The Best Films of 2011

It was a year that started out slow but gained last-minute momentum come time for December. Before that, though, was summer which gave us welcome surprise hits such as "Crazy, Stupid, Love." and "The Help" along with the best comedy of the year, "Bridesmaids."

It was also a year reflecting on the magic of cinema. J.J. Abrams' "Super 8" reminisced about the old Amblin films of Steven Spielberg, and then the year closed out with a reverie to old-fashioned filmmaking from the director himself with "War Horse." Martin Scorsese directed his first children's film, "Hugo," but it was really only under the guise of a children's film. More a reflection on cinema's early history, his film merely skirted the surface of what Michel Hazanivicius' glorious black and white silent film achieved with "The Artist." A gimmick gone right.

And then there's Alexander Payne who, after seven years, gave us a rare treat starring George Clooney. It was certainly his and Ryan Gosling's year with Gosling's turns in "Drive," "Crazy, Stupid, Love." and the Clooney-directed "Ides of March." It was also a year of girl power with strong female casts in both "Bridesmaids" and "The Help" not to mention an American reincarnation of power hacker Lisbeth Salander from Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."


12. The Help

With excellent performances from both Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis, this tale of black maids in the Deep South hit all the right notes. It stands as the year's crowd-pleaser striking a balance between light humor and poignant pathos following the heartfelt narration of a maid named Abigail. What's most impressive is the way the movie effortlessly breaks the bounds of its Oprah book club wrapping.

11. My Week with Marilyn

The film's obvious centerpiece is an Oscar-worthy lead performance from Michelle Williams as the iconic screen goddess Marilyn Monroe. She is absolutely magnetic and luminous taking the smart route of not trying to figure out who Monroe was but rather emanating everything she was about -- the way she made people feel to be around her. And the film's power is the way it makes you feel what they must've felt.

10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher returns to gritty crime noir with his adaptation of the first entry in Stieg Larsson's international best-selling "Millenium" trilogy. And while not any better or worse than the Swedish adaptation from last year, what makes it different is Fincher putting his personal stamp on it. He infuses the dark, winding tale with his signature style that gives the film a feel all its own. And Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander? She's dynamite and reaches into complexities of the character even Noomi Rapace didn't manage.

9. Beginners

Providing the most honest screen romance this year, Ewan McGregor and Mélane Laurent are a couple trying to figure out what makes them both happy. Writer/director Mike Mills has total control over the tone of his film with the ability to introduce a talking dog without disrupting any realism set in place. And with a stand-out performance from Christopher Plummer as the main character's late-blooming gay father, the film hits you with a waft of poignancy.


8. The Muppets

The cheerful and colorful reunion of Jim Hansen's Muppets was the perfect movie for the times, the ideal pick-me-up that everybody didn't even know they needed -- that is until they went out to see it. With glowing and bubbly performances from Jason Segel and Amy Adams and an unabashed love for the Muppets from Segel who co-wrote the movie, it was the feel-good sensation of 2011. It marked a return to simplicity, the joy of watching song and dance. And with a slew of big celebrity cameos, the movie felt like a collaboration on something meaningful and inspirational -- more than you might ever imagine coming from a gang of puppets.


7. Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in one titular scene in this movie is enough to make the list. This movie marked Ryan Gosling as not only a valuable actor but one with a great knack for comedy, too. He's excellent with Emma Stone, and likewise Steve Carell and Julianne Moore shine as a married couple on the outs. The movie is unassuming about the level of depth it goes into analyzing contemporary relationships, and it came off as the biggest welcome surprise of the summer.


6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Childhood ended with the finale to J.K. Rowling's epic fantasy franchise in Steve Klove's visually thrilling and emotionally satisfying conclusion. Set up nicely with the dark rolling clouds of "Part 1," Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grew into mature actors since their humble beginnings a decade ago providing the necessary weight to say farewell to our favorite Hogwarts students. Alan Rickman also deserves recognition for his long standing role as Severus Snape whose character comes to tragic full circle in this installment. The film rightly represents the vast accomplishment of the Harry Potter series as a whole.


5. Young Adult

The re-collaboration with screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman proves their previous film "Juno" was no fluke. This pitch black comedy about a disgruntled woman returning to her high school hometown to rekindle with an old flame might be cringe-inducing, but it's also truthful and smart entertainment breaking conventions of Hollywood storytelling. Charlize Theron as Mavis Gary gives a ferocious and raw performance as a completely unlikable protagonist who, amazingly enough, earns our sympathy. Patton Oswalt gives an equally effective performance as the guy who recognizes Mavis is crazy but also knows she's just as miserable as him even if she doesn't realize it.


