Film reviews are in their nature subjective and reviewers in turn opinionated and in some people’s minds arrogant, as if to assume their opinion about anything is valid or required reading. ‘Top five’ lists proudly continue this tradition and multiply it by ten. However, regardless of your personal taste in movies the following five films should be on everyone’s must see list for this year. Each is unique, compelling and most importantly highly enjoyable in their own ways and represent my personal favourite films of 2011.
Honorable mentions.
Midnight In Paris, Super 8, Take Shelter, Project Nim
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s best selling novel is a haunting look into parenting and motherhood. Particularly the emotions some parents feel that are not discussed openly or presented as apart of having a child. Resentment, disconnection, isolation and anxiety to name a few are all expressed by a gripping performance from Tilda Swintonwho seamlessly tows the line between cold and authoritarian, vulnerable and helpless and outright horror. Ramsay tackles the films unpleasant subject matter with a brutal and unsettling honesty that is both gripping and gut wrenching. The film openly questions nature versus nurture and what makes people bad and will make some question parenthood as the credits roll. Read our full review.
Tree of Life
It’s been an interesting year for Terrance Malick’s Tree of Life. One filled with both critical praise and condemnation of the film’s vision. A vision that as I described in my original review ‘almost dares its audience to leave the cinema. There is no conventional story and there are long stretches without any dialogue or any characters for that matter’. Not to mention Sean Penn, who is billed as the film’s second biggest star, is hardly in the movie. The ambitious film’s scope is extraordinary but at its heart is a story exploring how our families shape our lives, as children and as adults. To try to describe it further is an intimidating task but would not do the film justice. There is no doubt Tree of Life is challenging and asks a lot of modern audiences and their short attention spans. Some people may fall asleep while others will connect to this film in a profound way. I wasn’t as deeply affected as some but this film continues to haunt me in a way not unlike We Need to Talk About Kevin. Read our full review.
Hanna
In a year that included the ambitious Tree of Life, Hanna remains the most refreshing and unique film of the year. With distinctly breathtaking and original direction from director Joe Wright, Hanna is a stylistic thrill ride we haven’t really seen before, at least not in the multiplexes. Set to a perfectly fitting Chemical Brothers soundtrack Wright’s film is an exhilarating and tense experience anchored by a mesmerising Saorise Ronan as the titular character. Ronan plays the perfect amount of innocence and menace which compliments Wright’s blend of breathtaking art-house with enough Bourne, Bond and Nikita to please the masses. Read our full review.
Submarine
Richard Ayoade’s debut coming of age film has met its fair share of criticisms and comparisons to other well-known quirky coming of age movies of years gone by. However while similarities exist and a love for those film makers is evident throughout the film, Submarine is an intelligent, sweet and very funny introduction to Ayoade as an up and coming director, not to mention its two compelling and charismatic leads in Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige. There is so much to like about Submarine and Robert’s character Oliver Tate, who like the film is a perfect mix of awkward and endearing. A lot of the laughs from the film come from its uncomfortable awkwardness but its enjoyment comes from its dark yet charming story and its great engaging cast.
Drive
Although one of the most over hyped and trendy films in recent memory, Drive is still my favourite movie of 2011 and it is also the coolest. Nicolas Winding Refn’s stylish neo noir fllm is certainly not the masterpiece of modern cinema Facebook and Twitter would have you believe, it includes a barely there and underdeveloped Carey Mulligan, an incredibly overhyped wooden performance by Ryan Gosling (pretty, though he is) and a plot that struggles to balance realism and outright fairytale. However, even with its noticeable flaws Drive remains a compelling, beautifully shot and well cast film. From its opening minutes, Gosling’s star making vehicle is a gripping and tense ride which threatens to burst at any moment. When the film hits its second act, Gosling’s no name hero and Winding Refn’s stylistic direction become an unstoppable force that captures the audience’s imagination and challenges even the most critical viewer to dislike it.
Drive may not deserve the amount of hype it has received but in a year of great movies this ultra stylised, 80’s saturated not so subtle mix of retro action and art-house visuals is for me the most enjoyable film of 2011. Read our full review.