My Favorite Films and Performances from 2011

I'm always hesitant to make year-end lists because I know that there always films I still need to watch that very well might qualify. Still, I did manage to catch more than seventy 2011 releases at the theater and on disc in the past 14 months, so I figured posting some favorites couldn't hurt. It strikes me that none of my favorites were nominated for Best-Picture this year (although I quite loved The Artist, Hugo, The Descendants and Moneyball), which perhaps explains why I have never been less excited about the Oscars. The list of films I still need to see is large and would included everything from The Tree of Life to Margaret to House of Pleasures to Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives to The Skin I live In to 13 Assassins and I suspect a number of those titles might have ended up here. Perhaps some of those films might end up on my end of the decade list down the road...or not...only time will tell. For now, here are the films and performances, that were released here in the states in 2011, that moved me the most.

Films:

1. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)



2. Melancholia (Lars Von Trier)



3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)



4. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin)



5. Young Adult (Jason Reitman)



6. The Black Power MixTape 1967-1975 (Göran Olsson)



7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates)



8. Mildred Pierce (Todd Haynes)



9. Hanna (Joe Wright)



10. Cracks (Jordan Scott)



11. Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)




Favorite Performance by an Actor:



1. John Hawkes in Martha Marcy May Marlene

Followed By:

2. Ryan Gosling in Drive

3. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

4. Jude Law in Contagion

5. Patton Oswalt in Young Adult

6. Paul Rudd in Our Idiot Brother

7. Robert Pattinson in Water For Elephants

8. John C. Reilly in Carnage


Favorite Performance by an Actress




1. Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia

Followed By:

2. Charlize Theron in Young Adult

3. Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

4. Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene

5. Evan Rachel Wood in Mildred Pierce

6. Saoirse Ronan in Hanna

7. Eva Green in Cracks

8. Elle Fanning in Super 8

...