, Like Crazy, Hugo, War Horse, Drive, Another Earth, etc. etc. etc.
1. A Separation
2. Shame
3. Take Shelter
4. Drive
5. We Need To Talk About Kevin
6. X Men: First Class
7. 13 Assassins
8. Mysteries of Lisbon
9. Hugo
10. The Artist
11. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
12. Melancholia
13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
14. Coriolanus
15. Poetry
Need to see a lot of foreign films still and I still don’t know what to make of The Tree of Life. Loved the film but in terms of a rank I’m not sure where it belongs yet…
Reading Sasha’s Top 10 list is always one of my favourite points on the Awards Daily countdown each year. I generally always think your choices are spot on, Sasha, but this year I’m really confused/bemused by your total infatuation with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
I thought it was a good movie, if just that it wasn’t a total turd, but it wasn’t a stretch to say Caesar was the only three-dimensional character in the film. Granted, Andy Serkis is absolutely incredible as per usual, but without stronger support performances I just couldn’t take to this. Franco, who can be SO good, was laboured and looked bored in this. I was kind of expecting Anne Hathaway to be trotted out halfway through to liven him up a bit.
Terrible list for lead actress,i haven’t seen Streep and Mara,but Viola Davis’ performance is so overrated,and yet she might win Oscar because of politics.Michelle Williams gave performance of the year,followed by Tilda Swinton.
mine so far:
Drive
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Margin Call
Take Shelter
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Moneyball
Midnight in Paris
Tree of Life
The Descendants
Harry Potter 7pt2
still need to see Hugo, The Artist, Shame, and the others that haven’t started playing yet.
Hah yeah she moved everything down one after ten forgetting about Rampart ha
A Lot of films have not opened in the Boston area fortunatly I have see the Artist twice. I cannot amagined seeing a better film this year. I donot undedrstand how anyone blogs on this sight cannot love this film. If you have seen it and did not like please tell me why.
“I wondered how it is possible that “A Separation” did not enter even the top 20, but then I read you hadn’t seen it
You didn’t read my whole post.”
Sasha, I know this is your site and you bitch if you want to, but that answer is simply rude. I think what the reader meant is that they only understood why you hadn’t included that title when they read you hadn’t seen the film yet, so your answer is not only rude, but also untrue, since they DID READ your whole post.
I think you are upset because a number of readers are making (legitimate and correct) criticism to your choices.
As of late, I’ve noticed a tendency on your part to send everyone to piss off as soon as they (respectfully, otherwise I’d be with you) disagree with your opinion, your writing or your picks and, honestly, it’s quite unpleasant.
So if you don’t like this comment and are thinking of telling me the same (i. e. to go somewhere else), keep it to yourself, since most probably I’m already there.
Heres my top 10
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
2. X-Men: First Class
3. The Muppets or The Artist
4. Drive
5. Hugo
6. Shame
7. Fast Five or Moneyball
8. Kung Fu Panda 2
9. Drive
10. Transformers 3
I wish I could comment properly, but I still haven’t seen enough to make a definitive top ten of my own, if I wanted to. On my lj I keep a running list of the movies I’ve seen in favorite order and update it all year. I’ve done that for a few years now. Right now I have a few I need to include, I’ve seen somewhere around 30. But honestly, I’m not too jazzed with 2011. So I’m not sure that I’d include the movies that are the top ten on my list right now in a real “top ten”. I’m not sure they’re good enough. I finally saw TTSS today, and tbqh I wanted to fix it. It was good enough but I was expecting way more. Maybe they gave me too much expecting time. But it’s been like that a lot this year. I’ve not seen too many movies and come out of the theater with a spring in my step. It’s sort of a half Charlie Brown sad walk. Maybe I’m at the point/age, where I’ve seen too many movies and aren’t willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this is what they call “crotchety”. lol
I knew you liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes a lot. I did too. But I didn’t expect it that high on your list, mainly because you’ve seen more movies than me. It seems like you were really impressed with the mocap. I don’t know why it didn’t do that much for me. I was a fan of the old movies and I don’t feel any more emotion for Andy Serkis’ Caesar than Roddy McDowall’s. The makeup and the animation didn’t really make a difference to me. I guess I bought into the old stuff really easily. But what I’m saying is I didn’t NOT take McDowall’s Caesar seriously because he wasn’t a realistic ape. It’s weird, I know everyone loves Andy Serkis but I feel like the most emotional ape moment went to the orangutan one when he asked “Why cookie Rocket?”. And the human side of the movie wasn’t that great. I mean I liked it a lot but I’m just surprised that we didn’t find a lot better by the end of the year. I liked most of last year’s Best Picture nominees better than almost every movie this year. It’s like those were all As and this year the best we can do is Bs.
