My 50 favorite films I watched in 2011
Only films I watched for the first time.
List activity
418 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
50 titles
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.Blew my mind. Literally.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.Holy hell, this has to have one of the best plot lines of any movie ever. Perfect from start to finish.
- DirectorDavid WainStarsJaneane GarofaloDavid Hyde PierceMichael ShowalterSet on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends.Yeah, this is a contender for the funniest movie ever made. Contends with "Better Off Dead", my #1 favorite film I watched last year.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.Can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this. Fantastic horror film, and yes, it's a horror film.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsAnthony HopkinsJohn HurtAnne BancroftA Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.Words can't describe how good this is. So I won't try.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.Frank Capra: two films in the top 10, like a boss. This can warm the most cynical, depressed man's heart.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Best romantic comedy of all time? Probably.
- DirectorLucky McKeeStarsPollyanna McIntoshBrandon Gerald FullerLauren Ashley CarterWhen a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.Hmm... maybe take back that "best horror film of the year" business I said with Insidious. Walked out of the theater crushed. Devastated. One of the most disturbing, uncomfortable films I've ever seen.
- DirectorGeorge SluizerStarsBernard-Pierre DonnadieuGene BervoetsJohanna ter SteegeRex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.I loved this. So much. This needs to be so much more well-known.
- DirectorJames WanStarsPatrick WilsonRose ByrneTy SimpkinsA family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.Best horror film of the year hands-down. Perfectly done. Better than Paranormal Activity.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJason LondonWiley WigginsMatthew McConaugheyThe adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.Classic. One of the best teen movies outside of the 80s, if not one of the best ever.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsAsa ButterfieldChloë Grace MoretzChristopher LeeIn 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.Delightful! One of those movies that just remind you of the magic of filmmaking. Perfect for children and film geeks alike.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.One of the few movies that I wanted to re-watch the second it ended. David Lynch is a genius.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsYûta SoneKimika YoshinoShohei HinoA yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.Takashi Miike is one weird guy. There's nothing quite like this film, and I doubt there ever will be. Delightfully odd mix of genres.
- DirectorMarc CaroJean-Pierre JeunetStarsMarie-Laure DougnacDominique PinonPascal BenezechPost-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.Between this and Amelie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet is quickly becoming one of my favorite new discoveries.
- DirectorLloyd KaufmanStarsWill KeenanAlyce LaTourelleLloyd KaufmanA homicidal maniac is on the loose in the city and the low-budget film crew of a Troma movie has the power to stop them.Quite possibly the best opening sequence in the history of film. The rest follows suit. This is the reason I love Troma.
- DirectorTommy WiseauStarsTommy WiseauJuliette DanielleGreg SesteroIn San Francisco, an amiable banker's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his deceitful fiancée embarks on an affair with his best friend."You're tearing me apaaart, Liiisa!!!" There's a reason this has basically become the biggest cult classic of the past decade. I really want Tommy Wiseau to go through a mental examination, because there can't NOT be something wrong with him.
- DirectorJason EisenerStarsRutger HauerPasha EbrahimiRobb WellsA homeless vigilante blows away crooked cops, pedophile Santas, and other scumbags with his trusty pump-action shotgun.Even better than last year's Machete. If this was made in the heyday of exploitation films, it would be a cult classic of epic proportions. But I wouldn't be surprised if this still was in 10 years.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.De Niro's performance here is about as good as acting gets.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMolly RingwaldAnthony Michael HallJustin HenryA girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.God, why can't teen comedies be this good nowadays?
- DirectorNobuo NakagawaStarsShigeru AmachiUtako MitsuyaYôichi NumataA group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.One of the first and one of the best Japanese horror films. Quite graphic for 1960. Great from start to finish.
- 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.Emotionally devastating. So. Good.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreCharlton HestonMarilyn MansonFilmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.Fascinating and sickening documentary. Made me want to move to Canada more than I already did.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.Crazy good. I'd say in the top 3 Tarantino flicks.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.Struggles a little after the boot camp sequences are over, but overall just more evidence that Kubrick was the best director of all time.