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JR'S TOP 10 FILMS-2011
2019,
2019-2010,
2019 MID YEAR,
2018,
2018 MID YEAR,
2017,
2016,
2015,
2014,
2013,
2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
2009-2000,
2006
"Good Old JR" Jim Rutkowski
weighs in with his picks for the TOP 10 films of 2011 |
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THE YEARS BEST...
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Movie Reviews by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Looking in the rear view mirror at the movies of 2011, I have to say this was
not one of those years where I bemoan the lack of quality. All in all, a decent
year in cinema. Martin Scorcese showed us all that he does not need a comfort
zone. Terence Malick proved that he can dazzle and infuriate... |
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Looking in the rear view mirror at the movies of 2011, I have to
say this was not one of those years where I bemoan the lack of quality. All in
all, a decent year in cinema. Martin Scorcese showed us all that he does not
need a comfort zone. Terence Malick proved that he can dazzle and infuriate
simultaneously. Woody Allen gave us his best work in many a year. As usual, my
top 10 is a pliable beast. Ask me the order of preference 10 minutes from now
and it will change. Except for the top 4. Those are a lock. What I find the most
interesting about 2011, is that my top 2 picks are films that celebrate the
earliest days of film. Before the advent of CGI, 3D and motion capture. Pure
cinema, after all, is story, character and an artful directing eye. |
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#10-CERTIFIED COPY |
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Juliette Binoche won the Best Actress prize in
Cannes for her performance in this playful and provocative romantic drama from
legendary auteur Abbas Kiarostami, his first feature made outside of Iran.
Binoche plays a gallery owner living in a Tuscan village who attends a lecture
by a British author (opera star William Shimell) on authenticity and fakery in
art. Afterward, she invites him on a tour of the countryside, during which he is
mistaken for her husband. They keep up the pretense and continue on their
afternoon out, discussing love, life and art, and increasingly behaving like a
long-married couple. But are they play-acting on a whim, or is there more to
their seemingly new relationship than meets the eye? A film about truth, love,
fraudulence and authenticity where things may not be what they seem done with a
deft and mysteriously light touch. |
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#9-MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE |
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A powerful psychological thriller starring Elizabeth
Olsen as Martha, a young woman rapidly unraveling amidst her attempt to reclaim
a normal life after fleeing from a cult and its charismatic leader (John Hawkes).
Seeking help from her estranged older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and
brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy), Martha is unable and unwilling to reveal the truth
about her disappearance. When her memories trigger a chilling paranoia that her
former cult could still be pursuing her, the line between Martha's reality and
delusion begins to blur. An existential thriller about identity and just how
tenuous a grasp we have on who we really are. With a knockout performance by
Elizabeth Olsen. Yes. She's an Olsen sister. Never thought I would here "Olsen
sister" and "award buzz" in the same sentence. |
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#8-THE DESCENDENTS |
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From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii,
The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King
(George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced
to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating
accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young
daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed
down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. Funny, moving, and beautifully
acted. Captures the unpredictable messiness of life with rare eloquence and
uncommon grace. |
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#7-POETRY |
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A sixty-something woman, faced with a crippling medical diagnosis and the
discovery of a heinous family crime, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls
in a poetry class. Lee Chang-dong's follow-up to his acclaimed Secret Sunshine
is a masterful study of the subtle empowerment - and moral compass - of an
elderly woman. For my money, some of the finest films are being made in Korea.
Chang Dong-Lee's Poetry is an absorbing, poignant drama because it offers no
easy answers to its complex central conflict. With a heartbreaking central
performance. Great is not a word I use often. Here, it applies. |
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#6-TAKE SHELTER |
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Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and
six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Money is tight, and navigating
Hannah's healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite
that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one.
Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic
storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety
into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard. But the
resulting strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn't
compare to Curtis' private fear of what his dreams may truly signify. Faced with
the proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or
another, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against
the highest possible stakes. On the surface this is a film about madness. But
ends up as a metaphor for the current state of American unease. Micheal
Shannon's performance is hands down, the best acting of the year. All in all,
this is a movie that confronts its own hard challenges - and feels utterly,
uncomfortably relevant in this new Age of Anxiety. |
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#5-DRIVE |
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Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie
productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night.