HUGO right now is my number one as well though, with THE SKIN I LIVE IN a close second but then there’s a big gap in quality, imo, before you get to everything else. I think that’s because you have two auteurs firing on all cylinders and then a bunch of people who turned in their homework late with misspellings and visible wig tape. XD But of course there are still a bunch of films I need to see. Maybe those are the great ones.
A brilliant list. Great taste as always, Sasha.
I really hope both Shame and Potter receive the nominations they deserve. I’m shocked that Fassbender wasn’t nominated for the SAG and Mulligan not even for the Golden Globe. Both performances are Oscar-worthy. And poor Potter. This is the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful film of the series (and remains one of the top 3 best-reviewed films of the year) and its SAG ensemble cast, GG-Drama and BFCA BP snubs have been shockingly painful. I hope the film gets the PGA nomination, sweeps the BAFTAs and WB campaign the crap out of it in the next month, especially after EL&IC’s even more disappointing performance at the awards. And I forgot to mention The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Another almost completely overlooked film so far. I mean, this is one of the best of the year.
Not even close to making a top 10, will probably not have a top 10 for this year until 2013. Probably haven’t seen 10 films that were released this year. The best film I saw this year was Animal Kingdom, and that’s from 2010 – Oh well. I’m more current on books and music (GO The Art of Fielding!)
For cinematic soul:
“Hey knee play, if you’re gonna go off on some elitist tangent about black films, at least categorize them by their proper dates of release. Of which Precious should probably be on your list for last year, considering thats when they came out.
Also bitching on a site dedicated to Oscar watching about black films being excluded when he operator of the site watches White Award films for a fuckin living is kind of a stupid thing to do. Go troll Slant if you have nothing better to do. The boys over there would probably cater more to your taste.”
“Hey knee play, if you’re gonna go off on some elitist tangent about gay films, at least categorize them by their proper dates of release. Of which The Kids Are All Right should probably be on your list for last year, considering thats when they came out.
Also bitching on a site dedicated to Oscar watching about gay films being excluded when he operator of the site watches Hetero Award films for a fuckin living is kind of a stupid thing to do. Go troll Slant if you have nothing better to do. The boys over there would probably cater more to your taste.”
My List Thus Far:
1. Tree of Life
2. Drive
3. Take Shelter
4. Hugo
5. The Descendants
6. The Artist
7. Moneyball
8. Harry Potter
9. Bridesmaids
10. Beginners
I’m curious John, what are you considering the other 2 “best reviewed”? Moneyball and Tinker Tailor? Are you going by Metacritic score?
I haven’t written a Top 10 yet, so I figured here would be a good place haha. Also doing other categories for the hell of it.
Top Ten Films:
Melancholia
1) Certified Copy
2) The Tree of Life
3) A Separation
4) The Artist
5) Drive
6) Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2
7) Young Adult
9) Carnage
10) Meek’s Cutoff
Films that missed the cut: Le Havre, Footloose, Beginners, Like Crazy, Policeman.
Top Ten Female Performances:
Jodie Foster – Carnage
1) Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
2) Juliette Binoche – Certified Copy
3) Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
4) Jessica Chastain – Take Shelter
5) Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
6) Rachel Weisz – The Whistleblower
7) Charlize Theron – Young Adult
9) Carey Mulligan – Shame
10) Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Top Ten Male Performances:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
1) Ryan Gosling – Drive
2) Michael Fassbender – Shame
3) Christopher Plummer – Beginners
4) Hunter McCracken – The Tree of Life
5) Brad Pitt – Moneyball
6) Ryan Gosling – The Ides of March
7) William Shimell – Certified Copy
9) Christoph Waltz – Carnage
10) Albert Brooks – Drive
Still haven’t seen The Iron Lady, War Horse, or Dragon Tattoo. Very much looking forward to these.
Those eights went through as sunglass smileys.. ugh.
