I realize I may have given away some of these choices with my utterly correct listing of the year's ten best performances, but no matter! 2011's finest cinema, specifically the top three choices on my list, gifted us with bleak, but comprehensive glimpses into personal isolation. I love when a movie is resolutely grim -- reminds me of home. Here are my top ten films of 2011.
10. Win Win
Director Thomas McCarthy's understated, thoughtful look at a suburban wrestling coach's (Paul Giamatti) dubious business dealings dredges up your pity and empathy at different moments, but it mostly acquaints you with one of the best teenage performances of the past few years in newcomer and real-life wrestling prodigy Alex Shaffer. It helps that his character is well-written too. As McCarthy explained to us about the emotional lives of teenagers, "They're struggling with all kinds of things -- who they are, what they are, what they want to be. That, for many of those kids, is a very private and scary struggle. A lot of times how that manifests itself is a very deadpan approach to the world: 'I'm not going to let you see what I'm feeling until I'm ready to really show that.'" When Shaffer is ready to show, it's a poignant sight.
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I knew I was in for a treat the minute I heard Trent Reznor and Karen O's cover of "Immigrant Song," but David Fincher's Dragon Tattoo so improves upon the original Swedish film trilogy thanks to two fantastic assets: blisteringly chilly cinematography and the commanding work of Rooney Mara as well-pierced heroine Lisbeth Salander. It may drag in parts, but Mara's conviction merits a 160-minute runtime.
8. Weekend
Tom Cullen and Chris New play the most insightful lovers of the year in Andrew Haigh's low-key story of one lonely gay man's short affair with a candid, self-possessed artist. The movie is especially incisive in its depiction of two men who relate both romantically and -- in an empathetic way -- fraternally. There's not a pretentious or cloying moment in this wholly believable story.
7. Midnight in Paris
Whimsy: I'm usually not a fan! But Midnight in Paris's droll journey back to the heyday of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Salvador Dali makes a wonderful protagonist out of Owen Wilson, a gorgeous backdrop for Marion Cotillard's all-consuming charisma, and a weirdly perfect scene for the film's moral. You either go with this movie's kooky historical lark or you don't, but every actor in that post-midnight time portal is just so fun. My favorite: Kathy Bates as a staunchly supportive Gertrude Stein.
6. Young Adult
Forget the hype about "unlikable" heroine Mavis Gary, the grizzled authoress Charlize Theron plays in the new Jason Reitman/Diablo Cody joint Young Adult -- She's an imperturbable, amazingly deluded woman-child whose self-assured mania is more engrossing and "likable" than most characters you'll encounter this year. I'd like to offer a new tagline for this cranky, suburban comedy: Assholes are Awesome.
5. Hugo
I'd been riding on my "The King of Comedy is my favorite Scorsese film ever, and I don't care whatever comes out, it's over, you're over, forget it, Bernhard for life, etc." high horse for years, but Hugo is so downright lovable that I nearly forfeited my Rupert Pupkin Fan Club visor. At its base, Hugo is just a delightful and droll film -- but it's also a testament to Scorsese's love of film in general. As Roger Ebert put it, "Leave it to Scorsese to make his first 3-D movie about the man who invented special effects."
4. Margin Call
The finest ensemble drama of the year is a nail-biting, character-unraveling doomsday procession to Wall Street's 2008 conniption. If you're not enthralled by Zachary Quinto's work as an unassuming hotshot or Penn Badgley's turn as a feeble, status-obsessed suit, simply gaze at veterans Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, and a spineless, imperious Jeremy Irons, and you'll still the theater fully sated.
3. Shame
Michael Fassbender is both a revelation and nothing as the empty, sex-addicted Brandon Sullivan, who interacts with civilization but exists mostly in a numbed vacuum. It's fascinating to watch Brandon act impetuously to quell his preoccupying desires, but it's heartbreaking to watch him rediscover his own humanity as his sister (Carey Mulligan) debilitates in front of him.
2. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Elizabeth Olsen is 2011's fabulous find as the brainwashed cult member whose reintroduction to society is a dehumanizing as the treatment she received from her odious cult leader (John Hawkes). If it's slightly difficult to believe that her sister (Sarah Paulson) would be so clueless about Martha's shift in character, that arc is redeemed by the sheer power of Olsen's extreme confusion and blank glance.
1. Coriolanus
All hail Ralph Fiennes, and not just because today is his 49th birthday -- he's directed a seismic update of Shakespeare's drama about war, dignity, family, and betrayal. The blood streaks on Fiennes's face as he plays the titular soldier conjure enough grit, but when you consider the added verve of Gerard Butler (who gives a harsh, meaty performance) and the indomitable Vanessa Redgrave as Coriolanus's mother Volumnia, you have the most compelling, uncompromising, and ferocious movie of the year.
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