Top 10 Films of 2011

Top film lists are the hardest kind of lists to make. Any top film list I make is temporary and this one is no exception. There’s still a bunch of films from 2011 I haven’t been able to see that could probably make it on this list but I’ve already taken too long to write this and top film lists are already boring and old so who cares. These aren’t the 10 best films of 2011 but they’re my 10 favourite and they’re listed in alphabetical order because I’m a bitch:

50/50 (Jonathan Levine)
50/50 is the only film to make me laugh and cry last year, which is a very rare but special occurrence. The scene that brought on the tears – Joseph Gordon-Levitt telling his Alzheimer’s suffering father that he loves him – is a beautiful moment and a shining example of the realism that writer Will Reiser brought to the film. My grandma died from cancer earlier in the year and I didn’t think I would be able to watch anything involving cancer or grandmothers ever again but 50/50 (which thankfully has none of the latter in it) came along and managed to make me smile through the tears.

The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg)
When I was seven or eight, I dressed up as Tintin for some school dress-up thing because at that point Tintin was my favourite thing. Herge’s Adventures of Tintin were the first comics I ever read and I loved how simple but exciting they were. I feel like I’ve been waiting for a Tintin film my entire life and I’m glad that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are the two that decided to do it because this film was delightful. The screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish captures the wit of the comics and the voice actors fit their characters perfectly. The animation is beautiful and extraordinary, resulting in what is perhaps the best one-shot sequence ever made.

Contagion (Steven Soderbergh)
When I was seven or eight, I survived a worldwide epidemic – no, I’m just kidding – but after watching Contagion, I feel like I have. Steven Soderbergh’s film about a new and deadly virus that spreads fast and kills faster is terrifying because of how accurate and realistic it is. With a dynamic screenplay, strong direction, a great ensemble cast, killer editing and an exciting soundtrack, Contagion is a technically perfect film and the scariest thing I watched last year. You will never want to touch anything ever again.

Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
Usually I have a problem with style over substance films (Sucker Punch, for example) but Drive transcends that problem just by being so damn cool. All Ryan Gosling (a real human being and a real hero) does in this film is chew toothpicks, wear a scorpion jacket, drive cars and kill people but by the end of the film he has somehow become the coolest superhero of 2011. Story is secondary in Drive – what makes the film so good is everything else – the subtle performances, the beautiful digital cinematography of nighttime Los Angeles and, of course, the most addictive soundtrack ever. Drive doesn’t really bring anything new to the table but what it does bring it presents in a way I’ve never really seen before. Drive hooked me within the first five minutes, making it my favourite film of 2011.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the reason why I am only posting this list now. I knew I couldn’t put together my top 10 until I had seen it. I have many problems with the book (and the Millennium Trilogy overall) and most of these problems are also in the film. The plot is kind of stupid and the structure is bizarre but the characters are really, really great. Lisbeth Salander has become an iconic figure, and rightly so. Anyway, David Fincher’s adaptation manages to make up for most of these problems in other ways: the beautiful, perfect cinematography and the incredible soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross stand out in particular. While I think this is probably only Fincher’s fifth best film, at the end of the day it is still a Fincher film and they are always worth watching, no matter how you feel about the source material.

Kill List (Ben Wheatley)
Kill List is the Catfish of 2011. Everyone has been talking about how you have to watch this film knowing as little as possible and it will blow you away. I went into Kill List and the only thing I knew was that it was about a couple of hitmen and yes, it blew me away. I’m not going to talk too much about Kill List because I don’t want to ruin it but the sense of dread this film has is particularly amazing: something bad is going to happen and it is going to happen soon. This film is a pleasant and mysterious surprise and I look forward to seeing if it as effective on repeated viewings.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird)
The fourth film in the Mission: Impossible series is basically an excuse for Brad Bird to prove that he’s one of the best directors currently working. After making three great animated features (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Rataouille), Bird tries live-action for the first time and delivers tremendous results. Ghost Protocol features the best stunts in the series so far and has convinced me that Tom Cruise is actually insane for wanting to do this crazy shit. However, the best part of the film is that it is proof that IMAX, not 3D, should be the future of cinema and I hope The Dark Knight Rises and other films in 2012 continue to show why this is the case. Bring on 1906.

Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
Moneyball does the impossible and somehow makes both baseball and statistics exciting. 2011 was a good year for Brad Pitt with The Tree of Life and Moneyball featuring two of his best performances in years but the true star of this film is Jonah Hill. I always liked Hill (well, most of the time) but who knew he was actually a pretty great dramatic actor? His performance as the nervous assistant general manager is probably my favourite supporting actor performance of last year. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation actually saves the day in this film. He is my hero.

Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)
J.J. Abrams’ homage to the films of Steven Spielberg is the most problematic film on this list. The alien isn’t even necessary, it falls apart in its third act and someone needs to slap the shit out of Abrams for still using those fucking lens flares. But… I can’t help but love it. Super 8 is a love letter to E.T. and the Goonies and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the whole film is oozing with Abrams’ enthusiasm for those films. The first half of the film is perfect, from the clever way Abrams explains the mother’s death to the kids (who are all great) singing “My Sharona,” and I don’t think I had a more enjoyable time at the cinema in 2011. Super 8 is an incredibly flawed film… but a good one nonetheless.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson)
Cold, complex, controlled: these are all words I would use to describe Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (and they also all begin with the letter C). Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John le Carre’s film is difficult to get into but ultimately rewarding just because of how well made it is. I really want to read the book and then watch it again just to make sure I followed everything but the real reason this film is on my list is because of its amazing ensemble cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ciarin Hinds. All of these actors are in it and they are all brilliant. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is an excellent thriller… all you have to do is be patient and watch closely.

Honorary mentions: Attack the Block (Joe Cornish), Bridesmaids (Paul Feig), Fast Five (Justin Lin), The Ides of March (George Clooney), Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen), Rango (Gore Verbinski), Source Code (Duncan Jones), Thor (Kenneth Branagh), Warrior (Gavin O’Connor), We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay)