True Grit was last year.
@Greg
judging by his name, i’m guessing Ciaran is from the uk.
Wasn’t True Grit released in the uk early this year?
yeah it was released in January
top 5 of the year (that didn’t get a release, theatrical or otherwise, here in Alberta, Canada, till 2011)
1 . Autobiography of Nicolae Caesescu
2. hadewijch (dumont)
3. tree of life
4. police adjective
5. meek’s cutoff
5 worst:
1. super 8
2. immortals
3. circumstance
4. never let me go
5. hugo
never let me go was an interesting film with great acting, i’m surprised it wasn’t more appreciated
No order to these because I still have so much more to see, but here are the ones that stood out for me so far:
Hugo (Scorsese)
Melancholia (Von Trier)
Tree of Life (Malick)
Caves of Forgotten Dreams (Herzog)
The Skin I Live in (Almodovar)
The one clunker tht stands out for me is:
Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar. Horribly, inert, fragmented film and a historic whitewashing.
Really looking forward to Le Havre most of all.
http://travissaves.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-of-2011.html
Never Let Me Go was actually one of my favorite films from last year. I know a lot of people didn’t care for it but it really hit me emotionally.
@ Santino:
It hit me emotionally too….so much, in fact that I vowed never to watch it again…..it was too too dark of a story…and I have a pretty high tolerance for dark stories…..Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfiled and Carey Mulligan were all aces in it…..I just can’t watch it again….
re: Never Let Me Go
I read the book and it was wonderfully done – I have put off watching the movie for fear that it will let me down. Did either of you read the book?
I can see that. It’s incredibly dark; an incredibly hopeless story. But I found beauty in it, particularly in Mulligan’s character and her ability to accept her fate and find hope in the hopeless. I watched it again on DVD and found it just as difficult to watch a second time, but equally as rewarding.
@ Dorothee:
I did not read the book……..and I fear you may be let down…..the old adage the movies are never as good as the books is pretty true for the most part.
I didn’t read the Never Let Me Go but I got the sense that the book is even darker and more sad. But the book also goes into some of the backstory behind the sci-fi stuff, if I’m not mistaken. I was glad that the movie omitted a lot of that and instead focused on the drama between these three characters.
1. Beginners
2. The Artist
3. Drive
4. Bridesmaids
5. Rango
I loved Never Let Me Go, and plan on reading the book in the next couple of months.
I didn’t find the film to be wholly depressing, because the simplified message did seem to be “Life is fleeting and life is beautiful. Enjoy the beauty when you have it.” I find that message both depressing and uplifting. I think a few beautiful moments make life worth living.
Let me preface this by saying that there’s an awful lot of films released this year I haven’t seen yet. But of what I’ve seen so far these are my top five of 2011 (by U.S.A. release).
1. Heartless directed by Philip Ridley
2. The Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick
3. Submarine directed by Richard Ayoade
4. Satan Hates You directed by James Felix McKenny
5. Hesher directed by Spencer Susser
@ Dorothee:
I never read the book either but i might read it now to see the differences
re: Never Let Me Go
Well I can’t compare it to the movie, but the book mostly focuses on the characters. There’s a bit of a revelation but the focus is really on the people, and what you would do or feel in a situation like that. It doesn’t feel like a sci-fi book at all to me honestly. It was a very haunting, beautiful, and sad book. One that I don’t think I could read again – and probably a movie I could only watch once, lol. Most people who didn’t like the book seemed angered by the perceived passivity of the characters, but I think those people missed the point.
That was a common complaint with the film – that the characters were too passive. But part of what I loved about the film is that they didn’t fight their fate, at least not in the overt, cliched way. This isn’t a story about three clones who try to break out of their captivity to live normal, human lives. No. We’ve seen that story before. This is the story of the clones that stay behind, that stay in captivity. What happens to them? I think this is a wonderful question and I really appreciated how these characters chose to deal with their circumstances. They all do fight but in their own way, which is much smaller and more nuanced than simply a sci-fi action film.
Best:
5. Drive
4. Bridesmaids
3. Meloncholia
2. Tree of Life
1. Mysteries of Lisbon
Worst:
2. Friends With Benefits
1. One Day
I guess I tend not to see films I don’t like. The only reason I saw the two I mentioned were the directors.
If we’re counting TV movies, American Masters: Woody Allen would squeeze in at number 3.
to be honest i quite enjoyed friends with benefits
I’m finding it harder and harder to actually find one decent film coming out of Hollywood, let alone five. Foreign films unfortunately never get released in AusFAILia half the time, unless Dendy or any small, indie cinemas decide to show them. Even when they do come out on DVD or Blu-ray, film lovers are at mercy to Madmen Entertainment and Hopscotch’s excessive prices. /Rant.
the top 5 movies of the year were
1. lars von trier’s Melancholia
2. malice’s tree of life
3. moretti habemus papam
4. les intouchables
5. ??
for the worst five, maybe
1. contagion
…
The Best:
1. The Tree Of Life
2. Drive
3. Miss Bala
4. Marthy Marcy May Marlene
5. The Turin Horse
Overrated:
The Future
Melancholia
Honourable Mentions:
Kill List
Oslo, August 31st
Tyrannosaur
Alps
Take Shelter
Top 5 Best
1. The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo)
2. Habemus Papam (Nanni Moretti)
3. 4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara)
4. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
5. Last Screening (Laurent Achard)
Bottom 5 Worst
5. The Moth Diaries (Mary Harron)
4. Sucker Punch (Zack Snyder)
3. Final Destination 5 (Steven Quale)
2. Drive Angry (Patrick Lussier)
1. Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)
Best:
1. The Turin Horse
2. Drive
3. 50/50
4. Midnight in Paris
5. Rango
Worst:
1. Innocent Saturday
2. The Hangover: Part II
I haven’t seen all the 2011 movies that deserve to be seen (anyway I have seen almost all movies appearing in this topic) but for now these are my fovourite movies of 2011 (world release):
Top 5 Best
1. Play (Ruben Östlund)
2. Oslo, 31. august (Joachim Trier)
3. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
4. Medianeras (Gustavo Taretto)
5. Jess + Moss (Clay Jeter)
For the rest, there is nothing worse than make a list of worst movies, would be surely better make a top 5 best debut movies of 2011.
Top 5 (random order, I can’t decide!!!):
- The artist
- Le gamin au vélo
- Habemus Papam
- La guerre est déclarée
- L’illusioniste
Ciaran Campbell
As of December 1st
Top 5
1 – Moneyball
2 – Tree Of Life
3 – Drive
4 – We Need To Talk About Kevin
5 – Tyrannosaur
Honourable Mentions
True Grit
13 Assasins
Midnight In Paris
Animal Kingdom
Super 8