My Top Ten Films of 2011

Another year, another list to make. But that sentiment, this year, comes devoid of exhaustion. I saw, I believe, nearly 100 films in 2011 and, personally, I had quite a good time at the multiplex. We had our fair share of disappointments, sure. And I would be perfectly content if, next year, we weren't bombarded with sequels, prequels, and comic book adaptations. Also, let's hope for some better animated fare next year; 2011 was kind of a dud on that front. But on the whole, I was impressed by Hollywood (and all the indie filmmakers working outside it). We saw a few more risks in casting - more and more unknowns are moving to the forefront in this post-Hangover world - and some exciting work behind the camera, too. We had strong movies from awesome directors like Allen, Cronenberg, Fincher, Malick, Payne, Scorsese, and Soderbergh. (It'd be nice if that list wasn't all white guys, but there's always next year.) I saw many great films this year, but it wasn't difficult narrowing it down to the ten that I loved, the ones that got inside my head for days or, in one case, made me actually stand up and cheer at the end.

Here they are:

10. CONTAGION

Steven Soberbergh's what-if drama has so much cold, hard science to it, that it almost feels like it was workshopped at NPR. All the central characters -- even the slimy opportunist played by Jude Law -- never abandon logic or sense. Rather, they operate with total trust in leadership and science, both of which work tirelessly to solve the deadly virus that's spreading worldwide. It's refreshing to see a film in which the characters all seem smarter than you and they're lauded for it. The flipside, however, is that such clinical storytelling results in making the "thriller" even more thrilling. Soderbergh's world is our world -- with long, steady, deep-focus shots, he never glamorizes or stylizes it. So when the virus takes out Gwyneth, and then another and another... it feels uncomfortably possible.

9. ATTACK THE BLOCK

I admit: I can be a bit of a rebel. When the fanboy population begins raving about something (particularly on Twitter or elsewhere on the internets), I quickly get skeptical. I've been burned many times before by films that, I felt, had a sheen of hyper-stylized pop culture appeal, but nothing significant underneath. So when I had to witness a full month of "Attack the Block is the best MoVie EveR!" tweets and messages, I made a point to avoid Attack the Block. But, through a coincidence of availability, I found myself at a showing. And what a nice surprise it was.
Attack the Block is a brilliant hybrid movie: it uses elements of sci-fi, horror, thriller, and coming-of-age. As a band of thieving teens fight off an alien invasion in their not-so-posh South London neighborhood, you grow to care about the characters just as much as you care about the clever plot twists and the moments of suspense. But it's also a thinly veiled allegory for the importance of community building and the way a supportive neighborhood can give someone a sense of purpose.

8. THE DESCENDANTS

We need to stop underestimating George Clooney. He's got an iconic mug and bachelor swagger, so we're always surprised by just what a damned fine actor he is. He always manages to hide behind his persona, from the vulnerabilities of Up in the Air to the crackling anger of Michael Clayton. He does it again in The Descendants, which marks the welcome return of filmmaker Alexander Payne. As Matt King, a native Hawaiian with a comatose wife and two rebellious daughters, he's all pain and desperation. When his oldest daughter (the awesome Shailene Woodley) reveals an awful secret, it sets the plot in motion and, in a twisted way, offers Matt a form of enlightenment. Matt finds a way to heal, to bridge generations and to understand his responsibilities as a member in a deeply-rooted family tree.

7. MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE

Hello, third Olsen sister, and welcome to your career! As the title character - all of them - Elizabeth Olsen is a haunted shell. We cut back and forth between her time in a woodsy, Northeastern cult, and her life after escaping, living with her sister and brother-in-law in an expensive lake house. The back-and-forth cutting amplifies Martha's paranoia, but it also creates an eerie bond between her worlds. The mental and sexual abuse in the cult is raw and obvious to a viewer, but the abuse Martha feels from her sister (and from the material world at-large) is much more subtle. The juxtaposition of these worlds is fascinating because, knowing Martha's past, you put every word directed at her -- no matter how seemingly mundane -- in a new context. Martha's worlds come crashing down around her, but we're also left to wonder just how much more she understands about the world than we do.

