Not quite ready for the Top 10, here are 10 other films that should not be forgotten at the end of 2011.

Written By Adam A. Donaldson

Before we dive into the films that have the privilage of being ranked the Top 10 of 2011, there are several other films that don't make the cut but still deserve to be mentioned and remembered as we say goodbye to 2011.

10. Anonymous

True, the film has its problems and one of them is that it has enough story for about three different movies. But to my mind, I always like to award true ambition in cinema. For a fraction of what it costs to do one his end of the world spectaculars, director Roland Emmerich told a human and engrossing story about creativity, class and the value of words. Anchored by some really great performances by Rhys Ifans, Sebastian Armesto and David Thewlis, amongst others, the only reason you’re not hearing the words “Academy Award nomination” around the film is because it’s from the guy that made Independence Day.

9) Comic Con Episode IV A Fan’s Hope and POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

One’s a movie about fans chasing their dreams at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con, the other’s about a man chasing his dream to cash in on the unprecedented amount of money spent by advertisers interested in having their products placed in movies. Both came from Morgan Spurlock, and both bowed at Toronto-based film festivals (TIFF and Hot Docs respectively). I think the reason these two films spoke to me is that documentary filmmaking, when it breaks through, is almost more about the polemics and the issues now, and what these films reminded me is that documentaries can also be fun. They can be about human stories, or they can shine a light on an interesting though superficial part of filmmaking, and they can be as light and as audience pleasing as the nearest romantic comedy hit.

8) Textuality

A pair of Hollywood films tried to tackle the notion of the modern, casual relationship, and no consequence but reliable sex; one was No Strings Attached and the other was Friends with Benefits. But despite those films claims that they’re a new type of romantic comedy, they both packed the usual tropes and clichés into the screenplay. That’s not to say that Textuality is a completely bold, and new endeavour, but it did have something I felt those other films were lacking: heart. Director Warren P. Sonoda also deserves credit for working social media and smart phones into the mix without making their use snide, stupid or condescending. Like in real life, their just part of our lives with all the benefits and demerits there in.

7) Bridesmaids

A lot has been written about how Hollywood is mostly unable to make movies that appeal to a female audience, but every year it seems that at least one squeaks through. But in 2011 there was a definite pattern, both in movies and on TV, as women seized the opportunity to make comedy, and often make it better than the boys. Kristen Wiig proved that she is ready for prime time and beyond, scripting and starring in the film and surrounding herself with an outstanding group of comediennes and rising stars like Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy. Of course the real success of the film is the fact that nobody thinks of Bridesmaids as a “chick flick.” It’s an equal opportunity laugh riot, and an important one that will hopefully set the tone going into the future. Regardless, it’s another victory for the clown college institution that is Judd Apatow.

6) The Conspirator

So there weren’t a lot of fans of Robert Redford’s latest film when it was released, and the political allegory isn’t what you’d call subtle. But you know what? I still really like The Conspirator. A lot. Not only is it an interesting examination of a period of history often skipped over, but when it starts digging into the courtroom scenes, it’s a cracking legal drama as James McAvoy’s attorney Frederick Aiken tries to desperately scrape together some semblance of a fair trail for Robin Wright’s Mary Surrat, a woman charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln. An amazing ensemble cast is brought together including Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Anna Surratt, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston and Colm Meaney, with only Justin Long looking really too out of place in 1865 Washington. I’m not sure where a lot of the hate comes from, but maybe Redford’s laid back, old school style just doesn’t sit with a lot of people. Or maybe people don’t like being reminded that in the midst of tragedy, people can go off the deep end really fast, rebuffing all sense of reason.

5) The Oranges

Speaking of great ensembles, this is possibly one of the best of any comedy this year outside of Bridesmaids. As a kind of reverse Graduate where youngin Leighton Meeser seduces the older Hugh Laurie, The Oranges works like a film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Mitchell Hurwitz. It’s funny and awkward and heartfelt, with tree-dimensional characters and a spirited group of talented actors. Alia Shawkat looks good to make the same kind of breakout as her Arrested Development co-star Michael Cera, and Meeser proves again that of all her Gossip Girl castmates, she just might have the talent and discretion for a long and varied career (The Roommate notwithstanding). The Oranges was a hidden gem at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and a home run of a first feature by Julian Farino. Hopefully a release date across North America is coming soon.

4) My Week with Marilyn

The common theme of film in 2011 was the difficulty and the exultation of making art, and more than that, making art that endures. Think about the nearly forgotten pioneer French filmmaker Georges Méliès in Hugo, or silent film star George Valentin in The Artist, whose looking down the barrel of the revolution of “talkies.” Part of that canon is My Week with Marilyn, which has not one, not two, but three giants of cinema in the personage of Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond). This is the kind of movie that actors love, and in the case of Marilyn the love is translated to the audience. Williams is radiant and devastating as Monroe, and it just maybe the performance to beat in this year’s Oscar race.

3) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Like the vampire movie Let Me In, which was a remake of a Swedish movie based on a book that was barely two years old when it was remade by Hollywood, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo proves that the term “remake” is not necessarily synonymous with low quality. In the capable hands of David Fincher, this Girl is a more glammed up version of Niels Arden Oplev’s Swedish version of the film, but pulls none of the punches, and remains as tight and visceral as the story requires. Rooney Mara is a revelation as cyber punk Lisbeth Salander, and completely makes the part her own despite the long shadow of Noomi Rapace. Fincher’s changes to the ending do diminish, to a degree, some of Lisbeth’s attitude, but it’s still within creative license. Overall, this is a film that does honour to the best-selling novel and its characters.

2) Super 8

In what was an exceptionally above average year for blockbuster movies – Rise of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: First Class, The Muppets, the latest Mission: Impossible – Super 8 stands out above all others. Perfectly capturing the aesthetic of Steven Spielberg-produced hits of the 1980s, director J.J. Abrams wins hearts and minds with this emotional story about love, loss, friendship, movie-making, and hidden aliens. The cast of young actors including Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, and Elle Fanning, carry the movie very well with a little help from adult actors like Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard and Noah Emmerich. If it weren’t for the crisp picture and sound and all the Abrams Easter Eggs, you could almost swear that this is a forgotten Spielberg hit from 1984. Almost.

1) Melancholia

Lars von Trier remains one of modern filmmaking’s most fascinating and exasperating talents. In Melancholia, a quasi-dramedy about the last days of Planet Earth is a Neil Simon play, a soapy drama, a Shakespearean tragedy and an uplifting, life-affirming film about the end of the world. It’s the cinema companion to the classic R.E.M. song, and the complete antithesis to every Roland Emmerich movie about world destroying disasters and plagues. A terrific cast puts themselves in von Trier’s hands and deliver seamlessly; Kirsten Dunst has rarely been better, Charlotte Gainsbourg proves herself as the film’s quiet strength, and Kiefer Sutherland does things I’ve never seen him do on film, like getting snooty. Unlike von Trier’s last film Antichrist, which wasn’t about the end of the world, but kind of made you feel like it, Melancholia was bizarrely life-affirming. And I feel fine.

Written by :

Adam