Making lists is not my favorite occupation. They inevitably inspire only reader complaints. Not once have I ever heard from a reader that my list was just fine, and they liked it. Yet an annual Best Ten list is apparently a statutory obligation for movie critics.
My best guess is that between six and ten of these movies won't be familiar. Those are the most useful titles for you, instead of an ordering of movies you already know all about.
One recent year I committed the outrage of listing 20 movies in alphabetical order. What an uproar! Here are my top 20 films, in order of approximate preference.
1. "A Separation"
This Iranian film won't open in Chicago until Jan. 27. It won the Golden Bear at Berlin and was just named the year's best foreign film by the New York Film Critics Circle. It is specifically Iranian, but I believe the more specific a film is about human experience, the more universal it is. On the other hand, movies "for everybody" seem to be for nobody in particular. This film combines a plot worthy of a great novel with the emotional impact of a great melodrama. It involves a struggle for child custody, the challenge of a parent with Alzheimer's, the intricacies of the law, and the enigma of discovering the truth. In its reconstruction of several versions of a significant event, it is as baffling as "Rashomon."
A modern Iranian couple considers emigrating to Europe to find better opportunities for their daughter. The mother wants to leave quickly. The father delays because his father has Alzheimer's and needs care. "Your father no longer knows you!" his wife says during a hearing in divorce court. "But I know him!" says her husband. We can identify with both statements.
A caregiver is hired but cannot come, and his wife secretly substitutes for him. It's against her religious principles for her to touch any man not her husband, but her family needs the money. This leads to events which create a deep moral tangle. Asghar Farhadi's real subject is Truth, when it is disagreed about by people we respect even though we know most of the facts. "A Separation" will become one of those enduring masterpieces watched decades from now.
2. "Shame"
Michael Fassbender's brave, uncompromising performance is at the center of Steve McQueen's merciless film about sex addiction. He's a loner with a good job, who avoids relationships because of his obsession with sex. He is driven to experience multiple orgasms every day. His shame is masked in privacy. He wants no witnesses to his hookers, his pornography, his masturbation. Does he fear he is incapable of ordinary human contact?
There isn't the slightest suggestion he experiences pleasure. Sex is his cross to bear. The film opens with a close-up of Fassbender's face showing pain, grief and anger. His character is having an orgasm. He is enduring a sexual function that has long since stopped giving him any pleasure and is self-abuse in the most profound way.
Carey Mulligan co-stars as his sister. She is as passionate and uninhibited as he is the opposite. She needs him desperately. He fears need. He flies at her in a rage, telling her to get out. She has nowhere to go. He doesn't care. Childhood has damaged them. "Shame" is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice.
3. "The Tree of Life"
A film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. Terrence Malick's film begins with the Big Bang that created our universe, and ends after the characters have left the realm of time. In between, it zooms in on a moment, surrounded by infinity.
Scenes portray a childhood in a town in the American midlands, where life flows in and out through open windows. There is a father who maintains discipline and a mother who exudes forgiveness, and long summer days of play and idleness and urgent unsaid questions about the meaning of things. Three boys in the 1950s American Midwest are browned by the sun, scuffed by play, disturbed by glimpses of adult secrets, filled with a great urgency to grow up and discover who they are.
Listen to an acute exchange of dialogue between the son Jack (Hunter McCracken) and his father (Brad Pitt). "I was a little hard on you sometimes," Mr. Brien says, and Jack replies: "It's your house. You can do what you want to." Jack is defending his father against himself. That's how you grow up. And it all happens in this blink of a lifetime, surrounded by the realms of unimaginable time and space.
4. "Hugo"
In the guise of a delightful 3D family film, Martin Scorsese makes a love letter to the cinema. His hero Hugo (Asa Butterfield) had an uncle who was in charge of the clocks at a Parisian train station. His father's dream was to complete an automated man he found in a museum. He died with it left unperfected. Rather than be treated as an orphan, the boy hides himself in the maze of ladders, catwalks, passages and gears of the clockworks themselves, feeding himself with croissants snatched from station shops, and begins to sneak off to the movies.
His life in the station is complicated by a toy shop owner named Georges Méliès. Yes, this grumpy old man, played by Ben Kingsley, is none other than the immortal French film pioneer, who was also the original inventor of the automaton. Hugo has no idea of this. The real Méliès was a magician who made his first movies to play tricks on his audiences.
Without our quite realizing it, Hugo's changing relationship with the old man becomes the story of the invention of the movies, and the preservation of our film heritage. Could anyone but Scorsese have made this subject so magical and enchanting? Although I believe that 3D is usually an unnecessary annoyance, the way Scorsese employs it here is quite successful; in calling attention to itself, 3D subtly calls attention to film itself.
5. "Take Shelter"
Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) appears to be a stable husband and father with a good job in construction, but he also can evoke by his eyes and manner a deep unease. Curtis has what he needs to be happy. He fears he will lose it. His dreams are visited by unusually vivid nightmares: The family dog attacks him, or storms destroy his home. They live on the outskirts of town, in an area which is swept from time to time with tornadoes.
Director Jeff Nichols builds his suspense carefully. Curtis is tormented but intelligent; fearing the family's history of mental illness, he visits his schizophrenic mother (Kathy Baker) to ask if she was ever troubled by bad dreams. He turns to the area's obviously inadequate public health facilities.
And he also acts as if his warnings should be taken seriously. He borrows money from the bank and equipment from work to greatly expand an old storm shelter in his backyard. His wife (Jessica Chastain) is frightened by his behavior. His job and health insurance are threatened. People begin to talk. And then a storm comes. It leads to a searing scene in which the man and his wife must confront their fears about the weather--and about each other.
6. "Kinyarwanda"
I was moved by "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), but not really shaken this deeply. After seeing "Kinyarwanda," I have a different kind of feeling about the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. The film approaches it not as a story line but as a series of intense personal moments.
In an independent film of great emotional impact, the film's director, a Jamaican named Alrick Brown, establishes a vivid group of characters. A young couple from different tribes who are in love. The female head of a military unit trained in Uganda, hoping to bring peace. A Catholic priest. The Mufti of Rwanda. Most memorable, a small boy named Ishmael. Their personal stories are entangled in the ancient conflict between tribes, while the UN regards the genocide from afar. The title may put some people off. It is the name of the language both tribes speak, although the film is largely in English. I'm inviting "Kinyarwanda" to Ebertfest 2012.
7. "Drive"
The Driver drives for hire. He has no other name and no other life. When we meet him, he's the wheelman for a getaway car, who runs from police pursuit not by speed, but by coolly exploiting the street terrain and outsmarting his pursuers. By day, he's a stunt driver for action movies. The two jobs represent no conflict for him: He drives. He has no family, no history and seemingly few emotions. Whatever happened to him drove any personality deep beneath the surface. Played by Ryan Gosling, he is an existential hero, defined entirely by his behavior.
The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, peoples his story with characters who bring lifetimes onto the screen--in contrast to the Driver, who brings as little as possible. Ron Perlman is a big-time operator working out of a pizzeria in a strip mall. Albert Brooks plays a producer of the kinds of B movies the Driver does stunt driving for; he also has a sideline in crime. These people are ruthless. "Drive" looks like one kind of thriller in the ads, and it is that kind of thriller, but also another and a rebuke to most of the movies it looks like.
8. "Midnight in Paris"
A fabulous daydream for American lit majors, Woody Allen's charming comedy opens with a couple on holiday in Paris. Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams) are officially in love, but what Gil really loves is Paris in the springtime. He's a hack screenwriter from Hollywood who still harbors the dream of someday writing a good novel and joining the pantheon of American writers whose ghosts seem to linger in the very air he breathes: Fitzgerald, Hemingway and the other legends of Paris in the 1920s.
By (wisely) unexplained means, each midnight he finds himself magically transported back in time to the legendary salon presided over by Gertrude Stein. He meets Scott and Zelda, Ernest, Picasso, Dali, Cole Porter, Luis Bunuel and, yes, "Tom Eliot." He even gives Bunuel the idea for his film "The Exterminating Angel." Kathy Bates makes an authoritative Miss Stein, and Marion Cotillard plays Adriana, who has already been the mistress of Braque and Modigliani, is now Picasso's lover, and may soon -- be still, my heart! -- fall in love with Gil.
9. "Le Havre"
Aki Kaurismaki is a Finnish director who makes dour, deadpan comedies about people who shrug their way through misfortune. They have a hypnotic fascination for me. "Le Havre" is the sunniest film of his I've seen. Set in the French port city, it involves young Idrissa (Blondin Miguel), an illegal immigrant from Gabon, solemn, shy, appealing. The hero, Marcel Marx (Andre Wilms), fishing near a pier, sees the boy hiding waist-deep in the water. He leaves out some food and finds it gone the next day. And so, with no plan in mind, Marcel becomes in charge of protecting the boy from arrest.
The whole neighborhood gets involved in hiding the boy from the port inspector. This involves low-key comedy that occasionally shifts into high, as with a local rock singer named Little Bob (Roberto Piazza), whose act is unlike any you have ever seen. Young Idrissa finds himself in the center of a miraculous episode between Marcel and his wife, which may not be believable but is certainly satisfying.
10. "The Artist."
What audacity to make a silent film in black and white in 2011, and what a film Michel Hazanavicius has made! Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his work as a silent star who is cast aside with the advent of the talkies. His career is rescued by a young dancer (Bérénice Bejo) he was kind to when he was at the top. This wonderful film is many things: Comedy, pathos, melodrama. For many people, this will be their introduction to silent movies, and cause them to reconsider if they really dislike black and white. It's an audience pleaser, and many in the audience won't be expecting that. It also seems to be leading the year-end lists of award nominees, and could even become the first silent film to win an Oscar as Best Picture since "Wings" (1927).
11. Melancholia
This film about the end of the world is, Lars von Trier assured us, his first with a happy ending. I think I see what he means. At least his poor characters need suffer no longer. If I were choosing a director to make a film about the subject, von Trier the gloomy Dane might be my first choice. The only other name that comes to mind is Werner Herzog's. Both understand that at such a time silly little romantic subplots take on a vast irrelevance.
That's even the case in "Melancholia," which actually takes place at a wedding party for newlyweds. In the sky, another planet looms ever larger, but life carries on all the same here below. Kirsten Dunst is the new bride, and Charlotte Gainsbourg plays her sister. The two seem to exchange personalities. The details matter less than the grand overarching mood.
12. "Terri"
Tells the story the story of a fat kid who is mocked in high school. Terri (Jacob Wysocki) is smart, gentle and instinctively wise. His decision to wear pajamas to school "because they fit" may be an indication that later in life he will amount to a great deal. He has character. He's been missing a lot of school and is called in by the assistant principal (John C. Reilly), a school administrator unlike those we usually see, offering kindness, anger and hard-won lessons learned in his own difficult life. He and Terri slowly begin to communicate person to person.
Chad (Bridger Zadina) is another of the administrator's problem children, a morose, slouching outsider driven to pluck hairs from his head. Heather (Olivia Crocicchia) is a pretty young student who is threatened with expulsion, Terri steps up and defends her, in a way that shows he respects her and empathizes. He may be a kid who is fat and weird, but he's much more than fat and weird. This film has also been invited to Ebertfest 2012.
13. "The Descendants"
George Clooney in one of his best performances as a descendant of one of Hawaii's first white land-owning families, who must decide whether to open up a vast tract of virgin forest on Kauai to tourist and condo development. This decision comes at the same time his wife has had a boating accident and is in a coma. Having devoted most of his attention to business, he now must learn to be a single parent of two daughters while also dealing with the King family's urgent desire to close the multi-million-dollar land deal.
Leading the push for the King family is Cousin Hugh (Beau Bridges). As affable as Bridges can be, he doesn't want to listen to any woo-woo Green nonsense about not selling. The film follows Clooney's character's legal, family and emotional troubles in careful detail, until director Alexander Payne shows us, without forcing it, that they are all coiled together. We get vested in the lives of the characters. We come to understand how they think, and care about what they decide about the substantial moral problems underlying the plot.
14. "Margaret"
Kenneth Lonergan's film begins with a young woman (Anna Paquin) thinking she may have contributed to a fatal bus accident through her own foolishness. She decides the bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) should also be held accountable, and makes it her business to see that he is. This story cross-cuts with others, including Jean Reno and J. Smith-Cameron in a sweet mid-life romance. The film inspired an online conspiracy theory when Fox Searchlight was accused of being shy about its 9/11 material. Actually, 9/11 figures only marginally; what's important is the conflict between the young woman's perfectionism and things as they are.
15. "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Those are four names that apply at various times in the life of a young woman played by Elizabeth Olsen. "Martha" is her name. "Marcy May" is the name given to her by the leader of a cult group she falls into. "Marlene" is the name all the women in the group use to answer the telephone. The cult leader is an evil and mesmeric figure played with great effect by John Hawkes. Her experience in the cult causes her confusion about her identity after she escapes into the relative safety of the home of her sister (Sarah Paulson). Sean Durkin's film builds on the strong Elizabeth Olsen to show how easily groups can control their members.
16. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
The second installment in the last chapter of the legendary saga comes to a solid and satisfying conclusion, conjuring up enough awe and solemnity to serve as an appropriate finale and a dramatic contrast to the lighthearted (relative) innocence of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" all those magical years ago.
17. Trust
The bravest thing about David Schwimmer's "Trust" is that it doesn't try to simplify. It tells its story of a 14-year-old girl and a predatory pedophile as a series of repercussions in which rape is only the first, and possibly not the worst, tragedy to strike its naive and vulnerable victim. Liana Liberato stars as a "good girl" who isn't advanced, who feels uncomfortable at a party where "popular girls" fake sophistication. She's never had a boyfriend when she meets Charlie (Chris Henry Coffey) in an online chat room. Charlie is in high school. Like her, he plays volleyball. He's a nice kid, too. He understands her. She grows closer to Charlie than any boy she's ever known. They talk for hours on the phone. But Charlie is not what he seems.
18. "Life, Above All"
This South African feature centers on a 12-year-old named Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka), who takes on the responsibility of holding her family together after her baby sister dies. Family members are suspected of having AIDS; the community ostracizes them, until a courageous neighbor finally steps in. An opening scene shows Chanda choosing a coffin for her baby sister. The seriousness and solemnity with which she performs this task is heart-rending and heart-warming. Both director Oliver Schmitz and the gifted Miss Manyaka attended Ebertfest 2011.
19. "The Mill and the Cross"
Any description would be an injustice. It opens on a carefully-composed landscape based on a famous painting, "The Way to Calvary" (1564), by the Flemish master Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Within the painting, a few figures move and walk. We might easily miss the figure of Christ among the 500 in the vast landscape. Others are going about their everyday lives. The film is an extraordinary mixture of live action, special effects, green screen work and even an actual copy of the painting itself (by Lech Majewski, the film's Polish director). Set not in the Biblical lands but in Flanders, it uses Belgians as Jews and the Spanish as Romans, in an allegorical parallel which also breaks down into fragments of lives. It is a film before which words fall silent.