6. HUGO

Hugo is a former film student's dream. It's a visually stunning masterpiece, especially with the way the 3D creates the airy, open spaces of the Paris train station. It's a sly and engaging story, revealing details and twists in clever turns that, in a few moments, actually made me gasp. And it's Scorsese's time machine back to the beginning of cinema, to the dreamers and artists who took a new medium and never stopped experimenting because film was magical. I won't spoil any plot details -- I knew little going into the movie and my experience was better for it -- but I can promise that if you paid attention in Intro to Cinema, your brain (and heart) will be tickled by familiar references throughout Hugo. Hugo is about two loners surprised to find their paths to redemption in one another, but it's also simply Scorsese's celebration of the power of his beloved medium.

5. MARGIN CALL

Margin Call is the anti-Artist. The Artist -- which will probably win Best Picture and I'm making peace with that -- is all silence, all facial expressions and body language. The powerful, heady Margin Call is all words. It's number-filled monologues, hypotheticals-filled dialogue, and philosophizing board room meetings. And it's never anything less than compelling.
When a young broker for, well, not-Lehman Bros., discovers disturbing trends in their company's projections, he takes it to his boss. Who takes it to his boss, and so on, until it becomes a moral dilemma: do we save the company and cripple the economy, or do we come clean about the toxicity of our assets and maybe not screw over everyone in the process? Kevin Spacey gives, and this is not an exaggeration, the best performance of his career as a high-level broker in charge of carrying out the dirty work. Every scene sparks with the electricity of the words, of the fear and the greed that have come to define a generation.

4. BRIDESMAIDS

I definitely didn't laugh harder at any other movie this year, and there's something to be said for that. But more importantly, Bridesmaids gave me characters I believed in, characters I rooted for, and characters I could have happily spent several more hours with. Kristen Wiig as Annie is a mess of anger and insecurities that only get more tangled when she's asked to be her best friend's Maid of Honor. Being someone's best friend is all this failed baker/failed girlfriend/failed adult has left and when the position is threatened, she sabotages herself. We all know someone like Annie, someone who's trying so hard to be liked that all they do is hate themselves, and Wiig and her team brought her to screen with grace, humanity, and many, many laughs.

3. WIN WIN

What if the family in The Blind Side had actually had financial problems, if taking in another child had been a burden? What if the family in The Blind Side was a mess of moral complications and questionable decisions? What if The Blind Side has been a really good movie?
Win Win answers all these questions. Paul Giamatti is perfectly cast as a struggling small-town lawyer and Amy Ryan as his feisty Jersey wife. They take in, with great hesitance, an angry, monotone teenager who, it turns out, may be a wrestling prodigy and, while the characters' hearts soften, they never stop struggling to do right by one another. The actors play off each other wonderfully; Bobby Cannavale in particular makes all of his scenes a spirited joy. Win Win is a film about sacrifices, and the true freedom that comes from overcoming one's fear of making them.

2. THE TREE OF LIFE

It's impossible to watch -- or to write about -- The Tree of Life without approaching it from a very personal and spiritual standpoint. Terrence Malick's epic is a collection of sequences that send the viewer back into his or her own mind, into memories, feelings, beliefs. Moments as big as the creation of the universe feel intimate and moments as quiet as a mother cradling her child feel grand and universal. Yes, there's topsy-turvy editing. Yes, there are dinosaurs and yes, there's Sean Penn (whose character, quite honestly, I could do without). But Terrence Malick is reconstructing the balance of a family, the way the forces of grace and power work with and against each other throughout our lives. The Tree of Life left me in awe with its grandeur, but it also made me feel like it understood everything about fathers and sons, about the way we protect - and sometimes reveal - our hearts.

