Your Top 10 of 2011

[Sxottlan]

I finally wrapped up pretty much all the movies that I wanted to see from 2011. About the only one left was Coriolanus and I just suddenly lost interest in trying to see it. Into the Abyss hasn't come to disc yet. Same for Certified Copy.

Overall, not a great year in my opinion. I think this is the fewest 4-stars I've given out for one year since maybe 2004.

1. Drive: ****
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: ****
3. The Tree of Life: ****
4. Nostalgia for the Light: ****
5. Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy: ***1/2
6. Midnight in Paris: ***1/2
7. Thor: ***1/2
8. Captain America: The First Avenger: ***1/2
9. The Artist: ***1/2
10. Mysteries of Lisbon: ***1/2

Runners-Up:
Immortals
Hugo
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Favorite scenes:
1. Dust storm in M:I-GP.
2. Thor can't retrieve Mjolnir.
3. The Star-Spangled Man. Astonishing. I don't like musical numbers and I was leery of Captain America and it ended up being the best scene in the movie.
4. Melancholia prologue.
5. Sherlock and Moriarty at the falls in Game of Shadows.
6. Elizabeth's funeral procession down an icy Thames River in Anonymous.
7. The final shot of Another Earth.

Most Surprising Film: Moneyball
Worst Film: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Most Disappointing Film (tie): The Green Hornet, Cowboys & Aliens

[baby doll]

Better late than never? Finally posted my top ten overlooked films.Copie conforme, Melancholia, and Poetry are all solid films, but I wouldn't consider any of them--or Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Skin I Live In, Tyrannosaur, or Weekend for that matter--to be "overlooked." The first three all won prizes at Cannes, and Almodóvar's film was in the main competition. Martha Marcy May Marlene and Tyrannosaur both got a lot of press at Sundance, and even The Last Circus won a prize at Venice. Also, Weekend got across-the-board rave notices from most American reviewers, and Pina was easily Wim Wenders' biggest hit since Buena Vista Social Club. As you say, none of these films opened on more than 200 screens in the United States, but the audience for these sorts of films isn't at the multiplex or even at the art house, but on video and over the internet.