20. "Another Earth"
Joins "Melancholia" as a second 2011 film about a new planet hanging in our sky. This one doesn't presage the end of the world, but represents perhaps our very same Earth, in another universe that has now become visible. Stars Brit Marling a young woman who has been accepted into the astrophysics program at MIT. She hears the news about Earth 2. Peering out her car window to search the sky, she crashes into another car, killing a mother and child and sending the father into a coma.
A few years pass. She's released from prison and learns that the father, a composer named John Burroughs (William Mapother), has emerged from his coma. Rhoda is devastated by the deaths she caused and wants to apologize or make amends or ... what? She doesn't know. She presents herself at the shabby rural house where Burroughs lives as a depressed recluse. They grow closer. Did the accident not occur on Earth 2?
Those are my top 20, leaving out documentaries, which I will list later. To include them on the same list would be ranking oranges and apples. There were many other excellent films in 2011, some fully the equal of some of these. Alphabetically:
"13 Assassins," "The Adventures of Tintin," "Beginners," "Blue Valentine," "Boy Wonder," "Certified Copy," "The Future," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Guard," "The Help," "Higher Ground," "I Will Follow," "J Edgar," "The Last Rites of Joe May," "Le Quattro Volte," "Margin Call" "Meek's Cutoff," "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," "Moneyball," "Mysteries of Lisbon," "My Week with Marilyn," "Poetry," "The Princess of Montpensier," "Rango," "A Screaming Man," "Silent Souls," "Tyrannosaur," "Queen to Play," "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," "War Horse" and "The Whistleblower."
Note: Many of you asked if I forgot about "We Need to Talk About Kevin." Not at all. It doesn't even have an opening date in Chicago, and so will be on my list of the best films of 2012. But if it helps, just say I called it "one of the best films of the year," which it certainly is. Watch Tilda Swinton here as she talks with me about the film at the Toronto Film Festival: http://bit.ly/qYwRJf
My list of the Best Documentaries of 2011.
Mr. Ebert,
Given your above comments I'd like to say (which I normally wouldn't) that this is a wonderful list. Today I was feeling pretty crummy and I went to my local indie bookstore for comfort (Brookline Booksmith). I stumbled upon "Life Itself" and was immediately hooked by the back quote, which says
"I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all the crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."
Gorgeous. First and foremost, thank you for this book, I'm extremely excited to read it over winter break (
NOW onto the list: I appreciate the inclusion of Another Earth, a film I love dearly that seems to have been forgotten by most. Also I am a huge fan of The Tree of Life, Hugo, and Martha Marcy. I will make sure to check out the films that I haven't gotten to see, like Kinyarwanda.
As always, your commitment to film and your passionate love for it are inspiring. Thank You.
It's a good list, Roger, but I want to ask something - have you seen "War Horse" and "The Adventures of Tintin"?
Such a pleasure to read your article.
There's a couple of film i didn't watch, yet. But my comment is toward to "Shame"... Such an excelent film, and Fassbender's quality deserves the oscar, totally..
Otherwise, Why didn't you pick up "A dangerous Method"?
Greetings Mr Ebert!
I saw 'Another Earth' and I agree it should be on the 'best of' list. Amazing scene with a guy playing a saw - how many movies have that?! You can listen to the music from this scene on the composer's website http://www.scottmunsonmusic.com/news/music-in-film-another-earth-soundtrack
I like it. Lots of good films. Great job.
I'd like to be the first to say that I think your list is just fine.
This is actually a very solid list. "Hugo" was one of the year's great surprises and I actually look forward to watching "Terri" this evening!
I co-host a community radio show about movies and I made a list of 2011 releases that I must catch up on in order to put together a proper top ten list. However, I was aghast to see that this list totaled around 30 films! Also, many of these movies which qualify as 2011 releases won't open in my city until January at best. These would include A Dangerous Method and Shame. Your No. 1 film, A Separation, I had only heard about week ago! I have no idea when it's opening here in Ottawa!
But there's no doubt in my mind that my No. 1 film this year is "Drive" because it contains almost everything I love about cinema: masterful direction, great performances, style, visceral thrills and a killer soundtrack!
Your list was just fine, and I liked it.
Did you see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" yet? I'm surprised it's not on your honorable mention list?
Somehow I will see the approximate 10 films that you chose that I have missed because I never ever disagree with you!
Honestly, I am completely satisfied by this list. I have been dying to A Separation for a while, I got offered a press pass to a NYC screening the other day but couldn't go. Anyways, I would only disagree on the order (Melancholia would be my number 1). Still I think this is the most satisfied I could ever be with one of your lists, great choices!
I am fascinated that you included the polarizing Margaret. Will you post a review for it? I have been skeptical of it since the studio released a truncated version of what the director wanted. I would be interested in seeing the studio release of Margaret and the director's version, which star Mark Ruffalo called, "A masterpiece."
I noticed Jim Emerson's top pick, "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" did not make your top twenty or even the "runner's up" in the last paragraph.
Did you not see it, or are you and Jim that far apart in your preferences?
I really respect this list. All the ones I have seen are in my particular top 10. Also I really wanted to ask you if it's best to see Hugo in 3D or in 2D, because I mostly align with you in your distaste for 3D, but you seem to enjoy the 3D. Is it really worth it? I would really appreciate your answer because Scorsese is my favorite director and I have being waiting for the movie to arrive at my country. Thanks a lot.
Ebert: In 3D, so you'll know how he used it.
So glad to see The Mill & the Cross on your list, Roger! As you know, I love that film.
I read several movie journalists/bloggers (yourself included) and am aware of all of these movies. Of your Top 20, I have seen Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : Part II as well as Rango from your runnerups.
I would have seen more, but money was an issue. I look forward to seeing all the movies on the list in theaters or Blu-ray.
Thanks for the article and Happy Holidays, Roger.
prediction/ 25 percent of the comments on this post will be complaints about 'drive'''
they will be wrong
I love lists, and I love when people of your stature make lists. Well done! I look forward to watching all these movies.
Hip hip hooray for your inclusion of "Martha Marcy May Marlene!" Pretend for a moment that Sean Durkin had received a budget as big as what Terrence Malick was given for "The Tree of Life." Now pretend that Durkin instead shot his film with the Big Bang as a precursor to a small story with rather large questions and implications into the existence of man within nature, in which a young girl is driven mad by confusion from a loss of identity. Bam! "Martha Marcy May Marlene's Tree of Life."
I just blew your mind.
We need to talk about Kevin
Roger - love the list, but wondering if you have seen "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" yet? I was lucky enough to see it last week and found it almost impossibly emotional and gripping. I've been amazed that it's being ignored by so many awards. Why do you think that's happening?
Thanks again for everything. You are truly an inspiration.
Just watche "The Tree of Life". Would like to have my two hours back.
It's easy to see how much you detest making lists based on your simplistic, pained writing style with this one. Nonetheless, thank you for staying away from, for the most part, filling it with surefire Oscar nominees. I am surprised that neither of the two Herzog movies made your list, though.
Also, you erroneously put "Another Earth" in your alphabetical list.
Hi Roger,
Lovely list as usual. The only surprise was the inclusion of Harry Potter, but I'm definitely not complaining – I'm all for surprises so long as they're honest :)
Side note: I noticed you included "Another Earth" twice in your list – once as the #20, and again in your "other recommended movies" at the bottom.
I reviewed 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' during the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. I thought it was not only one of the best of the festival, but one of the years very best films. I think there's been quite a bit of recognition for Lynne Ramsay's direction, as well as Tilda Swinton's performance.
So, as always, I was curious as to what Mr. Ebert's thoughts on the film were. Alas, no review? What gives? Did you not get a chance to see the film, Mr. Ebert?
I will also say that your list is fine, and I liked it.
That said, I have two observation to make. First, a couple of the movies in your Top 10, Drive and Midnight in Paris, you originally gave 3 1/2 stars. I feel that this wasn't a very good year for movies, and I couldn't name ten four-star movies from 2011. Was this your sentiment?
Second, I was positive you were going to pick Tree of Life for #1.
What I appreciate most about the list is a disregard for the star ratings you initially gave individual films. A "4 star" film (Rango) has been relegated to honorable mention, while some "3.5 star" films (Melancholia, Martha Marcy May Marlene), have been bumped up to the top 20 list. I recognize the impulse in myself. A movie can grow after an initial viewing. Sometimes it doesn't even need a second viewing, only a reconsideration. Which is not to say that Melancholia is an objectively "better" movie than Rango, only that I'm heartened to see that your appraisal of a movie doesn't stop after the review, it can only reconfigure itself. Good stories and art can do this to us. They can be sneaky. They can posit themselves as merely good (even moderate or bad) objects before spreading their influence (sometimes their pleasure) like an inkblot on our memories. (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy did this for me... too bad it didn't do the same for you :0)
Happy Holidays!
Roger,
Trust is a great film. Not only is the acting perfect, but I believed every character and scene. Strangely, however, I consider the scene where Annie meets Charlie in the mall to be more terrifying and creepy than anything I have seen in a horror movie. I would even consider Trust to be a horror movie.
The film works because it affects us on a very deep level, but I also like how Schwimmer does not make the father (Clive Owen) into a bad guy in ways that so many Hollywood films have done with fathers. You believe in and sympathize with Owen, even when he makes a big mistake such as attacking the parent at the girl's game. I believe a father would behave in the same ways that Owen's character did if their 14 year old daughter had been raped by a pedophile.
I don't know whether or not it is as common for minors to start online relationships with pedophiles or sexual predators as it is portrayed in the film. The argument is that sexual abuse is more likely to be committed by people we know. However, Schwimmer's film is so affective in its portrayal of a 14 year old girl who falls prey to an online sexual predator, that it successfully convinces us that it is a big problem.
Why did you make your list before all this year's releases were out?
Why 45 movies, and not 46?
Roger, even though you hate making lists so much, you have the most diverse one out of any critic I've seen this year. I have always referred to you not only for your knowledge of film, but for choosing preference to films with originality and expertise in the arts. Having seen McQueen's Hunger recently, I am quite excited to see Shame and I am most anticipating A Separation. That film looks like one that will standout among the best.
The negative reviews for "The Tree of Life" smacks of philistinism. Where is it written that every movie has to be spelled out for its audience? I think a lot of critics went into the film with their minds already made up. I hope Brad Pitt gets nominated for the right film. And Jessica Chastain gives the best mute performance since Samantha Morton in "Sweet and Lowdown". What, all of a sudden, people hate dinosaurs? Terrence Malick can do whatever he damn well pleases. He's earned that right.
I alway love your lists... who says you have to agree with each other. I was wondering if you saw "The Last Circus"? I noticed there wasn't a review of it...
rango in honorable mentions?
absolutely, positively, no. horrible flick. rest of the list is wonderful.
I really, really need to see "A Separation."
One film that has stuck with me from this year, thanks in part to its perfect, haunting ending, is Lee Chang Dong's "Poetry." If these awards races had a more level playing field, Yun Jung-hee would be a shoe-in for best actress consideration.
Although it certainly can feel a bit cornball at times, I also really liked "Warrior" and was a bit shocked that it bombed at the box office despite the good reviews and positive word of mouth. Speaking of movies that deserved more attention this year, "City of Life and Death" was finally released stateside and is one of the best war movies I've seen. Tagging it as a Chinese "Schindler's List" is understandable but also unfair, as this is a film that stands on its own with a distinct, personal vision running through it. I was looking forward to reading a Roger Ebert review for it, but it unfortunately received just a small arthouse release.
Why did you put Drive above The Descendants, when The Descendants got four stars and Drive only three-and-a-half?
Ah, just kidding.
I agree with you in many respects, but I would add 50/50 to the list. It is rather a quiet film, easily lost in the hubbub but as someone who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and living with it ever since, that film rang true on a number of levels for me.
A Separation is at the top of my list, too, with Tree of Life in second. I'm a little surprised to see no mention of We Need to Talk About Kevin, since I remember you liking it a lot.
Well, it is a honor for me to see a Separation is the first one in your list...i am from iran and it is been a huge wave of hope for the cinema of iran.. people in iran loves this movie too..and we are supporting Mr.Farhadi... I really wish that he get oscar for this movie...and if anyone got any question about .art of iran or farhadi's work i would be happy to answer.here is my Email address:pouria.abbc@googlemail.com
and sorry i am not very good with english :)
Hi Roger, I don't understand why you just don't pick the best movie of the year and after that you make is top 10 contenders movies including mainstream, independent, foreign, documentary etc? I think that it would be the best for you.
For 2011, the best movie that I saw is ''The tree of life'' so far and I also really like ''Another earth'', ''Super 8'', ''Terri'' and ''The future''.
I will try as usual to see all the movies in your list, you are a good source for my choices of movies.
Bye
I keep coming back to this blog from time to time. Not so much because I know that I will get deep insights into the magic of Cinema but rather because of the things that I don't know and will get to discover and appreciate. Thank you for opening my horizons this way.
My three favorites this year:
I Saw the Devil
Snowtown
Bedeviled
Check them out!
I just watched the best movie I've seen this year. It was my first viewing of IKIRU. I went immediately to your Great Movie review.
And then here. You describe "A Separation" as "one of those masterpieces watched decades from now." And that's exactly what I thought after seeing IKIRU. Interesting.
I really enjoyed reading this, Roger. I especially like that you included "Take Shelter," "Margaret," and "Trust." "Trust," especially, seems to have fallen off the critical radar, and I thought it was excellent.
Much of my personal list overlaps with yours at various places, although I thought one of the best of the year was Jonathan Levine's heartfelt "50/50." I also really enjoyed "Project Nim," "Alps," and "We Need to Talk About Kevin."
I also thought "Mission Impossible 4" was very entertaining, and enjoyed what I believe were references to "The Third Man," "Atlantic City," and "The Red Balloon." Did you catch these?
I will not say this list is good or bad, but I will say it is weird. I have never heard of the first film on the list, and never expected a Harry Potter film to make a "best of" list, although it was good. Actually when I look over this list again, I've only seen 'Harry Potter,' 'The Tree of Life', and 'The Descendants.' Sadly, almost none of these movies have played in a theater near me.
This list almost parallels my own, save for some I have not encountered like the African one. I'm surprised at the exclusion of "tinker tailor" although I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. And I'm a little shocked that "Beginners" didn't fall into your top 20! I for one thought it would based almost solely on the impeccable performance by christopher plummer.
Anyway, all said, a good list that plucks from all walks of life. Pretty much a summation of the broad spectrum of good cinema this year. Also, I'm a little peeved when you say that people would 'disagree' with your list. How is it humanly possible to disagree with PERSONAL OPINION!!! like it or hate it, tweak the list and it becomes another person's top 20!
