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).

Tyrannosaur Review

With every passing year, each franchise sequel is promised to be ‘darker’ than its predecessor. Harry Potter, Batman, Spider-man, Twilight, etc, all make promises about their increasing darkness, that if they were actually true, we’d all have been watching blacked out screens with just the audio track playing long ago. Pah. Those films aren’t ‘dark’.Tyrannosaur is ‘dark’. Tyrannosaur is grim. Proper grim. It’s the kind of film where you end up rooting for its main character only because he’s somewhat less of a total bastard than other characters in it. The kind of film where we are introduced to said main character by him viciously kicking his dog to death. It’s a credit to both Peter Mullan’s powerful performance and Paddy Considine’s script that we do eventually sympathise with Joseph, a cantankerous and violent old stick, who hates the world and almost everyone in it.

Following a few acts of vandalism and assault, Joe takes refuge in Olivia Colman’s charity shop. Colman plays Hannah, an earnest Christian woman, who at first appears normal, but is slowly revealed to be as troubled as Joe. The pair begin a tentative friendship through which you might expect each to find redemption; and they do, in a manner of speaking, though not before some surprising and unpleasant twists and turns.

As well as writing the script, Tyrannosaur is Considine’s first full length directorial effort too. You would think he’s been at it for years; such is the confident and dignified air the film exudes.Tyrannosaur is reminiscent of his cohort Shane Meadows’ flicks, which is no bad thing. There’s also the visual articulation of social realists Ken Loach or Mike Leigh. Being one of Britain’s best actors, it’s a shame Considine does not elect to get in front of the lens as well, but he clearly knows how to get the best out of those he is filming. Mullan (who has appeared in almost every half-decent British film in the last twenty odd years) and Colman (whose comedic talents are well known from her role in TV’s Peep Show – she doesn’t really have cause to utilise them here though) both give truly excellent performances. Eddie Marsan too is simply brilliant as James, Hannah’s utterly despicable husband (if you thought Joe’s introductory scene was bad…). In a career that has seen Marsan play more than a couple of bad eggs, James may just be the worst of the bunch.

You could perhaps criticise Tyrannosaur perhaps for throwing too much doom and gloom at the screen – you’ll have to endure animal abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism, racism, assault, cancer, death and child abuse – but whether you can stand all that is really a personal choice rather than an indicator of the film’s quality.

Personally, I thought it was excellent. Tyrannosaur has already picked up a clutch of awards at various film festivals, all of which are thoroughly deserved. Considine long ago proved himself to be a most impressive actor; he’s now demonstrated that he can both write and direct with finesse too. Some guys get all the luck.