Catching Up With 2011

A lot of quality films were released in 2011, and unfortunately, since I have certain obligations such as my career (kind of), hanging out with my dog, exercising (sometimes), doing the dishes, sleeping, eating, and commuting for over 2 hours every day, I wasn’t able to catch them all (oh, yeah, I do have a wife as well...).

But a trip to New York to see some old pals recently gave me a few hours to kill on a couple of rather cramped airplanes (side note: I’m kind of a HUGE jerk on airplanes and have no shame in busting out my laptop and bringing fast food on the plane and basically just taking up every inch of space afforded to me...I paid for this stupid flight and I’m going to do everything in my power to enjoy it, okay?). 

So anyway, I was able to catch up on three 2011 films that slipped between the cracks for me this past year: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Dangerous Method, and We Bought A Zoo, and I felt compelled to type up a few thoughts on them.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a Cold-War era espionage film starring the great Gary Oldman, who is, as usual, amazing in this film.  He portrays George Smiley, a recently ousted British Intelligence Agent who is brought back in by the government within the course of the film to trace down a mole within his former unit.  There’s something about the aesthetic of modern spy movies that I really enjoy: Munich and The Good Shepherd, for example, were two films that everyone has forgotten about already but I still think of more often than most people. Tinker Tailor now falls under this category for me. 

Gary Oldman is doing probably the best work of any of his contemporaries right now, and he proves it in spades with this film. Smiley is a solid rock of an agent, a cold, calculating man of the British old guard who has perhaps the best poker face you’ve ever seen.  Somehow this performance, with such little speaking and minimal emotion, is still one of the best performances I can recall of 2011. The supporting cast is also great, and there are so many excellent actors in this film that I won’t even bother naming all of them.  They all do their part. 

Through the first third of the film or so, I was ready to name it my favorite film of2011 and give it every accolade possible. About at that point, however, the story begins to drown under the weight of all the detail it insisted on providing, and begins to drag through most of the rest of the film because of this.  It shifts from an excellent character study into a whodunit, to its own detriment, since the character study aspect of the film is the most engaging.  Still, it’s one of the best I’ve seen in its genre: it piqued my curiosity from the beginning, and made me think of every scene as an important puzzle piece in solving the mystery.  An easy 8/10 from me for the flawless acting ensemble, the sleek ‘60’s aesthetic, and a fantastic music score.  Oh, and I don’t know what the deal is with everyone being hella-confused at what happened in the film, but I feel that I understood it perfectly fine, so who knows.

A Dangerous Method

Along with TTSS above, A Dangerous Method was on my most-anticipated list for 2011, but for whatever reason, I never got around to seeing it.  I’ve never been the world’s hugest fan of the director, David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, The Fly, etc.), but I felt that the material in this script—a study of the birth of psychoanalysis and the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung—was a perfect fit for the director, who has always veered toward dark and psychological themes in his films. 

The major focus of the film is Jung, played stoically by Michael Fassbender, and his doctor-patient-rule-violating relationship with Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a young woman with quite the case of psychosis.  The more interesting parts of the film, however, come with the scenes involving Freud (Viggo Mortenson) and Jung’s entertaining and thought-provoking scenes in which they ponder one of life’s great mysteries: the human mind. Viggo’s performance reminded me of just how awesome he is in the right material, as he stole every scene he was in. In fact, I believe he’s a much better character actor than he is a leading man.  But the common tie of these scenes is Jung’s gradual manipulation of himself, and how he allowed this to effect his family, his practice, and his reputation. 

Unfortunately, this point was not necessarily hammered home with as much impact as it should have had.  For a movie that confronts the often-dark side of the human condition, the movie was decidedly bland and not dark.  It would not bother me except that the material promised something that the story didn’t ultimately deliver, at least for me.  A 6/10 for the art direction, costumes, a promising narrative, and Viggo’s performance. 

We Bought a Zoo

The last film on my list, We Bought a Zoo, is a Hollywood fastball down the middle, and I enjoyed it, cheesey as it may be.  Matt Damon stars here as a widower with two children who buy a home that happens to have a zoo on its land; fun and drama ensues.  It kind of reminded me of an old-school studio film: handsome leading man who’s a really good guy, obvious storyline about overcoming the odds to reach the zoo’s potential for the good of his family, wacky zoo employees as the supporting cast, and obviously, a love interest (although the film is based on a true story, I doubt that in real life, the zookeeper was one of the five hottest females on the face of the planet). 