Looking forward to another Audience vs Ebert-style Oscar competition on MUBI! I was very proud as a 16 year old to have the honor of 'beating' you, and hopefully (we) get another chance! The three month sub was pretty sweet.
Love from Singapore!
A minor point, I think the wife in "A Separation" was going to immigrate to Australia, not Europe.
"War Horse" is not on the list?
I was disappointed by the Harry Potter finale. Lord Voldemort never rose to the ranks of a great villain, despite having more screen time to build up his street cred than any villain in history... save perhaps Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes.
There's a TV show called "Chuck," about a nerdy main character who still dreams of becoming the Captain of the Millennium Falcon. Not a single space ship emerged to challenge the vision of George Lucas in the imaginations of children everywhere... a strange omission for Hollywood. Why would I want to be a boy wizard when I could be Captain of a Star Ship?
Just so you know Roger perhaps the people who don't usually comment on your lists like myself are the ones who respect your opinion. Just so you know every year I look forward to your best of year lists just to see is there any potential gems I have missed out on.
With your best of the decade list I first came across a title that for some reason I had never seen before, "Synecdoche, New York". The title inspired me to write my dissertation on Kaufman and the age old debate of film authorship. I achieved a first class hons.
Please don't stop writing these lists. If this list inspires just one person to seek out The Tree of Life, surely it's worth the time and effort.
I now look forward to seeing "A Separation", not because I presume it will be great film; because I respect your opinion and passion of film.
As soon as I saw the third sentence, I figured I would say just that. But despite there only being 18 comments thus far, I saw that two people have beaten me to it. Which says a lot about your readers, and therefore- about you and your blog. Its written by and for smart, clever people. (Prolly explains why the Wingnuts hate you so much.)
I'll never understand why these lists bring out negativity - they are, after all, the author's opinion!
I am probably committing a cinephile sin here, but I would love to be directed towards a list (of similar tastes) of the best DVD releases for 2011. With a new baby, going to the cinema simply does not happen, but our Love Film subscription is well-used!
After reading the SAG and Golden Globes nomination lists for 2011 I found myself thinking: " Is this really the best we got?" I look forward to discovering some of the lesser known films on your list and feel thrilled that I may not have seen the "best" yet.
Since I mostly agree with your reviews (either that or I REALLY disagree), so I am going to see the ones on this list I haven't seen yet.
And since I'm from Denmark, I find great pleasure in seeing both Drive and Melancholia on this list, since Nicholas Winding Refn and Lars Von Trier both are Danes.
It's just too bad that neither 'Shame', 'The Artist', or 'Terri' is coming to Danish theatres. Gotta get those on dvd instead.
First off, I'm a big fan. I love your reviews, and I generally agree with everything you say.
I did have one quick comment on one of the things you said (not arguing one of your choices, just pointing something out). I do believe that, in the lead-up to Melancholia, von Trier stated that this would be his first movie WITHOUT a happy ending, not with a happy ending (which, mind you, is kind of odd, considering his past movies). A quotation from the initial synopsis: "Trier has said that he considers all of his previous films to end happily, and that this will be the first with an unhappy ending."
Regardless, I do see where you're coming from, because it does, in a sense, put an end to the characters' misery.
An amazing list - and thank you for not including "War Horse."
Thanks, Roger, for doing this every year. Whether you are villified or praised, I am always looking for movies to watch, and always start with your lists.
A really cool feature would be a link from each movie title right to the Netflix website so we could "add" it to our list if we wanted to.
Just sayin'
I enjoy reading your lists and the reasons why you liked each movie, Mr Ebert, so please keep on posting them every December. Top 20 movies is even better than the usual Top 10. It gives me more ideas about what to watch, since I am usually well behind in watching each year's movies. Of course, I do not always agree with you about the best movies, but why should everybody agree? :)
Roger, I've been waiting for your review on A Separation for so long. now that I see you've liked it so much, I recommend watching Farhadi's "About Elly", which in my opinion is even better that A Separation.
Wonderful list, you never disappoint. Have seen 10 of the 20 and anxiously look forward to catching the others. The moment I finished viewing A Separation I knew it too would be my favourite of the year. Director Ashgar Farhadi gave a wonderfully insightful and enlightening Q&A at TIFF after the screening that added even more to this perfect film.
Love your smaller film collections. Another Earth proved that you can make a marvelous and though-provoking spec-fiction film on little budget and creatively low-level special effects. Great story and well-defined characters will do.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for the holiday season and New Year Roger.
I was not expecting to see Drive ranked so high, but I guess it grew on you - it seems to have done for a lot of critics. Conversely, since you compared The Tree of Life with 2001, I thought it would top your list.
On a different note, now I'm more keen than ever to see A Separation, but it still isn't playing where I live - ah well. I'm sure they'll get around to showing it, along with The Artist.
Wishing you a great Christmas holiday & a fine 2012!
It's a very good list for what I found to be a slightly disappointing year for films.
Hazanvicius is getting overpraised. Hell, I made a silent feature in 2006! Of course I didn't have the connections and the resources he does to promote his film, so naturally he gets praised as a genius. But I was there first, goddammit! It was a labor of love underappreciated in its day. Maybe one day it'll get recognized what it is. Mark my words, one day Roger I'll make a fantastic, marvelous film that'll top your top ten.
Watch part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2f7BYLsOAs
I will so miss the show. It has been wonderful. Didn't think I could adjust without you, but you and Chaz have done a wonderful job putting it together, moderators keep getting better and better and as one who has watched forever, so enjoy the old clips. Hopefully it will return.
What an exceptional list, Roger.
As I live in an aesthetically challenged third world country, I haven't seen any of these movies (except for the delightful Midnight in Paris) but they have been so well described by you that I only hope some day they will be considered bad enough to be shown in Santiago.
The Tree of Life is my #1 and I am glad to see that it not only made your list but that it was the top film for the Toronto Film Critics Association. It is a film like no other I have seen -- an impressionist painting with music, dialogue and motion. A remarkable work of art.
And if it ever finds distribution, I urge you and your readers to seek out Volcano (Eldfjall), an incredible Icelandic film I saw at TIFF this year. A beautiful, moving portrait of a bitter old man whose true self surfaces in the face of a personal tragedy.
In your list, the #2 film is called "Shame" and it's about sex addiciton. You say, "He's a loner with a good job.."
Oh how I hoped/expected you to say, "He's a loner with a boner..."
:)
Great list. Minor correction - Another Earth appears in both Top 20 and Another List.
There are a lot of 3 1/2 star films on your list. In the past, I remember you did full lists with nothing but 4 star films. Was this a weaker year?
Thanks for the useful effort, particularly for one not with it. I've ear marked Separation and Mill and Cross for early consumption.
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this list. I certainly don't agree with it in every respect, or even most respects, but that is what makes year-end lists interesting: no two are the same.
I particularly appreciate, though, your placement of Shame, which was easily my favorite movie of the year. A lot of the critical response to it has been very frustrating so it is really heartening that somebody else seems to have gotten it on the level that I did. And this only makes me more excited to see A Separation.
Thank you for the suggestions, Mr. Ebert. I'm always looking for movies outside of the mainstream to watch.
Also, I'm so glad you included "Tree of Life." Hands down, this is the best movie I've ever experienced.
Thank you for a wonderful list! I agree with "A Separation" as the #1 movie. I plan to see all of the movies on this list that I have not yet seen.
Any list with a Michael Shannon movie on it is a good list.
And I know you won't divulge details, but is this in any small way a preview of Ebertfest? (I promise not to tell anyone.)
So is Harry Potter or Kinyarwanda number six? I'm too dumb to tell from context how they should be ranked! Help me, Roger!
This list is fine. Particularly happy to see “The Tree of Life” so prominently featured. Brad Pitt’s Oscar nod this year will probably be for “Moneyball,” but I appreciated his efforts in this film more. There is a scene where he puts his hand on Sean Penn’s shoulder (nothing else happens) which elicited an emotional reaction that I’ve never experienced at a movie before.
Love that you included Margaret, which I thought was Anna Paquin's best work since winning her Oscar as a child. And if Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan aren't at least nominated for Oscars, it'll be a crying shame. Their work stands out as brave and uncompromising in the bravest and most uncompromising film of the year.
Your list is just fine, and I liked it. :)
This is a great list, so many amazing films on it. I love the recognition of Shame, Take Shelter, and especially Drive! Though, every film on your list is pretty spectacular in its own way.
Very nice list Roger. There are still a few here I haven't seen and hope to see soon. One of my favorite films "The Turin Horse" is not on your list. Did you not like it or have you not yet seen it?
Ugh. I hate seeing yours and other critics' list. Makes me feel like I have so much catching up to do.
Thank you, Roger.
He obviously hasnt seen "Cafe de Flore"
I like you Roger but where is The Ides of March & The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? There's no way the highly overrated Hugo is better than those films.
I really look forward to your year end lists and then spend most of the next year catching up. 90% of these movies won't ever get a release in India but have seen Melancholia, Tree of Life and Drive so far and your lists are great. Looking forward to the documentary list. Thank you and happy holidays.
The list we really want to see is your worst list. Will that be arriving soon?
viva Asghar Farhadi and A Separation!!
oh my god! I'm an Iranian and this is such an honor for me! I'm really proud. I'm a huge fan of Asghar Farhadi and I recommend you to watch and , two other masterpieces by Farhadi. These three films make a trilogy, The Trilogy of Lies. They are all masterpieces, especially .
Thank you Roger for your great choice. Thank you so much.
Thank you for being passionate about the movies and always bringing to our attention films that have heart, something to say and probably won't have sequels.
if I ever see all these films, I might find others I have liked more but what matters most is your reminders that movies can and do) inspire, teach, educate, show us things we've never seen before and there's more to it than just business, box-office and intelligence deadening escapism.
thanks
Chris Jarmick
what about "cafe de flore" ? its a masterpiece of a film!!
Excellent excellent for your choice to put Nader and Simin A Seperation on the top ,really I think this mopvie is a masterpiece .
Gift of Iran's Cinema to the world.
So are documentaries the apples or the oranges?
Roger,
Thanks for the list. Yours is one I anxiously await each year.
However, I have a rather pedantic question about intersecting topics, neither of which is among your favorites in film criticism: star ratings and best lists.
I was very gratified to see my favorite film of the year, "Drive," in your Top 10. However, that film only earned 3-and-a-half stars from you.
By contrast, "Moneyball" and "Silent Souls" earned 4 stars, but ended up off your list.
Did you give "Drive" a second look, perhaps, and see yet more than you appreciated the first time?
Ebert: I start fresh in making the list.
Of this list, I've only seen Midnight In Paris, but I have a great deal of interest in most of the others. Particularly Hugo and Terri.
At the risk of being called a nitpicker, I have trouble with Another Earth because its gravity would cause worldwide destruction within minutes of its first appearance, thus invalidating the entire plot.
I love your list and am curious as to why Warrior didn't make your cut?
Excellent list. I would include 'Tomboy' & 'The Kid with a Bike' in addition of the movies you have mentioned in this list.
Thanks for an inspirational list. By inspirational I mean, that you have included movies that could be lost in translation (yes I admire that movie).
"Trust," "The Mill and the Cross," "Life, Above All," just to name a few them. I use lists, like the one you have made, only to get some inspiration.
Personally, I feel that it is very difficult to compare movies and put them on a list. Yes, you can say something of the quality of a given movie and analyze certain aspects of it, but how on earth would you compare a movie like say "The Artist" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (the first two that came to my mind). They are so completely different in any aspect that I can't see the point in comparing them. It's like comparing apples and oranges.
Lynn McKenzie wrote (re: Another Earth):
"At the risk of being called a nitpicker, I have trouble with Another Earth because its gravity would cause worldwide destruction within minutes of its first appearance, thus invalidating the entire plot."
Lynn, in addition to this, the other Earth was always featured with the other Moon. At the scale of the Earth, the appropriate scale of the DISTANCE to the other Moon should have been half-way across the sky away from the other Earth. Sure, sometimes the other Moon would appear close to the other Earth, but on average it would be equally very far away.
Oh well, making a startling and original image sometimes deviates from physical reality, but then again, Dali and Picasso knew that too.
excellent list.thanks roger.a separation is wonderful
Roger, I enjoy your list but its completely CRIMINAL that you left 50/50 and The Adjustment Bureau off your list. Not even in honorable mentions?
I read your articles and blogs all the time and am one of your biggest fans and share a lot of stuff you write with my family and friends, but I hardly ever leave comments. I had to leave this comment. I am extremely disappointed that you left 50/50 and Adjustment Bureau off. And for that matter, Crazy Stupid Love.
I am glad you put Hugo and Take Shelter on your list though. Hugo is my favorite film of the year with 50/50 being second.
The reason I love your lists, and your film criticism in general, is you constantly draw my attention to, or back towards, films I may have missed. Everyone has heard about "Hugo" but few have heard of "A Separation". Film is better off for having people like you drawing much needed attention to underappreciated films.
On a day in which I'm mourning the loss of one of my favorite writers in Christopher Hitchens, I wish to extend you my best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season and new year. And may there be many more to come.
Great list!.. but I just have one question, wasn't 'The Help' better or at least as good as the movies in the list or the movies which missed out?..
Mr. Ebert --
Thank you for mentioning the film "The Whistleblower" about my sister, Kathy Bolkovac, and her amazing experience as a UN Peacekeeper in Bosnia. This film, along with her unflagging desire to see something done about international sex trafficking atrocities, is truly inspirational. I sincerely hope the film gets more notice and more theater time once lists like yours are reviewed.
Wonderful list! Heard most of the movies, and want to see them all.
That's the problem with making a best of the year list before the year is over!
Most readers complain about most crtics' lists...true. When you and Siskel did your lists, I would always make a "better" list by picking and choosing between the two. I've seen about 20 best movie lists so far, and your list is a good one. I do think Stephen Holden's list, ten only, is the best I've seen, almost all wheat, no chaff. Picking more films does leave greater room for disagreement. I think there are two points to these year end best lists: great source for discussions among fans, and a good source for titles we might have overlooked or not yet heard of. In any case, keep up the good work.
Interesting list. I'm surprised you didn't include "Moneyball", though. I thought it was one of the best sports films I've ever seen.
Also, am I the only one who hated the last "Harry Potter" movie?
(btw: You wrote 6 instead of 16, for Harry Potter.)
i just wanted to say i'm really proud that your number one is a movie from my country, it was some kinda shock for me, somehow i couldnt believe it, i hope a lot think like you!!
Dear Mr. Ebert,
Thanks for the great list and recommendations. It is very hard to find these films in smaller areas of N. America. Many are limited release movies that do not appear in cinemas in small communities.
