Decade Rewind: The Best Movies of 2011

Posted on by Kevin Wozniak

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As the 2010’s have officially come to an end, I will be looking back at each cinematic year to give a personal decade retrospective of the best movies and performances of each year.  I will break down my Top 10 movies of each year, along with my favorite performances from that year.  I will also be listing my favorite’s from each genre, like Best Animated Movie and Best Action Movie, as well as best of the technical aspects, like Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay.  This will all culminate into my picks for the best movies and performances of the decade.  

*Rankings of movies and performances are numbered from 1-5, with 1 being the best movie/performance.

*Gifs for each category are not specifically of the “winners” of each category, just one of the nominees.

 

 

 

THE YEAR: 2011

2011 was one of the more unique years of this decade and one that, on a personal level, was really quite formative.  This was the year where I first began to form a perspective and opinion on film and actually started doing small reviews.  It was my first year attending the Sundance Film Festival, which exposed me to a whole new world of films, filmmakers, filmmaking, and just cinema in general.  I also saw over 100 films that year, the first time I ever broke the century mark, which, in a time where there was no MoviePass or AMC A-List and you had to pay full-price for movie tickets, this was quite an expensive feat, but an important one.

2011 gave us a murderers row of big time directors with films, like Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Alexander Payne, but it was also a great year for up-and-coming directors, like Bennett Miller, Nicolas Winding Refn, and  Gavin O’Connor, as well as a spectacular year for franchises and sequels, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe getting in full swing with Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, the Fast and Furious franchise and Mission: Impossible franchise hitting new peaks, and the finale of Harry Potter.  Here were my picks for the best movies and performances of 2011.

 

 

 

 

BEST PICTURE

  1. MONEYBALL (Bennett Miller)
  2. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (Brad Bird)
  3. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (David Fincher)
  4. WARRIOR (Gavin O’Connor)
  5. HUGO (Martin Scorsese)
  6. ATTACK THE BLOCK (Joe Cornish)
  7. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (Lynn Ramsey)
  8. DRIVE (Nicolas Winding Refn)
  9. MARGIN CALL (JC Chandor)
  10. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Woody Allen)

 

 

BEST DIRECTOR

  1. Bennett Miller, Moneyball
  2. David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  3. Lynn Ramsey, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  4. Martin Scorsese, Hugo
  5. Gavin O’Connor, Warrior

 

 

BEST ACTOR

  1. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
  2. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
  3. Michael Fassbender, Shame
  4. Tom Hardy, Warrior
  5. Jean Dujardin, The Artist

 

 

BEST ACTRESS

  1. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  2. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  3. Charlize Theron, Young Adult
  4. Anna Paquin, Margaret
  5. Brit Marling, Another Earth

 

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  1. Nick Nolte, Warrior
  2. Jeremy Irons, Margin Call
  3. Jonah Hill,  Moneyball
  4. Albert Brooks, Drive
  5. Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris

 

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  1. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
  2. Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road
  3. Carey Mulligan, Shame
  4. Jessica Chastain, The Help
  5. Octavia Spencer, The Help

 

 

 

OTHER BESTS OF 2011

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – KUNG FU PANDA 2

  • Runner Up – Rango

BEST ACTION MOVIE – MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL

  • Runner Up – Fast Five

BEST COMEDY – BRIDESMAIDS

  • Runner Up – A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

BEST HORROR MOVIE – INSIDIOUS 

  • Runner Up – Hobo with a Shotgun

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE – CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

  • Runner Up – X-Men: First Class

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – THE TROLL HUNTER

  • Runner Up – Rabies

BEST DOCUMENTARY – HOW TO DIE IN OREGON

  • Runner Up – The Bully Project

BEST MOVIE NOBODY SAW – ATTACK THE BLOCK

  • Runner Up – Another Earth

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – THE TREE OF LIFE

  • Runner Up – Moneyball

BEST EDITING – THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

  • Runner Up – Moneyball

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – HUGO

  • Runner Up – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST SCORE – DRIVE

  • Runner Up – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – MARGIN CALL

  • Runner Up – Midnight in Paris

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – MONEYBALL

  • Runner Up – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 

 

Stay tuned for 2012!

 

Check out the best of 2010 right HERE.

 

 

 

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