The Best Movies I Watched in 2011

Each year I compile a list of the best movies I have watched over the past 12 months. I thought the list may be a little difficult to compile given that I have been on a movie watching vacation for quite a few months.  Over the past year, I've reduced my movie watching by roughly 4/5ths of my normal pace. To be completely honest, over the past six months, I've even backed away from screeners and first run films. This will change over the next year, but it has hindered my ability to make a proper judgment on the films of this year.

Going over my notes and reviewing the films I have watched, I didn't watch much and most of the films I saw were utter crap. Here is the small group of gems I found in the cinematic sty I've tromped through this year.

Sheesh, that sounds negative.


The following list is not in any particular order.


Apollo 18 (2011)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing sequences and language

Just when the found footage genre (Cannibal Holocaust, Blair Witch Project) seems to have been exhausted a well built production comes forward to keep it around.

The final trip to the moon is shown through fixed cameras on the ship and portable cameras carried by the astronauts. Like Paranormal Activity, this film revives what should be a dying genre by playing on patient tension to form a compelling horror flick. The audience is given just enough information onscreen to keep them waiting for something bad to happen. This leads to a number of passive scenes being supported by audience anticipation more than actual action or character development.

It is a simple trick, but director Gonzalo López-Gallego manages to pull it off for nearly the whole 90 minutes. The ending is a little light, but if you're up for a tense movie, this is a good pick.



The Devil's Double (2011)

Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and torture, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and pervasive language

Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) gives an Oscar-worthy dual performance as Uday Hussein and his body-double Latif Yahia. He outlines two very specific and equally engaging characters. This is particularly impressive given that the two are identical, which is the whole point of the film.

Cooper's Hussein is a great study of a mentally disturbed man-boy. He is impulsive, brutal yet completely emotionally vulnerable. The film makes sense of Hussien's infamous violent outbursts, murders and using torture for amusement. It doesn't condone his actions, of course, but one comes away seeing how his own tormented psyche would result in such behavior.



Kill the Irishman (2011)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexual content/nudity

There are a good number of critics who panned this film for being derivative and uninspired. To a degree, I agree with Nick Schager's point that the film "apes the work of Scorsese whenever possible". Yes, director Jonathan Hensleigh has created a conventional gangster-flick which is perhaps a little too comfortable traveling down familiar avenues.  Despite this, I still found the film enjoyable, taking it for what it is - a conventional gangster flick.

You will not walk away from this film believing you've seen a genre-breaking powerhouse. What you will get is an interesting rise to infamy crime story fronted by a compelling underground figure, Irish thug Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson).



The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)

Rated PG-13 for some language and sexual material

The fact that Morgan Spurlock made a film which made me forget how much I detested his previous work is saying something. Spurlock, who had made a career out of stunt/gimmick-based documentaries (Super Size Me, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?) applies his schtick to the subject of product placement (the act of marketing through placing logos and products in films and television).

Spurlock produces a film about product placement by funding it through product placement revenue. He goes from one corporate outfit to the next schilling his in-process documentary and selling out to his business partners on screen.

As someone who believes corporate influence, including product placement, has killed the Arts, this film carries an important point. Spurlock has the perfect way to explain it simply and with a smirk.



Trolljegeren "Trollhunter" (2010)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and scenes of peril

The second found footage film on this list, Trollhunter follows the investigation of three students into the strange deaths of bears in the area. They uncover the titular troll hunter and follow him on his secret job, tracking and killing wayward trolls in the region.

This may sound stupid, but it works. Director André Øvredal plays this as a comedic horror film. It isn't that there are tons of laughs, rather Øvredal keeps his tongue firmly in cheek. At no time does the film attempt to be scary or even all that realistic. What it does is deliver a fun exploration of a bizarre situation.

There are a few moments of violence, as one should expect when hunting trolls, but its nothing you won't see on TV everyday. If you have teens, this may be a good selection.



The Art of the Steal (2009)

Unrated: no significant content warnings

Chemist Albert C. Barnes founded the Barnes Foundation, an art institute housed outside Philadelphia. Around 1910, Barnes began to collect post-impressionist paintings from, at the time, under appreciated artists. Through his art dealings he amassed the world's greatest art collection which included over 180 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos. The 2,500 piece collection has been valued at over $25 billion.

Barnes kept his collection tightly controlled and only allowed invited guests (often normal folks instead of the elites) to view the works.

Following Barnes' death, the political and cultural vultures descended on the institute. This documentary outlines the criminal double-dealing and corruption the elite class to gain control over the collection.

