Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The year in rearview

It's that listy time of year. Naughty vs. nice, art vs. commerce, Tree of Life vs. Twilight, etc. Movie critics, film pundits, and cine-bloggers are compiling their summations of what happened, or didn't, onscreen in 2011.

Here are some I find most useful and meaningful. Between now and January I'll be adding to this list as more appear.


The Atlantic: Richard Lawson's The Best Movies of 2011

A.V. Club: 15 Best Films of 2011

Roger Ebert's Journal: The Best Films of 2011 and The Best Documentaries of 2011

GreenCine Daily: Best of 2011: Supporting Performances

The Guardian: The best films of 2011: Peter Bradshaw's choice

IndieWire: Annual Critics Survey 2011 and overview article

io9: Best and Worst Science Fiction/Fantasy Movies of 2011

L.A. Times: Year in Review: Kenneth Turan's best film picks of 2011


Movie Line (Stephanie Zacharek): The Artist, Tinker, Midnight in Paris: Stephanie's Top 10 Movies of 2011

Movie Morlocks (TCM): The Top Twelve Genre Films of 2011

MSN:  

The New Yorker (Richard Brody):  The 26 Best Films of 2011

The New Yorker (David Denby): The Best Films of 2011

The New York Times: Riding Off Into Civilization's Sunset — Stephen Holden's Top 10 movies of 2011

NPR: 2011 In Film: Bob Mondello's Top 10 (Plus 10)

Online Film Critics Society: 15th Annual OFCS Awards Nominations

The Oregonian: Top Movies of 2011Shawn LevyMark MohanMike Russell (pleased to see 13 Assassins here)

Salon: Andrew O'Hehir's The 10 best movies of 2011: Brilliant movies for a bleak year 

Scanners (Jim Emerson): My First 2011 "Ten Best" List

Slant: Top 25 Films of 2011

Sunset Gun (Kim Morgan): Magnificent Melancholia: 11 Best of 2011


Time: Richard Corliss' Top 10 (one of those annoying click-through formats, but glad to see Rango there). And the Top 10 Worst.

Time Out London: Time Out's film team nominate their favourite movies of 2011

Village Voice: 2011 Film Poll, including J. Hoberman's Personal Best. The Critics List is here. Click the names to see individual votes.


Also looking back at the year in movies:

Ferdy on Films: My Year at the Movies, 2011 and Confessions of a Film Freak, 2011

Glenn Erickson: DVD Savant picks the Most Impressive Discs of 2011

Huffington Post: Best Films Of 2011: 11 Great Films You May Have Missed

IndieWire: The 30 Top-Grossing Indies of 2011, Led By Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris'

IndieWire: A Complete Guide To 2011-12 Awards Season / Summary of Winners

IndieWire: Indiewire's Greatest Hits: The Top 10 Reviews From 2011

io9: Lessons that 2011 Has Taught the Entertainment Industry

New York Times: Old-Fashioned Glories in a Netflix Age by A. O. Scott and Manohla Dargis

New York Times: A Year of Disappointment at the Movie Box Office

The New Yorker: Anthony Lane's The Year in Movies: Gladness, Despondency, Madness

Slate:  
  1. The Movie Club Entry 1: What movies gave you the goosebumps this year? How about nausea?
  2. Entry 2: Why I loved Melancholia, and why Tree of Life left me cold
  3. Entry 3: If Hollywood made more movies like Bridesmaids, garbage like Sherlock Holmes might bother me less
  4. Entry 4: Can you admire a movie without enjoying it?
  5. Entry 5: Bridesmaids proved a comedy could be big and brash and rude and still fully, proudly female
  6. Entry 6: A defense of The Artist, offered without disclaimers or shame
  7. Entry 7: They don't make bad movies like they used to
  8. Entry 8: There is no single movie this year that everyone is excited about