@christiannw I was wondering why you were so happy about those. lol
@OCO 300
You can’t decide whether to pick Fast Five or Moneyball for your #7 slot? WTF…
Sasha, thoughts on Beginners and Plummer’s performance?
I find Sasha’s use of the word “Whitey” offensive.
Attack the Block will wind up on my top ten too—when I get there because there is SO much I haven’t seen that’s on the discussion plate of this site.
It’s nice to know a few people, including Sasha, seem to “get” Attack the Block. I adore it and purchased a copy. If I’m underestimating the response to it by fellow visitors of this site, feel free to let me know!
I agree with you John, but I think your being a bit optimistic. It will be a miracle for Potter to break from it’s Oscar curse.
Anyways, my top ten in no particular order: Hugo, Drive, Harry Potter 7.2, Melancholia, Young Adult, The Tree of Life, The Artist, The Decendents, and since I’m sure I’ll love, TGWTDT.
I really liked ATTACK THE BLOCK.
no DiCaprio Mention in the Actors List?
Love how you put Project Nim with Rise. I would have not enjoyed Rise without it. The apes were the best part of Rise and with Project Nim, the human characters in Rise were given more depth than they otherwise didn’t have.
The narration in films recently are off-putting and The Descendants was no exception, the ending was worth it though. Redeemed itself.
Glad also that Tree of Life is lower down the list. After the initial viewing it gets tiring to watch. Same with Potter but at least Potter had that between-worlds scene that gets to you even after multiple viewings.
Attack The Block love. Liking it here, means getting shunned. Glad it got attention.
Great list
1. The Tree of Life
2. Certified Copy/A Separation (tied)
3. 13 Assassins
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
5. Hanna
6. I Saw the Devil
7. Jane Eyre
8. Shame
9. Hesher
10. Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives
11. Winnie the Pooh/Drive (tied)
12. Hugo
my top ten as of right now (have yet to see dragon tattoo and the descendants):
1. Drive / The Artist
2. The Skin I Live In
3. Attack the Block
4. Rango
5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
6. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
7. Hugo
8. Red State
9. Take Shelter
10. The Tree of Life
Love Hugo to death. There’s still ‘hope’ it’ll be Oscar BP, and that ‘hope’ is called the P.G.A.! (and maybe the DGA too)
9 very likely Oscar noms
Picture
Director
Writing
Editing
Cinematography
Art Direction
Costume Design
Score
Visual Effects
2 extra nominations that may hint it’ll be the big winner
Sound
Makeup
why give top ten without seeing a separation?????
wasn’t elizabeth olsen amongst the best too???????
Holy shit. To people like Knee Play or alberto, who post things like this:
“I think you are upset because a number of readers are making (legitimate and correct) criticism to your choices.
As of late, I’ve noticed a tendency on your part to send everyone to piss off as soon as they (respectfully, otherwise I’d be with you) disagree with your opinion, your writing or your picks and, honestly, it’s quite unpleasant.”
You guys really need to take a step back and think about how elitist you sound. Legitimate and correct criticism? I don’t care how you rationalize it, statements like that boil down to “my Top 10 list is better than yours” and Sasha has EVERY right to get pissed off at a comment like that.
There seems to be some idea that because someone runs a website devoted to the Oscars and the films competing for them, they must thus go out of their way to put foreign-language films and obscurities into their personal lists. And that’s complete rubbish.
Those are the movies Sasha loved this year. You loved other films. Are there some films that Sasha hasn’t seen yet? Sure. The same can be said for each and every one of us. And Ebert. And David Denby. Hell, even Armond White hasn’t managed to trash every movie made in 2011 yet.
But that’s the reality for pretty much everyone, so slagging someone for having an incomplete Top 10 is almost as bad as saying the movies they did list aren’t worthy.
OCO 300s list is very cute. I like your list the best I think.
There are no legitimate or correct criticisms of someone’s opinion. That’s 1984 you’re thinking of…
It’s nice to see Melissa McCarthy on your list. You should write an article about her to boost her Oscar chances. So many haters out there for no reason. She was brilliant in Bridesmaids. In my mind she is 5/maybe6 in line for Best Supporting Actress.
I love this picture of her. ‘The Wild Card’
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=226252497407368&set=a.212100685489216.61081.212100452155906&type=3&theater
@lola – I saw Bridesmaids, thought it was ok, nothing special. Didn’t think there were any standouts, performance wise. I don’t hate it, or Melissa’s performance. Just didn’t do it for me other than having an okay time at the cinema. The puppy presents were prob. the standout.
