{"id":13884,"date":"2011-12-31T05:24:26","date_gmt":"2011-12-31T05:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=13884"},"modified":"2011-12-31T21:34:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-31T21:34:00","slug":"the-best-films-of-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/12\/31\/the-best-films-of-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Films of 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although it was a year with a record number of sequels, there was much to feast on if you really looked for something different.<\/p>\n

The year will be remembered for momentous events which overshadowed anything Hollywood could come up with: the Arab Spring<\/a>, the Japanese Earthquake<\/a>, Hackgate<\/a>, the death of Osama Bin Laden<\/a> and the continuing meltdown of the global economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But cinema itself underwent some seismic changes: in April the thorny issue of the theatrical window<\/a> raised its head, whilst James Cameron suggested films should be projected at 48 frames per second<\/a> instead of the usual 24.<\/p>\n

But by far the biggest story was the news that Panavision<\/a>, Arri<\/a> and Aaton<\/a> were to stop making film cameras<\/a>: although the celluloid projection will effectively be over by 2013, it seems the death of 35mm capture is only a few years away.<\/p>\n

So the medium of film, will soon no longer involve celluloid. That’s a pretty big deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for the releases this year, it seemed a lot worse than it actually was.<\/p>\n

Look beyond the unimaginative sequels and you might be surprised to find that there are interesting films across a variety of genres.<\/p>\n

Instead of artifically squeezing the standout films into a top ten, below are the films that really impressed me in alphabetical order, followed by honourable mentions that narrowly missed the cut but are worth seeking out.<\/p>\n

THE BEST FILMS OF 2011<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Separation<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Asghar Farhadi): This Iranian family drama explored emotional depths and layers that few Western films even began to reach this year.<\/p>\n

Drive<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn): Nicolas Winding Refn brought a European eye\u00a0to this ultra-stylish LA noir with a killer soundtrack and performances.<\/p>\n

George Harrison: Living in the Material World<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Martin Scorsese): Scorsese’s in-depth examination of the late Beatle was a passionate and moving tribute to a kindred soul.<\/p>\n

Hugo<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Martin Scorsese): The high-priest of celluloid\u00a0channelled\u00a0his inner child to create a stunning digital tribute to one of the early pioneers of cinema.<\/p>\n

Jane Eyre<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Cary Fukunaga): An exquisite literary adaptation with genuine depth, feeling and two accomplished lead performers that fitted their roles like a glove.<\/p>\n

Margin Call<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. J.C. Chandor): The best drama yet to come out the financial\u00a0crisis is this slow-burn acting masterclass which manages to clarify the empty heart of Wall Street.<\/p>\n

Melancholia<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Lars von Trier): Despite the Cannes controversy, his stylish vision of an apocalyptic wedding was arguably his best film, filled with memorable images and music.<\/p>\n

Moneyball<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Bennett Miller): The philosophy that changed a sport was rendered into an impeccably crafted human drama by director Bennett Miller with the help of Brad Pitt.<\/p>\n

Project Nim<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. James Marsh): A chimpanzee raised as a human was the extraordinary and haunting subject of this documentary from James Marsh.<\/p>\n

Rango<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Gore Verbinski): The best animated film of 2011 came from ILMs first foray into the medium as they cleverly riffed on classic westerns and Hollywood movies.<\/p>\n

Senna<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Asif Kapadia): A documentary about the F1 driver composed entirely from existing footage made for riveting viewing and a truly emotional ride.<\/p>\n

Shame<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Steve McQueen): The follow up to Hunger was a powerful depiction of sexual compulsion in New York, featuring powerhouse acting and pin-sharp cinematography.<\/p>\n

Snowtown<\/strong> (Dir. Justin Kerzel): Gruelling but brilliant depiction of an Australian murder case, which exposed modern horror for the empty gorefest it has become.<\/p>\n

Take Shelter<\/strong> (Dir. Jeff Nichols): Wonderfully atmospheric blend of family drama and Noah’s Ark which brilliantly played on very modern anxieties of looming apocalypse.<\/p>\n

