Well that link doesn’t seem to be working so here they are:
1. A Separation
2. Shame
3. Tree of Life
4. Hugo
5. Take Shelter
6. Kinyarwanda
7. Drive
8. Midnight in Paris
9. Le Havre
10. The Artist
11. Melancholia
12. Terri
13. The Descendants
14. Margaret
15. Martha Marcy May Marlene
16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
17. Trust
18. Life, Above All
19. The Mill and the Cross
20. Another Earth
Wow. That is…way better a list than I would have expected from Roger Ebert.
I haven’t heard of Kinyarwanda, what kind of film is that?
Happy that he recognized Another Earth
I love the presence of Le Havre and Drive, and the absence of The Help.
@ Jirin:
Kinyarwanda is about the same events depicted in Hotel Rwanda. According to Ebert Kinyarwanda is the language spoken by both the Hutu and Tutsi peoples. I never heard of it before the list either.
I’ve only seen Tree of Life, Harry Potter, Take Shelter and The Descendants on this list.
Was really happy to see Take Shelter so high on the list.
One thing to remember about Ebert is that he does see everything.
wow, so he didn’t go to the trouble to separate the American films(the main game), from the foreign films? damn, Ebert is learning ;-0
Wow, I’m actually surprised by this list, particularly that he doesn’t list Hugo as number one (given his adoration for Scorsese). I’m happy to see Shame so high, as well as Drive. And the love for Melancholia is nice.
@Joks
That was a practice he only started over the last few years, with the reasoning that he could include more films that way. I agree that it was misguided and I’m glad he’s back to a straight list.
Perhaps he should pay more attention to non-American films such as The Turin Horse or Once Upon…in Anatolia. Those two films would have easily made it into his top 5 or at least top 10.
^lol
5 of the films in his top ten are non-American films (and 8 out of the 20). How much more attention should he pay?
I agree with Ebert on his favorite film of the year; the Iranian drama A Separation is a fine work of cinema.
Enough attention to include Bela Tarr and Ceylan onto his list, as their films of the same caliber as A Separation. Good call on Hugo as well, it’s certainly one of the most powerful and poignant films of the year, especially for passionate cinephiles.
A true cinephile will never be satisfied until every list looks exactly like his/her list.
Other opinions: not allowed.
Yeah, I hate other opinions. They’re always so wrong.
Okay I guess it would’ve been better if I hadn’t voiced my judgments on Ebert’s selections.
Aside from my personal opinions with regards to his list, how must we react when we see another person’s list of favorites or ranking of films regarding a theme. Should we not make any criticisms or judgments towards the other person’s opinions and basically keep our mouths shut? Should we not be able to freely criticize and judge the opinions of the other person, with acknowledgement to their selections? All these restraints limit the breadth of our discussion. Please keep the discussion open-ended so others can voice their opinions on the subject of discussion as well.
lol. No, please voice opinions. That’s the point of discussion, isn’t it?
I just thought it was a bit weird to say Ebert should pay more attention to non-American films when half the films on his top ten list are non-American. Plus, he mentions films like Le Quattro Volte, Mysteries of Lisbon, and A Screaming Man (among others), which are just as unconventional and “non-American” as Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, no? I think it’s fine to say the films he liked are shit but to say he needs to pay more attention to non-American films seems bizarre.
I’m not sure if Ebert has seen Anatolia but his fella Jim Emerson seemed to like it in the write up for CIFF on Ebert’s website.
Right, anyone who’s followed Ebert can tell you that he consistently champions independent films and world cinema. It may be the fact that he does not do so exclusively that sticks in some people’s craw.
I think it’s also important to remember that omission does not necessarily equal a negative judgement.
And Ebert compiles these lists based on whether or not the film had distribution in Chicago during 2011. It’s possible that both of those films haven’t reached the Windy City yet. Or, maybe he didn’t like them enough. Whatever, it’s not his inability to engage world cinema.
A Separation hasn’t opened in Chicago yet, but it still topped his list, so I don’t think release date was a factor.
Well, in the past he has indicated that release date is a factor. No longer living in Chicago, I don’t really know release dates.
Regardless, the point stands that there may be any number of reasons for not including a certain film.
^Ebert is an idiot. I think that’s the only plausible reason for excluding Anatolia.
Btw – I didn’t think much of Anatolia either. So count that as two idiots in the bunch.
What a well versed list, as time goes on I have learned to like him more and more. Don’t always agree (nobody ever does do they?) but respect none the less.
Sadly, I have missed seeing quite a few of these releases since I don’t live in a big city. Just silently waiting DVD/Bluray releases of them.
Three of his Top 10 are in my Top 10.
Anyone want to give me a high-five?
Prewitt
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/12/the_best_films_of_2011.html