Anyhoo, a lot of people like the film and her perf. in particular so I’m definitely in the minority.
Timmer, go back to 2005 and read the reactions to Crash’s victory over Brokeback and see what is arrogance and non acceptance of other’s opinions.
More than 70% films are made every year are in a non-english language and I criticized just for one of them not being in the top 10. For me it could be any film even films i didn’t like. I’m just criticizing ethnocentrism. I was even insulted here when I never insulted anyone. I will not answer in the same way just because my education doesn’t allow that. When a person doesn’t have a better argument and feels the other in some way is right, uses the insult and the personal attack in a way the reduce the value of other person’s opinion.
Vitor, well let’s get right to your original post, then.
You said:
“Not one single non-english language film in the top 10 and only one in the top 20. Mysteries Of Lisbon, Le Havre, The Gamin Au Velo, A Separation, Certified Copy and many others were not even considered. Typical from someone who isn’t able to get out of the Hollywood shell. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes above of the Tree Of Life is outrageous.”
First off, saying “typical from someone who isn’t able to get out of the Hollywood shell.” is an insult. You’ve basically deliberately chosen words meant to invalidate anything Sasha says by defining her as a mindless, Hollywood acolyte. That’s insulting, and I think you know it.
As to Tree of Life, well I happen to agree with your statement that putting Planet of the Apes above it is outrageous, but it’s irrelevant. That’s our opinion and Sasha’s opinion, period. Just because we think it doesn’t make it immutable fact. I know a lot of people, who see a lot of films every year, who think Malick is a pretentious hack, and quite a few of them really didn’t like Tree of Life at all. It doesn’t make them wrong, they just see the film differently than we do.
And finally, yes, it would be nice to see some foreign-language films in Sasha’s Top 10. But how do you or I know which films Sasha has seen? Why make the ridiculous assumption that Sasha somehow chose to omit foreign-language films? What if it just happens that Sasha happened to like 10 American films the best this year?
Well, we’ve known for a long time that Sasha leans towards her homeland’s products. Nothing wrong with that, a little patriotism is healthy (Americans always get a lot of shit for this, even I’m often guilty of it).
But she has seen foreign films this year. At Cannes she gave quite a praise for Le Havre, for example.
But one thing I want to address:
“The directors who rewrote the rules”. Why is David Fincher on this list and not on “The directors who played by the rules but did so brilliantly”? Dragon Tattoo was 100% Fincher’s comfort zone. It’s no surprise why he was offered to film it in the first place. I understand that Sasha loves anything by Fincher, but this is a bit of a stretch, IMO. Love the film, though.
Sasha, no Drive? I seem to remember you reviewing it well. I have to say that I fear its genius will be the most overlooked part of Awards Season.
Great to see Attack the Block on your list. This film had more sheer filmmaking energy and invention than almost any other movie this year. What is ostensibly just a story about a bunch of teenagers trying to battle an alien invasion was so full of verbal and visual wit, and the way every scene was filmed and edited was so fresh and interesting, it just put a smile on my face from beginning to end. Plus now I can use the expression “Allow it!” whenever I want, which is super cool!
Ultimately, for me, the best films are the ones that use the medium of film in startling and inventive ways, which is why I also loved The Tree of Life — for all of its failures and pretentions, Malick created a unique cinematic language for showing us the particular way that boys interact and see the world and the particular way that families interact. I can forgive it for the stupid stuff, because these accomplishments were so extraordinary and so far outside the familiar mainstream of safe, conventional Hollywood filmmaking.
Drive, Shame and Meek’s Cutoff were three other films that clearly presented the world from the director’s unique, personal, cinematic perspective.
A film like The Descendants was sweet and touching and undeniably entertaining, but ultimately to meit was second rate because it was just a “TV movie” — there was nothing special about it as a film as a cinematic experience or as a presentation of the fimmaker’s personal and individual perspective on the story it was telling.
Ok, people, I put Attack the Block on my Netflix queue at #6. We’ll see.
