The Top 25 Best Films of 2011

I believe 2011 has been a fine year for cinema – one could argue it hasn’t been a truly great year for the medium, but it has at the very least been perfectly adequate. It has been a year filled with surprises – some good, some bad; same as every year, I suppose. It has been an excellent year for animation, though oddly not for Pixar – hand-drawn or computer-generated, most animations released this year were smart, imaginative and beautiful. It has been a decent year for big-budget studio blockbusters, some of which had working brains and beating hearts, meaning that many (not all) of Hollywood’s box office takings have been well deserved. It has been a tremendous year for indie dramas and comedies – many smaller films produced with miniscule budgets and shown in limited screenings have been met with wide publicity and recognition amongst casual moviegoers.

It has been a year of memorable stories: we have had a struggling writer time-travelling to 1920s Paris, a silent movie star fading into obscurity, a mysterious extra-terrestrial wreaking havoc in a small Ohio town, a bunch of apes revolting against mankind, a construction worker suffering from apocalyptic visions, a boy wizard battling to the death against his evil archnemesis, and thirteen assassins bravely embarking on a suicide mission to stop a murderous psychopath. In 2010, there was one film I 100% believed to be a masterpiece; in 2011, there are three. So, let’s take a look at my top 25 best films of 2011, a perfectly adequate year for the world of film.

25. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was the second best prequel of 2011; we shall come to the number one prequel soon. As the slightly dodgy title suggests, it is a prequel to the 1968 sci-fi masterpiece “Planet of the Apes,” which starred Charlton Heston alongside some damn dirty apes. This prequel stars James Franco as Will, a scientist, and Andy Serkis as Caesar, a damn dirty ape. Caesar is the son of a lady ape who had experimental drugs tested on her in an attempt to increase her intelligence. When the experiment goes horribly wrong, Will secretly takes baby Caesar home with him and winds up keeping the little chimp indefinitely. Five years later, and Caesar’s intelligence is increasing rapidly. And when he ends up getting thrown into an ape facility after attacking Will’s douchebag neighbour, Caesar begins to plan a revolution against the human population alongside his fellow inmates. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is a strangely powerful film, in that it makes us root for a bunch of banana-craving primates who wish to take over the world. This may also be thanks to the awe-inspiring motion-captured performance of Serkis as the ape who, in the film’s second half, becomes the film’s protagonist. It’s both an engrossing drama and an invigorating blockbuster, and generally just a goddamn awesome movie.

24. “Arrietty”

Studio Ghibli is essentially the Japanese Pixar – over the years, they’ve given us such animated classics as “Princess Mononoke,” “My Neighbour Totoro” and “Spirited Away.” And while their latest film, “Arrietty,” isn’t quite the masterpiece that these three films undoubtedly are, it’s nonetheless a fun, imaginative and colourful piece of old-fashioned animation and fairy-tale storytelling. Based on Mary Norton’s classic book “The Borrowers,” the film is a fantasy adventure revolving around tiny people called Borrowers. They live under our floorboards in hiding from us, stealing – sorry, borrowing – our possessions for their everyday needs. But one day, young Borrower Arrietty (voiced by Saoirse Ronan) is discovered by a human boy, starting an unlikely friendship and arousing suspicion from the snoopy housemaid, which puts Arrietty’s family in serious danger. Under the gentle direction of Hiromasa Yonebayashi, “Arrietty” is a gorgeously animated family film that is absolutely riveting from start to finish, armed with a heart, soul and brain – it also managed to be visually magnificent without the aid of pesky 3D.

23. “The Help”

“The Help” deals with a subject we’ve seen in countless films before: the treatment of African Americans by racist white folks during the Civil Rights era. What’s different about “The Help,” however, is that it handles this subject in a comedic manner. Based on Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 book of the same name, it tells the story of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (played by Emma Stone), a young aspiring journalist living in the supposedly idyllic town of Jackson, Mississippi. There, she witnesses black maids being mistreated by the rich white families they serve, which gives Skeeter an idea: writing a book from the perspective of “the help;” but the maids are too scared to speak up about the problems they face. Against all odds, “The Help” is a major success; it faultlessly juggles tear-jerking drama, rib-tickling comedy and a tricky subject matter, all the while presenting striking characters who amuse and devastate. It also features two powerhouse acting performances, one from Viola Davis, the other from Octavia Spencer, both of whom play tortured maids – expect an Oscar or two to be handed out here.

