2011 Review

It's the beginning of another new year, so it's time for my yearly review of the movies I've watched. I'm sticking with a similar format to the one I used for last year's 2010 review. All the films that scored 4.5 stars or more have been listed together, and my top ten decided from that list. Conversely, all the films that scored 2.5 stars or less have been listed together, and my 10 films not to waste your time on have been decided.

Films of the Year:

10. Kidulthood (4.5 stars)
9. The Land of Oblivion (4.5 stars)
8. Pieces of April (4.5 stars)
7. Mary and Max (4.5 stars)
6. We Need to talk about Kevin (4.5 stars)
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2  (5 stars)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (5 stars)
3. Young Guns (5 stars)
2. Martha Marcy May Marlene (5 stars)

And my Film of the Year:

1. Twilight  (5 stars)

If you've been reading my blog, you'll probably have guessed what was going to be number 1 this year. I'm totally aware that it's not going to be everybody's top choice, but I love this movie. You will notice that none of the other Twilight movies make it onto my top ten list however, and I think this is appropriate. I like all the movies, but I love the first one - it just has a quality to it that movies very rarely manage to tap into.

Unlike last year, I'm pretty happy with the movies that have made the top ten list. I don't feel as if anything significant has been ignored, or that I would particularly change my scores for any of the movies listed. The only thing I will say is that Kidulthood is at the bottom of this list because, although I loved it, I find it much harder to remember than all of the other movies listed.

A special mention has to go to Martha Marcy May Marlene as well, as it's the only movie in my top five that I've only seen once. It was that powerful. I'm also really pleased that it was one we saw at the Toronto International Film Festival - in fact, two TIFF movies have made it on to this list. The Land of Oblivion (at no.9) is also the other one - and In Darkness only just got nudged out of the listing as well.

However, one TIFF movie made it on to my Films not to waste your time on...

Film Not To Waste Your Time On: 

10. The Hangover Part 2 (2.5 stars)
9. Somers Town (2 stars)
8. William and Kate (2 stars)
7. Novocaine (2 stars)
6. The Accidental Husband (2 stars)
5. Transformers (2 stars)
4. The Red Shoes (2 stars)
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1.5 stars)
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (1.5 stars)

And Worst Film of the Year goes to:
1. The Year of the Tiger (0 stars)

The good thing is that I've seen so few truly rubbish movies this year that I had to dive into my 2.5 star reviews to get a list of ten movies. There were quite a lot of "OK, not very memorable" 2.5 star movies, but The Hangover Part 2 has the dubious honour of being the one that made this list because, well, its The Hangover again - and not a lot else.

I know some of these choices will also be very controversial - I'm talking specifically about The Red Shows and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy here. I'm sorry, but I just did not get either of them. At all.

Worst Film of 2011 is probably one much fewer people are aware of as it's the film we saw at the Toronto International Film Festival that I was referring to above. As far as I'm aware it hasn't yet received a general release, which makes the viewing public a rather lucky bunch. It is just so boring - and managed, just like Synecdoche, New York (sorry film critics) to score 0 stars.

In summary:
Film of the Year 2011: Twilight
Worst Film of the Year 2011: The Year of the Tiger