Year in Review: Top 10 Films of 2011

Duality seemed to define filmmaking in 2011. While studios have pitted similarly plotted titles against one another for years—remember Volcano vs. Dante’s Peak?—2011 saw a slew of competing themes. So no discussion about the year’s best films would be complete without talking about their commendable—but less successful companions.

1. Beginners: In a year filled with impressive queer cinema (Weekend, Tomboy, Pariah) no film better articulated the search for identity than Mike Mills’ surprisingly touching semi-autobiographical portrait of his father’s late-in-life coming out. While Miranda July’s The Future explored growing older and our relationships with our parents via similar creative flair, only Mills’ film was a visceral gift of love and life.
2. Moneyball: Sports movies seemed to transcend clichés this year, with surprising offerings like Warrior and Win Win. But Brad Pitt’s labor of love—transforming Michael Lewis’ chronicle of Billy Beane’s attempt to redefine how professional sports are run—is the perfect kind of sports movie, not just one that has you routing for the underdog but one that can turn even the most ignorant into fans of the game.
3. Warhorse: Ever since Pixar’s WALL-E captured hearts, Hollywood has been more open to the idea of a silent protagonist. And while Jean Dujardin’s turn in the gimmicky neo-silent film The Artist is commendable, he is nothing when up against those deep, dark and intuitive eyes of Joey, the horse at the center of Steven Spielberg’s wondrous epic, a testament to his legacy as a modern king of the screen.
4. Hugo: Movies this year reveled in the processes of movie making, with The Artist and My Week with Marilyn celebrating the exquisite joys of old Hollywood. But only Scorsese could use a 3D canvas as a stunning ode to George Méliès and the redemptive power of imagination and creativity.
5. The Iron Lady: The true wonder of this Margaret Thatcher biopic isn’t that it puts J Edgar to shame in the makeup department, or even Meryl Streep’s sure-to-be Oscar-nominated turn. What Phyllida Lloyd has crafted is an all-around exquisite film that’s not just a showcase for Streep but a female take on Citizen Kane.
6. Weekend: Unlike similar low-budget mumblecore-esque indies aimed at the Brooklyn hipster set à la Like Crazy and Restless, Andrew Haigh’s Weekend didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It’s just an unapologetic and simple clip about the complicated emotional maze of gay love that hits the nail on the head.
7. Take Shelter: This year the indie set had a lot to say about the end of the world. But while Melancholia’s beauty was overrun with disdain and Contagion drove audiences into a silly panic, Jeff Nichols’ haunting parable of a man so confused about whether his dreams are visions or insanity that he prepares for both, best blurs the lines between our post 9/11 lust for destruction and our growing paranoia.
8. Tomboy: Only this year did gender identity finally seem to explode as a gripping storytelling device. Pariah and Gun Hill Road proved it was worth the wait. But Céline Sciamma’s exquisite peek into childhood and gender left the discussion of trans identity much more ambiguous—and more profound for it.
9. The Descendants: Watch out, Jimmy Stewart! George Clooney is stealing your “everyman” crown. Though Will Farrell threw his name into the ring with the lovely Everything Must Go and Paul Rudd lost traction with his poor Our Idiot Brother, it was Clooney in Alexander Payne’s The Descendents that captured the fucked-up way modern life plays out and the clueless, guilt-ridden ways we try to figure it out.
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2: Bucking disappointing franchise trends and proving—along with 2009’s The Dark Knight—that the big box office doesn’t have to equal poor artistry (despite efforts this year from Captain America, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class), David Yates’ melancholy yet thrilling—and sure to be underrated—finale took our breath away. —with Dan Heching

Honorable Mentions: Contagion, Margin Call, Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, The Help, Tabloid, Project Nim, Bridesmaids, Young Adult, Midnight in Paris, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy*

*Not seen in time for review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Albert Nobbs, Coriolanus, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, We Bought a Zoo, In the Land of Blood and Honey, W.E., A Separation, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Adventures of Tintin.