4. The Artist

What could've come off as merely a gimmick becomes so much more than that. Michel Hazanavicius' tribute to black and white silent cinema is also a tribute to the universality of film. It feels like something kept preserved in a time capsule with performances from French actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo that are genuine to the era. It's a rousing achievement both thematically and technically reminding audiences that there's so much value to be garnered from film no matter if it's without words or color.


3. Drive

Again defining 2011 as the year of Ryan Gosling, this slow-burning character study starring Gosling as a nameless getaway driver was powerful stuff. With a sleek and subdued European sentiment from filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, the film creeps along hauntingly with Gosling's impenetrable calm at its center and a menacing turn from Albert Brooks as a cold-blooded villain. The film is a carefully crafted beast, a moody and gradual escalation with hyper-violent and ultra-stylized eruptions fueling its engine.


2. Bridesmaids

"Bridesmaids" is hands-down the best comedy of the year. More than just the female "Hangover," the movie marked a turning point in modern comedies. The hilarious and bold comedy from director Paul Feig, actress/writer Kristen Wiig and her co-writer Annie Mumolo shows us women can be drunk, insecure, vulgar and pathetic not like men but like women. It's a triumph in equality and entertainment both sexes can easily embrace. Full of embarrassing outbursts, lavish gross-out toilet humor and a star-making turn from Melissa McCarthy, the movie is easily among the very best of the year.


1. The Descendants

It took him seven years, but writer/director Alexander Payne returned with another great piece of American filmmaking with signature Payne-ian style à la "Sideways." It's a miracle how effortlessly Payne captures the messiness of life performing a carefully choreographed balancing act between sharp comedy and shattering drama. He uses the exotic island location of Hawaii not to promote it as a tourist hot spot but instead what it really is: just another place to live. George Clooney in the leading role gives his best performance to date. Throwing away his usual charming demeanor, he displays a father struggling to keep his family from falling apart. Shailene Woodley is a revelation as the oldest daughter sporting typical teen angst with something a little deeper and soulful. What makes this film the best of the year is its bittersweet message not only acknowledging flaws in humanity but celebrating them because we've all got them.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Review

David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" begins with an opening credit sequence that's a jolt to the senses. Karen O's menacing cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" plays to figures dripping in black, disturbing yet provocative images of evil, a psychedelic and haunting anthem for the film's start. This opening gives Fincher's adaptation of the first entry in Stieg Larsson's internationally bestselling "Millenium Trilogy" a signature mark from a master director -- the one detail the 2009 Swedish original from director Niels Arden Opev lacked.

Neither version is better than the other, but each one definitely has a different feel. Fincher has an artistic eye behind the camera, an apparent love for all things grunge and gritty. This marks the director's return to pulpy crime noir such as "Zodiac" and "Se7en" after the likes of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Social Network." And it's a clearly welcome return as Fincher infuses the already established story with his own style and cinematic flourishes. The movie is better looking than the Swedish original thanks to cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth who also worked on "The Social Network." But it's more than that -- Fincher and his screenwriter Steven Zaillian don't try to copy the original or reinvent it, and they certainly don't ignore it. They take an already established framework and add nuances both visually and emotionally.

The biggest draw of this story is, of course, the ambisexual gothic super hacker Lisbeth Salander. She's played here by Rooney Mara, an actress who stands up to the challenge and exceeds expectation. For one, she has the look down. With short, choppy black hair, gaudy piercings, scar-like tattoos, a pale complexion accented by barely-there eyebrows and an expressionless glare, Mara nails it. She had some big shoes to fill following just a year behind Noomi Rapace, but she is perfectly comparable with subtle differences. Mara's Lisbeth is more a feral animal always looking out for predators. She can sink her teeth into something if necessary, but there's that added layer of fragility and vulnerability that Rapace's Lisbeth lacked. Mara manages to capture even more complexity and creates a Lisbeth Salander all her own.

Immediately following a defamatory article in Millenium magazine written by Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), he gets slammed for libel sending him into recluse. The timing couldn't be any better when he's contacted by a representative of Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), the eldest of the large Vanger family clan. Mikael treks out to the secluded, wintry island owned by the Vanger family to hear about the disappearance and suspected murder of Henrik's 16-year-old niece. It's an unsolved case that has haunted Henrik for 40 years, and he hires Mikael to find Harriet's killer under the guise of writing his memoir. Henrik figures Mikael could use the time off from Millenium.

The procedural of uncovering new information on the cold case is a convoluted labyrinth as one could imagine, but Zaillian's script does the best job it can keeping everything straight. There was an accident on the bridge the day of Harriet's disappearance, so no one was able to enter or leave the island. This leaves only members of the Vanger family as suspects to Harriet's murder; however, all the research, newspaper clippings and old photographs seem to be leading Mikael to no conclusions. Isolated in his own chilly cottage provided by Henrik and gradually meeting each member of the Vanger clan, the looming dread becomes ever more apparent that Mikael is residing among a murderer. Even Henrik despises his family as some of them had (or still have) Nazi sentiments. Among the Vangers is an ominously cordial Stellan Skarsgard as Martin, Harriet's brother.