22. “Attack the Block”

“Attack the Block” was radio host Joe Cornish’s first attempt at being a big fancy movie director – turns out he’s not just funny and witty and ever so charming, but he’s also got some well proper directing skills too. The film, which Cornish also wrote, is a science-fiction comedy-horror-thriller set mostly in an East London tower block. Its protagonists are a gang of hooded youths who find themselves at the centre of what they believe to be an alien invasion. Together, along with the help of a local drug dealer and a nurse they mugged earlier that night, they must heroically defend their homely tower block from an unstoppable gang of vicious, bloodthirsty extra-terrestrials who fall down from the stars. Jam-packed with plenty of style and a boatload of laughs, “Attack the Block” is a funny, scary and thrilling British genre flick featuring marvellous special effects and some very original and interesting aliens – seriously, they’re, like, blacker than black and have got glow-in-the-dark fangs and can climb up the sides of buildings. They’re well scary too, bro.

21. “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”

“Tintin” creator and author Hergé famously stated that Steven Spielberg was the one and only director capable of bringing his beloved character to the big screen. Well, Spielberg took on that challenge and proved that Hergé may very well have been entirely correct: Spielberg’s “Tintin” adaptation was absolutely phenomenal. Filmed using very impressive motion capture and presented in eye-popping 3D, “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” saw the intrepid journalist, along with his loyal dog Snowy, going on an adventure to discover, as the title suggests, the secret of the Unicorn. On this thrilling journey, Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) is kidnapped, held in a cage, meets drunkard Captain Haddock (voiced by Andy Serkis) and crashes a plane into the middle of a desert – and that’s only the first half of the film. Presenting us with mouth-watering visuals, witty writing and nonstop action, “The Secret of the Unicorn” is an invigorating piece of blockbuster entertainment that more than lives up to its classic source material; it’s also one of the few motion-captured films to convince me that the medium really could go places.

20. “Arthur Christmas”

“Arthur Christmas” is the owner of two trophies: one for being the first Christmas film of 2011 (in the UK, at least; in the US, that position belongs to “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas”) and another for being the best animated film of the year (though that’s a tough call). Acting as a collaboration between Sony Animation and Aardman Animation, this computer-animated festive flick saw James McAvoy voicing the eponymous Arthur, the youngest son of Santa Claus. Following another supposedly successful Christmas Eve, Arthur discovers to his horror that one of the presents fell of a conveyer belt in the North Pole and thus went undelivered – this means somewhere in the world a child will wake up without a present from Santa. Unable to persuade his brother or father to fly back to England to deliver the present to its rightful owner, Arthur is forced to go on an adventure with grumpy Grand-Santa (voiced by Bill Nighy) to hand one last present to one special little girl – but will he make it to England before the sun rises on Christmas morning? Funny, sweet, whimsical and exciting, this visually extravagant and endlessly imaginative family film proved to be one of the best Christmas films of recent years; if you can believe it, it’s even better than “Christmas with the Kranks.”

19. “13 Assassins”

“13 Assassins” is the best samurai film since that Tom Cruise movie where he had a beard – actually, it may very well be even better than that film. Directed by controversial filmmaker Takashi Miike, “13 Assassins” is a Japanese epic about, well, 13 assassins. These assassins have assembled together in 1840s Japan to execute the malicious Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu, son of the former Shogun and brother of the current Shogun – with this status, no one can touch him. But the thirteen assassins are on a quest to chop the raping, murdering Naritsugu to bits with their sharpened swords of shining steel, and thus restore peace and order to Japan – but Naritsugu won’t come easy, and he has quite an army of loyal guards defending him. Armed with an unquestionably despicable villain and an endlessly riveting storyline, “13 Assassins” is a thrilling, electrifying and gripping piece of action and drama. It starts with a slow burn, building up characters and tension, and then explodes into a no-holds-barred action spectacle of blood-stained mayhem involving bodily dismemberment and the burning of CGI cows – it’s like the opening scene of “Mars Attacks,” but, like, all serious and stuff.