1. MONEYBALL

So yeah, Brad Pitt did a good job this year. In Moneyball, as Billy Beane, he's the best he's ever been. The pressures and stresses of running a poorly-funded baseball team simmer under his calm-but-cranky exterior. He wants to take risks. He wants to reinvent his managing style and reinvent his team because that's the only way he can truly reinvent himself. Otherwise, he's still a "failed ballplayer" in the back of his own mind. And though it's of course debatable whether or not he succeeds, the journey is inspiring, exciting, funny, moving, and surprising.
Director Bennet Miller paces Billy's crusade out carefully, taking time to establish Billy's quiet desperation before teaming him up with Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a number-cruncher with a non-traditional approach to scouting players. As Beane & Brand engage in some really smart Odd Couple antics, Miller lets their scenes breathe. But as the season heats up, he also mixes in graphic montages and radio announcers, wisely layering the pressures of Billy's world without ever sacrificing the film's reflective, dreamy aesthetic. I found myself completely swept up in Billy's plight, his attempt to leave his fingerprints on an institution by changing its rules, and every single scene rang true while also feeling completely necessary. It was, easily, the most inspired I've felt while leaving a theater in years.

My 10 Favorite Movie Scenes of the Year

An imperfect film - or even a straight-up bad film - can still have one scene, one exciting moment. Conversely, a great film can be so consistently artful or funny or moving that no one scene sticks out as a highlight. My favorite movie scenes this year came from films both great and disappointing; the scenes themselves, however, created an indelible and unforgettable moment and, if a filmmaker (or a performer) can capture you in some theatrical magic for a full scene, I think it's definitely worth noting.

SUPER 8 "Train Wreck"
JJ Abrams' blatantly Speilbergian family sci-fi adventure had a lot of great moments of both suspense and tenderness. The most electric moment, however, came when a pick-up truck purposely jumps onto the train tracks; the ensuing crash is spectacular to behold. With our lovable, moppet-heroes narrowly fleeing the danger, there was emotional heft. But with the disorienting darkness and eerie gleam of the train, the audience was thrust into the motion of the chaos and destruction. It was a grand, thrilling set piece that the rest of the film couldn't quite catch up to.

DRIVE "First Chase"
I didn't really enjoy Drive, so I'm expecting people to yell and throw rocks at me later when they read this. (Ow. Ow! Stop it, Prell!) But I will happily bang the drum for the opening car chase, a sparse and breathless series of maneuvers through downtown LA. It sets up the character's talents - and, to some degree, his world - in an almost real-time sequence that wisely uses ambient noise and sound effects to create tension. It also ends with a moment of surprise wit, giving us a connection to Driver and a sneak peak into the way the cogs and gears turn inside his head.

THE TRIP "Too Dead to Hear It"
If you don't like Steve Coogan, you won't enjoy The Trip, since it's mostly two hours of Steve Coogan playing Steve Coogan while talking about Steve Coogan. In the film, he visits a series of restaurants across the north of Britain for a magazine article; his friend, Rob Bryden, tags along. While visiting the remains of an abbey, Bryden (half-jokingly) asks Coogan to deliver the eulogy he would give at Bryden's funeral. Coogan's ensuing eulogy is... well, mean. Kind of. As Coogan tries to reduce his friend's life to a series of meaningless ventures, he accidentally captures the spirit of Rob's warmth and humor. In the process, Coogan articulates - only with his face - the large, empty gaps in his own life.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS "Prove His Mettle"
In terms of this summer's Marvel movies, I'd put this below Thor (purposefully silly and exciting) and above Captain America (the year's most boring, out-of-place villain), but First Class had the most masterful casting: Michael Fassbender as vengeful Magneto and James McAvoy as cautious idealist Professor X. These two actors played off each other wonderfully throughout, but near the film's midpoint, they get a rare, quiet moment to delve into their talents... and their powerful back stories. As X challenges 'Neto to move a giant, far-off satellite dish, the challenge is less about what he can do and more about how it feels to never stop fighting.

YOUNG ADULT "Drink Before You Speak"
When Charlize Theron's broken and unstable Mavis Gary returns home to Mercury, MN, the first old acquaintance she encounters is Patton Oswalt's Matt Freehauf. He's a smart but cynical sad-sack and over the course of several drinks, the two of them fall into an unlikely but transfixing rhythm. As they trade insults and recall injuries, they beat each other up emotionally. Ironically, this may be the only healthy thing these two characters do the entire film. The action eventually moves outside the bar, where Mavis reveals her true intentions and the confession bonds them together. It's the birth of a fantastic and unexpected screen team.

