Revised best movies of 2011

Howdy, I've now finished my exams (which I will never speak of again), and written the first draft of my screenplay (more on that some other time) so I feel I should devote some more time to getting back into short-form writing. For a start, my list of this blog's favourite movies of the year 2011 was, simply, a big old load of bullshit. A film like Horrible Bosses was enjoyable fluff, sure, but Top 10 material? No way! Here is a Top 15, with some little blurbs by the movies I neglected to watch by my self-imposed deadline for the last one.

15. The Ides of March

Written by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

Directed by George Clooney

14. Horrible Bosses

Written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Directed by Seth Gordon

I did like this one! You don't see Kevin Spacey much these days, do you?

13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan

Directed by Tomas Alfredson

12. Submarine

Written & Directed by Richard Ayoade

11. Super 8

Written & Directed by J.J. Abrams

10. The Rum Diary

Written & Directed by Bruce Robinson (I like how the "written & directed"s are starting to come thick and fast. I prefer a director to write their own films)

9. 50/50

Written by Will Reiser

Directed by Jonathan Levine

I'm always surprised by how many films I like that involve the acting of Seth Rogen. Here he's Joseph Gordon Levitt's best friend, and Joseph has cancer. Will Reiser wrote a great script based on his own experiences, which compensates for Jonathan Levine's pedestrian straight-off-the-TV directorial style. At times it feels like a generic tearjerker, but I think this film's deeper than that. A good one.

8. Blackthorn

Written by Miguel Barros

Directed by Mateo Gil

7. Drive

Written by Hossein Amini

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Hey, the director spells his name like Nicolas Cage!

6. Red State

Written & Directed by Kevin Smith

Any long-term readers of this blog will be well aware that I hate, hate, hate religion, and Kevin Smith's best film since Dogma*, while not exactly concurring with me, puts forth a pretty good case for how belief enables despicable people to do despicable things. Sure, it can lead people to, say, philanthropy too but, frankly, I find it hard to sympathise with somebody who needs an imaginary friend and an ancient book to tell them to be nice to people. As a defiantly anti death-penalty type, I too find it hard to mourn the death of any religious fundamentalist, as they're definitely closer to their God than ever before. I literally became furious at this thought-provoking film as it occured to me that figures like Michael Parks' fire-and-brimstone preacher actually exist, and no doubt would gun down heathens searching for sin if they could. Of course, in the hilariously anti-climatic and very well-written all-but-final scene, Smith puts forth a far better argument than I feel able to at the moment, which culminates in a simple "fuck these people." 

To return to Parks, his performance has been praised more than any other aspect of this underrated film, yet he performs an incredible sermon at one point, which has received much criticism for going on and on and on and on. I watched this on the last day of school, so maybe I was too drunk and stoned to notice, but I was sucked in by the power of this man's acting. The length (15 mins or so, I think?) didn't seem excessive. It didn't grind the movie to a standstill. Kevin Smith knows how to write great dialogue and, while the more action-based John Goodman-helmed segment may be more immediately thrilling, not to mention the traditional teen horror setup at the start, there's more power in Parks' disgusting monologue than in anything physically violent.

*I'm just saying that, by the way. I haven't seen any Kevin Smith films that came out between this and Dogma, because I'm told they all suck cock. No! No! No! Wait! I saw that Jay & Silent Bob film. What an awful film that was.

5. The Skin I Live In

Written & Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

I'm such a lazy writer that I'm just pooped after churning out a couple of paragraphs on Red State, but primarily the reason for this blurb's brevity is that The Skin I Live In is a film that must be approached with an open mind. Some of the elements involved in its labyrinthine plot are; a bank robber dressed in a tiger costume, a vaginoplasty, a vendetta of incredible magnitude, medical corruption and the greatest performance by Antonio Banderas one could hope to imagine.

4. Carnage

Written by Yasmina Reza & Roman Polanski

Directed by Roman Polanski

Acclaimed child molester Roman Polanski seemed to release this film casually, with little fanfare. The reasons for this one slipping under the radar no doubt lie in its almost claustrophobic feel for a major motion picture, which comes from the story's origin in the theater. Set entirely in one apartment (ok, I lie; there are some shots of a playground, a lift and a hallway too. Shoot me!), the acting is top-drawer, with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz (you know...Tarantino's "Jew Hunter") and John C. Reilly. They fight, and bond, and then they fight again and, yeah, mostly they fight. Pretty good movie. It ain't no Chinatown, but he's still got it.

3. Rango

Written by John Logan

Directed by Gore Verbinski

2. Shame

Written by Steve McQueen & Abi Morgan

Directed by Steve McQueen

Not that Steve McQueen. This isn't Bullit. No, no, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Michael Fassebender and Carey Mulligan are the best actor and actress around, at least of their generation. Yes, they both get TOTALLY FULL FRONTAL. It's a film about SEX. It might as well be a PORNO, eh? Sounds like an interesting novelty, but you don't care when you're watching this film. It's a masterpiece, and tenfold better than Midnight In Paris, but a tiny notch down in preference. Harrowing and stunning and amazing. I could hardly think once I'd watched it.

1. Midnight In Paris

Written & Directed by Woody Allen

EDIT: Oh fuck Kill List! Classic movie.