Here are two small editing suggestions I can offer for clarity. In the review of "Hugo", I am guessing you meant "so" in front of "magical"in the last part, not "to". And towards the end of the review of "Le Havre", did you perhaps mean "Young Idrissa" instead of "Young Marcel"?
Is there anyway to attend Ebertfest 2012? Is it the name for a cruise/floating film festival?
Merry Christmas,
Pam Reardon
Yarmouth, NS
Ebert: Errors noted, and thanks.
Ebertfest is held every April at the University of Illinois, in Urbana. Here's a video:
http://bit.ly/uHnxxs
best movie of year: a saperation! tnx for this choice
I need to see alot of films but...
1.The Tree of Life
2.Melancholia.
3.Super 8
4.Hugo
5.Conan O' Brien Can't Stop
"The Tree of Life" is tops for me thus far. Though you write that it "ends after the characters have left the realm of time," it makes me wonder if in writing that you're more or less teasing what the ending features rather than spelling out what it really is, or maybe aren't giving the ending its full consideration since the last couple shots (which seemed to infuriate much of the audience I saw it with) frame that finale from a different perspective than what you wrote and what many possibly were lead to believe it being (which I suppose was something akin to what you wrote it to be). I thought the simplicity of the last two shots and how it pretty much puts a whole movie into a perspective that probably many weren't prepared for (at least I wasn't) is cinema at it's most powerful.
Also, "Another Earth" was listed twice--in your top twenty and in the 25 that followed. I'm not sure if you wanted to edit that by putting in another movie since many are curious by what you omitted.
Pardon me but I am going to address you as Roger. I have been relying on your movie recommendations for over 40 years back to my days in Chicago. Thank you for this wonderful ist of Best Films for 2011. I love going to the movies and I am surprised that I have only seen 3 of the films on your list. Good for me - I have so many good movies to see now. Thank you again for being a regular part oif my life for so long.
It's here! Been looking for it and do every year. My Go To for movies I need to watch. And I'll be referring back to it every now and then in future years.
Very interesting mix of films. You have chosen some current favorites and some films I look forward to seeing.
You should make a list of the 2011 movies who are not in this list.
Roger,
How can you complete your best of 2011 list, when there are still excellent films yet to be released. I am thinking of " Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" as well as "The Iron Lady." Have you scene these films and are not including them, or do you have other criteria for completing your list a few weeks before years end?
As a follow up to comment about how you will put movies with 3.5 stars on your top ten but leave movies with 4 stars off, I'm just curious what factors influence the adjustments? Did a movie like "Drive" resonate with you for a longer period of time by coming up more in conversation with others or in articles online?
When it comes to lists, I like what the Oscars have done this year by not setting a particular number of Best Picture nominees but allowing for an adaptable amount depending on demand for that year. I hate rankings myself and especially forcing a top ten or top 20 (how often do I preferences come out to exactly 10 or exactly 20 films?) so I vote for next year, just name your Best Picture of the year and then group the rest in tiers. Ranking each film can get messy in my opinion and it seems to degrade the art form a bit.
With lists, you might LOVE your top 6 but then experience a drop off in your passion for #7 and #8. But nobody would get that out of the list because they are all spaced evenly. I feel it's more natural to group lists together.
For instance in 2011 my list would have been:
Best Film: The Social Network (you always to have to pick the one movie that stands above the rest)
Top tier: 127 Hours, Black Swan, Inception, The King's Speech (in my opinion these were by far the best directed films)
2nd tier: True Grit, The Fighter, Toy Story 3, The Kids are All Right, Winter's Bone (a solid bunch but flawed and/or deficient in a few areas)
[By coincidence this aligned with the Academy's 10 picks but my directing choices would have been different]
And depending on the year, you could have two films in a given tier or you could have 6 or more. For me this is a more natural and less tedious method (not to mention less controversial) way of listing films.
Ebert: Less controversial? The year I did it alphabetically all hell broke loose. As for star ratings, as I have often written, they're silly, useless, and relative, not absolute.
As you stated lists are the bane and mate of critics and their best use is to spread word of films that haven't made enough rounds yet.
Thanks.
Great list! Thanks for the tips. But you've listed "Another Earth" twice: once in the top 20, again in the also recommended movies at the end.
This is an excellent list. I particularly like how you acknowledge both mainstream and independent films.
One of the best films I saw this year was ''Nostalgia for the Light'' by the director Patricio Guzman, who made the political documentary ''The Pinochet Case.'' It is about astronomers in the Atacama Desert. I think you would enjoy it, especially given your interest in science.
All the best.
Kevin
Roger,
Your list was just fine, and I liked it. I have not seen all of these films, but I enjoyed your descriptions and plan to whittle down the number of unseen films shortly.
Love the best-of lists. These movies don't come to central Pennsylvania, so you can bet I have a tab open to my Netflix queue when i read them.
It's a good, and useful, list. I have some shopping to do.
I noticed no "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and neither of Spielberg's films. Have they screened for critics yet or does their absence suggest something?
I'm not sure if you saw Coriolanus but it was my favorite of the year and favorite Shakespeare adaptation ever.
Roger,
Thanks for your thoughtful list. To date, I have seen a quarter of your top 20 films.
I prefer seeing a film before I read critical reviews. However, if I am unsure about spending the money to see a film in a theater here in NYC, I will read your review beforehand because, of the film critics I do read, I most trust your opinion. After seeing a film, I always read your and others' reviews to augment my knowledge and filmic experience.
Thanks so much,
Howard
P.S. Notice that the film "Another Earth" appears both as the 20th entry (preference listing) in your "top 20 films" and the second entry (alphabetic listing) in your "other excellent films" of 2011.
If I had to make a "Best Books of 2011" list, your autobiography would definitely be on it.
My Best Discoveries 2011:
1. The Tree of Life
2. The Descendents
3. Source Code
4. Midnight in Paris
5. A Dangerous Method
6. Crazy Stupid Love
7. Tabloid
8. Love Crime (France)
9. Cedar Rapids
10. Melancholia
11. Shame
12. I Saw the Devil (South Korea)
13. Project Nim
14. The Skin I Live In (Spain)
15. A Separation (Iran)
Best Old Movies I Found: Time After Time (1979) -- Malcolm McDowell's best performance was here, not A Clockwork Orange.
The Hill (1965) -- by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery, a truly hardcore POW camp movie that would be still perceived as brutally hardcore if made today.
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) -- the most ridiculously wonderful breakdance movie ever made. Goofy and blissfully dumb.
All of Roger's choices -- and more importantly -- descriptions and literate breadth of insight are excellent. There are a few I haven't seen. Coincidentally, I saw "Terri" and "Trust" last week and was as completely under their spell as Roger was. Great year for films!
A list of the movies that impressed you this year? How can that be wrong?
The only complaint I have...
is that the top spot should belong to a movie "written by Roger Ebert."
A movie about the current state of racism in the United States, in Chicago... a Movie that challenges every belief that your protagonist holds at the start of the movie, and forces him to become an entirely different person.
Funny how oftentimes the acting, writing and visual creativity of an "indie film" like the one's above can often exceed the quality of "blockbusters". However, what hasn't changed I think is that they fail to even come close to the amount of professional craftsmanship, virtuoso direction, expert acting (that are so routine and so efficient in mainstream films) that they are often taken for granted and mistaken for "bad qualities".
Take the movie like Bridesmaids starring Kirsten Wiig. You can't look me in the eye and tell me that a student film/indie film can produce the same results as THAT. I'd like to see average actors (like the one's you see in Indie pictures) attempt to do the performance that Wiig pulled off (which is a classic comic performance if I do say so). Anyone can put a camera in an apartment and a vase and have an (amateur) actor talk for five minutes mimicing real life conversations and call it art. However, I'd like to see them direct an action sequence of the magnitude like the one in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe). 1000s of extras, 100,000's of horses and even more complex special effects (which employs hundreds upon hundreds of artists, employees and interns). Sure they're different, but it doesn't mean one is better than the other.
Midnight in Paris is a great movie and its made by a famous director, but it is very slick and doesn't feel like a "small movie". To me, being "small" or "unique" is not enough for something to be considered good. A documentary about young African girls or something or other can be interesting but it has to have a point. Just because something is different doesn't make it as good as say: Transformers (God forbid). Hugo is a mainstream children's blockbuster (like City of Ember or Bridge of Terabitia for example) disguised as Scorsese's art house swan song. The brilliant man still has more stories in him yet, but everyone is getting all sentimental and trying to make Hugo more than it is (as wonderful as that movie can be).
Why do you put Another earth in your top 20 and also in your other excellent list??
Ebert: My lists begin with a long string of films and I cut and paste and shuffle and idiocy like that seems to be part of the process.
Dear Mr. Ebert
May I be the first to officially thank you for your end-of-the year list. I eagerly look forward to it at the end of every year. Thank you, also, for doubling the pleasure by doubling the list. I really like the "honorable mentions" as you used to name them. I look forward to seeing some great films now in 2012. Happy holidays.
John Peterson
Am I the only one who thought The Lincoln Lawyer was a good film? Great story. Suspenseful to the end
Roger, It really shouldnt matter if we like your list or not, but I believe its important that every film critic/lover name their top films in order of preference. This list is a picture of what you are thinking and feeling at this particular time and I think that should be preserved. All film lovers know that lists are not set in stone and that all great films are alive, therefore we expect them to change rankings from time to time. Even better, those films that were not on your list can always be rediscovered later. Thank you for the article and long live top 10 lists! :)
Your list was just fine. I liked it.
Always looking forward to seeing your top movies for the yr, this year has been a soo soo year for movie going and looking at your list looks like another great list of movies to see at your local art theatre or to rent at your redbox, netflix . Lets hope 2012 is a better yr for the movies.
The Tree of Life at 3? That pretentious bilge at 3? That unwatchable indulgent borefest at 3?
Perhaps you should consider giving up film criticism.
Can't wait to see "A Separation" - it's sad about the crackdown on filmmakers in Iran but its good to know some quality films are still being made there.
It bums me out a little that no Romanian films (that I know of) were released here in 2011 - I've come to depend on there being one great or at least thought-provoking film from there per year.
I personally would put "Win Win" over many of the films you mentioned here, not to mention the somehow flawed but still worthy "City of Life and Death".
I just realized I saw "Terri" and had completely forgotten it.
I love you Roger Ebert! I knew that you would love "A Separation" as me ....!
I guarantee 'A Separation' will not win at the golden globes or even be acknowledged at the oscars (we all know why, no matter how 'liberal' hollywood is). I would be happy to eat my words if I am wrong, but I don't think I will be. It should win best picture (beside best foreign film) in a perfect world but too bad we don't live in one. Such a travesty so many great, worthy films of the past that don't get recognised.
It's interesting that the chapter titles on the blu ray of The Tree of Life don't call it the big bang. They call it "Creation."
Roger:
Unlike you, I love to make lists. I don't have any scientific method to most of my lists, nor do I claim that they are any kind of religious scriptures. I just like making lists.
I also like making lists of my top ten films at the end of the year, and I enjoy ranking them. Of course I see the futility in ranking them. Frequently I look back and wonder why I picked one over the other.
I haven't seen as many films as you have, but I have seen quite a few of them. You do usually have a film or two that I didn't like, and I'm sure if you read mine, the feeling will be mutual. Still, of all the films I've seen on your list, I did like them.
In other words, your list is just fine.
-Nathan
"Could anyone but Scorsese have made this subject so magical and enchanting?" - Roger
Yes, actually. One of the better Harry Potter directors. :-)
You know how you don't share my opinion of Harold and Maude, no matter how much I love that movie? That's how I now regard your affection for Hugo.
It's like, you have "Hugo" and I have my favorites too, and we can wave at one another from across the great divide, each secure in the knowledge that the other guy is WRONG.
Smile.
Your list was just fine and I liked it.
What a great list!
But I'm sad that Win Win is absent...
If there is one performance (Paul Giamatti) and script this year that was better, I didn't see it...
By the way...when will you write about Hitchens? The death of the west's greatest journalist should get some coverage from you, no?
Starting three years ago I started seeing your top movies for the year through Netflix. Then I started adding all the two thumbs up movies. What amazes me is the amount of quality films being produced; there is so much available my queue is usually over 60. One day I may watch a Spanish prison riot movie and the next I'll watch Jane Eyre.Thank you; it's a wonderful experience. One of my favorite movies lately has been A Better Life. I also want to watch Ghost Writer again.
The Tree of Life at 3? That pretentious bilge at 3? That unwatchable indulgent borefest at 3?
"Pretentious bilge"...That's a good way of putting it. :)
Even from the previews, it felt like we were going to be getting the life-parenthood-philosophy-and-daddy-issues of an otherwise shallow yuppie who has just discovered Deep Thoughts for the very first time, and wants to leap into them with all the cosmic handwringing of no less than Human Life, The Universe and Everything, rather than just a conversation about the small things...You know, sort of like the film version of a Roger Ebert blog post. ;)
As for me, I hadn't been following The Artist (for some reason, I saw the Miramax name, and confused it with "The Reader" as Obligatory Oscar-Bait), but it certainly merits attention--
Seems to be the tightest rivalry this year for the Best Picture Oscar, and BOTH feel-good films that kiss up to the magic-of-film-history crowd in the voting faction and the audience. I've been rooting for Hugo to take the lead (even if just to have a "real" movie back for Picture front-runner again), but The Artist could also pull a last-minute feel-good sweep a la "King's Speech"...Which one appears to have the more favorable odds?
(It's not going to be the George Clooney one; he's been making the same corporate-exec-rediscovers-life movie, what, SIX years in a row, now?)
And yes, any early hints on Tintin, or just a pandering "I'd never heard of the character before, but my goodness, exciting stuff, isn't it?"
I am so glad you put "A Separation" as number 1. I saw it at Auckland International Film Festival and it was no-contest my favourite film!
Great list!
I was hoping to see Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty," or "The Skin I live In" on your list rather than "Melancholia" - which was the most horridly depressing experience I've had at the cinema in quite some time, but it is your list after all and you are indeed an expert. I do think you made excellent choices. I plan on seeing "Take Shelter" and "The Mill and the Cross" next week as a double feature. I only wish "Shame" was showing near Kalamazoo. The world would be a much better place with more alternative/arthouse theaters.
Hi Roger,
I found a list online of all 2011 movies so I could make my own top list. I realized quickly:
- There were fewer movies released than I would have guessed.
- I haven't seen nearly enough good movies this year.
- My tastes are more common, and I'm okay with that. I liked films like Country Strong, Larry Crowne, Hangover 2, Lincoln Lawyer, and Red Riding Hood.
I wanted to like Super 8, but can't like a film where the U.S. Air Force is the villan. Not as a USAF veteran. I can't have been alone in that, can I? I didn't see a single critic take note of that fact or be bothered by that fact.
Anyway, looking for films on your list on On Demand.
Last: I thoroughly enjoyed "Life, Above All" and the Q&A after at EbertFest. Click on my name for my review of that experience.
