- Weekend
- The Skin I Live In
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Red State
- Drive
- Melancholia
- Martha Marcy May Marlene
- Contagion
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- Captain America
Note: There are a number of films I have not seen that would, very likely, end up on this list (Shame, Carnage, Young Adult, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Artist, J. Edgar, Take Shelter, Margaret).
Weekend was a definite surprise. I consider it this year’s Up in the Air for me. I understand technical flaws with it, but it appeals to my pathos more than any other film since Up in the Air.
The Skin I Live In was my first film by Pedro Almodovar and I plan to watch whatever he comes out with next. Banderas gives a breathtaking performance and the score may be my favorite of the year.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a terrible title for one of the best films of the year. Rise has no right being as good as it is, but Rupert Wyatt blew me away with this drama. Seriously, when the television spots had James Franco saying “We call it… the CURE”, I thought this film was about to be utter garbage.
I am not a Kevin Johnson fan at all. I don’t find his writing to be particularly funny and, up until now, I thought that was all he had to offer. With Red State, Kevin Smith proved he had the technical chops to pull off a script that, I feel, in any other directors hands could have fallen apart very easily.
Drive left me speechless. This is probably one of the few films that you could plan the music from and I would know exactly what scene we are talking about - and I love that.
Lars Von Trier has always been a favorite of mine and he does not disappoint with Melancholia. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg give performances of their careers.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a superbly paced and wildly engrossing story that introduced me to one of the best actresses of the year - Elizabeth Olsen.
Contagion has its problems, but its score by Cliff Martinez (who also worked on Drive) and cinematography is the perfect supplement to a movie about cleanliness and quarantine. Soderbergh did a great job.
Tilda Swinton is so great in every film she is in. We Need to Talk About Kevin is no exception. Stunning breakthrough performance from Ezra Miller as well.
Captain America was never my favorite comic book character, but this film is nearly perfect. The tone of the film with it’s overt patriotism and take on superhero tropes was incredibly fresh and exciting. Who would’ve thought Joe Johnston would have made a better superhero movie than Kenneth Branaugh, Martin Campbell, and Matthew Vaughn?
Notable omissions:
The Tree of Life - I still struggle to determine if I even consider this a film. It pains me to say I didn’t like it, but I think that’s it. I did not find it compelling or interesting beyond the performances. The non-linear story did nothing for me.
Attack the Block - I took this off my list and replaced it with Kevin. I think of it as the little movie that could, but it just didn’t make the cut. Very excited for Joe Cornish’s future.
Hannah - Great film early on in the year that just got overshadowed by the awards season movies.
