Top 10 Movies of 2011

The Oscars are quickly approaching (actually they are this Sunday!), so everyone is looking over the list of nominees one last time trying to figure out who's going to win all the major awards. Will it be The Descendants or The Artist? George Clooney or Jean Dujardin? Viola Davis for The Help or Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady? Will Martin Scorsese pick up a surprise Oscar for Best Director for Hugo, following his win in the same category at the Golden Globes? Will Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, who won for writing last year's The Social Network, beat out frontrunners Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for Best Adapted Screenplay (Moneyball vs. The Descendants)? Will there be any major upsets? We can only hope there will be for it makes the night far more interesting. On top of all the nominees and winners, what can we expect from host Billy Crystal? His 9th time hosting the awards show marks the first time he's been the MC since 2004. After 8 years, can he still make us laugh as we once did and turn the show, that has become a pretentious, overblown and predictable annual event, into the special event it once was? Again, we can only hope. It's during these few days, right before the Academy Awards, that I like to look back over all the films I saw during the year and truly analyze how many of the films I really enjoyed or fell in love with got no Academy love. Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of my favorite 2011 films went completely nomination-less. That is why I take this moment to forget about the Oscar hubbub and look back on all the fine films that the Academy glossed over and to remember that the number of gold trophies or nominees a single film can rack up means very close to nothing. It's recognition, sure, but when there are so many other fine and overlooked films, it's hard to trust the Oscars anymore. Here is my list of Top 10 Movies of 2011 (and 5 Honorable Mentions).

15. Moneyball, Directed by Bennet Miller
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Written by: Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
6 Oscar nominations
14. Source Code, Directed by Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Written by: Ben Ripley
0 Oscar Nominations
13. Young Adult, Directed by Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson
Written by: Diablo Cody
0 Oscar Nominations
12. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong
Written by: Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan
3 Oscar Nominations
11. X-Men: First Class, Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
0 Oscar Nominations

10. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Directed by Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg
0 Oscar nominations

The fourth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise was an enormous breath of fresh air. Fifteen years after the release of the Brian De Palma-directed original, star, and producer, Tom Cruise returns to play Ethan Hunt, the American spy who works for the ultra-secret IMF division of the government. This time around, Ethan and his team are blamed for a terrorist attack at the Kremlin in Russia, so IMF must disappear until diplomatic conferences can remedy the fiasco. However, Ethan and his small team decide to go rogue and find the true culprits of the Kremlin bombing and clear their organization's name. After three action-packed, though very different, films (directed by De Palma, John Woo, and then J.J. Abrams), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol features a fun script with a smart plot and ingenious action sequences. Pixar director Brad Bird could not have asked for a better live-action directorial debut, his eye for fantastic animated movies transfers beautifully to the action-oriented style of Mission: Impossible. Also, Tom Cruise lets us all know that he is very far from being washed up, he's a fine actor and a great action star.

9. Midnight in Paris, Directed by Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Tom Hiddleston
4 Oscar Nominations

This gorgeous film is a piece of magic from the mind of Woody Allen. It represents the imagination of every aspiring writer or literature geek, as a young man (Wilson) is given the opportunity to converse and interact with famous writers and artists of the 1920s when they suddenly come back to life at midnight in the city of lights. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Salvador Dalí, T.S. Eliot, etc. With a fantastic ensemble cast and a loving directorial hand from Allen, the veteran writer/director creates another brilliant ode to a beloved city with one of the finest screenplays he has written in years. Midnight in Paris is a wonderful film full of color, liveliness, and a desire to bring your dreams to life, starring a confident Owen Wilson, channeling a young Woody Allen, and delivering his finest performance outside of any Wes Anderson-related production.

8. Rango, Directed by Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, Bill Nighy
1 Oscar Nomination

Former Pirates of the Caribbean director, Gore Verbinski, pursued a very different film genre after completing his trilogy of swashbuckling box office smashes. His Rango is the smartest animated film I've seen in years and could easily compete on the same level of greatness as the best of the Pixar films. This visually stunning, surrealist, animated Western is just as funny as it is inspired. A beautiful homage to such Hollywood classics as the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, Chinatown, and even Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas,Rango is the simple fish out of water story only starring a gecko in the middle of the desert with a mariachi band of owls providing comical musical narration. Rango is also the year's best animated film, leave it to Dreamworks to top both Pixar and motion-capture animation this year. Rango is an amazing treat.

