FAVE FILMS 2011

My favorite films of the year aren't necessarily those that I feel, objectively, are 'the best' in some way. Nor are they simply 'fun' ones that I could watch over and over. However some of both do appear here. I don't have a favorite actor or actress of the year, a favorite directorial effort or even favorite film (ok, technically I have 3). No single achievement in any of those categories stood out this year. I do have a favorite script however, as well as a most unforgettable character. All other categories I just can't say. Some of these made me feel really good while others depressed me a bit (or even a lot). But they all had something I'll never forget. I've chosen 11 films that aren't necessarily ones I loved but at least found something about them to admire, even in a cynical or sarcastic way. All of these films impacted me in a personal way. These are the most memorable (for better or worse) experiences I had in front of a screen (cinema, TV or computer) in 2011 and the films I'll think about first when I think back to 2011.

I encourage you to leave comments below. Especially in regards to films you like from 2011 which don't appear here. I may have seen your recommendations but simply didn't include them on this list and for every comment and film you mention, I will let you know my opinion. If this were a top-20 list, there would be about 30 films competing for the extra 10 spaces. I'm not going to mention their titles here but will respond to your questions on an individual basis.

My favorite feature films

This list is in alphabetical order

13 ASSASSINS 

Technically this is a 2010 film and I even saw it in (late) 2010 but it opened in the U.S.A. in 2011 & I love it so much I needed to give this film the limelight. Japanese director Takashi Miike is a legendary fucking bad-ass. He can basically do anything. This time, he's constructed a modern, classic, samurai / ronin, action, drama adventure. The film hacks its way through the old SEVEN SAMURAI paradigm - a few taking on a great deal more & totally kicking straight-up ass without bothering to take names. Not all of them make it through, but when 13 take on hundreds... well, that's something to see. The gore & dismemberment are done in classic Miike style - outrageous exploitation meets slick, masterful direction which literally brings the house down. Miike's trademark 'weirdness' takes a back seat here to a more straight-forward approach in both style and substance. This is certainly one of Miike's most accomplished films, indeed a masterpiece for its genre. The brutality & body count are drawn out all the way to the end, especially the final 1/3 of the film which is basically one extended siege of fighting - sequence after bloody sequence- until the final showdown at the end. The cinema gave out free headbands before the film which was also awesome.

BULLHEAD

This film contains my favorite and most haunting character from any film in 2011. I'm not saying the acting was incredibly great but the actor chosen embodied his character to maximum effect with what the script called for. The story focuses on an anti-hero, Jacky (a.k.a. 'Bullhead'), who suffered a very personal tragedy during his youth, and his struggle to maintain his tough-guy persona, now as an adult, while dealing with an extremely disturbing physical handicap which causes him to suffer from deep-seeded paranoia and personal insecurities (to tell you what it is would ruin the surprise). He is a man at odds with nature itself. Jacky is an enraged man looking for someone to take his anger out on with hulking masculinity, similar to De Niro's performance in Raging Bull. The broader story surrounds the shady Belgian beef industry which first-time director Roskam exposes as being corrupted by Mafia gangsters and other opportunists involved in hormone peddling, intimidation and even murder to keep a power grip on their ill-gained profits. I personally liked this film more than the other 'Best Foreign Language' Oscar  nominee on this list but objectively (see below) think the other one was better. I taught a Belgian woman last year who taught me about the cultural divide in Belgium between the regions of Flanders and Wallonia (a more rural community and considered less-progressive by the Flemish-speaking northerners) which plays a big part in the drama of this story. I'm very grateful for having this background knowledge before watching this film. But it shouldn't dramatically affect your understanding of it if you don't know much about that.

CONFESSIONS

Technically this is a 2010 film but it was shown in a number of festivals in 2011 and if other critics can include it in their 2011 'best of' lists, then so can I. Nakashima's masterpiece left me mentally & emotionally juggling the attempt to love the unethical fun of the revenge flick with the deeper and quite disturbing social commentary of the far-to-common-now reality of children committing violence. But this highly stylized and a bit far-fetched/unrealistic plot masterfully allows the mental gymnastics. For the first 30 minutes, a young, female teacher explains to her class why she's quitting her job after discovering that her 4-year-old daughter's death was not an accident as once believed but a premeditated murder - committed by two of the 13-year-old students in her class. Under Japanese law, any crime committed by anyone under the age of 14 can't be punished so she needs to find some creative ways of getting her revenge.

The ensemble cast of students is terrifically accomplished, especially the two guilty of the murder. The actress playing the teacher is cold and frightening under her physically beautiful features. The film's title comes from the in-depth narrative which we get from the three central characters - first the teacher then the two murderers (as well as shorter ones from secondary characters). The editing of this film is quite remarkable in terms of how it helps narrate the plot but at times it's almost too good - the details are a little confusing because of how many different POVs are involved. Is it easy to enjoy a story about a teacher who goes to great lengths to take the law into her own hands against her own 13-year-old students (despite them deliberately murdering her only daughter) to get back at them in the harshest way she knows how? Not in my opinion. That's the genius of the film - it makes it easy. The only problem with this film is the final two lines of dialogue which are cheap, repugnant and at best, give the film an ambiguous ending which is an insult to the audience as well as the film itself.