If you have any fondness for the Arts, this film will make you spitting mad.



Bronson (2008)

Rated R for strong violence, full-frontal male nudity, sexuality and language

When Tom Hardy appeared in a prime role in Inception, most audience members had no idea who he was. Most people still don't know who he is and won't until The Dark Knight Rises is released and the film's marketing makes him a household name. His appearance in Inception seemed to come out of nowhere. The fact is that Hardy has been around for quite some time and has proven himself to have serious potential as a great screen actor.

His portrayal of Michael "Charles Bronson" Peterson, the real-life "the most violent prisoner in Britain", is a riveting and disturbing performance which most actors only dream of delivering. Bronson is a violent, fame-hungry psychopath who has spent nearly all of his 30+ years in prison locked in solitary confinement. Hardy navigates this inherently despicable character and makes him, not likable, but understandable.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Valhalla Rising) has created a sharp criticism of celebrity through this detailed profile of a seriously deranged man. As the movie poster hints at, Refn pulls from Kubrick's An Clockwork Orange. Both films deal with British criminals, prison systems and a culture that fails to deal seriously with very serious men.

Be warned, this is a violent film which contains all manner of bad language and full-frontal nudity. This is not a film for the sensitive or casual viewer.



Flammen and Citronen "Flame and Citron" (2008)

Unrated: Strong language, violence and some sexual content

Bent "Flame" Faurschou-Hviid (Thure Lindhardt) and Jørgen "Citron" Haagen Schmith (Mars Mikkelsen) are assassins for the Holger Danske  resistance during World War II. Their targets are Danish civilians who work with the Nazi Occupation. Flame, named because of his blazing red hair, is the gunman. His partner Citron, a name he received following the destruction of a Citroën garage, drives the getaway car. The two are quite successful and therefore have also become infamous. They live as outlaws working on assignment.

Perhaps the reason the film works so well is because director Ole Christian Madsen's ability to deliver a action sequences in a mature, believable fashion is equaled by his skill at presenting intimate, personal moments between his characters. Here we have a film about assassins and Nazis. There are gun battles and intrigue. All of this thrilling content and I keep thinking back fondly on the quiet moments. Flame has an uneasy conversation with one of his marks. Citron strained relationship with his wife coming to a close. It is in the personal scenes where the film is most satisfying and is the reason this simply must be seen.



Nordwand "North Face" (2008)

Unrated: Strong scenes of peril and some mild language

Goaded by propaganda and hype, famed Nazi-era German climbers Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) and Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) attempt to scale the dangerous north face (Nordwand) of The Eiger, a mountain in the Bernese Alps.

The Germans compete to reach the top before an Austrian pair beats them.  Journalists pick up on the story and push the national pride angle to boost interest. A young reporter, Johanna Wokalek (Luise Fellner), a hometown friend of the climbers, uses her connections to advance her career. She travels with her boss to witness the doomed expedition.

This is one of the most tense films I have ever seen. In all seriousness, by the time I was done watching, I was stressed out. Philipp Stölzl weaves the climbing story with Wokalek's attempts to climb the corporate ladder perfectly and uses the two narrative branches to build tension and balance the film's pace.

After watching the film, in particular the ending, I did a little more research and was surprised to find out that the "based on a true story" was honest. This seems to be very close to the actual events. A fact that makes this production even more fascinating.



Gomorra "Gomorrah" (2008)

Unrated: Strong caution - Pervasive graphic violence, nudity, drug use, strong language and some more violence tossed in for good measure


Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah destroys the mobster myth through five tales of the Neapolitan mob. Gone is the proud family ties, strict code of conduct and Shakespearean undertones. Garrone shows the gritty, terrifying reality of criminal life where people live under the constant threat of violent death.

This is an ugly film.  That isn't a curse but rather a recommendation. This is about evil men doing evil things, it should be ugly. If only more filmmakers would be willing to present evil in such a realistic fashion. The Arts can force us to consider how we live and plead for us to change. They can also mask our sins and promote destructive behavior.

There is no denying that the first two The Godfather films are brilliant. What is often ignored is their impact on our perceptions of organized crime. Francis Ford Coppola built upon the 20th Century noble gangster myth which heightened the mobster while reducing the impact of his criminal acts. This mythology has also been advanced by The Sopranos and Martin Scorsese's films. If you have the nerve to watch this film, you come to understand how Hollywoodized our concept of the mob has become and how little it has to do with reality.