I wonder if I'm losing my taste in film? Why aren't many in this list truly connecting with me, despite their being excellent films? Granted, I haven't seen perhaps half of them because I unfortunately live in a city where Alvin & the Chipmunks dominates. But of those I've seen:
Hugo: I thought it was boring and if it weren't for the performance of Kingsley, I would have walked out.
Another Earth: I liked the film, but can't rave about it.
Melancholia: LVTs best since Breaking the Waves. Still, it's somewhat soul-less and if it weren't for the planet spectacle it would be too miserable to watch.
Tree of Life: Different but I couldn't watch it a second time
Take Shelter--Agree, although it didn't blow me away as much as A Brilliant Mind.
Midnight in Paris: I'm going to try to give this film a shot, but I've had a problem relating to Woody Allen since the Mia Farrow thing.
MMMM--Again a good film, but I don't think I'd watch it a second time.
The only film on this list that I got truly excited about when it opened was DRIVE. Everything in that film worked--the music, characters, presentation--and worked in unexpected ways.
I also enjoyed THE SKIN I LIVE IN in some perverted, twisted way.
I, too, loved SOURCE CODE.
Would any of these films on your 2011 list, Roger, make it to your best ever list?
Roger- Always enjoy your annual lists - thanks! Gives me some direction on films yet to see, and also confirms some of my favorites!
where were "where do we go now ?" ,"In darkness ", "The Skin I Live In ? you miss the best
I'm surprised not to see blue valentine on this list.....
I've only seen two of these films so far (Hugo & Harry Potter) but I loved them both... guess I should see the other 18 too!
Roger you are awesome! I knew you would love "A Separation" as I did... !
I'm an Iranian and I appreciate your selection.
You are the best and there is no doubt on it!
Wonderful list! Thank you!
Have you seen The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo yet? I'm highly anticipating your review of that one.
Hey Roger,
This is a great list. All of these are great movies. But I'm Iranian so I was more specifically interested in your first choice. You know, "A Separation" is a really big deal here in Iran. These days Iranians are re-sharing this list over and over on Facebook and cheering over it!
When I first watched the film in Iran, I really liked it. Hell, I loved it! I thought it portrayed the middle class Iranian family in a way that no other movie has ever done. But just like you said, I felt like it was very very Iranian. So I never thought it would be able to connect to a non-Iranian audience as much. I had never thought of what you said: "It is specifically Iranian, but I believe the more specific a film is about human experience, the more universal it is. On the other hand, movies "for everybody" seem to be for nobody in particular.". That's clever. And since this movie is now #80 on imdb's top 250 of all time, so I guess what you're saying is true. Despite the very Iranian material, it actually is universal.
But just one question. How do you see the chances of this movie being nominated or winning an academy award?
And one more thing. I like how you have included more independent movies on the list this year. Those are the movies that not everybody has seen or even heard of. But like you said, those are the ones that are actually worth ordering.
I don't want to tell you what to do but this is exactly why I think that my concept is better by selecting your best movie of the year and his top 10 contenders in alphabetical order. I'm sorry to ask you that but how much better was ''Margaret'' than ''Martha Marcy May Marlene''?
For the others movies we always have your weekly reviews to know if you did like them or not. And what was your opinion on them.
Bye
Roger, your list is just fine, and I like it.
Seriously, and happily, as a fellow movie critic, I've seen all of those you consider the best for this year. It's a superb list. Early-on in my movie reviewing career, I did create top ten lists, but I stopped. I never wanted to do them, and I don't believe in them. It was requested of me by my print, television, and radio bosses. I now do a Best Of The Year. It could contain a dozen movies or less, two dozen films or more, or in between. Last year there were 31 movies that meant something to me. This may seem like a lot, but it's only 10% of the total number of movies I saw in 2010. I average around 300 new films each year.
I always explain that my best are my favorites because they stood out for any number of reasons: A movie can make my list for a variety of reasons: because of overall excellence, acting, cinematography, directing, writing, courage in addressing a specific theme, or a combination of elements. Perhaps the picture said something to me or showed me something with which I wasn't familiar.
Movies are not contestants in a beauty pageant. Each film stands alone, and each film can deliver a special ingredient in the grand tradition that continues to make motion pictures magical.
I saw A Separation last week, what a great film! It captures basic complications in life as if they are happening to you real time. I loved this movie and happy to see it made it to your number 1.
Another thing: I notice you gave Drive an "A-" and Moneyball an "A" (as listed in Entertainment Weekly) and Drive 3.5 stars and Moneyball 4 stars on your site.
Yet Drive is in the top 10, and Moneyball is not.
And Midnight in Paris was a B+!! Not even an A-.
Is your obvious mood for intellectual elitism over commercialism getting the best of you at the end of the year, remembering things differently from how you experienced them?
Twenty is better than ten. Great list of films that encompasses a wide variety release this year. The one film I really loved that didn't make your list or honorable mentions was the Korean film 'Poetry'. If you haven't seen it please do.
Your list was just fine and I liked it.
Good list. But no "Incendies"? I look forward to your doc list, which will no doubt include "Project Nim", "Tabloid", "Armadillo", and "Louder Than A Bomb".
I wish that we could get away with the "best of (pick a number)" thing altogether. In some years, the harvest is better than others. I would not want to have to pick a 10-best list for the year 1939, for example.
Why can't we just allow critics to list the films of any given year that, in their opinion, will stand the test of time? After all, that's what makes a classic film, at least in my opinion. What films will people want to watch 10, 20, or 50 years in the future?
To me, the only numbered list that I've ever seen that makes any sense to me is "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die." I can deal with that. Feature films have been around for slightly more than 100 years, so this averages out to about 10 movies per year, but the author had the good sense to make no attempt to rank them or limit the list to 10 movies per year.
Mr ebert
This is the first time that Im visiting your page And Im so proud to see a seperation ( actuly the name of the film was the seperation of nader and simin) is at the top of your list .
May I recommend you to see majid majidis movies too if you have not seen them already.
And may I ask you somthing?
Do you think a seperation would win GG or oscar??
And also why ispaul not on your list? Its a so different comedy movie that I have ever seen
Roger,
As I've been looking at the end-of-the-year lists, I'm so glad to see Drive is getting some love. Both Richard Roeper and Peter Travers have it listed as number 1. I can remember watching it at my local cineplex. The first 10 minutes were stunning, engaging and I knew that I would love the movie. By the time the end credits rolled, I knew it would be the best film I'd see this year.
My question for you is, have you ever said, in the middle of watching a film, 'This is the best film of the year.' 'No matter what else comes out, it won't top this.'
And I agree: star ratings are trivial. Its hard to write a review and side with a star rating, when you don't know what will stay with you weeks after you've left the theater. I still have Midnight in Paris in my head, and I saw it in July.
excuse me for my previous comment. I recommend you to watch About Elly... and Fireworks wednesday. These three films make Farhadi's Trilogy. The Trilogy of Lies. They are all great. Especially About Elly...
I said a few months ago that you would pick "Tree of Life" as your number one pick, and possibly number two (for those who aren't sure, it was number 3). I was only off by one. But technically, since those two movies hadn't come out yet, I was right at the time.
Enjoy the list. I only wish "A Separation" would be released in Chicago prior to Jan. 27 of 2012.
A note regarding "Another Earth." Have you or has anyone seen Brit Marling's other film from this year, "Sound of My Voice" ?
I have not, but I've heard great things about it.
I'd also like to throw in as an honorable mention "The Trip" and another Steve Coogan film (small part), "Our Idiot Brother." Mainly 'cause I just watched it last night and I'm an idiot.
Cheers!
Dear Mr. Ebert,
I know you don't like to make lists, but we--your loyal public--appreciate them immensely. Especially those like me: cinephiles with OCD who feel compelled to make a list to compare to yours. Fortunately, there's flickchart.com to help take some of the work out of making the list. You and I have several points of agreement (keeping in mind that "A Separation", "Kinyarwanda", "The Artist" and the American remake of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" have not been widely released just yet):
"Take Shelter" your #5, my # 17
"Drive" your #7, my #13
"Midnight in Paris" your #8, my #4
"The Descendants" your #13, my #1
"Martha Marcy May Marlene" we both ranked #15
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt 2" we both ranked #16
"J. Edgar" you gave honorable mention, my #5
"Moneyball" you gave honorable mention, my #14
There are, however films you ranked or gave honorable mention to that I didn't care for (two of which I actually hated):
"Melancholia" your # 11 - although it's well-acted and certainly the best-looking film Von Trier has ever made (Kirsten Dunst basking in the glow of the new planet is the best non-erotic use of the female nude ever comitted to film), it's still the same old Von Trier formula of unlikable people treating each other abominably.
"Another Earth" your #20 - The second worst film I saw all year (only just barely beating out "Sanctum"). Like Melancholia, the visuals are nice, but that's really all it has going for it. Easily the most intellectually pretentious movie of the year. How's this for a film: a high school senior gets drunk at a party, gets in her car and crashes into an accountant's family; then spends the next few years trying to make it up to the accountant. No nonsense about parallel planets, no Ivy league professorships, no silly saw solos. I think that would be a more compelling drama.
"Beginners" you gave honorable mention - My third least favorite of the year after "Sactum" and "Another Earth". Certainly well-cast. I liked the idea of someone coming out at the end of life. But the focus and POV of the film is Ewan MacGregor's character, a self-obsessed, pretentious artist who equates misery with intellectual depth. This movie is for people in their 40's who still have Morrisey posters over their beds. Ewan MacGregor and I are the same age, and most of our peers have replaced those posters with pictures of their families/children/spouses/partners.
"The Help" you gave honorable mention - The book was a reasonably realistic (if somewhat sanitized) portrait of race relations and how Southerners who pride themselves on their refined manners treat each other when they don't necessarily like each other (coming from a southern family, I could relate). However, somewehere along the line, some Yankee Hollywood type decided that politesse and simmering passive aggression wouldn't make for a good comedy, so the polite refined ladies of Jackson were transformed into brassy, sassy, foul-mouthed cartoon rednecks.
There were also two films that made my top 20 that you gave thumbs-down reviews to:
"X-Men: First Class" my #12 - This could've been awful. But the bravura performance of Michael Fassbender as an emotionally tortured Holocaust survivor put this one over the top. And the script I thought was a very good and subtle moral prod: when we choose to deny rights to people we don't like or consider inferior (i.e. gays, immigrants, Muslims, college students, the poor), we become no better than the the Nazis.
"Tower Heist" my # 20 - Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it requires you to think in order to keep up with the plot (unlike MI: Ghost Protocol, which you gave honorable mention).
Hi Mr, Ebert,
My name's Matt. I really enjoy reading your articles and blogs. Quite inspiring at times. I recently watched Kevin Smith's 'Red State' and I wanted to read your review of it but I have been unable to find it. I would very much like to hear your opinion on it.
Thanks,
M
You know, I wanted to like Drive. I really did.
And I did like it for about half the movie. The elevator kiss scene was great. Carey Mulligan was great. All of the acting was great.
But, then it turned into an everything-gets-wasted movie, like "The American". Lost me.
Oh well.
Roger,
Am I right in assuming that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has yet to open in Chicago? Or did it really not make the long list?
Thank you sir, I appreciate your list very much! I've added this to my favorites and will look forward to finding these films. I haven't heard of a lot of them, but have seen Driver and The Tree of Life, which I admired because of its expression of the sacred. I loved Midnight in Paris too, I'm one of those people who wishes they lived in another time. :)
Here's why this list is wrong:
Just kidding. Another excellent list. Not that I was surprised, but I was extremely happy to see "Hugo" so high up. It's a movie I was excited to see, which I then became skeptical of after the first twenty minutes or so, fearing that it might be a great technical achievement but little else - but by the end I was nearly moved to tears. It's a movie that gives the cliche "heartwarming" a good name.
"Midnight in Paris" I found utterly charming, and for me was probably the most purely pleasurable movie of the year. I walked out of the theater with a big, goofy smile on my face, and it still comes back whenever I think of it.
One movie that I really loved that I haven't seen on too many 'best of' lists was "50/50." I went in expecting to like it, but was caught off guard by how moved I was by the end. Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt make for a winning pair, and Anna Kendrick is so damn likable, that you can't help but become invested in their lives and troubles. There are only two movies this year that I saw in theaters twice, and this was one of them.
The other film I saw twice in theaters, and my favorite movie of the year, was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." The first time I enjoyed it, but left the theater mildly disappointed. There just weren't any fist pump moments for me. I wanted Harry to kick ass and take names! Even the brief triumphs were weighed down by tragedy. The second time I saw it I found it incredibly powerful for that very same reason. It may sound naive to compare the film to real life, but it felt very much like a real war to me - messy, violent, scary - with the best that can come from it being a sigh of relief that it's over, rather than any sense of triumph or celebration. There's too much loss in a real war for that, and that's something I thought the movie realized beautifully.
Not that this post isn't already long enough, but there's one other film I want to mention: "The Dilemma." It got uniformly negative reviews and seems to have been swept under the rug of cinematic history - surprising considering it starred two A-listers and had a high profile director in Ron Howard. The admittedly awful trailers didn't help, making it look like a crass, witless buddy comedy. But this was an excellent film. It was messy, dark, funny, surprising; it was about real, genuinely flawed people navigating a thorny issue. The cast was terrific, especially Vince Vaughn. It deserved much better.
And on a final note (I swear!): I'm really happy to hear "Terri" has been invited to Ebertfest 2012. I've wanted to see that for a while now.
Serious question Mr. Ebert.
I always guide myself by what your movie reviews say, not what rating you assign to each one since one can actually tell how much you enjoyed a film by certain words and phrases you employ in your reviews.
Which is why I gotta ask if you felt I don't want to say pressured, but maybe obligated? to add "The Help" to your Best Of list just because it received several Globes noms and was included in a few other critics Best Of lists.
Your review indicated that you liked it alright but it wasn't near as ecstatic as your say for example Super 8 review...
Just to prove your point about people never being happy with your lists: how about "Rango"? No animation movies in this year's list?
Incredible.
My wishes for next year's list: One new Guillermo del Toro and one new Quentin Tarantino movie.
My favorite movie watched and made in 2011 would have to be "The King's Speech". That wonderful scene, supported by Beethoven's 7th Symphony, simply soared off the screen. Real expert film making there. A wonderful movie.
My favorite movie, watched in 2011 but made in earlier years, would have to be "A Prophet". Probably the best prison movie I've ever seen. So authentic. The subtle, yet powerful use of the ghost was wonderfully done.
Roger's review...
http://tinyurl.com/ybxb44u
Roger,
Why list movies you haven't posted reviews of yet?
Roger,
Tintin looks awful and a disgrace to Herge. Motion capture animation looks cheap and ugly.
