Ada's Top 10 Films of 2011

What qualifies:

- any film from a film festival that I attended in 2011
- any film with a Canadian theatrical release dated in 2011
- is listed on www.imdb.com as released in 2011


1. The Artist (France)
2. The Skin I Live In (Spain)
3. Last Night (USA)
4. Incendies (Canada)
5. Muppets (USA)
6. The Adventures of Tintin (USA)
7. Super 8 (USA)
8. Hugo (USA)
9. Midnight in Paris (Spain/USA)
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (UK/USA)


Narrowly missing the top 10 were:

Juan of the Dead (Spain/Cuba)
Pearl Jam 20 (USA)


Honourable Mentions go to:

Restless (USA)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (USA)
X-Men First Class (USA)
50/50 (USA)


I did not get around to seeing Moneyball, Ides of March, The Descendants, Drive, My Week With Marilyn, etc.  Films that I think would've been good, tho I'm not entirely certain if they would've been top 10 material in my eyes anyway.

(clicking on titles will bring you to the IMDB page)

I would be very pleased to see The Artist win Best Picture at the Oscars this year.  In a world where the latest and greatest is celebrated, The Artist takes things back to a simpler time -- a silent black and white time, and reminds us of just how far an endearing story and good acting can go.   That dog should be nominated for Best Supporting Actor!

The Skin I Live In is only second to The Artist because the element of surprise will be missing in subsequent re-viewings, and I suspect that will alter my level of enjoyment.  However, as the credits rolled in the TIFF screening, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.  My friend Sachin and I were just dumbfounded.  I thought it was a very good movie, with an extremity in the plot that just put it over the top.  You're not likely to forget this film. Ever.

Last Night (from TIFF 2010 but released in North America in 2011) won't capture many critics' attention, but it's right up my alley.  It's an exploration of a relationship, questioning morality, temptation and deception.  Perhaps I've always drifted in the grey area when it came right and wrong in love and fidelity, but I'm always taken by plots willing to portray its ambiguities.  Not since Closer and Conversations with Other Women has a movie gripped me in this way.

I realize how much slack I'm going to get for ranking Last Night over something so power and moving such as Incendies, but I will make the same argument as I did for The Skin I Live in.  Once you know a major plot point, subsequent viewings will likely become less powerful.  This was another film from TIFF 2010 but had its Canadian limited release in 2011.  What starts as a relatively straightforward 'search for family secret' story quickly expands into so much more, the movie is moving, horrifying, and heartbreaking.  I always say Canada films never go quite far enough when it comes to evoking emotion, Incendies proves me wrong.

Despite my bias, The Muppets is making a lot of critics' top 10 lists.  It's got a straightforward plot that gives the movie focus but at the same time a lot of room to showcase what the Muppets do best - clean laughs, catchy songs, a few gags, splash of deadpan humour, and lots of heart.  The cameos are amazing as well.  Nothing's perfect but Jason Segel went a long way to apease the oldschool Muppet-lovers and he did right by this one.  He's a Muppet of a Man!

The remainder of the list I don't rank one above the other, all of them made me immensely happy and provided an outstanding cinematic experience.  Starting with The Adventures of Tintin, which had me worried going from the beloved 2D comic to a 3 dimensional world (even though I did not see it in 3D, which I'm kind of glad).  Not having to deal with my nose aching from the glasses, etc. I got a chance to focus on the story and writing, which was excellent.  The humour was so spot on, I knew Edgar Wright wouldn't let me down.  I wanted to watch it again from the beginning as soon as it was done.

Super 8 made me feel like a kid again, sitting in a theatre chair where my feet didn't touch the ground, experiencing the magic of movies where kids my age have amazing otherworldly adventures, eyes wide in wonder and awe.  The dialogue between the children is gold, and the practice of making family classics such as this one should never have fallen by the wayside.

Hugo is another instant family classic, with dazzling visuals, delightful children and a good balance of chuckles and heart-string pulling.  This time tying in a heart-warming history lesson as we learn about one of the forefathers of modern cinema.  Great human and animal casting!

Midnight in Paris is awesome on multiple levels for me, starting with the fact that it's by Woody Allen.  It takes place in one of the greatest cities in the world with a main character who's main preoccupation is harkening back to the golden age of the 20's, filling the movie with familiar names and faces of modern art and surrealist filmmaking (there encapsulating one of the two greatest cameos in film this year -- the other appears in The Muppets).  Yes, it takes a certain knowledge of art history to appreciate all the subtle jokes, but those of us who are just pretentious enough to know that crap, will derive endless enjoyment.

For a long time I desperately wanted to genuinely like just one Harry Potter movie, nevermind love it.  Even without having read the books, the enthusiasm from fans suggested to me that Harry Potter was something very special, but the movies didn't quite reflect that (outside of the obvious).  After David Yates took over in the director's chair the movies began to feel more succinct, the characters maturing and natural development over time helped.  Deathly Hallows Part 1 was good, but needed to be united with its other half.  In the final chapter (by then I had also read the books) everything fell into place, it really was a triumphant finish.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is hands down the best of the series.



Folks, I kid you not Juan of the Dead was on my top 10 list until I went to see Hugo this past weekend.  Aside from the obvious gag in the play on names in the title, it was a rollicking good time.  With so many other films on the list for being a great cinematic experience, I would have to say Juan more than qualifies.

The other film I struggled over whether to put on my top 10 was Pearl Jam Twenty.  I was especially impressed with Cameron Crowe's documentary (that I attended the world premiere of at TIFF 2011) because he crafted a film that won me over despite not being a big fan of the band.  Ultimately I left it off the top 10 list simply because I don't know how many more times I'm going to want to watch PJ20, that makes it no less of an achievement though.

The honourable mentions list are just a sampling of memorable films that went beyond my expectations.  Ok, Fincher's Girl With A Dragon Tattoo wasn't beyond my expectations per se, it is David Fincher after all.  It's hard to do an American remake and have it be as gripping and intense as the original.  X-Men First Class is on the list because it surpassed its predecessors in all aspects (except maybe the soundtrack?) and overall is a superior film by all mainstream standards.  50/50 and Restless both feature terminally ill young people but they don't get bogged by too many cliches, they're touching, humourous, yet understated.  Death is a delicate topic, it's hard to tread lightly while simultaneously creating something memorable.