Cinema gold: Midnight in Paris, The Artist, Drive
Honorable mention: My Week with Marilyn, The Help, Source Code
Small treasures: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Beginners, Win Win, 50/50, Shame, The Trip, Take Shelter
Admirable, but hard to love: Tree of Life, Melancholia, Hugo, Rango, Arthur Christmas, Young Adult
Guilty pleasures: Horrible Bosses, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, Paranormal Activity 3, Thor
I expected more than I got from: Moneyball, The Descendants, Super 8, Contagion, The Ides of March, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, A Dangerous Method, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hangover 2, J Edgar, Captain America, Like Crazy, Harry
Potter 7.2, The Skin I Live In
I want a refund for: Puss in Boots, Happy Feet 2, Pirates 4
Yet to see: War Horse, Extremely Loud…, The Iron Lady, Albert Nobbs, Coriolanus, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Carnage, Tintin, A Separation
Ok, people, I put Attack the Block on my Netflix queue at #6. We’ll see.
It’s a B movie the same way Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a B movie – it transcends the genre with great acting, good story, etc.
Sasha, no Drive? I seem to remember you reviewing it well. I have to say that I fear its genius will be the most overlooked part of Awards Season.
The two I forgot to add were Drive and Rampart. I put Rampart back in and last night in the middle of the night I remembered Drive. Argh. Too late to add it now I guess. It was in my top ten when I first saw it but I’ve seen more movies since….
no DiCaprio Mention in the Actors List?
I can’t believe I forgot DiCaprio. Argh!
Hugo is my #1 this year too… although there are so many movies you’ve seen this year that I haven’t yet, so that could change. But we’re definitely on the same page with Hugo much like last year with TSN!
Sasha, thoughts on Beginners and Plummer’s performance?
The movie bothered me for the romance — I wanted it all to be about Plummer and his son. Thing is, sometimes you never really know what you have — and Christopher Plummer (who is going to make my countdown for best performances) is one of those. Every time they cut back to the romance I lost interest. But the stuff with Plummer was fucking great.
I just hated Beginners — so self-consciously cutesy and quirky. Plummer was good, but whenever he was off screen I wanted to throttle Ewan McGregor and Melanie Laurent.
As far as I am concerned, any movie with a dog whose thoughts are conveyed in subtitles is not my kind of thing.
in a just world, Rooney Mara would win the Oscar for best actress.
No other actress put as much work, went to darker places than she did.
What a performance she pulled off, utterly intoxicating.
Excellent list, Sasha–and not just because I agree with a lot of your choices–and good for you for not allowing yourself to be bullied or act like the other lemmings. Top 10 lists should be personal not a guessing game about what will be nominated for Oscars. Took me a bit to realize that. I still need to see GWTDT and EL&IC so I will refrain until after Tuesday night but right now I cannot imagine either of those films toppling SHAME from my #1 spot…but then again, I am a huge Fincher fan so you never know. I am also reserving judgment about EL&IC. I still hold out hope that it will be amazing and best THE ARTIST–a very good film but no masterpiece.
Have you seen MARGARET? I wanted to LOVE it…I really liked it and respected its ambition. I have a feeling there’s a brilliant film in the 3-hour cut.
Sasha, re: knee play’s list and others. I see what you mean by “the internet’s list” but what if that’s just someone’s taste? My favorites are Melancholia, Uncle Boonmee, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Drive and Certified Copy — these are genuinely my favorites, but by your definition does that mean I have been unwittingly duped by the internet?
“My favorites are Melancholia, Uncle Boonmee, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Drive and Certified Copy”.
These are the so-called internet favourites?
OK, I really disliked Melancholia (2/5), Uncle Boonmee is a 2010 release (4/5), Kevin is a masterpiece (5/5), and so is Drive (5/5). Certified Copy – I don’t know – I had the blu-ray and threw it away. Will check that out later.
top 15:
1. Weekend
2. The Descendants
3. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
4. Hugo
5. Super 8
6. Attack the Block
7. The Help
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2
9. Shame
10. Bridesmaids
11. Tyrannosaur
12. We Need to Talk About Kevin
13. Shame
14. War Horse
15. Young Adult
“You’ve basically deliberately chosen words meant to invalidate anything Sasha says by defining her as a mindless, Hollywood acolyte. That’s insulting, and I think you know it.”