HUGO "Film on Film"
I'm overly critical of montages, just because I think, in general, they can be lazy and extraneous. But Hugo had three montages and they were all excellent and necessary. Each one hit me right in the heart, but the montage about film's origins - from Melies' magician past to his discovery of the Lumiere brothers' "Train Coming Into the Station" to the advent of shorts and silent features - was, unlike most montages, more than a series of moments and information. It was a soulful tale about a new medium finding its way into the hands - and minds - of excited young artists. In one montage, the endless possibilities of "dreams on screens" came thrillingly alive. It also managed to take Hugo's modern audience and put it in the position of the innocent eyes that witnessed the spectacular, wondrous birth of "movies."

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES "Gorilla Warriors"
I feel cheap picking an action scene - an action sequence, really - in what was a shockingly thoughtful, character-driven film with several brilliant wordless moments. But the scene I find most memorable is the "Ape Escape," a crazy and destructive prison break that pits a bunch of angry monkeys against a bunch of confused cops (and evil corporate businesspeople). The climax on the Golden Gate Bridge was, I'll admit, exhilarating; it was an explosive ballet of primate-on-man violence involving helicopters, several cars, and, best of all, apes on horses(!). I was leaning forward in my seat the whole time, feeling like a soldier in the onscreen war. This very smart film had given me two acts to invest in the plight of its Simian protagonist; now it was offering me the grand set piece the protagonist deserved.

THE ARTIST "Have This Dance"
The Artist's conceit - that it's a silent movie about the advent of "talkies" - is a clever premise that could easily swallow up the film itself. Luckily, the actors commit to giving performances that balance 1920s-style showiness with the kind of subtleties that a modern audience needs for the characters to feel authentic. This is highlighted when George and Peppy, working on a film together for the first time, perform several takes of a pass-your-partner ballroom dance. As George continually ruins the take, the chemistry comes alive and, in many ways, makes the characters into who they become. It shows how much romance is expressed simply in the eyes.

50/50 "Auto Therapy"
The most under-appreciated onscreen chemistry this year belonged to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anna Kendrick (aka "Anna Kendrick, national treasure"). As a cancer patient and his exasperated, newbie counselor, the two actors beautifully played off each other's mounting vulnerabilities. When Kendrick's Katherine offers Gordon-Levitt's Adam a ride home, the two slowly get comfortable in the car, their first time together outside of her messy office. They ease into the conversation and, when he makes her pull over so he can throw out her trash, it doesn't feel like a "cute" romcom moment. There are no over-the-top laughs from her or cocky-but-charming quips from him. Rather, it's refreshingly honest and human, and - unlike anything Kate Hudson's done in ten years - it makes you deeply invested in the central couple.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL "You Say Dubai, I Say Oh No"
The fourth M:I is a feat in choreography. Truly. Tom Cruise, as a looser, fiercer Ethan Hunt this time around, has maybe ten lines in the movie. But he is a physical presence in a way that leading men rarely get to be these days. His "spy moves" are never more on display than in a sky-high, on-the-edge scene that places him on the outside of the world's tallest building, 103 floors up. It's swift but nerve-wrecking, Brad Bird's camera swirling from high-to-low, making you feel every unit of gravity that's pulling at Ethan. And the final forehead-smacking move? My hand instinctively went to my own forehead. I've never done a single thing Ethan Hunt has done, but I feel his pain.

My 35 Favorite Tracks of 2011

I wouldn't call myself a music connoisseur. Not out loud. That would be pretentious.

I will admit out loud, however, that more than in any other recent year, I spent less time seeking out new music and wandering listlessly around audio blogs. I was just too busy, so my tastes tended not to stray from the familiar. If it wasn't a band I didn't already know - or a song that wasn't perfect for a workout/house-cleaning/long pensive drive down Hollywood Blvd Playlist - then it probably never streamed through my earbuds. Sorry, Music!

And yet, coming up with 50 Tracks from 2011 that I loved was not too difficult. Haha, just kidding, I could only think of 35. But - but! - just because a song is a treadmill song doesn't mean it isn't brilliant. And just because an artist makes my year-end list every year doesn't mean they don't always deserve it. So, keeping in mind that I've been less than musically adventurous this year, I humbly offer up my favorites.