Though a loner by nature, Driver can't help falling in love with his beautiful
neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a
dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar
Isaac). After a heist intended to pay off Standard's protection money spins
unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl
he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals. But when he
realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his
trunk-that they're coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to
shift gears and go on offense. Creates a new genre that would best be described
as the arthouse action movie. A hyper-stylized blend of striking imagery and
violence, that plays, in part, like a tribute to the films of Michael Mann. In
particular, Thief and Heat. Atmospheric, refreshingly intelligent and
suspenseful with a well-nuanced performance by Ryan Gosling. It's one of the
most invigorating thrillers of the year because it offers both style and
substance |
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These final 4 were difficult to put in an ascending order. They are all equal in
my eyes but for different reasons. But lists are meant to be in order. So here
is where they stand. Ask me tomorrow and the order will probably change. |
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#4-TREE OF LIFE |
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From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands,
Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic
story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of
the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned
adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father
(Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in
the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while
questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see
how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as
individuals and families, but all life. From reclusive director Terence Malick
comes a film that defies categorization. "Tree of Life" is a cinematic poem that
will challenge your intellect, your faith and at times your patience. Beautiful,
baffling, lyrical, intimate and at times pretentious. Evokes the emotional
turmoil of childhood, its resentment, pains and joys, in a way that few other
filmmakers can match. If you believe cinema can still be a valid form of
personal expression, then see this. It does not get any more expressly personal
than this. And it has dinosaurs in it. Yes. Dinosaurs. |
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#3-MIDNIGHT IN PARIS |
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This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of
business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have
experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love
for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from
theirs would be much better. A real return to form for Woody Allen and his best
film in a decade. He may not be reinventing any wheels here and it may not boast
the depth of his classic films, but the sweetly sentimental nature of this
astute comedy about artistic creation and personal dreams is profound none the
less. He suggests that no matter what era you're in, you are unaware of its
value, so you look back and see a better past. And the past, of course, is a
selective illusion. |
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#2-HUGO |
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Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin
Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of
unforgettable films. This holiday season the legendary storyteller invites you
to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D
film, based on Brian Selznick's award-winning, imaginative New York Times
best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret."
Hugo is the astonishing adventure
of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his
father will transform
Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and
loving place he can call home. Our very finest director, Martin Scorcese, here
working well outside of his comfort zone in 2 genres: The family film and in the
3D format. Scorcese fully embraces both and creates an extravagant, elegant
fantasy with an innocence lacking in many modern kids' movies, and one that
emanates an unabashed love for the magic of cinema. This is obviously an
intensely personal statement from Scorsese. Like a great literature, if you
immerse yourself in it, the rewards are plentiful. The film is really about
Scorsese sharing with us, on a deep visceral level, his extraordinary affection
for the medium that's his passion, his profession, his everything. In attempting
to create a film for all ages, Martin Scorcese has created instead, a film for
the ages. |
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#1-THE ARTIST |
Here it is. A #1. Top of the heap. Easily the years most entertaining movie. A
silent film. In black and white. Shot in the non-widescreen format. Starring
complete unknowns.
Who would have expected that the closing weeks of 2011 would include the release
of two different feature films that would pay homage to the long-lost days of
the silent cinema? A few weeks ago, there was "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's
extraordinary love letter to the art form that paid special tribute to one of
its true pioneers, French filmmaker Georges Melies. Now there is the
much-discussed "The Artist," a French film that does "Hugo" one better by being
an actual, genuine black-and-white silent film from start to finish. Most film
fans will recognize that much of the plot of "The Artist" is derived from the
storylines of two of the most famous films ever made about Hollywood--namely "Singin
in the Rain" and "A Star is Born." However what the story cooked up by
writer-director Michel Hazanavicius may lack in pure originality, he more than
makes up for it with the utterly beguiling style with which he tells it. Yet,
this is not some clinical dissection or parody of bygone cinematic techniques;
it's a lively, appealing effort that rises above mere novelty. It's vibrant,
clever and dramatic, and has a rich treasure trove of cinema lore and vitality.
The Artist captures the eternal wonder of movies -- new and old. I admit, it
isn't the weightiest movie that you will season but you will be hard-pressed to
find one more entertaining playing in theaters these days. Yes, it is silent.
Yes, it is in black-and-white. Yes, it is French (though the title cards are, of
course, in English and it was filmed in the U.S.). For some people, those
elements might seem like a turn-off but trust me, they work fabulously and help
to make "The Artist" into the kind of film that will leave viewers entranced,
excited and, well, speechless. |
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Now that we have put 2011 to bed, we can look ahead.
In 2012 a Dark Knight will rise, for the last time under director Christopher
Nolan, Ridley Scott returns to the series that started it all, or does he? James
Bond returns directed by an Oscar winner. The Avengers will.....avenge! Pixar's
newest looks like pure gold, and there will be more superheroes than you can
flutter a cape at. Rest assured that I will d my best to see each and every one
of them. So you don't have to.
For those of you that might be curious as to what my choice for the worst film
of 2011 would be. That's easy. Zach Snyders' Sucker Punch. In a word:
unwatchable. In another word: junk. And not even the fun kind of junk. Just
plain junk.
Roll on 2012!
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Article © 2019 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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OTHER REVIEWS... |
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2011 |
FORWARD INTO THE PAST
(aka "Old Reviews")
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2011 |
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