The Best Movies of 2011

No, that's not a typo. It's just a year late, relax.

When the end of 2011 came around, I was so disappointed in the movies the year had offered, I didn't make a best of list. I mean, The Artist, really? Yes, The Help had a number of excellent performances, but it wasn't something I would consider great filmmaking. Cars 2 was the first Pixar movie ever I had no interest in seeing, which turned out to be telling foreshadowing in the rest of my movie-going year. However, I held out hope that there were better movies from 2011, I just hadn't seen any of them. I'm not going to say that 2011 was a great year in film, but it was a sneaky-good year for the indie genre, and all of these movies are excellent.

1.) Another Earth

I'm a little surprised Brit Marling didn't pop up in everything after this movie. She's drop dead gorgeous with the ability to pull off grunge vulnerability. Another Earth does indie sci-fi right. Cool story, interesting characters, a movie that makes you think about your life a little more than you would on an average day.

2.) Weekend

It turns out that the most romantic film I've seen in years is a gay Before Sunrise.

3.) Drive

I think the slow build to crazy violence worked perfectly in this movie, a fun, scary ride for sure.

4.) Bridesmaids

It was damn funny. It's rare for me to find a movie I can watch again and again, but this one fits the bill.

5.) Hot Coffee

What? You don't want to see a documentary about that silly old lady who won millions of dollars for foolishly spilling her McDonald's coffee on her while driving? Yeah, I didn't either. But you don't know the half of it. This is a fascinating, unbiased look at lawsuits in the USA. I didn't have a clue.

6.) Take Shelter

A creepy movie with a great performance by Michael Shannon. Yes, I would change a few things about the movie, but it was effective and beautiful in its darkness.

Honorable Mention (aka biggest pleasant surprise)

Sherlock Holmes 2: Book of Shadows

This movie was just gorgeous. The story was solid, I thought it was well-paced with an interesting villain. Man, it was so pretty. I'm sure it helped that I watched it on a plane on my way home from an amazing Asian vacation.