Running parallel to this is the plight of Lisbeth Salander dealing with a new guardian (Yorick van Wageningen). He is cruel, abuses her and is smug about thinking he can get away with it. In a scene staged with brutally naked violation, we are roused to side with Lisbeth solidifying her role as an avenging angel to the men who hate women. The film flickers back and forth between Mikael and Lisbeth until finally they're brought together working on the Harriet case. She joins him as a research assistant, and though they start off weary of each other -- Lisbeth by nature and Mikael because she did the extensive background check on him -- they generate an eccentric, downbeat chemistry. Daniel Craig as the scrappy left-wing journalist stands above Michael Nyqvist from the original with his confident charisma and sexuality although he doesn't attempt the Swedish accent as Mara does.

The film runs at 158 minutes and doesn't drag for a second. Also essential to Fincher's style is the return of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from "The Social Network" providing a musical score that seethes with white noise and creepy ambiance. There's always the question why did we need an English version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" immediately after the original was such a success? The answer is simple. We wouldn't have received another dark, riveting and complex piece of entertainment from David Fincher. He gives audiences a fresh new take, not a mere rehash. And it's filmmaking that benefits from the written words of Stieg Larsson at its core. It's a tale that plays with our terror and fascination of the unknown. It's about awaiting what human horrors will be uncovered next, what depravity in humanity exists and what is hidden behind closed doors.

Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2011

10. My Week with Marilyn

What gets me so excited about this one is Michelle Williams playing the titular role of Marilyn Monroe. This performance will hopefully get her the recognition she has so long deserved, especially since she was overlooked for "Blue Valentine."

9. J. Edgar

Another heavy lead performance Oscar movie with Leonardo DiCaprio at its head. From the looks of the trailer, this latest outing from director Clint Eastwood is going to soar with critics as a rich biopic with a talented supporting cast. This is also no doubt DiCaprio's Best Actor vehicle, but I'd like to think it has more going for it than just that.

8. Paranormal Activity 3

I loved "Paranormal Activity" and although obviously lacking in originality, its sequel had even more effective scares. And so I can't help but get excited for the third installment from the directors of "Catfish." They basically promoted that viral pseudo-documentary as a horror flick, so just imagine them actually tackling one. That Bloody Mary part in the trailer alone had me peeking through my fingers.

7. The Rum Diary

I don't generally like Johnny Depp, but I sure did like him in this year's "Rango" -- even though he was voicing an animated lizard. And speaking of "Rango" with its undertones of Hunter S. Thompson, this latest starring Johnny Depp is actually an adaptation of a Thompson novel. The trailer is misleading at first, but then divulges what the film is really about: that substance-induced blurring between fantasy and reality. I'm intrigued.

6. Melancholia

Although I despised almost everything about Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," the director still has me roped in and anticipating his next feature. It seems much more subdued and contemplative than his last one, and Kirsten Dunst earned herself a Best Actress award at this year's Cannes. It's been getting underwhelming reviews, but with all that slow-motion and hoopla about the end of the world, I'm hooked.

5. War Horse

The teaser for Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" couldn't be any more of an announcement to the world that, hey, he's back in the game and going for an Oscar! But can you blame him? The movie looks magnificent. A sweeping historical piece as directed by the one and only Spielberg trumpeted by a resounding score from John Williams, and it's all just in time for Christmas.

4. Young Adult

After director Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," he's now reunited with screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno") for his next feature. It stars Charlize Theron, and the first image of her from the film has been released along with a poster -- but not much else. I'm anxious for a trailer to see if the tone is going to match up with the overly quirky "Juno," or if it'll be a little more down-to-earth. Here's to hoping for the latter.

3. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

There has been almost nothing released about this adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel. All we know is that it's directed by Stephen Daldry ("The Reader") with a screenplay by Eric Roth ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), and Tom Hanks is in it. I read the novel and fell in love with it, but it's also something that seems impossible to adapt for the screen. But don't they all? The film is also in talks of being the front-runner at this year's Oscars. Only time will tell.

2. The Descendants

Another Alexander Payne film, and his first in seven years? Well, count me in. Starring George Clooney, this film appears to be another Payne-ian look at human relationships à la "Sideways" and "About Schmidt." It received mixed critical reception from the festival at which it premiered -- some even called it Payne's worst effort -- but my hopes remain high.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher's remake of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is easily my most anticipated movie of the fall. Ever since Rooney Mara's transformation into gothic bisexual hacker Lisbeth Salander graced the cover of magazines, I knew this adaptation of the Swedish novel would absolutely nail it. And then came the first teaser trailer with a rocking track from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the tagline, "The feel bad movie of Christmas" to hype up the anticipation. Not to mention that revealing initial poster with Rooney Mara and co-star Daniel Craig, and now the official trailer which perhaps runs a little long but still proves that Fincher definitely has a handle on the ideal tone for what this movie is all about. Gritty, grisly stuff.

