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  1. #1
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    Chris Knipp's 2011 MOVIE BEST LISTS

    MY 2011 LISTS


    TREE OF LIFE

    (These 2011 Movie Best Lists also appear on chriskniipp.com.)

    There were two grand and epic films in English his year, Malick's and Von Trier's, which seemed to present warring world views at Cannes. Von Trier's isn't really American but since there were not quite enough American films for a list of ten best, and it goes so well with Tree of Life and has American actors in it I put it in that list, which replaces my usual "Best in English" lists. It's also kind of fun to list Lars, who won't set foot on American soil, as an American. There don't seem to be as many good foreign US releases. (This is partly because I prefer not to list films I listed in previous years even if they got a US release in 2011.) But there were a few fine new ones. The Dardennes' Kid with the Bike tells an abandoned boy's story with overwhelming moral authority and simple emotional force; not unusual for them but inconceivable for almost anybody else. Submarine is exceptionally witty and articulate. Tyrannosaur is a work of searing grim power. Weekend is a surprisingly vivid and honest little film of a few intense days between two gay men who've just met. Like L'Exercise de L'Etat but for different reasons, the theater was packed when I watched it, to electric effect. Audiences matter, and the shared experience in the dark still means something special. The degernation of the blockbuster cineplex experience with its chattering commentary (like lip readers, unable to watch without mouthing comments) and texting and rattling popcorn bags goes with the degeneration of the blockbuster film; of the larger commercial movie industry product. I listed a few good ones though. But I don't see the point of including them with films that were made for other reasons than to make money.

    There were some strong new American indie films this year, including the very pure and kind-hearted Terri, the alive and fresh Pariah, and the triumph of bad boy gadgetry, Bellflower. Of course Take Shelter is an indie film in some sense too, but on a different level, with actors emerging as major, Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon, and a perfectly constructed screenplay by the director, Jeff Nichols, which you don't get very often in any film. It's interesting to see a writer-director emerge into the first rank. That happened also with the Mexican, Gerardo Naranjo, whose use of long takes in Miss Bala is remarkable and underlines its claustrophobic intensity.

    Other directors made strong comebacks. Wes Anderson's belated return is a big-heated, grown-up tale about a man child playing father. It's a pleasure to herald a movie by Woody Allen that is both accomplished and kind hearted (despite the dislikeable fiancee and her materialistic parents). Margaret is a real indie film too: so much so that almost nobody got to see it, even after the six-year delay over editing. It's truly independent because it won't fit any mold and it emerges as rough, over-the-top, and exceptionally rich, novelistic, and exciting to watch.

    Brad Pitt astonished this year, not only appearing in two of the best movies, but delivering fine and wholly different performances in each of them. His wife also impressed: though her harrowing Bosnia film in the BHS language with subtitles In the Land of Blood and Honey isn't an unqualified success in the writing department, it's serious and accomplished and very well directed. So much for the prejudices against "Brangelina."

    In the case of the documentaries one could list many more than ten. As long as a non-fiction film provides useful information it may be worth watching. But those that are real works of art are few and far between, and would include Nostalgia for the Light and The Tiniest Place, both Latin American; and the unreleased English film The Arbor and the limited release The Mill and the Cross. Those two both incorporate acted elements and special visuals. The unique Werner Herzog's documentaries are quite naturally in a class by themselves. His new one about executions in Texas is enriched by his exceptional commitment and moral sincerity; his rapport with his interviewees is also impressive. I was not impressed by his cave paintings film in 3D (which except in the new Harold and Kumar film seemed pointless this year, as before). As usual a lot of stuff impressed the critics that contained at least one terrible flaw: I put major examples of this in my "Overrated" list. The marketplace and the downgrading of the culture mean that there are many heralded new films that seem pointless to me.

    There was a terrific range of unreleased foreign films, everything from the simplicity of first love in Un amour de jeunesse (Mia Hansen-Love) to coming of age in time of war (Black Bread) to the woes of being a government minister (L'Exercise de L'Etat) to a corporate thriller (The City Below) to a tense drama about a father and son who're Talmudic scholars! And I'm sure many more from exotic sources that I have missed. All the following lists are alphabetical except the first two, which are best first. P.s.: I had to move The Kid with a Bike from Best Foreign because it won't be released in the US till March 2012. But it's my favorite foreign film of the year.

    BEST AMERICAN
    Tree of Life (Terrence Mallick)
    Melancholia (Lars von Traier)
    The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
    Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)
    Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
    Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin)
    Margin Call (J.C. Chandor)
    Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
    Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)
    Crazy, Stupid, Love (Glenn Ficarra, John Requa)
    Warrior (Gavin O'Connor)

    BEST FOREIGN
    Incendies (Denis Villeneuve)
    Submarine (Richard Ayoade)
    Miss Bala (Fernando Naranjo
    Tomboy (Céline Sciamma)
    Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine)
    Attack the Block (Joe Cornish)
    House of Tolerance /L'Appolonide (Bertrand Bonello)
    Weekend (Andrew Haigh)
    A Useful Life (Federico Veiroj)
    Queen to Play (Caroline Bottero)