Despite the obviousness of it all, it’s still a lot of fun.  There are several strong moments in the script, particularly a couple of exchanges between Damon and the kid who plays his son, as well as a very touching plot point concerning an aging Bengal tiger. 

Overall, it’s the type of movie you rent on a lazy Saturday night and can just enjoy with the family without thinking about too much of anything.  7/10. 

Top 5 on Netflix: Top 5 Films of the 1970's

If you missed the opening post for my new Netflix Series, check below.

I have this ongoing inner debate with myself concerning which was the best decade for film (awesome, I know) and it’s always between the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.  The ‘70s are consistently regarded as a sort of turning point in American cinema, a time when auteurs who grew up watching European cinema from the ‘50s and ‘60s were able to thrive, taking the medium to a place beyond what the traditional studio system had been offering up to that point.  The ‘70’s, of course, brought us directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and saw the coming out parties of others such Woody Allen and Robert Altman.  So, the point here is that I won't be doing a Top-5 for every decade of cinema, only this one and maybe one other, because it's so chalk full of great classics that are available right now.  

At various points in time, several of my all-time favorites from this period have been available to watch instantly on Netflix: Network, Annie Hall, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, etc.  All of these would probably make this list were they still available.  So the key here is that you need to take advantage of watching the films on this list while you can.

One other quick note before my list: two films that aren’t from the ‘70’s, but resemble the style and themes of that era in just about every way (and it could even be argued that they paved the way for the ‘70’s) are Midnight Cowboy (1969) and The Graduate (1967).  If for some insane reason you haven’t seen these, then please add them to your queue, along with the others listed below.

Top 5 of the 1970’s:

1.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

There’s a reason that Jack Nicholson is simply referred to as “Jack” in Hollywood, and if you’ve ever wondered why, then look no further than this film.  His performance as R.P. McMurphy, a recent admittee to a mental institution, certainly goes down as one of the best all-time leading performances in my book.  As McMurphy begins to win over the other patients in the institution and undermines the terribly evil Nurse Ratched, an uplifting Christ-figure story plays out with such humor and effortless charm that it will make you grin from ear to ear at points and tear up in others. 

2.  A Clockwork Orange (1971)

My favorite Stanley Kubrick film, Orange is an endlessly stylish tale of adolescence in futuristic Britain.  Malcolm McDowell stars as Alex DeLarge, one of the creepiest lead characters in any film ever, who leads a band of “droogs” in a series of violent crimes before being subjected to a government brainwashing program.  Kubrick’s use of explosive colors and his patented long takes are just a couple of the things that make his direction a perfect complement to the source material.   

3.  Paper Moon (1973)

Father-daughter combo Ryan and Tatum O’Neal star as a couple of depression-era cons in this hilarious comedy by Peter Bogdanovich.  The dialogue is sharp and quick, and the O’Neal team (Tatum in particular as a 10-year-old) develops amazing chemistry throughout the movie as they deliver this dialogue.  The always amazing Madeleine Kahn also stars as a call girl.  Don’t miss this one. 

4.  Chinatown (1974)

It’s Jack again.  In this Hollywood crime drama by Roman Polanski, Jack stars as Jake Gittes, a private investigator who gets caught up in a case that’s simply way over his head.  As the ball of yarn unravels on the case, the eerie atmosphere is amplified and strange details emerge (to say the least).  Faye Dunaway (who’s always great) costars here in a particularly meaty role.

5.  Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.  That’s really all it should take to get you to watch this if you haven’t already.  A very realistic story about the parents of a young child splitting up, something that sadly, millions of American families must go through every year.  There’s a scene where Dustin Hoffman makes French toast with his son, and it’s one of the more touching moments I can recall in any family drama.  

Top 5 on Netflix Series

I frequently get texts or tweets from friends asking me to recommend something on Netflix streaming (which, by the way, pretty much makes my day when that occurs).  So I’m starting a new series for the blog in which I will pick a specific subcategory of films or TV shows on Netflix streaming and lay out my Top-5 in each of those categories. 