After a long wait of anticipation, the announcement has finally been made of who will be playing Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's English language remake of the Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy starting with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" slated for a December 2011 release.

The choice of Rooney Mara, a relative unknown recently seen in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" remake and "Youth in Revolt," is a good one. It was also the most predicted choice as Mara is soon to appear in Fincher's "The Social Network." I'm trying to picture the actress with chopped black hair and wearing thick black makeup and lots of leather, and I think she could pull it off.



Comparing the two actresses, Rooney Mara (left) doesn't bear much resemblance to Noomi Rapace (right), who plays Lisbeth in the Swedish original, but no resemblance is required, however, as Mara can make the part entirely her own. The big question, though, is whether or not she has the acting chops to pull off the part, one that is quite dynamic and demanding both emotionally and physically. If she does make it work, then she's looking at a surefire breakout performance that is assuming Fincher's version of the films will be as big of a hit in America.



And with Daniel Craig (left) already announced to be playing the part of Mikael Blomkvist, who was played by Michael Nyqvist (right), I'm looking forward to him and Rooney Mara making a great team, one that will hopefully stand right there with the success of Nyqvist and Rapace.

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (2010)

Lisbeth Salander, played expertly by Noomi Rapace, is a 24-year-old genius computer hacker whose dragon tattoo covering the expanse of her back is actually the least interesting aspect of her. Her body is thin and covered with various other tattoos and piercings. She is muscular and curiously bisexual. She has short, jet black hair and dresses in all black, punk-like clothing with tight jeans and thick boots. She is also damaged from a violent and abusive background and seeks resolve from participating in the uncovering of a 40-year-old mystery rooted in bizarre violence against women. She is hard-hitting yet sympathetic, a conundrum and an endlessly compelling one. Watching Rapace's breakout performance here reminded me of watching Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" where nobody knows about this actor until they hit the masses with something like this. It's truly a gift watching her be the centerpiece of the Swedish film, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which will, in due time, become its own phenomenon.

The movie is based on the novel written by the Swedish novelist, Stieg Larsson, who tragically died in 2004 before he was able to witness the renowned success of his work. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev, this film adaptation of Larsson's first novel has already become the highest grossing European film of 2009 and the highest grossing Swedish film of all time, and both for excellent reason. It is a stylish, tense and complex thriller that dwells almost exclusively on the sadism and perversity of modern society, which is what gave the book, and consequently the film even more so, its intense, graphic and deeply disturbing undertones. It's understandable then why the original title of the novel was "Men Who Hate Women" because there is a focus on horrific behavior committed by vile men. An extended rape scene seriously cuts to the core. And while the plot is of a traditional thriller layout with montages of investigation and searching, the process becomes much more about the people involved and the dark atmospheric mood.

A journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) writes for the magazine Millenium, and he published a scalding investigative piece that has him sentenced for time in prison from a libel charge. He has six months of freedom before then, however, and he gets approached by an elderly man named Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) because he needs the help of a resourceful, intelligent reporter. Vanger gives Blomkvist the task of digging up a 40-year-old case about the disappearance of his beloved niece, Harriet Vanger, who vanished off the island on a day when it was cut off from the mainland. This leaves members of the extensive Vanger family as the only suspects as they all inhabit the gloomy island of Hedeby together as if feeding off each other's rumored tendencies of corruption and greed. Henrik Vanger doesn't care for much of his family, especially his three brothers who had links to Nazism.

Salander gets involved in the case because she is the one who researched Blomkvist, and she hacks into his computer amidst his investigation. Needless to say, when they finally do collaborate as a team, she's already up to speed on all the details. Their journey in searching the history of the Vanger family leads them to meet an array of interesting characters with connections that start off simple and only get more involved and with every step of the way. Salander and Blomkvist have such an individually compelling chemistry that the mystery almost serves as merely a backdrop. These aren't the usual characters you'd find in your everyday action thriller. They are characters we want to learn more about even outside the context of the genre.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" feels like a three course meal, but clocking in at just over 2-1/2 hours, it feels about half that length. The density and texture of the novel is maintained as everything unfolds drenched in chilling details. It's the most richly satisfying film I've seen this year, and quite arguably the best film so far this year. And with two more adaptations of Larsson's remaining novels coming to America this summer, "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," that's something to look forward to because it gives us another chance to see these talented Swedish actors at work. The inevitable Hollywood remake in the works is rumored to star Kristen Stewart and be directed by David Fincher. In the meantime, do yourself a favor, and don't let subtitles scare you away.