Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 11:30AM David's Picks: Top 5 Films of 2011
To start off, I should say that this isn't meant to be a comprehensive list of the deepest or most artistic movies that have been released. There's plenty of highly rated movies that I haven't seen that might make the list if I had (50/50 comes to mind). I'm picking these based off of what lasting effect they had on me, rather than any kind of detailed analysis. These aren't necessarily the most flawless films, but they are the ones that impressed, surprised, and impacted me the most in 2011.
5. Hanna
Read Our Review.
The fifth choice on my list came very, very close to being edged out by Drive, our editor's first choice, and its easy to see the similarities between the two. Both have bold high-energy, action sequences in between scenes of introverted heroes bungling through social situations. If Drive is an indie version for The Fast & The Furious, this feels like an indie version of the The Bourne Identity.
Saoirse Ronan gives an Oscar nomination-worthy performance as the sheltered but very dangerous titular character. It's a performance that never breaks its innocence as she explores the good and punishes the bad of the world she is unfamiliar with. The supporting cast is just as good, featuring Cate Blanchett and Tom Hollander as fresh, menacing villains to compliment director Joe Wright's masterful action scenes.
4. Young Adult
With Up in the Air, Juno, and Thank You For Smoking under his belt, Jason Reitman has proven himself to be the best drama/comedy director of our time. This one's another winner to put on the list. Props should also be given to screenwriter Diablo Cody, who writes a witty and emotional screenplay while avoiding her signature overwritten lines.
The plot centers around Mavis Gary, an alcoholic teen literature writer who, upset with her life, treks back to her hometown in order seduce and steal away her high school squeeze, now married with a newborn child. Charlize Theron's performance is about as nasty as she sounds, and yet the film manages to find sympathy in her problems. Yeah, she's a horrible human being, but the screenplay goes the extra mile to show us that she's still a human being. Comedian Patton Oswalt also gives a great performance as a high school acquaintance and fellow outcast who can relate to her loneliness even as he recognizes her grave flaws. It's a movie that manages to be depressing, funny, sad, and touching, all at the same time.
After the abysmal X-men: The Last Stand, and the humdrum X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I was disappointed enough to write off the series as having reached the point of no return. But First Class proved me wrong, and did so with a vengeance, giving us the best film in the series. We get a fresh perspective of Charles Xavier's transformation into Professor X, and Eric Lensherr's transformation into Magneto, and the ethics aren't as cut and dry as you might think. The film even seems more sympathetic towards Magneto's perspective, showing what depths the humans can steep to in their prejudice, and how quickly their fear overtakes them. Compare that with Xavier's preachy optimism, and you have an example of a movie that understands how to create a compelling villain. Both James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender give amazing performances, and while the lesser mutants feel a bit underdeveloped, they manage to be interesting and fun nonetheless.
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I've always been a little disappointed that the science fiction in film has mostly been turned into an action movie subgenre. What's the last sci-fi movie you saw that dealt more with ideas then of explosions? Rise of the Planet of the Apes certainly isn't lacking in action, but it also has the brains to back it up. Some criticized it for coming of as animal rights propaganda, but to look at it that way is to sell it severely short. It's about human limitations, the ethics of a master/slave system, what it means to truly be a person, and much more. Andy Serkis does the masterful job of giving a chimpanzee more personality then many human characters, and he certainly deserves an Oscar nomination.
1. Warrior
Our Review.
Few things leave a smile on my face as big as when a movie is able to take once-loved cliche and then twist it around to make it original again, all while keeping what made it great in the first place. This is something that Warrior does beautifully, and it's one of the reasons it is my favorite film of 2011. We've all seen a dozen movies about the persistent under-dog that we can't help but root for. This movie changes things up and gives us two, and makes them estranged brothers. Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is the family man/science teacher fighting to keep his home, not willing to settle with bankruptcy. Tommy (Tom Hardy) is the angry introvert fighting to provide for the family of his dead war buddy, though I suspect he also feels like he has something to prove. The two brothers are real, interesting, and authentic. We love both characters, but as the mixed-martial arts championship moves on, the reality that their victories are mutually exclusive looms closer and closer. Not knowing who to cheer for gives the film a tension I seldom feel, the realization that no matter who wins, a hero I care about will go home broken and defeated. There's not many movies I can say that about.
The film's brilliance also lies in how it develops its character's relationships. Brendan spends the vast majority of the film away from Tommy and their father, Paddy, and yet their relationship feels more full and developed then if we had seen them work side by side. They all have a past together, but it's become such a central part of them we can read it in their every word, glare, and action. When they finally do speak face-to-face, it's like getting to read the last few pages in a book you know most of by heart. Warrior failed at the box office, perhaps because mainstream audiences weren't sure who they were supposed to root for. I think we were supposed to root for both, and that's what makes it all the more gut-wrenching. A typical Hollywood film would find a way around it, to make both of them win somehow. Does this film do the same? Perhaps, I still haven't decided what I think will happen to the characters after the heartbreaking ending. For the sake of Tommy and Brendan Conlon, I hope so.
Honorable Mentions: Drive, The Debt, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Tree of Life, Super 8
Reader Comments (1)
I knew I'd leave an amazing movie like Hanna out of my article.