Action films such as Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2), King of Devil's Island, Red State, Hanna, Bellflower and action/comedy/sci-fi Attack the Block deserved to be on that list. Perhaps the best film of the year was 13 Assassins, the closest thing we have to a modern 7 Samurai... Perhaps your greatest error was ranking The Last Rites of Joe May so low. It was an awesome performance that may win Dennis Farina a well deserved Oscar or at least a Golden Globe if enough people will see it. I do think Mr. Ebert that you place comedy, action, horror and Science Fiction on a lower shelf. I also love character development and dramatic stories but films come in all different stripes... In many ways this is one of the best years in film for a long long time. It is shameful for you to list Harry Potter in a top twenty list, come on, it was utter garbage.
I don't comment often because I prefer to sit and think about the things I read, something the internet abhors but which your blog is made for. By the time I'm done thinking, my comment would be more like an article.
However, everything on the list that wasn't already on my to-see list has just gotten a spot. You sold me on Synedoche, New York, wowing me (and incidentally making me the only person in my orbit who will ever see it.
Sadly, so few people want to spend money on decent movies here. I have actually been told by a friend they would rather go to the theater for "spectacle", regardless of quality. To that end, things like Hugo, Shame and Tree of Life are on the list, but I may have to give up and go by myself.
I don't mind it, but it's nice to be able to have a conversation about a movie when it's over.
I disagree with you about Melancholia. Though maybe what you say is what the director inteneded. But I don't think it's about people who "switch" personalities. Rather it's, I think, really about how only if you've got nothing to live for does the end of the world bring happiness. Of course the loving parent of a small child with a good life would come unhinged at the knowledge that the world were about to end, and the woman who can't overcome her depression because hey "what's there to be happy about" would feel peace at the thought of the end. That's not an exchange of personalities. And though perhaps the (if you ask me) psycholigically sick Van Trier may not see it himself, it's proof that only the crazy can think the end of the world is a beautiful thing.
Always love seeing your year-end lists, and I think for the third year in a row I agree with your #1 pick. Just watched it myself and was totally amazed. In fact, all of my favorites from this year are on here, and I can't wait to watch the rest of them!
Thank you for championing my favorite film, "Drive" and the brave "Shame." I really think "Bronson" should have had more love two years ago but this year Refn finally gets his due.
I really wanted to like Melancholia and Another Earth but I just found them cloying.
I've been looking for a common thread...
... many of these movies take place in exotic locations, and tell an interesting story that reveals something about the people who live there.
"A Separation" shows Islam isn't working in Muslim countries and intelligent women want to move elsewhere.
"Shame" is about New York subways and sex clubs. Dressed up a bit. Carey Mulligan looks so young and childlike.
"Life, Above All" in South Africa, their AIDS dilemma.
"A Film by Roger Ebert" would take place in Chicago, naturally. Instead of explosing some exotic land, it would be your job to show Chicago as an exotic place for audiences in other countries.
I am very glad to know that “A Separation” is at the top of your list, Roger. The movie was released in South Korea in October, and it received lots of positive responses from both the local critics and audiences. I was a little sleepy when I watched it at the local arthouse theater, but it was great to watch this wonderful film which may be placed around the top of my list to be written between Christmas and New Year’s day. At present, I am currently juggling it with other movies including “The Tree of Life” and “Drive” to decide how I will arrange them in the list. I know that this is really meaningless because I like them all, though I have to admit that I prefer some of them a little more.
I’d love to see “Hugo”, “Take Shelter”, “Shame”, “The Artist”, “The Descendants”, and “Kinyarwanda”. I will watch them soon as usual, but it is a little sad that I cannot mention them in my list because I have not seen them yet.
By the way, thank you very much for recommending “Life, Above All”. I have been interested in that film since I heard about it from you, and it did not disappoint me when I saw it around this October. It was one of the best films I have seen during this year.
So what did you think of the year as a whole for movies? Was it better than last year?
Having just seen The Separation, I find it highly engrossing, well crafted in the sense of Fargo, but hardly in the class of Rashomon or about anything so abstruse like the truth. Through a well told tale rich in specifics, it conveys a feel of modern Iran. No match for Kiarostami in humanism and delicacy.
Just curious whether there's any difference between your "Best Movies" vs. your "Personal Favorite Movies" in this or any other year.
Reply to: when we choose to deny rights to people we don't like or consider inferior (i.e. gays, immigrants, Muslims, college students, the poor), we become no better than the the Nazis.
Trite. Not true.
I saw Jerry Sandusky walking into a courthouse. Joe Paterno was fired from his job without any due process. The university didn't want to be associated with, or tolerate, grown men having sex with children in locker room showers. Or using a phony charity to groom boys for an approach. (See our previous discussion of the priest's guilt in "Doubt.")
You're not denying any rights when you insist on the freedom to speak out against criminal acts.
We become better than the Nazis by speaking out against evil. Period.
Ebert: I don't understand this comment.
I hadn't seen Drive. It just looks like a B-movie with a silly plot. I may have to check it out since it made the list.
I didn't care for Tree of Life. I tried to watch it but it got so confusing and jumped all over the place. I eventually just turned it off. Rise of the Planet of the Apes should have made the cut. It was the best movie I saw all year.
I'm quite surprised not to see TREE OF LIFE at the #1 spot. Would I be wrong if I surmised that you placed A SEPARATION and SHAME higher to lend them some attention?
Also, once you see RAMPART, you will have to amend this list :)
I saw The Artist at the Telluride Film Festival. Everyone was talking about The Artist. I think it's going to be the surprise of the Oscars. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see A Separation at TFF but will look for it when it comes to town.
Love your list but Tree of Life didn't resonate with me as unusual films usually do.
This list infuriates me. Not because I disagree with your choices but because I live in a town with 2 giant multiplexes and NONE of those films have been here.
I read your reviews every week and always find something I'd like to see and it is never showing in my stupid town. The two multiplexes grant 4 screens each to the latest Twilight installment, but can't spare one screen for "The Descendants."
Mrmph.
Whoops, sorry. We did get Harry Potter.
Thanks again for exposing me to excellent movies I would not have seen otherwise. I plan on seeing "Take Shelter" this week, and I can't wait. I watched "Young Adult" Saturday, and again Sunday because I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it during the first viewing... I appreciated it more the second time, and it is one of the better movies I've seen this year, for the performances, especially that of Patton Oswalt.
Top 11 for '11 (*now in uproar-inducing alphabetical order)
Attack the Block
Catching Hell
The Hedgehog
A Lonely Place to Die
Margin Call
Meek's Cutoff
Moneyball
Sarah's Key
Source Code
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
YellowBrickRoad
When will you're Tintin review be up? I see it on your short list of honorable mentions, and it's safe to say I'm one of the biggest fans of Herge's comics this side of the Atlantic.
I appreciate you making these lists, but I feel as though you did this one to early. Did you see the other films that will be released later this month? Did you see "We Bought a Zoo", "War Horse", "In The Land of blood and Honey", or "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"? Those all look like very good movies.
Ebert: Yes, it was a week early. That was because of of space limitations and production deadlines at the paper. Of you've noticed, I've added more titles in the list at the bottom. As I say, "There were many other excellent films in 2011, some fully the equal of some of these.
Ebert: I don't understand this comment.
There's a difference between acts by private citizens, and acts by government.
When a government tries to silence you, it can do so effectively. It can levy enormous fines on TV networks, forcing them to obey federal regulations about broadcast standards.
But private citizens are a different matter. In a free country, individuals have the right to think, and not to have follow "politically correct" rules.
If a private American citizen wants to show prejudice against gays, or immigaants, or people who voluntarily belong to a religion, we have that right. It doesn't make us Nazis to use our brains.
On an ABC program "What Would You Do," the producers staged a restaurant where the owners refused to serve Muslims, to see how other customers would react. And many of them said, "If a man has his own business, he should be able to decide whether he wants to serve Muslims." And others disagreed. There are federal laws that forbid a business to discriminate against religious groups. The question was, if a man opens a restarant, should he lose the right to dislike certain people? Or, should "political correctness" be used to make us like everyone?
Private individuals - like me -- have to be able to think, research and hold opinions. Because we are NOT government. One of our important freedoms is the right to speak out against laws we disagree with.
When it comes to private individuals holding personal opinions, in America,... I will sit down and explain why your opinions are wrong, and my opinions are correct, and just because a dimwit like Tim "Jesus is my best friend" doesn't understand that his religious beliefs are all false, that the stories about Jesus are actually lies to make Jesus into a god in the same way that the Roman Senate proclaimed Julkus Caesar and other Roman Emperors gods... there are frauds, cons, and liars out there. I know they are lyhing, and I'm not going to be quite because someone like Tim Tebow has a "belief."
Let's get back to "A Separation." Why does this woman want to immigrate to another country? The government tries to control her. Make her wear a head covering... threatens to put her in prison if she doesn't cover her hair in public. The reasons why she wants to leave... the filmmaker couldn't spell it out because Islam is so ingrained in their society, it's hard to imagine how things would be different without it. But, it's so bad, the only way to live a fulfilling life is to get out and go somewhere else.
"A Separation" is successful... because it shows people in a society that have lost the freedom to think, to hold opinions that don't agree with the majority. If a Muslim wants to leave Islam and become a Christian, they can be killed. A political system that abuses power in that way... and that's what modern Islam is evolving into, a political system that uses terror against their own people... a movie like "A Separation" is trying to make us understand why it's bad. And why it'
s okay to speak out against such abuse of individual rights.
There's a reason why "A Separation" is at the top of the list... it's trying to say something important. And the message is not clear, because (a) they don't really understand that Islam is the problem, not an individual country and (b) if they made it too clear, the filmmakers could be arrested and convicted for "insulting Islam." In Muslim countries, that's a criminal act that carries the death penalty, because that's the only effective way to keep human beings from thinking.
Well Roger, I must admit I was wrong. I've been wrong when I thought how easy and fun and exciting it would be to be the most revered and renowned film critic of all time. I'm sure you enjoy your profession immensely, but it's the ridiculous amount of two cents that you're flooded with from the general public that must drive you mad sometimes. I seems as if you're constantly on the defense. I'm amazed you actually take the time to read half of these comments.
As for your list, I am very excited to watch and critique them for myself. I have roughly forty-two movies to throw in my queue. I was extremely pleased after watching "The Princess of Montpensier" and "Queen to Play". Thank you for those recommendations. And thank you for this list; we all appreciate it even though it may not seem like it.
Wow. Looking at your list, Roger, makes me realize how much I'm missing out on by having to wait and see movies in Atlanta (usually not until January or later...sigh). While I don't agree with everything on your list, there wasn't a one of the films I have seen where I did a double take.
My own Top 10 are still in flux. (I'm hoping to see more between now and New Year's.) But for now, here are my best (and favorite) films of the year.
Best of 2011
1. "Hugo"
2. "The Beaver"
3. "The Symphony"
4. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
5. "Hanna"
6. "Midnight in Paris"
7. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Favorites of 2011
1. "Hugo" (my third viewing on Sunday pushed it over the top on this list)
2. "The Adjustment Bureau"
3. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
4. "50/50"
5. "Insidious"
6. "Super 8"
7. "The Descendants"
Ebert: As for star ratings, as I have often written, they're silly, useless, and relative, not absolute.
You keep complaining about this. So why not just ditch the star rating system altogether? It would certainly save you a lot of headaches from observant readers who require constistency. I know speaking for myself, I would rather do without them. I prefer to read a movie review fresh and focus more on what a critic is trying to say about a movie rather then seeing how well he or she justifies the rating given beforehand.
Ebert: I had the Sun-Times convinced to do that and then Siskel was made film critic of the Tribune and I had to keep them for "competitive reasons."
No special jury award this year?
I really enjoyed your list, and you're right, it is all subjective to each moviegoer. First, I must thank you and Mr. Siskel for all you have contributed other the years to my love for film. I first began watching (and admiring) your work on PBS's "At The Movies."
The both of you enriched my cinematic life with such gems as "Going Places" and "Breaking The Waves" among others. I must say there were a couple of surprises on your list, mostly in regards to placement. I thought that "Tree of Life" would be first with "Hugo" in the second position. Both films I consider to be masterworks from two masters. I found "Hugo" to be an instant classic and brilliant storytelling by Scorcese, it was both a mainstream movie, entertaining and whimsical, and a history lesson in cinema's humble beginnings. I never felt like I was being lectured or learning something but rather taken on an epic journey through history. It was not what I expected. I really enjoyed The Descendants, Another Earth, Trust. I was somewhat hesitant with Drive. As always, I will make it my business to see those I missed. Please continue with your lists Mr. Ebert because over the years I have come to trust you above all others. Merry Christmas to you and yours, and I look forward to your Oscar picks.
"A Separation".best movie of 2011.yes.it was masterpieces.tnx dear roger
Roger,
I'm a huge fan, but I disagree about with you about lists and star ratings. By marking a movie four stars or (especially) by putting it on a best movies list, you ensure that those movies will not be forgotten in 10 years or 15 or 20. Movies slip through the cracks and no one is going to go back through every review any reviewer has ever written to see what great, life-changing films they might have missed. Making a list of the year's best films is important. You are saying to some person in 2020 that these films are the films that should be remembered, and further telling them that if you only have time to see 5 movies the first 5 are (in your opinion) more worthy of their time.
I also like top 100 lists. The oscars ignore foreign films, and often ignore the best movies (ie Do the Right Thing), and the Golden Globes and other Awards are suspect. I can't see every movie that anyone I know says is good. I go to a top 100 list, I compare it to other lists, I see the movies that show up a lot, I see a composite of what are considered the best movies, I spend my (limited) free time well. Maybe if people listened to you and they started giving a Pulitzer Prize for film my life would be easier!
Thanks Roger!
Blake S.
I liked your list, but I didn't feel like you offered much of an explanation as to why most of these films are on here. For the most part, it felt like a bunch of plot synopsis and not a reason why you enjoyed the film.
For instance, in your review for Martha Marcy May Marlene, you describe the origins of each of her names and remark on the confusion experienced returning to life outside of a cult. The only subjective part seemed to be your comment on both Olsen and Hawkes effectively playing their roles.
I enjoyed that film, as well as the majority of the films on your list, with the exception of Trust I suppose. I didn't feel like I got enough of an explanation behind your choices, but from the looks of it, many were very pleased with your list so maybe I'm addressing something unimportant or nonexistent. You said you don't like making lists and maybe it has something to do with that.
it's in his journal, thomas...
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/09/the_world_according_to_saint_t.html
Thank you for the time you take to prepare and present this list. Once again you have given me a homework assignment of the most excellent kind.
Negative reviews of 'Tree of Life' smack of philistinism? Because we don't get it? Oh, I think we get it, especially considering the entire theme was spoonfed to us in the trailer! (I still have the bruise on my head.) I have a never seen a more one-dimensional portrayal - strike that, "beatification" - of a mother in a film. And thematically speaking, the only thing that would have made the film any LESS subtle would be inclusion of the Baby Jesus at the end ... For a film that matches 'Tree of Life' in terms of visuals, but TRULY challenges the viewer thematically, I strongly recommend 'Melancholia'.