More often than not, when the wifey and I set out to find something to watch on Netflix, it ends up with me searching for something for over 10 minutes because I see the same stupid recommendations over and over, and then we settle on something neither of us really want to watch that much and then fall asleep or just completely tune it out while we play Angry Birds or Tetris.  Also, don’t you just freaking hate it when you know there’s something you spotted while browsing that you wanted to see, only you forget to put it on your queue, and then later you can’t remember what it was that you wanted to see? 

So that’s the point of this series: next time you can’t decide on something, and all of the recommendations are totally uninteresting, you can come here to the blog and look and say, “Oh YEAH!! I’ve been wanting to see Chinatown! How could I forget?!”  And then you can call me and thank me after watching it, and then we’ll go ride a tandem bicycle together and drink iced tea and discuss the merits of Jack Nicholson’s performance (or, you know, something like that, it’s not like I’ve thought it all out...)

Top 5 On Netflix: Top 5 TV Dramas

Few mornings go by where I don't wake up wishing I turned into
Don Draper overnight.

I never really talk about TV on this blog, although I have wanted to on several occasions, so for my first post on this series I want to recommend a few of my favorites. As one of my idols, Chuck Klosterman, put it recently, slow-burning TV dramas have “replaced reading.”  As sad as that is, I agree.  For example, it takes a similar frame of mind to be able to sit down and watch an episode of Mad Men as it does to read a chapter of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. 

I know the ink isn’t exactly still drying on the news that the shows on this list are awesome.  But I’m always surprised at the people who would be into these shows (and equally, enjoy wasting their time on TV as much as I do) who haven’t seen one or more of the shows on this list.  Having instant access to every episode of all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, for instance, is some kind of incomprehensible gift from Heaven; it’s like those times when you go shopping at a nice clothing store and find some ridiculous deal on something that would normally be twice that price, and you assume somebody must have mismarked the price tag, and then even after you pay that price you walk out feeling like you stole something. 

For most of this series I will write a little bit about each of my choices, but for this first one since I’ve already babbled on long enough, I will let my choices speak for themselves.  Just know that on any given day of the week it's a debate for me between my number one and two choices.  

Note: because HBO continues to be douchebags refuses to put any of their shows on streaming (and reportedly will stop offering their shows even on DVD soon), great shows like The Wire and The Sopranos couldn’t be a part of this list. 

Top-5 Television Dramas

1.  Mad Men

2.  Breaking Bad

3.  Friday Night Lights

4.  Lost

5.  Dexter

Common Sense Oscar Predictions 2012

Last year, I went to an Oscar watch-party in which the gracious hostess provided a couple of prizes for those who filled out a chart and predicted the highest number of actual winners.  Obviously, I thought that I had it in the bag.  Well, a few categories in and I was already down by a couple of wins.  With each passing category, I got more and more nervous, seeing my status as movie geek supreme firmly on the line.  I had to gulp a few extra sips of Cabernet to face the music of each winner being announced. 

I lost.  By one.

Now, two lessons here: One, Oscar prognosticating is a monumental waste of time.  Two, because the voting body is so large, you have to use a little common sense in these matters.  For instance, one of the categories I lost in last year was best cinematography.  I had predicted True Grit would win, based on the cinematographer Roger Deakins never having won the award, despite an impressive body of work.  The Oscar instead went to Wally Pfister for his work in Inception.  The common sense side of me would have not known about Deakins’ lack of a win, and focused solely on Inception’s wave of success and just how cool the movie looked. 

So, I’m taking a common sense approach this year.  Yes, a little background helps, but not overthinking it might prove to be a better strategy than in years past.  Feel free to come back and check to see how I’m doing come Oscar night.  As for me, hopefully I won’t have to pour those two extra glasses to get me through the night this time.        

Best Picture:  The Artist

% Sure: 110

Could Win: Hugo

Should Win: Hugo

Should Have Been There: Of films that had even a fighting chance, I’d say A Separation.  Of my own personal faves, I’d say Young Adult.

Comments: The Artist will win.  I liked it.  Hollywood liked it.  Your mom and your mom’s best friend liked it.  Your dog liked it.  It’s the least offensive film.  Everyone wins.  The end. 