(Also worth noting: Some of these aren't quite 2011 tracks, but 2011 is when I discovered them. So to me they're 2011 tracks. Kind of like how maybe you all die when I go to sleep and come back to life when I wake up. Also: I put "Rolling on the Deep" on my list last year because I AM A SORCERER.)

"Youth Knows No Pain" by Lykke Li
Aggressive and aggressively retro. If I ever take up smoking, I'm totally going to play this song while smoking and watching Tarantino films.

"Won't Back Down" by Eminem feat. P!nk
Last time I played this track, I banged my knee on the front of the treadmill because I started running so damn fast. It's not Em at his most introspective, or even his most clever, but with sputtering percussion and an insane sense of momentum, it's his most wild track.

"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars
This song feels like being baptized in an old-timey river. I mean that in a really positive way, obviously.

"Mind Your Manners" by Chiddy Bang & Icona Pop
OK, there's some treacly sentiments such as "I'm living in the moment" and something about a butterfly. But as far as indie playground rap goes (that's a genre, right?), "Mind Your Manners" has the bounce and spirit to rise above its own Hallmark moments.

"Let's Win!" by Alexander
Here's that folksy indie pop I was looking for! Why didn't you tell me about this, Wes Anderson. THAT'S YOUR JOB.

"More" by Usher
This will sound crazy but this song kind of sounds like it was maybe written for Queen. It's an arena-rocker but it's somehow also a dancehall jam. Usher seems really eager to please us and he succeeds. Well, he pleased me; this song barely charted.

"Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine
Florence usually sounds like she's singing with the vibrating edges of her damned soul, but on "Shake It Out," she rips it out and splashes it around while somehow maintaining her maybe-I'm-just-a-Renaissance-painting-who-came-alive vibe.


"Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj
You guys would tell me if I had that super bass, right? I also really love that this monster hit led to the briefly awkward moment of a 6-year-old girl singing, "He might sell coke!" on Ellen.

"Don't Move" by Phantogram
"Don't Move" starts like a beautifully cacophonous collage and then the ethereal vocals come in and sweep over it and when you hear the repeating line of "Keep your body still," you know you should probably do the opposite.

"Hell in Heels" by Pistol Annies
The best, most fun, most rocking feminist anthem of the year came from Miranda Lambert's pistol-packin' country grrl group.

"Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyonce
No one does kiss-offs like Beyonce. She's pretty much the Ultimate Master. (Someone please add that to her Wikipedia page.) So even though I think "WTF?" every time I hear her sing, "You showed your ass and I saw the real you," I still feel every intended growl and moment of soft regret.

"Girls Girls $" by Theophilus London
Oh, Theophilus, you have the craziest shopping list!


"Gangsta" by Tune-Yards
I could just as easily have put "Powa"or "Bizness" on here. But at the end of the day, I'm going to go with the caterwauled storytelling that sounds almost like it was recorded in a back alley. In Jamaica.

"Otis" by The Throne
OK, I haven't actually given Watch the Throne a fair listen from beginning to end and, yes, I need to do that. But until that happens, I'll highlight this Redding-sampled slice of anything-but-tenderness that may or may not have blasted through my car windows throughout July and August.

"Little Black Submarines" by The Black Keys
I could have chosen any track off the brilliant El Camino, but in a gun-to-my-head situation - which is a situation that people writing year-end blog posts always find themselves in! - I'll go with "Little Black Submarines." It starts where The White Stripes left off, but adds a swell of cathartic pain that never sounded this brokenhearted when Jack White sang it. And then, halfway through, they amp up the catharsis.

"You Da One" by Rihanna
I get a little bored with the disco stick waving of "We Found Love," but I can bump along with the breezy professions of young romantic interludes on "You Da One," in which Rihanna sounds, well, actually happy.

"What Do You Want" by Jerrod Niemann
Hands down, the best thinking-about-you-while-drinking song of the year. And that is kinda a HUGE genre.


"Slight Work" by Wale feat. Big Sean
I won't lie; I miss Mixtape Wale, who seemed more courageous and daring, both with his production and his curious social statements. So while his new album doesn't have the bite I'm used to, this Diplo-produced track has multiple elements of surprise and some of Wale's best rhymes.