18. “Melancholia”

Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” is a film of two halves. The first half shows the lavish and luxurious wedding reception of Justine (played by Kirsten Dunst) and fiancé Michael (played by Alexander Skarsgård) at a fancy mansion; the mood at the reception gradually becomes less and less enthusiastic as the night goes on, eventually taking a turn for complete and utter disaster. The second half takes place at the same mansion, where a clinically depressed Justine stays with her sister, Claire (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg), and Claire’s husband, John (played by Kiefer Sutherland), as she recovers. This all happens as a planet named Melancholia is predicted to collide with the Earth and destroy all life on our pathetic little planet. As its title proudly suggests, “Melancholia” is a gloomy experience, although what do you expect from a Lars von Trier movie about the end of the world? It’s a captivating, albeit rather depressing, apocalyptic drama that gloriously displays Trier’s unique yet undeniable talents as a director. Dunst also gives a remarkably enchanting performance as a clinically depressed spoiled brat in what is undoubtedly the best performance of her career so far – yes, even better than her performances in the “Spider-Man” trilogy.

17. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

I’m sure you, dear reader, shall be as shocked as I was when I learned that English actor/chameleon Gary Oldman has never won, nor been nominated for, an Oscar. I know, it’s positively scandalous! But all that may change with “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” in which Oldman gives the subtlest of subtle performances as George Smiley, the tight-lipped spy hunter from John le Carré’s bestselling “Karla” trilogy. Smiley, having just been forced to retire following a major screw-up by somebody else, is asked to return to British Intelligence and sniff out a possible mole that may be leaking information to the villainous Russians. Smiley gets to sniffing, visiting old friends and stealing private documents as he chases down a sneaky, conniving rat who may very well turn out be one of his old buddies. Oldman’s captivating performance, along with Tomas Alfredson’s ice-cold direction, makes “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” a triumph of a Cold War spy drama with a mystery that engrosses from the opening scene right up to the end credits – but who’s the mole? Well, wait and see the movie, Mr(s) Impatient.

16. “Take Shelter”

“Take Shelter” makes its viewers question whether or not its protagonist is entirely sane. This protagonist is Curtis LaForche (played by Michael Shannon), a construction worker living contentedly with his wife and daughter in a small Ohio town. Curtis has been suffering from strange visions of storms lately, sometimes in his dreams, sometimes when he’s walking about during the day. Curtis becomes worried that they might be symptoms of schizophrenia, but something much more troubling comes to mind: what if they’re a warning of a coming apocalypse? Showcasing a subtle but dedicated performance from Shannon as a man who may or may not be losing his mind, as well as a poignant performance from co-star Jessica Chastain as his suffering wife, Jeff Nichols’ atypical disaster movie makes for overwhelmingly emotional and gripping viewing as we try to figure out whether or not our protagonist is a total nutcase.

15. “Warrior”

Gavin O’Connor’s “Warrior” features three powerhouse performances from Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte; they’re some of the most heart-breaking and effective displays of acting I’ve seen in recent years. “Warrior” is a sports drama that gives us a peek into the violent world of Mixed Martial Arts. It tells the story of two estranged brothers (Hardy and Edgerton) who separately decide to enter a Mixed Martial Arts tournament at the same time, their recovering alcoholic of a father (Nolte) training Hardy’s character. The film acts as a mash-up between hard-hitting family drama and a movie about competitive sports, much like “The Fighter” did last year, though to lesser effect. And while its plot no doubt contains an inescapably formulaic and predictable ending, “Warrior” is an astonishingly powerful and engaging drama that holds the title of the one and only film of 2011 to make me cry – I’m not even ashamed to admit it managed to make me burst into tears a grand total of three times. They’re brothers, goddammit! It’s beautiful!

14. “Submarine”

Richard Ayoade, who may recognise as super-nerd Moss from “The IT Crowd,” made his directorial debut this year with the funny and touching indie comedy-drama “Submarine.”  The film follows the everyday life of 15-year-old Welsh boy Oliver Tate (played by Craig Roberts), who lives in 1986 Swansea. Oliver has fallen in love with fellow classmate Jordana (played by Yasmin Paige), a straight-talking trouble-maker with whom Oliver intends to lose his virginity. Meanwhile, Oliver suspects that his parents’ sex life is going downhill, worsened by the presence of his mother’s kooky ex-boyfriend, a new age guru with a mullet, who has just moved in next door; the nosy Oliver is determined to sort out the situation all by himself. Made with a low budget and an inspired directorial vision, “Submarine” is an effectively quirky coming-of-age tale in the vein of American filmmaker Wes Anderson; it’s a very creative and very promising directorial debut from Ayoade, who will hopefully soon be rid of the title “Moss from “The IT Crowd”.”