Best Director:  Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

% Sure: 95

Could Win: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Should Win: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Should Have Been There: Lynne Ramsey, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Comments: No real potential threat to the frontrunner (Hazanavicius) this year, unlike last year when there was a late push for David Fincher, even though we all knew his film wouldn’t win the big prize.  I could see Scorsese pulling it off, and I wouldn’t even be totally, compleeeeeeetely shocked if somehow Terrence Malick won.  But he won’t.  Smart money’s on the frontrunner here. 

Best Actor in a Leading Role:  Jean Dujardin, The Artist

% Sure: 87.5

Could Win: George Clooney

Should Win:  Brad Pitt

Should Have Been There: Michael. Freaking. Shannon.

Comments: Crazy that an unknown French actor is a frontrunner against the likes of Clooney and Pitt, who both turned in what conventional wisdom has deemed “career performances” (I only agree in the case of the latter), and at this point are pretty much scepter-wielding and crown-wearing members of Hollywood Royalty.  Dujardin will win, which I’m fine with, but if there are going to be any eye-popping shockers in the major categories this year, I do predict that it will be in this one, whether its Pitt or Clooney. 

Best Actress in a Leading Role:  Viola Davis, The Help

% Sure: 75

Could Win: Meryl Streep

Should Win: Viola Davis, although I haven’t seen Michelle Williams or Glenn Close. 

Should Have Been There: Charlize Theron

Comments: Davis has the important SAG win, and a bunch of others.  Meryl mainly has the BAFTA and the Golden Globe.  Are these irrelevant wins?  No, but both of those awards bodies are made up of non-Americans, who wouldn’t have as much of a connection with the civil rights movement, and in the case of the BAFTA’s, it’s obvious why they would gravitate toward the portrayal of a former Prime Minister.  I think this is a race, but it’s not a close race. 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:  Christopher Plummer, Beginners

% Sure: 100

Could Win: Max Von Sydow

Should Win: Christopher Plummer

Should Have Been There: Patton Oswalt

Comments: No one really gave Christopher Plummer a race this year.  It’s been his since day 1. 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:  Octavia Spencer, The Help

% Sure: 100

Could Win: Katie Holmes for Jack and Jill.  Because she has as much of a chance as any of the other four nominees.

Should Win: Any of the other nominees. 

Should Have Been There: Jennifer Ehle, Contagion

Comments: This will be one of the least-deserved acting wins of the last five years, behind ‘ole Sandy Bullock, of course. 

Best Adapted Screenplay:  The Descendants

% Sure: 50

Could Win: Hugo or Moneyball

Should Win: Moneyball

Should Have Been There: Jane Eyre

Comments:  I saved this one for last when writing this column.  Very difficult to figure out what’s going on here.  Payne films are known for their writing, and The Descendants is his most successful film to date.  Hugo, though, has 11 nominations, and could win based on general like for the film.  Then there’s Moneyball, which relies heavily on a strong script for its success.  Any of the three could win.  I think they award Payne and go with The Descendants.

Woody Allen's feeling the love this year
for Midnight in Paris

Best Original Screenplay:  Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen!)

% Sure: 70

Could Win: The Artist

Should Win: A Separation

Should Have Been There: Young Adult

Comments:  Look for The Artist to ride its wave of goodwill to an upset in this category.  I’m sticking with Allen’s pseudo-fantasy comedy as my prediction, though, as Paris is regarded as the best thing he’s done in awhile (only since Vicky Christina Barcelona, though, in my opinion), and I think people will want to reward the film legend in his twilight years. 

Best Art Direction:  Hugo

% Sure: 90

Could Win: The Artist

Should Win: Hugo

Should Have Been There: Contagion

Comments: This will be a well-deserved award for Hugo.  My thoughts on Hugo have been made known here, but among the many reasons that I fell in love with it was the production design, which I thought was impeccable and added so much to the experience of the movie. 

Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life

% Sure: 75

Could Win: The Artist

Should Win: It wouldn’t even be enough to give The Tree of Life two Oscars for its cinematography, so that. 

Should Have Been There: Anonymous

Comments: This is my line in the sand with the Academy.  This sounds like a childish thing to say, but there’s just no way a rational person can look at The Tree of Life and possibly want to award anything else, unless there’s some personal vendetta against the film.  If Tree of Life loses, then I just can’t even.

Best Film Editing: Hugo

% Sure: 89

Could Win: The Artist

Should Win: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Should Have Been There: Martha Marcy May Marlene (definitely the best film editing of 2011 for my money).