7. 50/50, Directed by Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Angelica Houston
0 Oscar Nominations

Who knew cancer could be so funny? This uplifting, heartfelt, and deeply emotional comedy about a young man's battle with cancer showcases the reliable Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a fantastic lead role. His performance is naturalistic and real, improving as the disease grows inside of his body over the course of the film. As the film reaches its climax, Gordon-Levitt is perfection as he visibly shows his fear of his middle grounded chances of beating the cancer. Seth Rogen is at his funniest and dramatic best as Gordon-Levitt's best friend, the character is based on Rogen himself, in fact (writer Will Reiser based the script on his own cancer battle and Seth Rogen is Reiser's best friend and helped him through every stage of the disease until Reiser was finally cured). Rogen provides top notch humor throughout without ever edging on annoying or overdoing it. Rogen has never been better. A great supporting cast and Levine's tender direction round out this powerful film about the strength of friendship and love during frightening times.

6. The Descendants - Directed by Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Robert Forster, Beau Bridges
5 Oscar Nominations

Alexander Payne's follow-up to his Oscar-winning Sideways tackles familial dysfunction, death, and love in a realistic, yet uplifting manner. Payne shows that while death is an occasion that deserves mourning, it is also something that brings families closer together. George Clooney is outstanding as Matt King, a wealthy land baron who, while his wife is in a hospitalized coma following a boating accident, is addressing a multi-million dollar land deal, a rebellious daughter, and rumors of his wife being unfaithful. Payne's Oscar-nominated script (co-written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) balances heavy emotional moments with laugh-out-loud comedy excellently, while Payne's smooth direction showcases the beautiful state of Hawaii and pulls fantastic performances from his entire cast. Shailene Woodley departs from her hit ABC Family series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and delivers the best performance out of any young actor from all of 2011 (Woodley was robbed of a Best Supporting Actress nomination). Veteran actors Robert Forster and Beau Bridges round out the cast as members of Matt's family just fueling the drama and stress that is flooding Matt. But the best part of the film is Clooney's performance, he's the definitive backbone of The Descendants.

5. The Artist - Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berneice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Nominated for 10 Oscars

Hazanavicius brought two things to movie theaters this year that is in low supply: Ambition and creativity. This black and white, silent film is not only a thoughtful ode to the golden era of silent cinema, but it's a brilliantly conceived and produced silent film comparable to the greatest of all the silent films. The Artist may seem simplistic, but that is far from a hindrance. The lack of complexity is made up for with its merits in acting, directing, and heart. It's a sweet movie that will have you smiling from beginning to end. Lead Jean Dujardin says more with his mile long smile than some actors say with an entire script, a breakthrough performance for the splendid French actor. The Artist deserves, of the nominated films, to be awarded Best Picture of 2011 because it is something special. There will probably never be a future film that will be able to copy the magic of The Artist, therefore making it a wonderful cinematic experience.

4. Super 8 - Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning
0 Oscar Nominations

Some found this sci-fi homage written and directed by Lost creator J.J. Abrams a little too similar to its Spielberg predecessors, but Abrams added just the right amount of a personal touch and flair to separate Super 8 from being just a recycled science fiction film. His distinguishing lens flares and directorial touches makes this film affecting and original, but also nostalgic as it brings back warm memories of E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (in fact, Spielberg was a heavily-involved producer for Super 8). Abrams incorporates a coming-of-age factor with sweet performances from its young and talented cast, including Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning in the prepubescent leads. Throw in Emmy-winner Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and you have a very impressive cast of new faces that do not risk overshadowing supporting actors and do not risk being overshadowed themselves. With a magical score by Michael Giacchino, friendly channeling master John Williams, outstanding action sequences, and a misty-eyed ending, Super 8 is a worthwhile summer blockbuster that makes our souls feel young and remind us that big budget films can have a heart sometimes too.