13. “Super 8”

It’s never been much of a secret that J. J. Abrams, a very talented movie-maker, is a hardcore fan of Steven Spielberg, but it wasn’t until Abrams’ third feature film, the wonderful “Super 8,” that he fully embraced his love of the man – imagine his delight when Spielberg stepped on board the project as a producer. Like some of Spielberg’s most beloved feature films, “Super 8” is a small-town science-fiction flick. It is set in the fictional Ohio town of Lillian, where a horrible train crash sets in motion a bizarre series of events: local dogs go missing, people disappear and household items are seemingly being stolen. The locals are baffled; but maybe the answer to the mystery lies within footage of the train crash captured by chance by a group of young aspiring filmmakers. “Super 8” is a magical film. It is a film made with passion and a rare inspired vision. It is exciting, moving and entirely fascinating for its whole length. It works not only as a tribute to a legendary filmmaker but also as a god damn awesome piece of sci-fi movie-making. I’d say it’s “super great,” but that would be cheap of me – it is, in fact, E.T.-riffic.

12. “X-Men: First Class”

After the dire “X-Men: The Last Stand” and the mind-numbing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” British director Matthew Vaughn brought the cash-guzzling “X-Men” franchise back to more-than-fine form with this first class prequel starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Set in the groovy ‘60s against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, “First Class” saw the beginnings of the original X-Men, a team of super-powered mutants lead by mind-reader Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) and metal-manipulator Erik Lensherr (aka Magneto). In their first adventure, the X-Men are up against the villainous Sebastian Shaw (played by Kevin Bacon), aspiring world dominator and killer of Magneto’s mummy. While there are admittedly some clumsy continuity errors when tying itself up to the previous films, “First Class” is nonetheless an enthralling and exhilarating piece of superhero entertainment that packs in just as much drama and emotion as action and special effects. It’s not only first class, it’s X-cellent. Sorry.

11. “Bridesmaids”

Easily seizing the title of the funniest film of 2011, “Bridesmaids” is a side-splitting and foul-mouthed comedy revolving around the trials and tribulations of being a maid of honour. Thirtysomething Annie (played by Kristen Wiig) is single, works in a jewellery store and is in a sexual relationship with a self-absorbed prick. Much to her horror, Annie’s best friend, Lillian (played by Maya Rudolph), gets engaged and asks Annie to be her maid of honour. What follows is an increasingly disastrous series of events involving food poisoning, drunken disorderliness and public freak-outs as the plans for the big day itself are carefully assembled by a misfit team of bridesmaids. Director Paul Fieg’s very R-rated comedy is a no-holds-barred big ball of hilariousness that stands tall with such recent adult comedies as “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin;” it’s also absolutely essential viewing for anyone wishing to watch Melissa McCarthy taking a dump in a sink – I’m sure there are plenty of you out there.

10. “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

So, let’s talk about Kevin: “We Need to Talk About Kevin” is a drama, a thriller and a horror; it is an emotional, intense and terrifying piece of arthouse cinema. It is directed and co-written by Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay; it is her third film and her first to be set outside of Scotland. Based on Lionel Shriver’s celebrated novel of the same name, it stars Tilda Swinton as Eva Khatchadourian, an American wife and mother. Her eldest son, Kevin, has done something horrific; I don’t think I’ll tell of the specifics of his actions. Eva now unfairly has to deal with the consequences and backlash of what Kevin has done; we also flashback to when Kevin was born, as he grew up and as Eva began to suspect there was something very wrong with her firstborn. “We Need to Talk About Kevin” is dark and disturbing, and deliberately so. It features a powerful performance from Swinton as an exhausted and tortured mother; Ezra Miller is magnificently menacing as troubled teenager Kevin. Ramsay’s third film is an all-consuming, stylishly directed and tremendously well-acted domestic drama certainly worthy of being talked about – it is also the best form of cinematic birth control since Richard Donner’s “The Omen.”

9. “Tyrannosaur”

As one would expect from any British kitchen sink drama, “Tyrannosaur” is dark, depressing and unflinchingly violent – it may also hold the record for most utterances of the dreaded C word in a 2011 film. It stars enormously talented Scottish actor Peter Mullan as Joseph, a short-tempered drunken brute who, in the opening scene, we watch kick his own dog to death – well, that’s one way to grab an audience’s attention. Eager to change his abusive ways, Joseph seeks comfort in a seemingly happy and contented local Christian lady (Olivia Colman), whose dark and devastating secret threatens to respark Joseph’s anger and brutality. The overwhelmingly grim and relentlessly disturbing “Tyrannosaur” (which unfortunately contains not a single dinosaur) was English actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut; it turns out Considine is as talented a director as he is an actor, if not more so. Showcasing two standout performances in the form of Mullan and, more surprisingly, comedy actress Colman, this harrowing, bleak and heart-breaking Brit-flick absorbs from beginning to end and haunts long after the end credits have finished rolling. I think it’s fair to say, though, that it’s most definitely not everyone’s cup of tea – especially dog people.

