Top 10 or so of 2011: the first year I've actually tried to watch new releases

By: Tommy

this is an attempt to put together a list of the top 10 films of 2011. It’s a list of top 10 or so because there have been several films that I’ve seen throughout the year that I like equally so there are many ties for a given spot. I could make it a top 20 or so, but that’s not something I want to do. a top 10 seems much more important anyway.

Starting from the bottom up, lets get to it…

My #10 happens to be a three way actually.
Another Earth

Septien

Cold Weather

9.
The Black Power Mix-tape 1967-1975

8.
Sleeping Beauty

7.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

6
tie

Midnight in Paris

Melancholia

5.
tie

Poetry

The Skin I Live In

4.
tie

Weekend

Martha Marcy May Marlene

3.
The Kid With The Bike

2.
tie

Bellflower

The Future

1.
Certified Copy

And of course no one can see every supposed great film of any year so here are several that could have affected my list if I had the chance to check them out.

Hors Satan dir. Bruno Dumont
The Turin Horse dir. Bela Tarr
Mysteries of Lisbon dir. Raul Ruiz
The Artist dir. Michel Hazanavicius
Archipelago dir. Joanna Hogg
Tyrannosaur dir. Paddy Considine
Take Shelter dir. Jeff Nichols
This is Not a Film dir. Jafar Panahi
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Two Years at Sea dir. Ben Rivers
We Need to Talk About Kevin dir. Lynne Ramsay
A Dangerous Method dir. David Cronenberg
Shame dir. Steve McQueen
Shit Year dir. Cam Archer

01

Certified Copy

Abbas Kiarostami
02

Bellflower

Evan Glodell
03

The Future

Miranda July
04

The Kid with a Bike

Jean-Pierre Dardenne
05

Weekend

Andrew Haigh
06

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Sean Durkin
07

The Skin I Live In

Pedro Almodóvar
08

Poetry

Lee Chang-dong
09

Melancholia

Lars von Trier
10

Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen
11

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog
12

Sleeping Beauty

Julia Leigh
13

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Göran Hugo Olsson
14

Cold Weather

Aaron Katz
15

Septien

Michael Tully
16

Another Earth

Mike Cahill

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Steve Pulaski

20Feb12

Can't agree with you on "Another Earth." I found the film to be beautiful in its art direction, but shallow and dense in everything else. The film is predominately occupied by silence, and everything is murky and annoyingly ambiguous. I'd love to call the Rhonda character great, but she seemed to be reading off a list of what depressed and quiet women should be like. I am glad to see some love for "Midnight in Paris." That was a marvelous and positive film.

Tommy

20Feb12

I'm am quite an advocate of ambiquity. I find that it makes the viewer much more involved. It's inclusion was also due to my experience in watching it. I was able to sit down and chat with actor William Mapother about the film which made me enjoy it that much more. He's from Louisville along with cousin Tom Cruise and has had a lot to do with the local film community which I'm grateful to be a part of. I've always been and probably always will be a big Woody fan.
Tommy

20Feb12

Also with all the othe films I've gotten to see from the past year, I'm sure this list would t be the same if I were to update it.
Steve Pulaski

20Feb12

I don't mind ambiguity, for I like my movie experiences to be full of life and contemplation, but there is a point where it becomes overkill. Literally everything in "Another Earth" seemed to represent something or another. Talking to an actor would definitely be quite an experience. But if there's one thing that stood out from "Another Earth" it was the enriching photography. Not to mention it was done on such a miniscule budget. When I first saw the trailer I thought it would be a blockbuster, until I read more about it.
Tommy

20Feb12

Oh yeah definitely. Cahill knows what he's doing with a camera. Dude used to shoot in ridiculous situations for national geographic. People often don't realise how inexpensive to make films. It also helps when you do a lot of the major work yourself too without having to hire too many people.