I remember you writing about the Iranian movie The Color of Paradise, and how you saw a distinctive similarity between it and Italian neorealism. It almost seems like cinema's nourishment is the rebellion and upheaval associated with a culture which is experiencing modernity for the first time.
No longer faced with having to represent on screen an eternal Qur'-anic figure, Iranians now have access to an outlet in film which is able to express their individual and national identity without that character being tainted by globalism and the possible rigid standards that go along with it. It's feasible that one of these years your favorite movie will be from Afghanistan, and the storyline will be as authentic as Ozu.
Okay, here's my crack at it:
1. Drive
2. Hugo
3. Beginners
4. 13 Assassins
5. Attack the Block
6. Take Shelter
7. Everything Must Go
8. Young Adult
9. The Skin I Live In
10. Win, Win
11. The Descendants
12. Blue Valentine (if we're indeed counting that as a 2011 release)
13. Restless
14. Terri
15. Thor
16. 50/50
17. J. Edgar
18. The Muppets
19. The Rum Diary
20. The Guard
Runners up: The Help, Source Code, Rango, Midnight in Paris, Friends with Benefits
No place on my list for Moneyball, The Tree of Life, Another Earth, Melancholia
Can't wait to see The Artist, Shame, A Separation, My Week with Marilyn, A Dangerous Method, and everything else unseen on this list, minus Harry Potter.
Mr.Ebert
as much as I respect your opinion, I must say you have one movie missing, that I personally think should be there; Moneyball
Although I am not a fan of baseball, I don't play baseball, I don' know anything about baseball, but I found this movie to be one of these movies, that in this day where almost all movies are commercial, this one was commercial, but also, "a good film"
So glad you added "Trust" ..it was one of the most underrated film of the year.
On seeing your original 3.5 rated review of HP:deathly hallows 2
i thought, u actually didn't liked it so much like all others raved.In fact I never felt like it was one of best of the year. For me it stands behind the first 3 in the series.
Now since "u" added it to the list I think I may need to watch it once more.
-------
if you see this comment
there are times wen i don't "agree" with your reviews.but still i "love" them because of the fact that you make your points so clear..The only time I was "disappointed" by your review was of "The Green Mile". It surely deserved 4* from you (Though u said stars are relative )
-------
Stars maybe relative and silly but they are not "useless" given the fact that mostly a review is intended to cater to all cinema going audience(and not just film buffs) who many a times look for reviews just to see if it is worth their penny and may not feel like reading a whole page. As for those who don't use star rating (like David Edelstein) i sometimes don't get whether they liked it or not ..even "ROTTENTOMATOES" seems like bit confused on that ;)
Roger,
Here's a question I have about your list. I'm not here to argue about your choices and what I would replace or how the numbers are wrong or any of that nonsense. It's your list and as far as these things go it's probably the one I agree with most thus far.
However, this year and last I've noticed a lot of 3.5 star films creeping into your list. I know what you're thinking: good God another person getting picky about the ratings. Nope, I care about as much about rating as yourself. But then I remember reading your logic once. You say you save the 4 star rating for those special films that give you a tingle in the bottom of your spine. I do the same.
That being said, with some 4 star movies being delegated to your honorable mentions sections (Rango for example), it's strange to me why several films would make it into the top 20 that didn't give you your special 4 star tingle over several that did.
Just an observation.
Roger,
I'm sure "The Separation" is a magnificent film. But I must wonder why you chose to put it on top of the list THIS year instead of holding it to next year. As you say, it doesn't open in Chicago until the end of January (so not technically a film from 2011). I know part of the reason you placed it was because of the Academy Awards, but wouldn't it make more sense to wait until after the film is on DVD so that it could reach the widest amount of filmgoers? How many people will still remember this list at the end of January?
The Mill and the Cross is indeed a great film which preserves the sublime in the picture.
Yeah, Win Win is a great film, one of the year's top 20 for sure. Tom McCarthy is a marvel: three movies in a row--The Station Agent, The Visitor, and now Win Win--and not a dog in the bunch. And he has revisited the same theme (different peoples/worldviews reconciled) while keeping it fresh. A humane filmmaker with a good ear and a way with actors.
In re: the just-under-the-wire reviews of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Tintin:
- I wonder if you're aware of any of the following:
- The original Swedish movies we saw here this year were condensed from a six-part series for Swedish TV, which has just become available on DVD here in the USA.
The box advertises "more than two full hours of footage never before seen in the USA!" This brings the running time to nine hours, give or take.
Think you'll be putting this on your Netflix queue?
- Since you're reading the books, did you know that Eva Gabrielsson (Stieg Larsson's significant other and unofficial collaborator on the novels) disapproves of the extant English translations?
She says the English versions are "too toned-down", that they've been sort of cleaned up for the GB-US reading public.
So if a new, "hotter" translation comes along in a year or so, will you be reading that?
- As for Tintin:
Of the reviews I've read so far, yours is the one and only rave.
Do you suppose that might be because you're more familiar with the source material (and in French yet)?
I think I mentioned this before, but there's a new book out called The Adventures Of Herge, a biography of the artist done in the style of a Tintin album.
You might want to look into that ...
The foregoing is a severe abridgment of a longer comment that was eaten by this oedipusrexing mechanism of yours.
Too bad. The original was one of my better ones.
Roger,
Your list was just fine, and I liked it.
Merry Christmas!
Ron
So you didn't sit through all of it?
This list is a failure. Not a single movie including films from China, India, Japan, South Korea or SE Asia. That's more than half the world's population. This should be re titled: top 10 movies in Ebert's Universe, where two worlds exist. I won't even bother to enlighten you on some of the good one's out there.
Mr. Ebert, your lists sucks!
I am ashamed to admit that for the first time ever (since the beginning of your annual lists) I don't know all the movies you're talking about. What a tragedy! I got lazy this year I guess D: Anyways I just wanted to disagree with you on one movie, I really hated Tree of Life. One of the worst movies I'd seen in a while. I felt like it was a disfigured baby or something. So ugly that I felt pity.
I liked most of the movies you listed (that I've seen) with the exception of Melancholia, I though it was pretty awful, it aspired to be a lot more than it was, but it seriously could have been half the length and still have driven all the points exactly to where they needed to be. I liked the Planet graphics very much, not over done nor exploitative of CGI for the shock value.
I found much of the dialogue was pretty over dramatic and the length of every shot, every scene, twice what it needed to be. I fell asleep TWICE for what seemed like more than just a few minutes and each time I woke up praying we were near the end, to no avail, it was not even close to the end.
I loved Tree of life, again except FOR the end, which was kind of weird and hokey. I enjoyed it's minimalist Dialogue and outstanding cinematography
Did you know there are nearly 775,000 titles in the IMDb database? 99.9% of these never made it onto a single best film list.
Hello, Mr. Ebert. 18 year old longtime reader/fan here.
I appreciate your list this year. My personal favorites of 2011 include (somewhat in order of preference) Melancholia, Another Earth, The Tree of Life, Drive, Trust, and Hugo.
I just got back from a screening of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." While I of course haven't seen all the films in your top 20, I'd argue that TGWTDT deserves a place somewhere higher than honorable mention. On a side note, I feel Rooney Mara's portrayal of Lisbeth was so inspired, it would be a tragedy to me if she wasn't nominated for, or the winner of, Best Actress at the Oscars.
Thanks, Chris
Ebert: Liked it, but didn't Noomi Rapace steal a little of her thunder?
I found the star rating considerably useful in helping to eliminate many films at the most preliminary stage even saving the time spent on reading the review. Of course one cannot regard it like a precise measurement and leave room for subjectivity. Possibly more useful in the low than high rated movies.
ONly seen a few on this list....Hoping to see "The Artist" soon and 13 Assassins.
The ones I saw were "Shame', "Tree of Life", "Descendants", Melancholia, "Martha May"..whatever..."Take Shelter", "Drive".
I agree a lot about your assessment of "Shame" (that you had gotten right what it was trying to say) except that I felt it was superficial and inspiring judgement in the audience (if not judged by the filmmakers themselves). I'm getting a little tired of movies (or maybe just the "serious" ones), mostly indie movies I think, that just show the surfaces as if that is all that needs to be said; a kind of elbowing to the audience's arm, such as showing the guy looking at porn0 at work, m@sturbating in the bathroom at work etc. (you kind of feel there is a little elbowing going on there). Also, the movie felt like it was more about a guy on auto-pilot, or more about the fact he and these people Could do all that stuff rather than that they did. For instance, the dinner-date scene, where he basically just tells her that there's no point for any kind of connection between two people enough for them to keep seeing each other and she says "Are you serious?" Apparently, he was. So, it's kind of hard for me to believe that lonely stuff when he really seems to believe that. Also, kind of hard for me to believe that she would sleep with him after that (seeming to be a woman where real relationships were non-negotiable). Okay, but apparently she was going to try to test his "realness" in bed (which also didn't really seem believable), and that's when he backed off...a second time...and sat with his head down. So, it seems more about how these people Could do this stuff than that they did. It seemed like they wouldn't, but then, no wait, yeah, they could have. Crying during sex. Why's that going to stop him? And it's not stopping the women he's having sex with.
"Tree of Life"...it didn't earn those moments that it tried to have, although I did like the kind of hand-held style shooting of the first movement and it was pretty good with editing a bunch of stuff together. Art is the illusion of spontaneity. And to me, bad art is kind of defined by how it thinks that spontaneity is constant; but spontaneity wouldn't be spontaneity if it were constant. Like with P0rnos, they don't even try to have a story; it's like "Here's your pizza you ordered, and yet we're not screwing." That's kind of what "Tree of Life" did; it was like "Here's my life, and yet we're not seeing it on a universal scale."
I am from India and as far as I know there was no film from India to be added to the list ..This years submission to Oscar(by India) for best foreign language film was from my place and i am telling you that does not stand a chance in the list .. Ebert is the only international critic who seems to appreciate films from places you mentioned.In fact his "Great Movies" has Titles by Satyajit Ray , Santosh Sivan etc.. and has also very positively reviewed films from Japan and Korea ..And I don't think Asian films are as widely shown there as European and American films ..So we cant ask him to list films to which he has no access .
Due to your list, I purchased A Seperation online (I live in Ireland where it has already played). Star ratings and lists don't really matter. Getting people to see this brilliant film does. Thank you so much.
Ebert: In this country it was an obscure choice, so I was pleased that the response here has been so favorable. Not a single demur.
"[your] list was just fine, and [I] liked it" :-)
Thanks, Roger, for your contributions to world of film.
Hey Roger,
Just like a lot of people here, I heard about your #1 pick through your list, and I loved it! Great pick!
On to movies that didn't make it...
There was a movie called "Life in a day" which I think is being criminally over-looked by many critics, but I see that it wasn't reviewed on your site, so maybe you haven't had the chance to see it yet? It was a nice filmmaking experiment, getting people all over the world to contribute footage of what their day is like, and compiling it all into a 90 minute time capsule, and I think it was one of the best editing jobs I've ever seen in a movie.
It's so well put together, and very few movies resonated with me emotionally more than this one. Despite many sad moments, the ending left me with one of the most uplifting, life affirming feelings I've had in a long time. This movie just truly captures what it is to be human, and despite showing such a wide range of like from the richest to the poorest person, it's all about the interconnectedness of us all.
I don't know if you've had the chance to see it, but I hope do.
Also on another note, I know this is pretty old now and I wish I brought it up earlier, but any chance we'll get to see a review of Mary & Max from you? I think it'd be a good entry at Ebertfest.
Mr. Ebert,
Just a simple thanks for your most enjoyable list and a greater first-time thanks for all you've shared in the different stages of your career. For me, many hours in each of many years of enjoyment, entertainment and education in reading your writing and watching your shows. Thank you!
Steve
Great list! I hated Melancholia, but the other movies - excellent indeed. Thanks for all the recommendations, I now have many movies to see. Have a great Holiday season!
Hi Mr. Ebert,
As usual, a wonderful list that makes me want to seek out what I hadn't heard of before. The only question I have concerns "Margaret." Did it ever open in Chicago? As I've been chomping at the bit for Kenneth Lonergan's second film, I was dying to read your review of it but one was never published.
Thank you,
Ryan
Since other people are posting their lists, thought I might as well post mine.
I think I have some criminally over-looked movies on my list and if I can bring some of them to at least one person's attention, then I'm happy with the short period of time I spent replying to this blog with my list. I wonder if Roger will think I way over-rated my pick for #2, but it's the most fun detective movie I can think of.
10. Born to be Wild 3d
9. Horrible Bosses
8. The Ides of March
7. Moneyball
6. Attack the Block
5. The Descendants
4. Life in a Day
3. A Separation
2. Cold Weather
1. 50/50
Great list Roger, I always enjoy your insights, reviews, list, discourse, and love of life.
Hi Mr. Ebert,
I am an Iranian. Asghar Farhadi's film is very glad that your attention has been
do you see the "About Ely" movie?
Great list with great comments ... "A Separation" is awesome ... Dear Roger be healthy ... Thanks
A Separation! thanx god for making Roger Ebert!
It,s very good you see the iranian movies like (Children Of Heaven , you,r point is 4 Star for this movie.)and Kiarostami movies and now A Separaion.
i want ask you about other movies From Asghar farhadi. About Elly
while better than A Separation.
I,m wating for you,r answer.
thank you Mr. Ebert for another wonderful list - I've added many to my own must see list, on which I depend on you yearly for great suggestions.
I've been a loyal reader & fan of your work for most of my life, and I just want to thank you for continuing to write about film. we need you!
all the best & happy holidays.
Well said, I agree completely.
Dear Ebert:
your list is just fine.
i liked it.
:-)
Very interesting list. I was just wondering why there's no mention of INTO THE ABYSS considering how much you liked it and how much you mention the greatness of Werner Herzog when you talk about MELANCHOLIA.
Ebert: Here's today's posting of the year's best documentaries:
http://bit.ly/uRy9Ua
Hi, Roger! Just catching up this list, which I wasn’t expecting till this weekend.
Like many others who have commented, I disagree pretty strongly about Melancholia, but not, I think, for the same reason. I would only object to Von Trier’s misanthrophy and nihilism if he didn’t communicate them effectively, and in fact he communicated them superbly. I would credit the film with nearly all of the strengths its champions admire it for: superb visuals, terrific performances, an often sharp script.
