Top 10 Movies of 2011.

In terms of movies, 2011 turned out to be a pretty good year and seeing as it’s the done thing on the internet to rank things in order of preference, here are my top 10 movies of 2011. Keep in mind that the movies I’ve included were all released in the UK during 2011, so if you see a movie that was out in 2010 in America or elsewhere don’t be a whiney little gremlin; likewise if you see a movie hasn’t been included it’s likely that it came out in 2012 in the UK (War Horse for example).

I’ve pretty much gone off which films I enjoyed the most rather than analysing them a little too much. Put simply, these are the 10 movies I enjoyed the most in 2011. So, without further ado here is the top 10…

10 - 127 hours

This was actually the very first movie I saw in 2011 and I didn’t really expect a lot from it to be honest. Obviously, seeing as it’s in my top 10, I was pleasantly surprised by it. Somehow they managed to make a good film with one solitary character for the majority of it. It stars James Franco as Aron Ralston who gets caught between a rock and… another rock and has to resort to drastic measure in order to survive longer for than 127 hours.

Click here for the full review.

9 - The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Tintin represents the best fully motion captured movie to date. This is the movie that removed Spielberg from the wilderness and back into creating good cinema. I’m not exactly a fully converted mo-cap fanboy because of it, but The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a great movie packed with enough action and adventure to keep you entertained from start to finish.

Click here for the full review.

8 – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

This year’s summer blockbuster season was disappointing to say the least, there were few movies that really shone and this shows in my top 10; only one movie has made it in from the Summer months. That movie is Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Sure it has a terrible title, literally spelling out that the movie is a part of the Planet of the Apes franchise but this movie is actually a good one. The mo-cap isn’t too bad (again, I’m not a fanboy) and it mixes action and drama pretty nicely. Let’s just hope they don’t make a movie that prequels this one…

Click here for the full review.

7 - Black Swan

Right at the beginning of 2011 Black Swan was released into cinemas bringing with it Natalie Portman’s career best performance. Though it took me a while to get into it, Black Swan turned out to be one of the best films of the year with high drama, great performances and a compelling soundtrack thrown in to boot. Highly recommended.

Click here for the full review.

6 – Drive

Surprise hit of the year goes to Drive. I have to admit I knew nothing about this movie and went to see it on a complete and total whim; and I’m so glad I did! Starring Ryan Gosling as the nameless driver, Drive takes you on a high-octane journey with enough violence to make Tarantino wince. It may have ridiculously long pauses throughout as it attempts to be all arty, but if you just look past all that and watch it for what it is, you should end up thoroughly impressed.

Click here for the full review.

5 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

This one might be a surprise to some of you but in terms of enjoyment Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows deserves to be this high in my list. What can I say? It’s a fun movie starring Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock and Jude Law as Watson. These two have one of the best chemistries I’ve seen on screen in a long-while, they work so well together just as they did in the first movie. Guy Ritchie was the director and did a fantastic job adapting the Sherlock universe to his own filming style. It’s just one of the most enjoyable films of the year, not a bad feat for a sequel!

Click here for the full review.

4 – Hugo

Martin Scorsese isn’t really known for making the most child-friendly movies so you might be surprised to know that Hugo was indeed directed by him. It shows how good a director he is in that he can adapt his directing talents to many genres and not just one, unlike Tarantino for example. Hugo isn’t just for kids though; in fact I’d actually say it appeals more to adults. It has this joyous little feel to it and is quite heartfelt at times, all the while being set in France; pretty outstanding really. In a world where children’s movies aren’t being well thought out, it’s nice to see that the art isn’t quite dead yet.

Click here for the full review.

3 - True Grit

I’m not a massive fan of Western movies. They just all seem to follow the same generic formula filled with stereotypes and characters we’ve all seen before countless times. 2011 saw two Western movies that bucked the trend, one was the animated movie Rango, the other was True Grit. Though a lot was made of Jeff Bridges performance in True Grit the real story is centred around a young girl called Mattie played by newcomer and star of the show Hailee Steinfeld. True Grit is a great movie, it’s charming, witty and features some great performances from its cast.

Click here for the full review.

2 - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This film had possibly the greatest and most talented cast of all time, and that certainly helped it become one of the films of the year. Gary Oldman plays the calm, collected Smiley, brought back to the British secret service to flush out a mole. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does a brilliant job of recreating the John le Carré novel on the big screen. It’s full of suspense and keeps you glued to it from start to finish. If you’re thinking of watching this, be sure to pay full attention to it!

Click here for the full review.

1 - The King’s Speech

Yes, it seems to be the obvious choice for number one: pick the film that won every award going at last year’s BAFTAs and Oscars, but really I’m left with no choice; The King’s Speech really was the best movie of 2011. Seen as the movie that really propelled Colin Firth out of the chick-flick mire and onto the VIP lounge, The King’s Speech really does have everything. From the casting to the soundtrack, everything about this movie is done brilliantly. I like any film that has some sort of historical underpinning so for me The King’s Speech was a real winner. Of the many people I know who’ve seen it, hardly anyone has said anything bad about it. So yes, that’s my winner for 2011, it had stiff competition but overall The King’s Speech was my favourite film in 2011.

Click here for the full review.

***

So there you have it, my personal top 10 movies of 2011. Honourable mentions go to Super 8, Captain America, Senna, X-Men First Class, Arthur Christmas and Source Code for all being great movies, just not great enough to get into the top 10.