"The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga
Born This Way is a really solid album, even if we tend to get caught up in the theatrics more than the music. My favorite track is the third single, a perfect example of straightforward, rousing pop music.

"No Strings" by Mayer Hawthorne
Seductive old school R&B; Hawthorne's ode to commitment-free loving actually betrays his weakness for old-fashioned romance.

"Mama's Broken Heart" by Miranda Lambert
"Go hide your crazy and start acting like a lady" demands the mother of the broken-hearted narrator. But the crazy, fortunately, stays in the foreground as the damaged, losing-it "lady" unravels at the expense of her mother's carefully constructed facade.

"Cbat" by Hudson Mohawke
This is mostly just an awkwardly repeating riff, but to me, it feels like the tribal dance of the iGeneration.

"Starry Eyed" by Ellie Goulding
She sounds like she's being swallowed up in her own excitement and passion while dreamlike soundscapes cascade around her. When Ellie falls in love, it feels like a star collapsing.

"Do It Like a Dude" by Jessie J
I'm not sure where exactly this should fall on the postfeminist measuring stick, but the girl's got mad swagger (that's a thing, right?) and it gets nicely highlighted on this banger that rocks the floorboards. I do not, however, condone spiky lipstick.


"The Circle Married the Line" by Feist
It's typically gentle, but this standout track from Metals is wistful and hopeful, and full of beautiful textures. It's a love song that's just downright lovely.

"You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" by Cee-Lo
Rave On, a pretty great Buddy Holly tribute album, came out this year. And the cut that works best? This jaunty ode to being "square," performed by pop's roundest star.

"Like This" by E-603
Haha, I kind of found a way to put "Rolling in the Deep" on here. Gotchya! Seriously though, E-603 is nipping at Girl Talk's heels in the brilliant mashing department and Smokeshow is clever and intoxicating from beginning to end. He turns transitions into exciting moments of recognition. I'm highlighting "Like This" because of its mind-bendingly awesome mash of Adele, Ace of Base, Mims, LCD Soundsystem, Len, and many more.

"Houdini" by Foster the People
While we were pumping up our kicks, we might have overlooked this dreamy bit of electro-rock that was made to be played over montages of teenagers partying when their parents are out of town.

"Sleazy Remix" by Ke$ha featuring Andre 3000
I miss OutKast and, honestly, this was a fun way to get a little fill of Andre this year. And I will (semi-confidently) defend Ke$ha's "trash pop" any day of the week.

"Take Off Your Shirt" by Bibio
Some fun, loose guitar-driven rock with an undeniably raw and sex-tinged undercurrent. The kind of song that the neighbor kid's garage band would write, if they were way better.

"I Wrote The Book" by Beth Ditto
For Ditto, this is actually restrained. She reins in her gritty diva-ness and recasts herself as an 80s dance-pop songstress, full of melodic cooing and subtle proclamations.

"If I Die Young" by The Band Perry
It took a while, but this country hit really grew on me. It's a surprising hit, considering what a peaceful, calm song it is about death. But it has real soul and I'll be damned (pun intended) if the hook of that chorus doesn't seep into your mind-grapes for days.

"Bounce" by Calvin Harris featuring Kelis
Calvin Harris does his best beep-booping here (and he does a lot of it - and he does it well, don't get me wrong) in this Europop confection that, despite being great in its own right, now sounds like the prequel to "We Found Love."


"Sweat" by Casely featuring Lil Jon and Machel Montano
Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" was a classic lesson in how to NOT incorporate a club sample into an R&B song. Luckily, Casely released "Sweat," an ode to swapping bodily fluid on the dance floor, and he uses the exact same sample as Beyonce: Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor." It's the kind of song perfect for a NappyTabs routine. By letting the sample stand on its own - with Lil Jon throwing some grunts and "Sweat!"s over it - it gives the track a series of thumping, energizing climaxes. That's what she said.

"Someone Like You" by Adele
I heard it so many times that I started to FEEL FEELINGS. It was weird and uncomfortable.


OK, that's all I've got. Since, musically, I've been living in a cave, I happily invite you to tell me what I've been missing and what I really need to check out. We can turn 2012 into a year of redemption!

Or you can just use the comments section to bash me for my awful taste. Either way.

(On Twitter at @AaronFullerton)