The “rules”, if you will, are pretty identical to my other top list. Except maybe for the honorable list section and raising the cap to three-zero since, you know, why not? I’ve seen a lot of movies last year anyway. Might as well have more fun with it, yeah? Besides — this list should’ve been posted already last week, and the reason I didn’t put it up was because I still had to see some films that are eligible. Call it a challenge of some sort.
So, just similar to the video games one: Don’t go ballistic if your favorite film didn’t make my list because (once again) it doesn’t mean anything, and so on and so forth.
30. The Flowers of War
29. Immortals
28. The Tree of Life
27. Midnight in Paris
26. Young Adult
25. Friends with Benefits
24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
23. The Adventures of Tintin
22. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
21. Our Idiot Brother
20. Your Highness
19. Thor
18. Bridesmaids
17. Limitless
16. Captain America: The First Avenger
15. Paul
I consider it as a fun “spin-off” to the The Three Flavours Cornetto/Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz anyone?).
14. Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below
Makoto Shinkai’s latest may not be as elegant as his previous work (5cm) and it isn’t the masterpiece that I want it to be, but it’s still worth a shot if you’re a fan of his films and Studio Ghibli.
13. Drive
Mark Millar called it “…the best movie Michael Mann never made”, and I fully agree.
12. Submarine
One of those rare, sweet and quirky teen comedies that hits (almost) every note.
11. Super 8
An enjoyable coming-of-age film set in the very late 70s with bikes, walkie-talkies, a John Williams-esque score, and — oh! I almost forgot — an alien blowing stuff up… nostalgia’s the word.
10. Redline
Imagine Hanna-Barbera’s Wacky Races being injected by a dose of Gurren Lagann’s ultra-mighty DNA. Fucking epic.
09. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Wow, talk about a reboot that’s almost as satisfying as Abrams’ Star Trek.
08. The Secret World of Arrietty
Call me crazy, but it’s possibly the best Studio Ghibli film I’ve seen in years.
07. I Saw the Devil
Holy. Shit.
06. Attack the Block
“MOSES! MOSES! MOSES!” Seriously though: I didn’t like it that much initially until I saw it again… and again… and it finally made so much sense.
05. 13 Assassins
Drop me a comment if you’ve seen a 2011 film with a better, 45-minute, climactic non-stop battle sequence… because I honestly can’t think of any that’s as exhilarating as Takashi Miike’s chanbara masterpiece.
04. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
There is another god that walks among us who isn’t called Christopher Nolan, and his name is Brad Bird.
03. X-Men: First Class
Well what do you know — there’s actually a solid and entertaining Marvel movie out there that’s distributed by Fox. Please, pretty-please, don’t fuck up the sequel.
02. Hugo
Two thumbs up. If you love watching movies, then you need to see it at least once (in 3D) and — who knows — you’ll probably thank me later.
01. 50/50
It’s like Garden State meets Taiyou no Uta/Midnight Sun… OK, not really, but you get the idea: a comedy-drama that pushes all my buttons and punches a few.
Have you seen The Artist yet?
No, I haven’t actually ^^;