The 20 best films of 2011

Any filmgoer will find Hugo as the best film of 2011, and one of the best of all times. It is simply the best tribute to cinema ever made, and Martin Scorsese greatest film ever. It is a tribute to mute cinema done with the greatest technology that I've ever seen in a movie. The way he uses 3D is unique, and he proves that it can be used as tool to improve the storytelling. I can't imagine a movie that shows more love to cinema.

Here is a unique film that will stay in your mind for a very long time. It message is simple, "War is bad", but it is shown in a complex way that will leave the viewer totally shocked. It is kind of messy, but everything is solved at the end. I haven't seen such a shocking ending since "Atonement", and I haven't seen a film with such emotional impact since "Requiem for a dream". It never provides easy answers; there are no villains here, only people damaged by war.

I saw "Hugo" the morning before the Oscars, and before I saw it I was totally fine with the artist wining for best picture. It is a lovely tribute to cinema, funny and dramatic in the perfect measure. Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo give the best performances of their career, being funny and delightful. Every single frame in this movie has "Oscar" written on it; the entire film remembers to America`s most classical films. It's impossible not to fall in love with Bejo and Dujardin, who would have been such a wonderful mute stars.

The most compelling film I have seen this year. "The tree of life" is a movie we could talk about for hours without even scratching the surface. It is a tribute to life in every sense, showing us the creation of the universe and the life of a suburban family in the 50's. For an inexplicable reason, every single person will relate to something in the film. I think that it is because its message is universal somehow. I won’t try to explain more about it since not even great film critics have been able to do so. All I'm going to say is that Brad Pitt gives a wonderful performance and that Hunter McCracken and Jessica Chastain are a revelation. I'm going to talk about Chastain later.

The best film of the “Harry Potter” saga. It will please filmgoers, because it has a lot of action sequences and beautiful scenarios, and also fans of the book, since it is the most faithful movie of the saga. I've read the book three times, and this is exactly how I imagined it. David Yates captured the essence of the Potter saga completely, bringing us an unforgettable experience. A magnificent conclusion to the best saga ever made in movie history.

This is one of those films that breaks completely the usual narrative. The entire film is seen from Eva's (Tilda Swinton) eyes. She remembers the life of her son, Kevin (Erza Miller), a completely psychopath from the moment he was born. Kevin tortures Eva in the most horrible ways; and despite Kevin's evident antisocial behavior nobody actually talks about him. I won’t tell anything more about the plot, because I don't want to spoil the ending (one of the best of the year). The way Lynne Ramsay brings this film is completely unusual, as the plot itself. Despite it is an horror/ drama, the film is full of colors and happy songs. Maybe she wanted to show Eva's desire for happiness and freedom, but that's only a guessing.

There has been so much talking about this film that I think that writing another review about it would be useless. I must say that despite I really loved this film, I still think it is kind of overrated. My favorite thing about it was that it never takes easy paths, it allow the viewer to take it own conclusions. A lot of people were complaining about the ending; for me it was one of the best details of the film, it makes the viewer part of the film.

Don't have prejudices with this film, that's the best advice I can give to any viewer. It gives an universal vision of love and it is impossible not to feel moved by it, whether you agree with what it promotes or not. The reason for this is its great cast, especially Christopher Plummer. McGregor and Laurent are a pair of wonderful actors who will allow any viewer to understand their conflicted and flawed characters.

¿Did Brad Pitt deserved an Oscar for Moneyball? ¿Did Moneyball deserved an Oscar for best adapted screenplay? The answer to both of these questions is ... no. Moneyball is one of those rare films that a lot of people and critics love, but that nobody puts as its favorite, in any category. I wouldn't know how to explain it, but Moneyball works a lot as a film, but it never reaches the excellence of its clear predecessor ("The social network"). It is still a well made film, especially because you don't need to know anything about baseball to understand it. Just like the social network, it focuses more on its characters, with a very complex and surprisingly understandable language.

An old fashioned and very artistic film, "Drive" puts its viewer in the 80's. Everything, from its style to its music has "80's" written on it. Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan prove once more that they are the most underrated actors in Hollywood. Their performances work perfectly with their film. Gosling allows us to feel sympathy for its sadistic and emotionally distant character, just as Robert De Niro did in taxi driver; and Mulligan allows us to see the strength of her character, hidden on a superficial kindness. Albert Brooks was totally overlooked by the Academy, showing again how full of underrated and wonderful actors this movie is.

Meryl Streep gives the most powerful performance of the year, male or female. She proves once more why she is the best actress of our time. Viola Davis was the heart of "The Help", but Meryl Streep is the film itself. She transforms what would have been a mediocre film into a masterpiece. When we see "The Iron lady", we don't see Streep, we see Thatcher herself. The movie uses a unique structure for a biopic. It might not work as well as "The Queen", but it is not supposed to. Its structure is conceived to support the entire weight of the film on Streep's performance. Everything (the makeup, customs, cinematography, the supporting performances from Broadbent and Roach) allow us to focus only on Streep's portrayal of Thatcher. I had no problem with the way the story was told, kind of Evita's light point of view mixed with British elegant style; but with Streep's wonderful performance the filmmakers of this film could have done more. Imagine a movie as well made and written as "The Queen" but with Streep's portrayal, it would have been a masterpiece.

A very controversial film, like others acted by Weisz ("Agora", "The lovely bones" and her Oscar wining portrayal in "The Constant Gardener"). This movie is one of the best thrillers I've ever seen, never letting us take our eyes out of the screen. It benefits a lot from its source material, but it works so greatly also because of Larysa Kondracki direction. She never manipulates us by showing perfect characters, like "Conviction" did for example. She simply shows us a controversial topic in a very effective way.

"The Help" was called by many simplistic and racist, since its black characters need the help of a white character to act against their oppressors. Personally, I don't see it like that; for me this movie is the most incredible ensemble work I've seen since "Little miss Sunshine". Every single actress in this film gives us a different point of view of the same story.

Viola Davis is magnificent, she is the heart of the film; Octavia Spencer brings the funniest moments to the film, and she also makes us realize the oppression she is forced to live in; Bryce Dallas Howard is the perfect villainess, giving us a character that is really evil but who is convinced that what she is doing is the right thing to do, what makes her more dangerous; finally we have the best supporting performance of the year, Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote, who is not only refreshing and entertaining, but she also shows us that the discrimination is not only against maids. Chastain has done a lot of movies this year, but this one is definitely her best.

Emma Stone, on the other side, is not as interesting as the other characters, but she gives a balance to the film by being the center of it. This is an ensemble work; it is like a watch, where all its pieces work in perfect harmony and balance.

Imagine a typical and magnificent love story, such as "Benjamin Button" or "Out of Africa". Now, imagine it with Cuban characters, wonderful jazz music and in an animated colorful format. That's exactly what this movie is, but the animation never prevents us to feel connected with the movie. It is a work of art, with three dimensional characters and a universal story. In a time where animation is usually reserved for a younger audience, is refreshing to have "Chico and Rita" for the grownups.