Comments:  This category is difficult to handicap.  I feel really good about Hugo, but I’m not sure if I can really articulate why.  The Artist, once again, could easily take this.  But here are the Best Film Editing winners wince 2000:  The Social Network, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, The Bourne Ultimatum, Crash, The Aviator, Return of the King, Chicago, Black Hawk Down, Traffic.  I don’t know why, but something doesn’t compute between these films and The Artist.  It doesn’t have the scope of any of these, save The Social Network, which was a masterclass in film editing.  I’m going with Hugo. 

Best Sound Mixing:  Hugo

% Sure: 68

Could Win: War Horse

Should Win: Moneyball

Should Have Been There: I’m just glad Moneyball made it in.  Well-deserved nomination.

Comments: The sound categories always give me issues.  Hugo doesn’t seem like the type of film to take both Sound Mixing and Editing, but I do think it wins this one, because for whatever reason Sound Mixing tends to go to the more “prestigious” films, whereas Sound Editing goes to more of the action-oriented films. 

One of the most heavily anticipated films of the
year, War Horse will end up with one award.

Best Sound Editing:  War Horse

% Sure: 63

Could Win: Hugo

Should Win: Drive

Should Have Been There: All good nominees.

Comments: See Above.

Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

% Sure: 50

Could Win: Hugo

Should Win: Hugo

Should Have Been There: The Tree of Life

Comments:  Here’s the nerdy statistic I have about this category: no Best Picture nominee has lost this award to a non-Best Picture nominee since the 1970’s, and before that it was the 1940’s.  That bodes well for Hugo.  But, in going along with my common sense approach, I’m predicting Apes here.  When you consider the work involved in creating a motion-capture ape that is essentially the main character in the film, that is something that really sticks out in voters’ minds, I think, even more than the flawless visual effects in Hugo.

Best Costume Design:  W.E.

% Sure: 40

Could Win: Hugo?

Should Win: Jane Eyre

Should Have Been There:  I always wish they would nominate contemporary movies here, so I’ll go with Martha Marcy May Marlene. 

Comments: Hardest category by far this year.  I have no idea, but here’s what I do know: I’m going with the common sense approach.  W.E. is a terrible movie which keeps winning a bunch of costume awards.  I’m not overthinking this.  I’m not overthinking this.  W.E. wins. 

Best Makeup:  The Meryl Streep Hamming It Up Movie

% Sure: 90

Could Win: Whatever.

Should Win: Whatever.

Should Have Been There: Contagion

Comments: Whatever.

Best Original Score:  The Artist

% Sure: 80

Could Win: Hugo

Should Win: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Should Have Been There: Contagion

Comments: I should feel more confident in this category than I am.  Hugo’s score is very good and would not be surprised if it pulled an upset.  The wildcard contender is Trent Reznor’s second go-around with David Fincher in this year’s Dragon Tattoo.  Since Reznor won last year, though, I feel like it might be too soon for voters to throw another bone his way. 

Best Original Song:  Man or Muppet, The Muppets

% Sure: 85

Could Win: Um, the only other nominee, Rio. 

Should Win: “As I reflect on my reflection...”

Should Have Been There: Every other song from The Muppets

Comments: This is the weirdest category this year.  No explanation as to why there are only two nominees here.  The Muppets could have easily filled the category with two or three other songs. Anyway, looking at it from a total achievement standpoint, I think most voters will go with The Muppets. 

Best Animated Feature Film:  Rango

% Sure: 99

Could Win: Chico & Rita

Should Win: The Lion King 3D.  Okay, it’s not eligible, but it’s the only animated film I saw this year.

Comments: Pixar finally will not win a statue.  I haven’t seen any of these.  Next.

Best Documentary Feature Film:

% Sure: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Could Win: Pina

Should Win: Not Pina (terrible), other than that I don’t care. 

Should Have Been There: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Comments:  Only one I’ve seen here is Pina, which is another discussion for another time (it was the worst 2011 film I saw, bar none).  The general consensus is that Paradise Lost is the one to beat here, so I suppose I will go along with that and pass it off as my own opinion, without giving any insight whatsoever. 

