2011 isn’t the strongest movie year in recent memory. I liked The Artist, but a silent French film won more on nostalgia. That being said, there’s still some decent stuff out there, as you’ll see below.
Exciting conclusion to the lengthy movie franchise. Contains some of the most powerful scenes of the year. Rewatchable for years, probably decades, to come.
Charming literary fairy tale from Woody Allen. Neuroticism is replaced with nostalgia for a time gone by, and I lean toward sentimental Allen over neurotic Allen everytime. Or did I think that through?
Most humorous movie about cancer that will probably get made. Beautifully walks the manipulative and honest line. Writer Will Reiser and director Jonathan Levine are pro’s, after all.
The crown jewel of the MMA sports movie world, as well as a fascinating, solid character piece. You’re rooting for both Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, which puts a completely novel spin for a sports movie: who to root for when you’re rooting for both characters to win?
Dark reimagining of the Norwegian film and book. Rooney Mara is great as Lisbeth Salander, but she’s matched by an equally good Daniel Craig. Both are anchored by the reliably excellent David Fincher, who’s perfectly suited for the dark, lurid material.
Lively animated western meets The Wizard of Oz. About a lizard. Directed by the guy who did The Ring. Um, what? But that ludicrous amalgam of pieces fits together into one of the year’s best surprises.
Jump started the 2010s, the era of the female driven comedy, which delivers as many laughs as any guy film. It also jump started the movie star careers of Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, and a never better Melissa McCarthy, who was so good she was nominated for an Oscar for this film.
2 sports movies in the Top 10? Lots of innovation in that genre in 2011, with this being the best one. Starring a great Brad Pitt, this baseball movie takes the sports cliches and applies them to the statisticians, who upheaved the entire way baseball is evaluated.
I continue to unfairly underrate Steven Soderbergh, even as he remains one of our best filmmakers. Consider this chiller thriller: an erudite study of the effects of a pandemic on the populace, never more prescient than in 2020…
Asghar Farhadi’s masterpiece about divorce in Iran. Screenplays are rarely better than this perfection, which consistently shifts the status quo in different directions to different characters while painting a complex portrait of modern Iran…