8. “Hugo”

Martin Scorsese’s passionate tribute to the old days of silent cinema was not only his first film to be released in 3D, but also his first proper all-out family flick – yes, apparently “Goodfellas” isn’t considered fun for all the family. Ah well. “Hugo,” based on Brian Selznick‘s bestselling children’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” told the story of an orphan boy who lives between the walls of a Paris railway station in the early 1920s. Young Hugo spends his days spying on passengers, stealing food, running away from the station inspector and fixing a rusty automaton that may have the ability to write; but what does the station’s toy shop owner know about the broken automaton? Magical, whimsical and utterly enchanting, Scorsese’s family-film debut just goes to show how versatile a filmmaker he really is – see, people, he doesn’t just do sweary, gritty gangster flicks with Robert De Niro; he does sweet and innocent family flicks too.

7. “The Skin I Live In”

Probably the most disturbing film of 2011, writer-director Pedro Almodóvar’s dark and deranged Spanish film “The Skin I Live In” is part drama and part body-horror. Based on the novel “Tarantula” by Thierry Jonquet, it stars Antonio Banderas as Robert Ledgard, a successful surgeon obsessed with creating an impenetrable synthetic skin. Within his home he has a captive, a strange lady on whom he is surgically experimenting. He keeps her in a locked room and tries out his synthetic skins on her, essentially using her as a human guinea pig; but something is going on between these two that is much more sinister and hair-raising than one might expect, revealed through several flashbacks that unmask a horrifying, mortifying secret – it’ll make you puke, in a good way.

6. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2”

Part two of the epic conclusion to the beloved “Harry Potter” film saga proved not only to be a more than satisfying end to the series, but also the very best of the lot (well, at least according to me). “Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” which was released in 3D, continued young wizards Harry, Ron and Hermione’s noble quest to destroy all the remaining parts of the callous Lord Voldemort’s evil soul. This leads them to the familiar setting of Hogwarts School, which they must heroically defend alongside their classmates and teachers from the enormous army of Death Eaters that Lord Voldemort has assembled; but who will be getting out of this battle alive – The Boy Who Lived or He Who Must Not Be Named? Fast, furious and tremendously exciting, “Deathly Hallows – Part 2” was one of the most epically epic films of 2011, packing in spectacular action, blockbuster thrills and hard-hitting drama worthy of shedding a few tears over – I’m not crying, I just poked myself in the eye with my 3D glasses.

5. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” instantly grabs its audience with an eye-popping hallucinogenic nightmare of an opening titles sequence and refuses to let go. This was Fincher’s redo of Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 Swedish film of the same name, both films based on Stieg Larsson’s bestselling novel, which was published as “Men Who Hate Women” in Sweden. It stars Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, a recently disgraced investigative journalist who is contacted by Henrik Vanger (played by Christopher Plummer), an elderly millionaire who wishes for Mikael to solve the 40-year-old disappearance of his beloved niece, Harriet. Mikael gets to investigating and soon learns of Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara), the troubled and tortured computer hacker who performed a background check on Mikael for Henrik. Adamant to not have his name disgraced again, Mikael requests the aid of Lisbeth’s research skills; soon enough, the two are working together and find themselves on the hunt for a killer of women. Bettering the original film and beautifully translating the world-renowned novel onto the big screen, the brutally violent “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a haunting and hypnotic experience that showcases a career-best performance from Craig and a breathtaking performance from up-and-comer Mara that is impossible to take one’s eyes off of.

4. “Drive”

Essentially “The Transporter” with a brain, a heart and a sexy Ryan Gosling, “Drive” is Nicolas Winding Refn’s noirish tale of a nameless stunt driver who finds himself in the bad books of some violent gangsters. At night, The Driver works as a getaway driver for crooks and thieves; he’s very good at his job and very strict about his routine. But one day, a job goes outrageously wrong, leaving him with a boatload of cash belonging to an unscrupulous mobster who’ll do anything to get his money back. Featuring commanding performances from Gosling as the tight-lipped hero and Albert Brooks as the brutal baddie, “Drive” is an immensely absorbing and effortlessly cool American crime-drama, aided by Refn’s fearlessly stylish direction and an ‘80s soundtrack that sounds like it was hand-crafted by The Lord himself – Jesus is into synthesiser beats, apparently.