Best Foreign Language Film:  A Separation

% Sure: 90

Could Win: Monsieur Lazhar

Should Win/Only Film I’ve Seen in the Category: A Separation

Comments: This category gets weird sometimes and clearly superior films often lose out to inferior films (take two years ago when Palme D’Or winner The White Ribbon and critical powerhouse A Prophet lost out to vanilla crime saga The Secret in their Eyes).  A Separation should easily take this, and I predict it will since it was nominated for its screenplay (that NEVER happens with foreign films), but I wouldn’t put it past the Academy to do something weird here. 

I’m even including my predictions for the short categories this year.  Go me. 

Best Short Film, Live Action:  The Shore

Best Short Film, Animated:  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Best Documentary, Short Subjects:  Saving Face

Top 11 of 2011: Number 1

Scroll down to see my numbers 11-2 of 2011.  I broke this up into two posts because I ended up writing a lot of about my favorite film of the year.  Before that, here’s a few films, in no particular order, that almost made the cut:

Drive

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Midnight in Paris

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Shame

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Muppets

Melancholia

Cedar Rapids

#1: Hugo (Martin Scorsese)

As most of you know, I’m the type of nerd that likes to see as many films nominated for Oscars as I can, and there hasn’t been a year in the past five that I failed to see all Best Picture nominees ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony.  Fulfilling this duty, I went to see Hugo last week not only because of that, but also because I decided I needed to see it in 3D before it left theaters.  It ended up being the best movie decision that I’ve made this year. 

Hugo tells the story of an orphaned twelve-year-old boy in 1930’s Paris, who works the clock at a train station.  He has an affinity for fixing and working on machinery.  His principal focus is repairing a mechanical man left to him by his father, and Hugo is certain that the working machine will reveal a message of sorts. 

In his quest, he comes across Georges, a grump of an old man who runs a toyshop in the train station, and his Goddaughter, Isabelle.  Together, Hugo and Isabelle begin to uncover the mystery of the message that the mechanical man leaves.  I won’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that what they end up finding is the lost work of a pioneer in the film industry. 

The film is largely a tribute to the cinema itself.  Several clips from classic silent film are shown upon Hugo and Isabelle’s discovery (and the presentation of it is some of the best animation in the film).  Even in Hugo’s script itself are vignettes of character interactions that would pass as little silent film shorts from that era. 

The story warmed my heart and Scorsese’s dreamlike presentation of 1930’s Paris took me to a different place, and in that way the director pays perfect homage to the power of cinema.  As you might guess, film has always been very important to me, even as a young child.  Since I was eleven years old, I have kept the ticket to every movie I’ve seen in theaters.  Since age eighteen or so, I have kept running lists of every single movie that I watch.  It’s like, if I lose the memory of the experience of these films (whether good or bad), then I lose a part of myself along with that. 

I can only imagine that Scorsese feels the same way multiplied by about a thousand, and this love pours out of every frame of the film. 

Coming this week: Oscar Predictions 2012.

Top 11 Films of 2011

As promised.  I cheated a little this year and thought I should do a Top 11 since it was for 2011, mainly because a much larger gap in quality came between #11 and #12 than #10 and #11, if that makes sense.  In this post, I will reveal numbers 11 through 2, and because I ended up writing a lot more for my number 1 film, that film getting its own post, coming tomorrow.  Hope you enjoy, and I hope you will try and see some of these films if you haven’t already.  Feel free to comment with your own thoughts and top films of the year.  

#11: Jane Eyre (Cary Fukanaga)

I don’t usually go all in for the British period pieces the way that others might, and in many cases I will admit that they tend to bore me and run together.  Maybe that’s why Jane Eyre surprised me so much this year.  The classic Bronte novel has been put to screen many times, but this was the first rendition that I had ever seen.  The sweeping cinematography, beautiful musical score consisting of harrowing strings, and production design all added up to create a perfect atmosphere for the story.  But the anchor is Mia Wasikowska’s incredibly underrated performance at the title character, and I'm very excited to see her career progress from this point forward.   

#10: A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)

This was one of the last films on my “to see” list, and I couldn’t be happier that I waited to see it before making my Top 10 list.  It tells the story of an Iranian couple going through a divorce.  Their daughter, and eleven year old, must make the decision of who she wants to live with.  After her father is accused of murder, the story turns into an ingenious whodunit, where small bits of the mystery unfold and lies are exposed.  This is all weaved flawlessly into the divorce narrative, and the result is an amazingly acted and directed window into Iranian culture, showing how their lives are not so much different than ours.