The Artist<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Michel Hazanavicius): An ingenious love letter to the silent era of Hollywood is executed with an almost effortless brilliance.<\/p>\n

The Descendants<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Alexander Payne): Pitch-perfect comedy-drama which saw Alexander Payne return to give George Clooney his best ever role.<\/p>\n

The Guard<\/strong> (Dir. John Michael McDonagh): Riotously funny Irish black comedy with Brendan Gleeson given the role of his career.<\/p>\n

The Interrupters<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Steve James): The documentary of the year was this powerful depiction of urban violence and those on the frontline trying to prevent it.<\/p>\n

The Skin I Live In<\/strong> (Dir. Pedro Almodovar): The Spanish maestro returned with his best in years, as he skilfully channeled Hitchcock and Cronenberg.<\/p>\n

The Tree of Life<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Terrence Malick): Moving and mindblowing examination of childhood, death and the beginnings of life on earth.<\/p>\n

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy<\/a><\/strong> (Dir Tomas Alfredson): Wonderfully crafted John le Carre adaptation which resonates all too well in the current era of economic and social crisis.<\/p>\n

Tyrannosaur<\/strong> <\/a>(Dir. Paddy Considine): Searingly emotional drama with two dynamite lead performances and an unexpected Spielberg reference.<\/p>\n

We Need To Talk About Kevin<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Lynne Ramsey): Audio-visual masterclass from Ramsay with a now predictably great performance from Tilda Swinton.<\/p>\n

Win Win<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Thomas McCarthy): Quietly brilliant comedy-drama with Paul Giamatti seemingly born to act in this material.<\/p>\n

HONOURABLE MENTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Dangerous Method<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. David Cronenberg)
\nAnonymous<\/a> <\/strong>(Dir. Roland Emmerich)
\nAnother Earth<\/a> <\/strong>(Dir. Mike Cahill)
\nAttack the Block<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Joe Cornish)
\nBobby Fischer Against The World<\/a> <\/strong>(Dir. Liz Garbus)
\nConfessions <\/strong>(Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima)
\nContagion<\/strong> (Dir. Steven Soderbergh)
\nFour Days Inside Guantanamo <\/strong>(Dir. Luc Cote, Patricio Henriquez)
\nI Saw the Devil<\/strong> (Dir. Kim Ji-woon)
\nInto the Abyss<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Werner Herzog)
\nLife in a Day<\/strong> (Dir. Kevin MacDonald)
\nMartha Marcy May Marlene <\/strong>(Dir. Sean Durkin)
\nMidnight in Paris<\/strong> (Dir. Woody Allen)
\nPage One: Inside The New York Times<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Andrew Rossi)
\nSuper 8<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. JJ Abrams)
\nThe Adventures of Tintin<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Steven Spielberg)
\nThe Beaver<\/a> <\/strong>(Dir. Jodie Foster)
\nThe Deep Blue Sea<\/strong> (Dir. Terence Davies)
\nThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. David Fincher)
\nThe Ides of March<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. George Clooney)<\/p>\n

2010 FILMS THAT CAME OUT IN 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n

Armadillo<\/strong> (Dir. Janus Metz)
\nBeginners<\/strong> (Dir. Mike Mills)
\nCave of Forgotten Dreams<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Werner Herzog)
\nSubmarine<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Richard Ayoade)
\nCold Weather<\/strong> (Dir. Aaron Katz)
\nTabloid<\/a><\/strong> (Dir. Errol Morris)<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Find out more about the films of 2011 at Wikipedia<\/a>
\n>\u00a0End of year lists at Metacritic<\/a>
\n> The Best Film Music of 2011<\/a>
\n>\u00a0The Best DVD and Blu-ray Releases of 2011<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Including Drive, Hugo, Moneyball, Shame, The Tree of Life and Tyrannosaur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,17],"tags":[2125,2266,2354,1660,2386,2052,2349,2387,2067,2270,2329,2388,2272,2060,2180,2145,2187,1742,2226,2263,2277,2023],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13884"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}