DRIVE

No one I personally know likes this film as much as me. It's clear that your opinion of Ryan Gosling can and probably will make or break your ability to like this film. I don't mind him and don't consider him a douche-bag. So when his nameless character (he's known only as 'The Driver' because he's a stunt driver for the movies when he's not working part-time as a mechanic and also a professional getaway driver for heists and robberies) spends the majority of his screen time acting only with his eyes, I don't cringe. I will say that he does this entirely too often though. I admire his ability to do that (if not extremely well). 'The Driver' just wants to drive - he has a very laissez-faire view and no emotional attachment for the criminal activities he participates in. But this changes when the girl living down the hall of his apartment building penetrates his psyche and his next job becomes personal. A double-cross puts 'The Driver' into a corner where he's forced to untypically put himself out on a limb to protect the girl and her son from some of L.A.'s criminal underbelly.

I do have some issues with the film, namely the lack of chemistry  between Gosling and Carey Mulligan (who I've loved more as an actress in  everything else I've ever seen her in) so a lot of Gosling's motivation  (read as 'film plot') is a bit forced and unbelievable. Also, the driving scenes are slick and beautifully shot - unfortunately there aren't enough of them. Gosling's character is portrayed as dangerous and menacing which I don't see in Gosling at all. What I love the most about this film is it's atmosphere. It's a showcase of sleezy, not-often-seen locations of L.A. It's an art-house film with some shocking and explosive moments of B-movie-type violence that doesn't easily allow the film to settle into one genre. The pacing is slow and the cinematography artistic and precise. The sleezy 80s style electronica music is awesome. All in all this is a film that tries to keep a serious straight face but can't keep from sliding at times into cartoonish, even self-patronizing, self-parody. Which I find entertaining on many levels.

HEADHUNTERS

Our protagonist, Roger Brown, is a job recruiter - a 'headhunter' - but his expensive lifestyle is the result of him moonlighting as an art thief. He also has a Napoleon complex due to being rather short (which I can completely relate to). So through a life of fighting to be respected, he's had to be smarter and tougher than the others to get ahead. Not to mention shedding some morality whenever he needs an advantage. All this to especially hold on to his 'trophy wife' - a tall and gorgeous blonde who he's very much in love with. But no one's perfect and eventually he gets caught. Then the cat-and-mouse chase begins. This is not a terribly original story and indeed, some of this film is a little cliche. But then the tone changes and Roger Brown reveals what he's really capable of - namely going full-on psychopath at will to the extent that the film seems to switch genre's at his will; from slick crime drama to horror/thriller to the point of B-movie/camp exploitation and gore - while managing to stay 'fun' the whole time. Roger Brown is a really fucked-up guy when the situation calls for it. And fortunately for us, this happens quite often to Roger during the course of this film. Especially since the guy who Roger has most recently stolen from is an ex-military professional 'tracker' - a literal headhunter. This film has the best 'shit scene' since SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (no words can do it justice - you just need to see it to understand). This is the anti-Stieg Larrson movie of the year (though some of the unused shots from the Swedish television 'Girl' films were used in this film) and better in almost every way.

MELANCHOLIA

Most people would probably really dislike this film, if not hate or even despise it. This was even the attitude of the two friends I saw this with. This was the single most haunting and unforgettable film I experienced in 2011. Von Trier's films are always uncomfortable to sit through. This is his 'Sci-Fi' film (heavy emphasis on the 'Fi'). He actually said that this was his only film with a happy ending (and he wasn't joking). I guess the end of the world would be to him. I literally think about this film daily. I have a masochistic and loving appreciation for about half of this film (in various parts, especially during the first half). I have to mention though that there's a lot of dumb shit in this film. First and foremost is the super shitty dialogue (I hesitate to use the word script but I almost want to). A lot of the dialogue, from just about every character, is seemingly meant to make you feel uncomfortable. At times this is so forced that the actors seem out-of-character saying what's scripted. It's very distracting. I was very confused by the very relationship between the characters because the dialogue doesn't always inform you how they're related.

The entire premise of the plot also makes little sense and is so unlikely it's basically ridiculous (here comes the 'Fi'). A planet has been 'hiding behind the sun' (which is why we've never noticed it before) but apparently in the Sun's gravity and is on a collision course with the Earth (or is it?). Unless it perfectly matches the Earth's orbit (up to now anyway) - which is extremely unlikely - this makes no sense. The speed at which this is 'suddenly' a danger actually transcends physics (but just go with it). But the film perfectly captures the tone of melancholy right down to the color scheme. The cinematography alternates between Von Trier's trademark handheld, shaky stile with 'edgy' cutting and him hacking cinematographer Sacha Vierny's iconic style from the Alain Resnais directed masterpiece LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD - with gorgeous results.