    BEST AMERICAN INDIE FILMS
    Bellflower (Evan Glodell)
    Cold Weather (Aaron Katz)
    Higher Ground (Vera Farmiga)
    Pariah (Dee Rees)
    Target Practice ( Richmond Riedel)
    Terri (Azrael Jacobs)
    Win Win (Thomas McCarthy)

    BEST UNREALESED IN THE US
    Black Bread (Agustí Villaronga)
    The City Below (Christoph Hochhäusler)
    Corpo Celeste (Alice Rohrwacher)
    The Minister/L'exercice de l'État (Pierre Schoeller)
    Footnote (Joseph Cedar)
    Goodbye First Love (Mia Hansen-Løve)
    The Kid with the Bike (Jean-Pierre, Luc Darnenne)
    Outbound (Bogdan George Apetri)
    Outside Satan (Bruno Dumont)
    This Is Not a Film (Jaafir Panahi)

    BEST DOCUMENTARIES
    The Arbor (Clio Bernard)(Not released in US)
    Bobby Fischer Against the World (Liz Garbus)
    Buck (Cindy Meehl)
    Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life (Werner Herzog)
    The Interrupters (Steve James)
    The Mill and the Cross (Lech Majewski)
    Nostalgia for the Light (Patricio Guzman)
    Page One: Inside the New York Times (Andrew Rossi)
    Project Nim (James Marsh)
    Public Speaking (Martin Scorsese)
    Something Ventured (Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine)
    Tiniest Place, The (Tatiana Huezo) (unreleased)
    We Were Here (David Weissman, Bill Weber)

    BEST BLOCKBUSTERS
    Colombiana (Olivier Megaton)
    Fast Five (Justin Lim)
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (David Yates)
    Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird)
    Rise of Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt)

    MOST OVERRATED
    Beginners (Mike Mills)
    Bridesmaids (Paul Feig)
    Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
    My Joy (Sergei Loznitsa)
    Le Quattro Volte (Michelangelo Frammartino)
    Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
    A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
    Shame (Steve McQueen)
    Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichart)
    Pina (Wim Wenders)

    WORST OF THE YEAR (just that I saw)
    The Darkest Hour (Chris Gorak)
    I Melt with You (Mark Pellington)
    The Ledge (Matthew Chapman)
    New Year's Eve (Gary Marshall)
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (Bill Condon)

    WISH I'D SEEN
    Faust (Alexai Sokurov)
    In a Better World (Susanne Bier)
    The Time That Remains (Elia Suleiman)
    (And others I'm forgetting or don't even know about.)

    (You'll find a comprehensive list of films I saw and reviews I wrote in 2011 at http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/vi...php?f=1&t=1977.)

    Suggestions or corrections welcomed, but don't tell me Lars isn't American. I know that :) .
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 12-14-2013 at 12:53 PM.

  2. #2
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    Chris, I hope it is OK to post my 2011 list here...

  3. #3
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    BEST FILMS OF 2011


    1.NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (Chile)
    2.MYSTERIES OF LISBON (Portugal)
    3.I TRAVEL BECAUSE I HAVE TO, I COME BACK BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (Brazil)
    4.TUESDAY, AFTER CHRISTMAS (Romania)
    5.UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (Thailand)
    6.LE QUATTRO VOLTE (Italy)
    7.A DANGEROUS METHOD (UK/Canada)
    8.MILDRED PIERCE (USA)
    9.THE TIME THAT REMAINS (Palestine)
    10. (tie) A SEPARATION (Iran)
    CERTIFIED COPY (Iran)

    RUNNERS UP:

    POETRY (South Korea)
    THE SKIN I LIVE IN (Spain)
    PUTTY HILL (USA)
    TERRI (USA)
    FILM SOCIALISME (France)
    HUGO (USA)
    THE ARBOR (UK)
    MEEK’S CUTOFF (USA)
    TOMBOY (France)
    ROAD TO NOWHERE (USA)

    HONORABLE MENTION

    THE TREE OF LIFE (USA)
    HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (US/UK)
    A USEFUL LIFE (Uruguay)
    THE FUTURE (USA)
    N.E.D.S. (UK)
    BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA (USA)
    INTO THE ABYSS (USA)
    LE HAVRE (Finland)
    CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (China)
    HIGHER GROUND (USA)

  4. #4
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    I think I've commented on all of these but the four I have not seen and can't think of anything more to say.

    Happy film-going in 2012!

  5. #5
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    Thanks for your reviews of so many movies in 2011, CK. I don't remember what you thought of Tuesday, After Christmas. Did you see this one or reviewed it?

    Happy film going in 2012, indeed! Currently attending the MIFF, then Spring Break, then the Society for Cinema conference in Boston.

  6. #6
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    Thank you for following my reviews. It's good to know someone as discerning and committed as you is faithfully reading them.

    NYFF 2010: that's where I reviewed Tuesday, After Christmas. The main slate included seven of your current choices. And also Carlos, Of Gods and Men, Laraín's Post Mortem, the German film The Robber, The Strange Case of Angelica, and The Social Network.

    New Directors/New Films 2011: this included my favorite recent Romanian film, Outbound (Bogdan George Apetri 2010) and one of my favorites of the series. But it had competition because the ND/NF 2011 slate included Margin Call, Incendies, Pariah and Tyrannosaur. Black Power Mixtape also had great archival footage.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 03-04-2012 at 07:15 PM.

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