     #9: Beginners (Mike Mills)

Written about already on this blog, Beginners, to me, is like the perfect specimen of the “indie” film.  It features every indie trait: it’s about people all seeking to find out who they are, with really quirky things like subtitles for a dog’s thoughts, and the main characters are all involved with art in their profession.  Obviously these are all aspects that will attract me to any movie, but Beginners does it with such poise and vulnerability that it really invites you into the characters' situations and makes you feel for them.  

#8: Contagion (Steven Soderbergh)

Steven Soderbergh is one of my favorite current directors, and part of the reason for this is that he just does stuff.  He doesn’t seem to care about accolades, awards, etc., as much as just making movies that he wants to make.  Contagion is definitely a product of this mindset.  No, it wasn’t the most original story ever put on screen.  But the execution of it is why it is on this list.  From beginning to end, it has a captivating pace, is marvelously directed and edited, and features what I think is the best musical score of the year.  It really makes you feel like if something as terrible as an outbreak like this were to happen in real life, this is how it would happen. 

#7: Moneyball (Bennett Miller)

I tweeted after I watched it a second time that this is going to be the type of film that comes on TNT on Sunday afternoons all the time a la The Shawshank Redemption, and I’m going to have to sit down and watch it every time it’s on.  I don’t hesitate to call this Brad Pitt’s finest performance.  He has his “movie-star” moments, but overall I would call it a very controlled performance from the veteran actor.  Bennett Miller’s directing is also great (this is only his second film, and both were nominated for Best Picture).  He does so many little things that bring you into Billy Beane's world and let you experience the situations exactly like he does.  If only all sports movies could be so great and as cheese-free as this film. 

#6: 50/50 (Will Reiser)

This portrayal of a twenty-something’s struggle with cancer was all aces.  The thing that I enjoyed so much about 50/50 is how enthralled I was with the film all the way from beginning to end.  There were plenty of laughs all the way through, mixed in with well-executed dramatic moments.  In my book, Joseph Gordon-Levitt should have been Oscar-nominated for his work here, and the supporting cast members, from Seth Rogen to Angelica Huston, were all great as well.  This is one that I plan on watching many times in the future. 

#5: The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)

Don’t miss this year’s eventual Best Picture winner.  Just don’t.  Yes, it’s a silent black and white film.  But it could not be further from boring.  In fact, my wife used the adjective “magical,” and I tend to agree.  Never mind the fact that it’s well acted all around, and features maybe the best performance ever from a dog, the best thing about this film is that is tells a universal story about what it’s like to become marginalized, and how sometimes we need others to pick us up when we fall.  I hate to become redundant, but this bears repeating: Don’t. Miss. This. Film. 

#4: Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)

When I wrote about it back in October, I was fairly certain that Jeff Nichols’ amazing thriller Take Shelter would remain near the top of my list this year.  Michael Shannon’s brilliant performance as Curtis, a man experiencing haunting visions about the future is really the heartbeat of the film, but no less crucial is Jessica Chastain’s supporting turn as Curtis’s wife.  I film’s major theme of the human need to take care of and protect one’s family is a universal one, and it resonated deeply within me. 

#3: Young Adult (Jason Reitman)

This is Jason Reitman’s most cynical film so far, and it’s also my favorite of his.  While I’m speaking in superlatives, I’ll also mention that Charlize Theron gave my favorite female performance of the year as Mavis Gary, an alcoholic teen fiction author who goes to her hometown to break up the marriage of her high school sweetheart.   The film is a little depraved, and those looking for a traditional character arc will have to find it elsewhere.  But it is very funny, and Patton Oswalt (who also gives a great performance here) provides the necessary voice of reason and touch of humanity that the film needed to make it a great one.

#2: The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

This film is well-covered territory from me.  Since my initial review of it back in June, I have had two chances to rewatch it on the small screen, and the visual poetry that Malick created in this film has no less an impact in that format.  Malick uses the medium of film differently than just about any of his contemporaries.  He not only tells his story, but also elicits a feeling that is unique to each individual who watches it.  I certainly would not want every film I watched to be like this, but it is a welcome change of pace when it comes along. 

Check back tomorrow for my #1 film of 2011, plus a few that just missed the cut.