The reason this film haunts me is the fact that at any given moment and with no warning, an asteroid (not a planet however) could really crash into the Earth (they have before) and literally and instantly wipe out life as we know it. This is not a fiction. If you're in front of your computer reading this now, this simply hasn't happened (yet) and you should be thankful. Of course you shouldn't worry because mankind can't do anything to prevent this from happening even if we had forewarning. But sometimes I worry anyway and this film will now always come to mind. MELANCHOLIA will remain a guilty pleasure of mine and I'll watch parts of this film repeatedly well into the future.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

The trailer made me not want to ever see the film. It doesn't show anything that I loved about it (except the scenes with Marion Cotillard). I don't care for Owen Wilson's character very much, nor his fiance's (played by Rachel McAdams - who I'm not interested in as an actress at all). I don't care for romantic comedies in general and I can't remember the last time I loved anything about a recently-made one (there are some classics, don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless or oblivious). Mostly because I never find them funny. I rarely even love Woody Allen films. I do love a handful but he's not one of my favorite directors. The 'magic' which occurs 'after midnight' to Owen Wilson's character, the people he meets and the level of detail that Woody Allen put into the sets (many reflecting famous paintings from the period quite accurately) is what I fell in love with. Also, this film has some outstanding and inspired casting (not Owen or McAdams though). Notice I'm not saying anything about what the 'magic' is in the film. I saw it based on a recommendation from a friend who knew some of my literary interests. I had NO IDEA what the film was really about (I can't stress enough how terrible the trailer is) and when the 'magic' happened, I sat straight up in my chair (I watched it at home) and I think my jaw dropped a bit. It had my full attention. All I'm going to say is that if you like early 20th century literature, this film was made for you.

A SEPARATION 

This is the best scripted drama (in any language) I saw all year. It deserves to win both Oscars: for 'Best Foreign Language Film' as well as 'Best Original Screenplay', though, like I mentioned earlier, I personally enjoyed BULLHEAD more. This film challenged me on many levels because who one sides with is subjectively open to audience opinion. It challenged my prejudices a little about the religion of Islam which the film attempts to portray, to some extent, in a positive light by suggesting that moral struggle for responsibility and truth is dependent on religious devotion and that without it situations like the plot of this film can't end justly. Putting aside all of the hypocrisy of that assumption and that religion is 'necessary to be moral' in general (because it's fundamentally false), it does work, in this fictional story, to the advantage of the characters' personal responsibility and the search for objective truth.

This is a story in which every character is flawed and none of them are innocent - they all contribute to the tragedy which slowly gains momentum throughout the film. This isn't one of those 'cry for help' films which the West is seemingly only interested in from the controversial country of Iran. This is a universal and human story that could even be set in a liberal American city. The main story isn't even about characters Nader and Simin and their desire to divorce which is what I thought going in. But due to their separation, the resulting drama consequently unfolds - with unfortunate results for everyone. It's a film with such attention to detail that it almost requires a second viewing. Not all of the characters' stories are objectively resolved which reminds us, respectfully in my opinion, that life doesn't often offer us easy, black-and-white solutions to complicated problems no matter what your cultural or moral background and encourages us as witnesses to offer our own solution and to hopefully discuss it with our peers - especially when we disagree.

THE TAINT

Ok, technically this is another 2010 film. But it only showed at a few festivals then and has mostly been seen in small festivals in 2011. Again, other critics have rated it in their 2011 list so that means I can too. This is a guilty-pleasure pic. This film is total trash. It's low budget, poorly acted, poorly produced, exploitation camp. And it's fucking amazing. It's easily the most entertaining film that I watched in 2011. I could watch this 100 times and never get tired of it. The story? Well, a 'mad scientist' taints a city's water supply with a chemical that turns men into misogynistic, sex-driven, zombie maniac monsters hell-bent on killing women (primarily by crushing their heads with whatever blunt object is at hand). It doesn't get any more PC than that, I know. As the landscape is becoming infested with the 'zombie men,' our hero (oblivious to the carnage around him) hooks up with a young woman and they try to survive any way they can while not becoming 'tainted' themselves. This film features a fuck-ton of sadistic violence, gratuitous sexual content and more cock explosions than any other film of the year. This is piss-yourself hilarious, complete low-brow entertainment. And I absolutely love it.

THE YELLOW SEA

A good way to come at this film is to imagine if Michael Mann directed The Fugitive only the Harrison Ford character is actually guilty and he's not looking to clear his name - just survive - only it's not the police who's doing the chasing, it's the Chinese/Korean Mafia. The film focuses on a Korean man who lives in China near the Russian border. It's a rather lawless place where shady dealings and gambling are a normal part of life. He's waiting to hear from his wife who has crossed the border into South Korea with the help of the Mafia to find a better life for them both. Finding himself deep in debt due to gambling, our anti-hero accepts a deal to have his debts forgiven if he agrees to to go South Korea to kill a business man. After some double-crossing, the chase is on to somehow find his wife while simply struggling to stay alive himself.

At 157 minutes, this is the longest film on the list. It starts out a little slow but begins to build momentum after the character gets to South Korea and it never loses it after that. There is a lot of action and a high body count. And these guys' weapons of choice are knives and hatchets - not guns - so it's a bit of a splatter-fest. This film could be cut shorter a bit - to it's credit - because there are a number of characters to keep track of, but overall this is a very interesting action film - though ultimately a sad one.