My problem was that the science was terrible. Not terrible as in, you think it through later and it doesn’t really hold together, but terrible as in, a character says something and you immediately stop believing in the movie completely. And not just on the literal level; you (or, more accurately, me, with my personal level of scientific knowledge) stop believing in the movie as metaphor. Because I of course understood that Melancholia was (pun intended, and perhaps by Von Trier) above all a metaphor for Justine’s depression and/or the potential for nihilistic depression in all of us, and I was eager to give myself up to that. But we’re told that Melancholia was previously unknown because it had been “hiding behind the sun,” and that’s not just scientifically preposterous, it’s trite as metaphor. Now, if Melancholia had always been present in the outskirts of the solar system and had been silently moving towards the sun for years, and had been the secret source of much of what didn’t make sense about planetary movement (in this alternate reality), and had been invisible until recently because it had reflected no light, but was now shining beautifully after being warmed by the sun – not only is that scientifically plausible, I would also argue that it’s a hell of a lot more thought-provoking and resonant as metaphor. And I came up with that on the way back to my car!
I also couldn’t make sense of Claire’s lack of interest in researching Melancholia given her evident anxiety over the possible end of the world. Given that Melancholia did strike the Earth, the most extreme of all the many credible scenarios is that 90% of scientists thought it was no danger, and were violently disagreed with by a maverick 10%. In which case there would have still been a worldwide obsession with that 10% chance of doom, which Claire, no matter how sheltered, could not possibly have been oblivious to. I think we were supposed to believe that there was an essentially universal scientific consensus that Melancholia was not a danger, that John was not lying to her about there being nothing to worry about (hence his extreme reaction when he realizes the planet is approaching again), and that the “Dance of Death” website that Claire Googled up in a moment of anxious weakness was discredited conspiracy-theory stuff, which of course turned out to be correct. Well, that’s not remotely credible either. If the correct science was that there would be a collision, that’s not going to be missed by every actual scientist but divined by some amateur with a web site. Nor is it credible that there was a worldwide scientific conspiracy to hide the truth; I’m not sure you could find one scientist who’d endorse that, let alone all of them.
Proof once more that movies don’t exist on film, they exist in your brain, which is already full of other stuff. You, more than any other critic working, understand how subjective all this is. Yet it’s an objective fact that the movie would have worked better for more people had Von Trier ever showed his script to someone with a good knowledge of astronomy. Which you’d think would be one of the steps in creating a science-fiction movie. Why does it not surprise me that a nihilistic misanthrope is also apparently contemptuous of science? He’s a heck of a film-maker, though.
I'll be succinct - Bridesmaids should have been on this list. Thank you. xo
anybody know when Separation is on cinema in europe(Sweden)?
i wanna see this film one of my best friends saw it in a festival and he said its the best film he has been seen in his life! roger could you write reasons of succes behind a non-west film(like this film)? thank u
I also found lack of an inclusion of "Win Win" disappointing. As has been said, it had the best performance (Giamatti) and script of any movie I saw this past year.
I am more worried that you (Mr. Ebert) may not have had the chance to see this fantastic and touching film. This would be a tragedy.
Why would you expect anyone to totally agree with your list? No two people will make the same list!
That doesn't mean the effort isn't worth it. I found several films in this list that I've never heard of, but now want to check out because you brought them to my attention. And that, after all, is really what such lists are about, right?
Ebert: You are correct, sir!
Mr. Ebert, don't feel bad about being totally off the mark on your best movie picks of 2011. You ain't alone. Every one of the 88 critics cited by Vanity Fair also missed the boat. 100 years from now, all of us, all these films, will be long forgotten. Yet one of this year's movies will not only be remembered but venerated.
RUBBER will rule.
I am also equally sure the clueless Academy of today will completely ignore Robert's brilliant work. However both this future cinematic masterpiece, and the finest work ever by a pneumatically inflated film star, are destined to be revered by the hip cyborg audiences of 2111.
I'm surprised to see a 3D film as one of your very top choices. Even if it is Scorsese. Would you say that now that you have seen what a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese does with the technology, would you say that you are interested/intrigued by what he might do with his future films made in 3D? Would you say his embrace of 3D has interested you in the potential of the format?
To me, I like "The tree of life" and "Midnight in Paris". Just wonderful movies. They leave many lessons to learn and to think about. And I think there should also be 2 more places for "Bridesmaids" and "The girl with the dragon tattoo" on the list. Perhaps there is no need to talk much about these two movies. Anyone who have seen them have their own feelings.
Well, no one is going to like everything on your list. Here's an example from me. I thought Saving Private Ryan was the best film of 1998 and you put it third, after Pleasantville, which I didn't care for, and Dark City, which does seem good. However, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect it. What I didn't like was when you did the lists in alphabetical order, so we couldn't tell which film you really liked the most. Personally, I don't see a difficulty in doing it the original way. We aren't asking much from you, just to do it like that. We aren't saying, "Put Transformers on the list!!!" Now that would be wrong. Have a happy holiday and on to the next year's worth of films.
You the man, Roger.
Just read your comment. I want my 2 seconds back.
Hello Roger, I agree with the majority of your list. With one exception.... Tree of Life. I found it to be a pompous, self indulgent, and poor example of quality story telling through the media of film. I love Terrence Malick's films, but this one just didn't do it for me. It's too bad that he couldn't just focus on the story of the family and leave out all the transcendental images about the "circle of life". I felt it was two different movies that got inappropriately edited together. Cheers to you and your insightful list of films either way. I always count on your expertise when I am choosing a film to view. Thanks !
Mr. Ebert
Simply I wanted to say that I look forward to your lists every year. It expands my movies watching library and I am always fascinated by the variety of things I haven't watched. Your opinions and expertise are valued.
Thanks for doing this.
Cheers
Stephen
Roger:
Your list was just fine.
Al Myers
I'm so glad Liberty Valance joins the Great Movie clan. Was there ever a better bad guy than Lee Marvin, or a worse pair of myridons than Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin?
Roger,
I have to echo those above who are shocked to not find Tinker Tailor on your list. Has it not opened in Chicago yet?
Roger, I am so glad you did not include "Bridesmaids" on your list. It's not funny, predictable and so boring. I would rather watch "The Artist" 10 times than sit through another performance of "Bridesmaid".
Tree of Life?
I lasted just over an hour, and thankfully realised that this was going to be time I really, really, did not want to waste on such a huge example of somebody so basically losing the plot and ending up somewhere up the back end of themselves.
I've read so many of your reviews and felt that I was in touch with your feelings much more often than not, but this film I have to say has become a benchmark for me, in that anybody, ANYBODY, who actually perceives anything other than a steaming pile of ... ceases to have an opinion that I care to listen to.
I feel that strongly because, c'mon, seriously, it is SUCH a bad film, I think I'd rather watch Transformers, and I do not say that lightly believe me.
Great list. Can't wait to see Melancholia. Have you posted your worst of the year list yet?
I have skimmed through most of these comments but I only have 2 questions for you and I will keep them short. What is your opinion on Bellflower and/or My Suicide. I have been looking forward to both of these movies becoming available for on line viewing. Thank you for your time.
Hey! Why did you miss the The Hangover Part II and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They are really superb and of course, the big revenue earners too.
Thanks for the list! With so many of my favourite films represented, this list made me check out some of the ones I missed and wow, was I ever impressed by David Schwimmer's TRUST. Wow! It did not / does not sound like a film that I would *want* to see at all and its a very one of a kind type of film but Schwimmer really hit a home run with this film. I highly recommend: EVERYONE GO SEE TRUST.
Also, if Blue Valentine counts for this year(?) then put that on the top of my list. Easy.
I have to make a comment to the people who are saying that they disliked Melancholia because it was "too depressing". I have to address this because it just seemed so ridiculous to me that someone would go to a Von Trier film expecting to feel uplifted; especially if you read the synopsis about the end of the world, and then of course... the title of the film itself. What exactly was being expected?
To the list itself; it is a great overall mold of the year in film. I am still awaiting for Margaret to come to Seattle, but I agreed with almost everything that I have seen that was put on the list.
Happy viewing to all!
Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy; Santorum is an idiot. Coincidence?
Mr. Ebert,
I look forward to your list every year with great anticipation and, year after year, you never fail to choose many of the films that I have enjoyed and have considered "one of the best this year". You also choose many films that I haven't heard of which, once I finally do watch them, I throughly enjoy. I always make it a point to check your review of a film before I watch it, a habit that my kids have now picked up.
Your "Best of" list ranks right up there with all of the great things that I look forward to each year. Anniversaries, the Oscars, the Super Bowl, Ebert's "Best of" list. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Ken
Hi Roger - Mostly solid list, from what I can see (Harry Potter? Blech). Anyway, let me defend the much-maligned star-system (the movie reviewer's system, not the cosmos): please keep it. I often choose a movie based on a quick glance at your star ratings, and then read your review AFTER seeing the film. Butt-backwards probably, but it makes movie-going a more thoughtful exercise....
Thanks for all you do,
Murray
Winnipeg
I really enjoyed your list and I loved the movies "Tree of Life", "The Artist", and "Midnight in Paris." All of these deserve a spot of this list but my favorite movie of 2011 and all time is "Super 8!" This movie hit all the right notes and it inspires me to make my own movies, something no movie has done to me. "Super 8" was almost magical to me, and it reminded me for why I love movies in the first place.I believe that this is the "E.T." of my generation!
I do agree for "Trust" - everyone go see it, with all my heart.
It is a bit strange to me to see very few independent movies except in the "addition" ... e.g. "Tyrannosaur" is probably fighting "Separation" on my top ten list ... but at least it is mentioned.
Whatever happened to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy ... suppose it is too complex and seems stiff for those who have not seen the original BBC series. But it is marvelous, though.
Although I highly appreciate and regularly read your work, Mr. Ebert, I find it strange that Hugo is No 4 (the list seems pretty along with Oscar predictions, though ...) and War Horse is merely mentioned.
I am so glad you have such an opinion on "Moneyball"
I myself know very little of the game but I found the movie even less commercial than you do. It really has something that makes it rather different from all other "sports" theme movies. It has a beautiful pace of its own.
Thank you!
I don't think Young Adult should be on your list, but did enjoy its fearlessness. You talked about alcoholism in your review and I agree it's a potent part of the film and Theron's construction of the character.
I also think it's a fairly accurate portrait of a female narcissist and the lengths a woman with that mental framework will go to in order to avoid looking at the truth of her life and how she treats others.
The short scene where she has a moment of clarity and then becomes roped back into the delusions that allow her to live an unexamined life hit it home for me. I see the alcoholism as a derivative of her narcissism, not the other way around.
It's not a character I see often in film and although the script is a bit flawed, I'm glad Cody and Reitman got it made (and that Theron has the guts to play someone so thoroughly unlikeable).
I enjoy your film discussion and visit frequently.
Mr. Ebert, I really couldn't understand this list. How come, that you've rated "Drive" and "Midnight in Paris" with 3.5 stars, yet they're ranked higher in your list than "The Artist" which you've given 4 stars?
Jane Eyre.
I am kind of confused why Lee Chang Dong's Poetry keeps showing up on critics 2011 film lists? I thought Poetry was released in 2010. At least that is when I saw it.
Regardless, I thought it was a beautiful film and I am glad to see that others enjoyed it.
Ebert: Yes, it was. It opened in many US markets in 2011.
Dear Mr. Ebert,
I'm from Turkey. I genuinely believe You are one of the best critics in the world. I simply love your comments on movies. Anyway, your list is exceptional. I've seen more than half of the films you have mentioned.I only didn't enjoy Another Earth although I saw it twice. I don't know, I just couldn't get into it..
any mention of senna? a musttttttttttttt see :)))
I promise to every body who didn't see "A Separation" ,If you see it, you will tell that it is the best film of 2011.
when i pick up a dvd, and i see that ebert has given it the thumbs up, that tells me that its worth watching. in other words, i think ebert is the best critic in the business. BUT, when i didn't see warrior on this list, i lost a bit of respect for ebert. movie of 2011 in my opinion. great movie, great story, great acting and the best ending ever. i watched drive straight after watching warrior because i had heard that drive was supposed to be this ace movie but it didnt even compare to warrior one bit. well, at least ebert gave warrior 3 out of 4 stars and praised it but it still should have made this list, even if it was number 20.
I just have something to correct - Von Trier said Melancholia was his first film WITHOUT a happy ending, NOT with.
Can't agree more. Awesome list. Puts it in perspective of sites like http://www.filmcrave.com/list_top_movie.php?yr=2011 and their top 2011 movies. Very good stuff.
Believe the list is very good and can see why "A Separation" is first. My own list has "The Tree of Life" as 1 and "A Separation," 2.
Hi Roger!
Thank you for great list
I like “Separation” (from iran) very much
I,m glad because this film won golden globe prize and I hope this film will win Oscar
but do you see “about eli”? it,s masterpieces too…
This is a fantastic list of movies. After reading the descriptions of each movie, I want to watch the entire list! Since I see several others have made similar comments, you can no longer claim that people only dis your lists. ;)
a separation is the best film in this list
Finally a great movie list!
"Top 10 Kubrick Stares"
(listverse.com/2011/04/08/top-10-Kubrick-stares/)
Note: Only #9 keeps this from being a Perfect 10. I would replace with a candle lit shot from "Barry Lyndon."
(sneakpeek.ca/2011/05/kubricks-barry-lyndon-blu-ray.html)
Interesting list. My favourite film of the year was "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" which you don't mention. It's my impression that it's a film which the UK took to its heart but which hasn't gone down all that well in the US. Would you agree with this?
Nice to see you include "Trust" which I thought was excellent - Clive Owen's best work to date.
I just came across this list. Check out the somewhat similar list at www.movie-attractions.com.
Hi, Mr Ebert,
I've always loved your reviews, so much so that I won't watch a movie without reading your review first. But I do wonder why The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo isn't on your list.
I don't know whether sadness is now obligatory for making "quality" films, but 2011 seems to be filled with an overabundance of unhappiness. I understand that human emotion is what allows us to connect with the themes and characters of the movie. But, jeez, does anyone have a sense of humour anymore? Even Kermit The Frog was uncharacteristically melancholic. I'm hoping 2012 brings more joy and celebration. Those are emotions that I can identify with, too, you know.
it's a great list
i agree with separation as first
but do u have seen a girl with dragon tatoo?
Seriously, missing Moneyball out of even the top 20, never mind the top 10?!
I seriously question your judgement here, but whatever...
i thinks films in 2011 is good. Some film's very interesting, i think so. I like films so much!
Why is it that critics find the most booooooorrrrrring crap and call it the best just because it has a lonnnnnnnnng drawn out story that will put you to sleep after 20 minutes we need regular people judging films the people that actually go watch the movies to judge them. Its like rottentomatoes their ratings are almost always wrong
I truly respect your opinion about film. I find your list of top twenty plus interesting and it certainly mirrors many of my favorites of the last year. I absolutely agree that A Separation was THE best film of 2011. I hardy (as much as I enjoy all of George Clooney's films) think The Descendants belongs on any one's top twenty list.