A tragic, tense, beautifully-made film about a rogue cop in late-90s LA. Woody Harrelson gives an outstanding performance as the intelligent yet deeply troubled detective who's hard to like but (almost) impossible not sympathise with as his life careens out of control. The pacing, direction, music and particularly the cinematography are incredibly well done. On my list of the best films of 2011.

This is a fantastically fun film with great performances, beautiful production and an incredible amount of unabashed heart. Plus, the best trained dog in show business! There's playfulness at every level of this film: with the medium itself, with its historical context, and with the audiences' expectations. Easily among my favourites of 2011. Watch this film.

Endearing and beautifully made, this is among the best 3D films I've seen to date, up there with Coraline and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. You can feel the love Scorsese has for making a film about the early days of cinema, and it permeates through all aspects of the production and the story. The story is simple, but the strength, humour and soul lie in that simplicity. A really great film.

A an extremely interesting documentary about the Black Power movement in the United States as documented by Swedish filmmakers during that period. Their outsider perspective and the unexpected access they had to leading figures of the time brings a freshness to the history. Augmented by recent audio interviews with members of the movement, as well as modern-day artists. Found footage with a real purpose. Recommended.

An expansive sense of dread slowly builds from the first beautiful shot to an incredible, devastating climax. Providing more questions than answers, it really worked well for me as both a comment on the tenuous hold of societal conventions in the face of almost certain doom as well as a large-scale film-as-metaphor for depression. This is certainly not a film for everyone, but I loved it. LVT is a mad genius.

A really subtle and nuanced spy film with stellar performances from an incredible cast led by the awe-inspiring Gary Oldman, powerful with just a glance. Tomas Alfredson's direction is pitch perfect, giving all the story's reveals in small, potent moments rather than big splashes of action, keeping the tautness of the intrigue throughout. An old time, meditative spy film reminiscent of Army of Shadows.

Thriller, horror, revenge, whatever you call it, this movie is thought-provoking and well-crafted. Confronting gender and body issues head-on, this movie will have you squirming a bit, mainly in awe of the phenomenal storytelling (but you'll only really appreciate that afterwards). Great acting by Banderas and the rest of the cast, and beautiful and motivated set design as always with Almodovar. Highly recommended.

Tense, paranoid and claustrophobic, Aronofsky once again proves his masterful understanding of the visual, visceral potential of film. Natalie Portman delivers a tour-de-force performance (not to mention the rest of the cast, notably Barbara Hershey), Clint Mansell reworks Tchaikovsky to a fevered, ominous pitch, and the sound design will have you squirming in your seat. Amazing. Second viewing imminent.

This film, based around computer hacking and court depositions is somehow incredibly entertaining, fun, and captivating. Aaron Sorkin's script is razor sharp and Fincher manages to keep the pace up so there's never a dull moment. Ambition, greed, betrayal, loneliness, and the fine line between fact and fiction all beautifully blurred. Affecting and nuanced, a solid film, highly recommended.

Like all Gaspar Noé films, this one is uncomfortable, shocking, and incredibly literal (at times comically so). Those are all compliments. As visually striking as films come, this is not a film for everyone given the graphic sex and psychedelic strobing light sequences, but if you can make it to the end you'll be rewarded with an experience you won't soon forget.

Not Christopher Nolan's best film, but when comparing it to a handful of the best films made in the last decade (if not ever), that's not much of a dig. Slightly strained under the weight of its own ambition, plot complexity trumps the supporting character nuances that Nolan usually carefully cultivates. Regardless, a complex, entertaining, masterful film by the best director working today. Demands repeat viewings.

Saw this film at TIFF09. It's slow and strange, but excellent, full of amazing, memorable scenes and an eerie overall feeling. One of the best of the fest for sure.

A masterfully told story about survival of the fittest. Malik enters prison a petty criminal who can't read or write and slowly rises through the criminal ranks on the inside and the outside with an innate, intense survival instinct. Claustrophobic, violent, smart and gritty, no matter what Malik does, he never looses his humanity, which keeps you on his side. A beautifully directed and acted film. A must-see.

Not the greatest Tim Burton film. While the animated sets and attention to detail are pretty striking at times, there was a forced Tim-Burtonesque gloom applied at others, rather than being an integral part of the style, that didn't seem to affect the bloated yet slight storyline anyways. Where it wanted to be funny it was only mildly amusing, where it wanted to be scary it was, again, only mildly amusing.

A simple, incredibly impactful, and beautifully told story about seeking a better life. The journey is perilous, the stakes area as high as they get, but sometimes redemption comes from sacrifice and getting where you're going takes a leap of faith. It will make you appreciate how how far people are willing to go to get exactly what many of us take for granted. Highly recommended.

Ethereal Cereal remains the best fake product placement in film history (Brawndo is a close second). A truly unique film that really changed my fledgling ideas about what film was and could be. This film is awesome on so many levels while being totally insane from beginning to end. A must-see for any indie filmmaker who wants to forget all the rules and start making movies with humour and meaning.

This film shows a world where every available choice is a bad one and lives are ruled by numbers and men with guns. These men (there are practically no women in this film) either wisely live in fear or naively believe in their own bravery. The locations are stunning in their authenticity and grit. The closing captions revealing that this story is based on real life is the most frightening part. Modern neo-realism.

Watched this for the first time last night and really enjoyed it. I never knew this was based on a story by Truman Capote. Love the fact that all the romantic discussion and revisionist history around this film covers up the fact that Holly Golightly is a prostitute and Paul Varjak is a kept man. Kinda hard to not be revisionist when watching the blatantly racist scenes of Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yukioshi, though.

As beautiful and meticulously created as this film was, I didn't connect with the emotion of the story as much as I would have liked. Colin Firth's portrayal was great and the film had a few profound moments, but overall I felt that the story was aiming for depth but only skimming the surface with melodrama and repetition that almost reduced it to disjointed set pieces rather than a cohesive whole.

As many films as I have seen and loved, this remains my favourite. It encompasses my fascination with the tension between technology and humanity, my love for science-fiction and time travel, dysfunctional family drama, great physical comedy, and the early unfiltered, unpretentious genius of a young Robert Zemeckis.

I love this film. The reflection, literally and figuratively, throughout the story is so masterfully woven into a deeply human story of a family in the modern world.

I really enjoyed all the performances, particularly Audrey Tautou's, and contrary to some other opinions expressed here, I felt the pacing and emotion were really engaging and sympathetic. Plus the last shot was incredibly beautiful.

After having seen a partial Preminger retrospective at Cinematheque Ontario last season, I have to say that he's one of my favourite filmmakers. I still haven't even seen most of the films for which he's considered a master of the medium, but the ones I have seen, Angel Face, Whirlpool, Bunny Lake Is Missing and, most of all, Bonjour Tristesse have each had a profound effect on me and the way I think about storytelling and filmmaking. Plus he introduced the film world to the incredible work of Saul Bass! A true master.

Just watched this, finally. Stellar film. The incredible shot selection alone would make it worth watching, even if the story weren't layered and captivating. And the music! Great pre-marathon viewing.

The final scene of this film is breathtaking. Saw this at TIFF08 and loved it.