3. “A Separation”

Here’s a film only the nerdiest of film nerds will have heard about. Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation” is an Iranian domestic drama about a potentially broken middle-class family. It stars Leila Hatami and Peyman Maadi as Simin and Nader, respectively. Simin and Nader have been married for fourteen years, have an eleven-year-old daughter named Termeh (played by Sarina Farhadi) and wish to have a divorce. This is because Simin wants to flee from Iran and live in Europe with her husband and daughter while Naader is adamant that he stay in Iran to take care of his elderly father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. The husband and wife unofficially separate, meaning someone must take care of Nader’s father while Nader is at work; Nader decides to hire the deeply religious and five-months-pregnant Razieh (played by Sareh Bayat), which sets in motion a disastrous, dramatic and morally complex chain of events. Exploring several intriguing themes such as religion, deception, responsibility and family, “A Separation” is one of the most effortlessly compelling dramas I’ve seen in yonks; its beautifully written script, intimate on-screen performances and stunningly realistic characters also help to make it tremendously accessible for “mainstream audiences” – yes, I mean you, you gormless clowns. I jest, I jest.

2. “The Tree of Life”

It’s difficult to describe the experience that is “The Tree of Life;” it’s such an original, ambitious and deliberately unique piece of filmmaking that one feels a few brief words of description wouldn’t do the film justice. Nonetheless, in an attempt to sum it up, I’d have to say it’s beautiful, mesmerising, uncompromisingly epic in scale, utterly stunning, often jaw-dropping, sometimes whimsical, sometimes haunting and never-endingly breath-taking; that sold you on it? Essentially, it’s a combination of a David Attenborough nature documentary and a family drama; one second it’s taking us through the origins of the universe and the next we’re watching Brad Pitt showing his son how to fight.  There’s hardly any dialogue, much of the film’s sound consisting of wonderful orchestral music including a score by Alexandre Desplat. The film is mostly a visual experience, the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki a spectacular feast for the eyes to behold. While some may find the film pretentious, tedious and boring (it actually got booed by many critics at its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival), I myself found it beautiful, enriching and absolutely fascinating. So, there!

1. “The Artist”

Relentlessly entertaining and practically faultless, “The Artist” is the sort of film that reminds us why we love going to the movies. Writer-director Michael Hazanavicius’ film is one that is about movies. It is a film about the death of silent film and the rise of the “talkies” in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s. The film, rather notably, is itself a silent film – it is presented in stunning black-and-white and its audio is muted; well, for the most part. Its story is a beautiful one; it tells of a man’s catastrophic fall from grace as a result of his pride-fuelled stubbornness. This man is George Valentin (played magnificently by Jean Dujardin), a dashingly handsome and widely beloved Hollywood star of the silent era. Cocky and proud, George confidently laughs in the face of the oncoming talky movement and refuses to participate in the medium; unfortunately, this ends up costing him his career, resulting in his name becoming more and more obscure as the talkies take over theatres everywhere. Meanwhile, a no-name extra (played by the exquisite Bérénice Bejo) with whom George was once infatuated is rapidly becoming a major star of the talky movement, and has taken notice of George’s slip into depression and desperation. Rarely does a film capture as much of a sense of joy and wonder as “The Artist” does; Hazanavicius’ film is an absolute pleasure to watch and a joy to become absorbed in. It is a wonderfully acted, utterly enchanting and insanely charming piece of cinema that is passionate, riveting and, perhaps most importantly of all, accessible. I’d say expect the Academy overlords to make a big noise over this silent film; it more than deserves it.

Endnote: The general rule for films eligible for inclusion on this list is this: any film eligible for consideration by the 84^th Academy Awards – so, any of these 265 films – is 100% eligible for inclusion on this list. The eligibility for inclusion on this list of a film released in either the UK or the US in the year of 2011 that, for whatever reason, was not eligible for consideration by the 84^th Academy Awards shall be decided by me. For example, I’ve decided not to include the wonderful “The King’s Speech” (which was released in the UK in January 2011) as it was more the talk of last year than this year (it won the big Oscar, remember). And hey, this is my blog, I can do whatever the hell I want.