Timmer, just don’t try to justify the unjustified. In any world the term of “Hollywood shell” is not an insult. You are trying to put words in my mouth that belongs to you. You’re, despairingly, inventing synonymous for what I said to justify Sasha’s rude insult. “Hollywood shell” as I said above means ethnocentrism, not mindless. When you call AMPAS as an conservative organization as many called, its members should feel insulted just because that means mindless or conservative values acolyte. In that case Paul Haggis and AMPAS should prosecute Sasha and her friends for the insults after oscar night that year. The fact Sasha or any person didn’t choose to like foreign films and made that list in a natural way doesn’t justify ethnocentrism because ethnocentrism doesn’t mean xenophobia, it means culturas disregard.
Isn’t the idea of only marching to your own drum sort of out the window, though, when you’re citing a “Best film I haven’t seen yet.” I can understand “Best-reviewed film I haven’t seen yet,” as a codicil for people who wonder why it’s not on your list, and I know we sometimes just have gut feelings that we’ll like something. But “Best film I haven’t seen yet”: isn’t that the definition of taking other people’s hype for granted? And not just about that movie but about all the other movies you haven’t seen, which are presumed to be not as good as A Separation?
Oops, I left off “Weekend,” which was another “I expected more than I got from” film.
Sorry I realize “Shame” is on my list twice (twice as good…?). That’s a mistake.
#13 is Moneyball
My turn!
1. The Tree of Life
2. Drive
3. Take Shelter
4. Melancholia
5. Hugo
6. Midnight in Paris
7. Super 8
8. Hanna
9. A Dangerous Method
10. Meek’s Cutoff
That’s it for now, at least.
Major props for listing Attack the Block, but I’m baffled by the love for The Descendants, still. If anyone other than Clooney had starred in it, it would have a RT rating in the 70′s, I think.
Ugh, I can’t think of making a top ten list yet. Too much not yet seen. Critics are able to see all those movies. People in New York and LA also have a lot of ability to see films, but in ANYWHERE ELSE, even near a pretty large city that is unlucky enough not to be LA/NY, you have to wait until February or March, or wait for the DVD. FUCK THIS ASININE SYSTEM.
Here’s my list (pre dragon tat, poetry, and a seperation)
1. Melancholia
2. The Tree Of Life / The Artist
3. tyrannasaur
4. Young Adult
5. Michael
6. Drive
7. Weekend
8. Shame
9. Another Happy Day
10. Snowtown
11. Insidious
12. We Need To Talk About Kevin
13. Hugo
14. Bridesmaids
15. Red State
16. Albert Nobbs
17. Martha Marcy May Marlene
18. Midnight In Paris
19. Paranormal Activity 2
20. The Skin I Live In
Interesting list and tidbits, Sasha. As we’ve done before (though it’s been rare), however, we disagree on some of your commentary:
1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – I initially resisted, but I really warmed up to Reznor & Ross’s score for The Social Network. No dice the second time around. While there are certain beats I liked, overall, I wasn’t as impressed with their score for TGWTDT.
2. HUGO – LOL. Um, yeah, I’m definitely the “anyone” who found the first half slow. I was so bored at first I flirted with the idea of walking out. I was won over by the second half, though, even if it did turn into an outright film preservation PSA (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing).
3. THE TREE OF LIFE – While I could (sort of) admire what it was going for, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was checking my watch often. This played more like a 138min trailer for a film than a film itself.
4. HARRY POTTER – Lastly, while I enjoyed the HP movies in general (the 3rd still stands out as both the most enjoyable and the best, IMO), I can’t say that it bugs me that it won’t qualify for big end of the year awards. Sure, it’d be nice for it to win something to show for the eight films (maybe Visual Effects?), but I don’t think its success and/or ability to connect with so many means it DESERVES a reward, almost by default. I also don’t agree that if we had a guaranteed ten nominees, it’d be in the mix. 2011 had some fierce competitors all around, and, at the end of the day, there were just better titles out there.
My list thus far;
(I haven’t seen some great movies like Shame, Loud&Close, Take Shelter (now watching), Hugo, & Young Adult)
1. Drive
2. The Girl with The Dragoon Tattoo
3. Moneyball
4. A Separation
5. Like Crazy
6. 50/50
7. The Tree of Life
8. The Descendants
9. The Artist
10. The Ides of March
11. Carnage
12. We Need to Talk About Kevin
13. The Debt
14. Hanna
15. Martha Marcy May Marlene
16. Contagion
17. The Help
18. Rise of The Planet of The Apes
19. One Day
20. X-Men First Class/The Adventure of Tintin/Source Code (tie)