Best Movies of 2011: An Evolving List
All of the best movies from 2011 including small-release films which I didn't get an opportunity to see until 2011. Everything which I have given 8 stars or more to gets on, and we'll see where the list takes me throughout the year. By the end, there will be a final list with some cuts being made.
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- DirectorWoody AllenStarsOwen WilsonRachel McAdamsKathy BatesWhile on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.Paris and literarture taken to golden heights of intelligence and humour.
- DirectorGlenn FicarraJohn RequaStarsJim CarreyEwan McGregorLeslie MannA cop turns con man once he comes out of the closet. Once imprisoned, he meets the second love of his life, whom he'll stop at nothing to be with.Unabashedly hilarious, wildly inventive and real - in more ways than one.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsLeonardo DiCaprioArmie HammerNaomi WattsJ. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the F.B.I. for nearly fifty years, looks back on his professional and personal life.Presenting us a hero but not defining hero versus villain.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRobin WrightJames McAvoyTom WilkinsonMary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.Guilty or innocent, The Conspirator gets it all right.
- DirectorJohn Cameron MitchellStarsNicole KidmanAaron EckhartDianne WiestLife for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.Intelligent subtexts in Rabbit Hole.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsKirsten DunstCharlotte GainsbourgKiefer SutherlandTwo sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsBrad PittRobin WrightJonah HillOakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.More than a game of numbers.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsSaoirse RonanCate BlanchettEric BanaA sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.Strong female independence, real action, and impressive filmmaking in Hanna.
- DirectorMichael GoldbachStarsKat DenningsReece ThompsonAndie MacDowellA city girl who moves to a small town and becomes entangled in a love triangle between her high school teacher and a stoner classmate.An edge-of-your-seat, coming-of-age drama.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsJuliette BinocheWilliam ShimellJean-Claude CarrièreIn Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged British writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano. While there, a chance question reveals something deeper.Certified Copy is an original work of art.
- DirectorMax WinklerStarsMichael AngaranoUma ThurmanReece ThompsonTwo friends are off on a weekend outing. Marshall thinks the trip is to re-establish their friendship, but Sam has ulterior motives in mind as he crashes the wedding of a woman he still loves.The romantic desperation of flawed characters with humour, love and understanding.
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsJessica ChastainFrances FisherRupert FriendA teenage orphan spends ten years traveling cross-country experiencing life, love and heartbreak.Jolene is an unforgettable journey.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsMichael ParksMelissa LeoJohn GoodmanSet in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
- DirectorMike MillsStarsEwan McGregorChristopher PlummerMélanie LaurentA young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover.The relationships of life told with drama, humour, subtlety and thoughtfulness.
- DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsMichelle WilliamsBruce GreenwoodPaul DanoSettlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 find themselves stranded in harsh conditions.A journey not about the destination but which prejudices to fight to stay alive.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.Driving a slow and thoughtful character study into a full-on violent crime thriller.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsStephen DorffElle FanningChris PontiusAfter withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.Somewhere is an indescribable place, but a beautiful one.
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsPaul GiamattiGeorge ClooneyPhilip Seymour HoffmanAn idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.The games people play to get ahead, not necessarily in politics, but within themselves.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsJames FrancoTodd RotondiJon PrescottAs Allen Ginsberg talks about his life and art, his most famous poem is illustrated in animation while the obscenity trial of the work is dramatized.Poetry brought to life.
- DirectorSean DurkinStarsElizabeth OlsenSarah PaulsonJohn HawkesHaunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.Martha, Marcy May, and Marlene all caught between truth, sanity and madness.
- DirectorGregory DarkStarsMatthew ModineCallum BlueAdam BaldwinMr. Jack and Sweet Stephen cruise aimlessly through the streets of LA speculating about life, death, divine will and the force of power that predetermines their existence. Mr. Jack attempts to illustrate to his sidekick the delicate and natural forces of the universe. Sweet Stephen's superficial charm and bloodsucking lifestyle sends him and Mr. Jack on a voyage that is relentless, engaging, and darkly hilarious.Perfect mix of intrigue, danger, tragedy, love, sex, violence and plain old American fun.
- DirectorBrad FurmanStarsMatthew McConaugheyMarisa TomeiRyan PhillippeA lawyer defending a wealthy man begins to believe his client is guilty of more than just one crime.A thoughtful ride with characters and intriguing conflicts of innocence and guilt.
- DirectorDerek CianfranceStarsRyan GoslingMichelle WilliamsJohn DomanThe relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.Blue Valentine is tragically real, beautiful and blue.
- DirectorShawn KuStarsMichael SheenMaria BelloKyle GallnerA married couple on the verge of separation are leveled by the news their 18-year-old son committed a mass shooting at his college, then took his own life.The beauty of love and the beast of life's realities.
- DirectorRichard J. LewisStarsPaul GiamattiRosamund PikeJake HoffmanThe picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.Cynicism and romance of love for one man's rocky journey of life.