3. We Need to Talk About Kevin - Directed by Lynne Ramsey
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
0 Oscar Nominations

Gripping, disturbing, riveting, but undeniably beautiful, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a frightening portrait of a doomed family with a violent, destructive force living within the eldest child. John C. Reilly takes a break from comic acting to deliver a naturalistic performance as an ignorant father blind to the evil that resides in his own offspring, while Ezra Miller, playing the titular Kevin, portrays that evil perfectly giving it a face, a voice, and a physicality. This brilliantly directed and adapted horror/drama showcases a parent's worst fears, featuring vivid camera work and a nonlinear narrative structure placing the film's centerpiece tragedy as an emotional climax. It's a grim tale fueled by darkness that is far from widely accessible, but it features an undeniably captivating performance from Tilda Swinton. She's a revelation as the embodiment of confusion and despair associated with this harrowing parental nightmare. It's one of those performances that will resonate for years to come, a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination but more than worthy, dare I say, of an Oscar win.

2. Shame - Directed by Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale
0 Oscar Nominations

Shame is one of the hardest films you'll ever sit through because it is so raw, natural, and raw. It doesn't hold back in displaying the harshness of humanity and the nauseating results of addiction. Director Steve McQueen presents a naked movie, literally and figuratively, with this gritty tale that takes place in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. It's an intense character study of what drives such a sick person and what slight annoyances or surprises can completely destroy his perfectly laid out and executed routine that satisfies his addiction to sex. Michael Fassbender gives one of the greatest performances of all time leading the film as Brandon, his pain is so evident through his inability to love and treat other human beings, especially women, as more than just players in sexual activities. Fassbender is perfectly cast in the role physically as well, Brandon has this power that makes him undeniably attractive to any female passerby, and Fassbender is one of the only actors who can make that power (some may call it a super power) believable. Supporting Fassbender is the amazing and beautiful Carey Mulligan who is Brandon's dependent sister, Sissy. Despite being his sister, Sissy is an obstacle in Brandon's life and he treats her with a lack of comfort, respect, and love. Their twisted relationship is beautifully captured on screen. Shame is no easy watch, but once it's over, you'll be glad you watched it.

1. Drive - Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Issac, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
1 Oscar Nomination

Drive is simply a revolutionary motion picture, literally everything about this movie is spectacular. During each viewing (there have been a total of three, for me) it grabs me from the very start until the credits roll, it is so incredibly engaging. It's one of the best directed movies ever, let alone released this year. A golden script features limited dialogue for star Ryan Gosling, but that is what makes his performance so captivating. The sexual tension between him and Carey Mulligan radiates intensely. The shocking and brutal violence happens in so many quick spurts that sometimes you might not even realize what just happened. Plus, how can you not be both wowed and scared by Albert Brooks as villain Bernie Rose, such an amazingly twisted and spontaneous villain (Brooks was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor). The film's greatest aspect though is it's soundtrack composed by Cliff Martinez. Martinez's Brian Eno-inspired score creates such an atmosphere and sets so many different tones, it's an essential component, a different soundtrack would never have worked (I have actually seen a specific cut that contains some tracks from Trent Reznor's The Social Network soundtrack and it just does not work). Any non-original tracks from the soundtrack are also incorporated flawlessly, like Kavinsky's "Nightcall" during the opening credits (one of the best opening credits sequences in recent memory) and College's "Real Hero" utilized as Gosling's character's theme song. It's beautiful, retro and contemporary, as well as very stylized. Drive is a masterful film, it's a movie that benefits from a proper viewing as well, hopefully it will be released back into theaters in the future. There will never be anything in the future that can replicate the spectacular nature of Nicolas Win! ding Ref n's Drive.

But now what do the Academy Awards really mean? Do five nominees in every category (or nine when discussing Best Picture) really encompass all of the great movies and performances and technical work the year had to offer? No, definitely not.

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