Ready to commence arguing in the comments? Take a deep breath, here are my top ten films of 2011:
1. Burning Man
Jonathan Teplitzky's bracing exploration of grief was alternately devastating and life-affirming, a cathartic masterwork that boasted some of the year's best performances, particularly Matthew Goode as a chef in mourning and Kate Beahan as a compassionate sex worker. It also had, in its shambolic school concert, the best, most determinedly "Australian" spin on the Hollywood ending of the year - a scene the makers of
Crazy, Stupid, Love should be forced to watch on repeat.
2. Snowtown
In a year of grim visions none came grimmer than the exploits of John Bunting and co, but Justin Kurzel's astounding
Snowtown made that Australian grim-dark obsession finally make sense. With a cast of first-timers - among them the deserving AACTA nominee Louise Harris - led by the charismatic and terrifying Daniel Henshall as Bunting,
Snowtown was unforgettable.
3. Take Shelter
Ever wondered what it'd be like to suffer crippling anxiety? Why not spend two hours watching
Take Shelter! With some of the most effective nightmare sequences ever put to film, and brilliant performances by Michael Shannon as Curtis and Jessica Chastain as his terrified wife, Jeff Nichols' gripping second film established him as one of the most intriguing new auteurs working.
4. Attack The Block
Stealing the Spielbergian crown from soppy efforts like Super 8, this 'kids vs aliens' spectacular from first-time writer/director Joe Cornish was the year's biggest treat. With a cast of unknowns spewing quote-a-rama dialogue ("It's raining Gollums, cuz!" "That's a alien, bruv, believe it" etc etc) and lovely supporting turns from old hands like Nick Frost,
Attack The Block was the year's best adventure flick.
5. The Tree Of Life
Say what you will about Terrence Malick's approach to filmmaking, but was there a more purely artistic or poetic film released this year than
The Tree Of Life? Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain were stoic and luminous, respectively, in this occasionally confounding but always beautiful film. Combining the light-washed landscapes of the Hudson River school with the classic special effects genius of Douglass Trumbull (out of "retirement" especially to do
Tree Of Life's 'birth of the universe' scenes "the old-fashioned way"), it was bewitching, even if you weren't sure what Sean Penn was doing in that glass office.
6. Moneyball
Forget those who said "Who knew baseball could be so compelling?" - of
course the game is compelling. It's the excitement of the stats behind it that was the big surprise. Bennett Miller's quietly thrilling account of Billy Beane's employment of sabermetrics to lift the Oakland A's game was one of the finest sports movies in the past decade. Brad Pitt excelled as the manic, always-eating Beane, while Jonah Hill finally got a non-douchebag gig as economics whiz Peter Brand.
7. Meek's Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt's bleak, mesmerising Western turned the Oregon Trail from something we remember as the theme of a dull educational video game and into a life-or-death drift through the unforgiving landscapes of pioneer America. Bruce Greenwood was terrific as the ineffectual Meek, and Michelle Williams gave the performance of her career; it's a shame her showier work as Marilyn Monroe in
My Week With Marilyn will no doubt end up being her entry in the 2011 yearbook when this was her more compelling work.
8. Bridesmaids
The best way to put paid to tiresome debate over whether or not a female-driven R-rated comedy will be either a) funny or b) successful is to be so hilarious that everybody simply stops thinking about the redundant argument. With a star-making turn from Melissa McCarthy and a surprisingly touching script by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, plus director Paul Feig's trademark bittersweet touch,
Bridesmaids was hysterical.
9. Melancholia
Giving
The Tree Of Life a run for its money as the year's best looking film, Lars von Trier's astounding exploration of depression was the feel bad hit of the summer. Revitalising Wagner, stealing slow-motion back from the clutches of overusers like Peter Jackson, and giving Kiefer Sutherland his best role in years, the end of the world has never looked so beautiful.
10. Source Code
In a patchy year for sci-fi,
Source Code lifted itself above its peers by remembering - thanks largely to Ben Ripley's terrific script - that the key to great science fiction is not necessarily the science, but the heart. Jake Gyllenhaall finally got a decent lead role, and Michelle Monahan and Vera Farmiga excelled as usual, and while the final ten minutes inspired fierce debate (too corny? Too cop out?), it was one of those scenes that I'm still thinking about, eight months later.
Honorable Mentions:
War Horse
Drive
Thor
Never Let Me Go
The Devil's Double
Super 8