Top Ten Films of 2011

There were a lot of top-notch films this year; choosing a shortlist was tricky, picking the ten best of those was difficult and deciding the final order was challenging to say the least. Except for number one, this was an immediate gut instinct. As for the rest, let’s not worry about rank too much – they are all outstanding.

10. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
Refn’s tribute to Michael Mann boasted sumptuous photography, an ice-cool performance from man-of-the-moment Ryan Gosling and an unbeatable soundtrack.

9. Rango (Gore Verbinski)
This wonderfully animated and marvellously skewed Gonzo-western proved that a team up between Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski doesn’t have to be totally crap.

8. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig)
Bridesmaids was the funniest film of 2011 by some distance, was performed by an excellent cast and written by Kristen Wiig, who is evidently some kind of genius.

7. The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodóvar)
The Skin I Live In was an exquisitely assembled visual treat; a perfect mix of brains, beauty and brawn.

6. Red White & Blue (Simon Rumley)
A powerful, gripping, horrifying and emotionally exhausting dissection of the lives of three very messed up people, which has been criminally underrated.

5. Trust (David Schwimmer)
A remarkably mature and sensitive study of an incredibly tough subject, which was brought to you by the bloke that used to play Ross in Friends.

4. 127 Hours (Danny Boyle)
I told you it would have made number two in last year’s list; evidently it faced stronger competition this year. Nevertheless, a combination of excellent direction, performance and writing meant 127 Hours held its own.

3. Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine)
Completing my trilogy of ‘tough watches’ (see entries five and six), Tyrannosaur re-established three things: that Paddy Considine is amazingly talented, that Peter Mullan is amazingly talented and that Olivia Colman is amazingly talented.

2. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
One of the most mental, insane, off the hook, thrill-ride, psycho-sexual horror show you’re ever like to see.

1. Source Code (Duncan Jones)
Duncan Jones went two for two, following on from the excellent Moon, with this bigger, bolder and better effort. Simply impeccable filmmaking.

Honourable Mentions

In no particular order: Never Let Me Go, True Grit, Patagonia, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Water for Elephants, Attack the Block, Senna, Super 8, and Melancholia. Finally, a couple of films that most people seemed to love but I thought were total rubbish: Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Kill List.

If you want to see just what films I’ve seen in 2011, then check out my Film 2011 spreadsheet below (*denotes a film I particularly liked).