Top Ten Films of 2011: A Year Worth Celebrating

Finally, the end of a calendar year where I can safely say..."what a great year for movies!"


It really was. It seemed like week after week, there was another gem to behold and another entrance to the Oscar race. I apologize for my lack of posts in 2011, as our production company LaMarcable Productions took up quite a bit of my time. You will see caseylamarca.com merging with lamarcableproductions.com very soon, so keep an eye out for that! For now, here is my top ten films of 2011. Enjoy!


1.) Hugo
Why #1? Because it has everything. A timeless film for all ages. Martin Scorsese, the greatest filmmaker on the planet, attempts a 3D family adventure for the first time at the age of 69. He lets the newest generation in on a little secret: movies have been around for a while. And when the motion picture was invented (by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895), it was such a shock to audiences that it felt like a magic trick. That's what Hugo is, a magic trick. Because not only is it a beautiful love-letter to the art of film, it's a dazzling spectacle told with elegance and grace from its master storyteller.  


2.) The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick is certainly a perfectionist. You know that because he's been working on The Tree of Life for 30 years. Now that it's out, how does it measure up to the expectations? It surpasses them. Perhaps even shatters them. Not often can a film evoke such poetic imagery it's as if it's teaching you more about the world than what you would get out in the world itself. Think 2001: A Space Odyssey with an aura of human emotion. Brad Pitt (in a career-defining year) is wonderful, Jessica Chastain is luminous, and Malick's direction is nothing short of masterful. The Tree of Life is life-changing experience.


3.) Take Shelter
Michael Shannon gives the performance of the year in Take Shelter, a mesmerizing slow-burning thriller about a man named Curtis who believes an apocalyptic storm is coming and he must build a shelter to protect his family. However, is it really a storm or is our hero suffering from the beginning stages of schizophrenia? It's a truly haunting mystery twisted with the raw emotions of horrible disease. Jessica Chestain has had an unbelievable year and she nails the role of the worried wife watching her husband's mind crumble into bits. What makes Take Shelter a masterpiece is its attention to detail and it's willingness not to compromise on the true nature of Curtis's mind. The final scene in this film will literally blow you away. 


4.) The Artist
The first legitimate silent movie to be released since the World War II era, you have to wonder, is it really as good as everyone says it is? The answer is yes. The performances, direction, and music are completely spot on. It captures an era of Hollywood that is so long ago that it feels like science-fiction. And how ironic that in 2011 where Hollywood is now all about loud-and-noisy sequels, that the movie that could represent the year, is a silent movie? The Artist is a film to be treasured, appreciated, and loved over and over again.


5.) The Descendants
Alexander Payne hasn't made a bad movie. The Descendants is no different. It takes a masterful director to anchor a film around a star who gives the performance of his career while simultaneously creating so many vivid supporting characters. A heartbreaking story that's truthfully funny. Jean Dujardin may deserve the Best Actor Oscar, but I believe that if the Academy is every going to give the lead award to Clooney, it has to be this role.


6.) Drive
Criminally overlooked by the Oscars this year (a mere one nomination for sound editing), Drive is a pulp masterpiece. Ryan Gosling is perfectly cast as a Hollywood stuntman selling himself to bad people by being their driver. The opening sequence to this film is so intense that you'll feel as if you are literally in the car with him. A truly mesmerizing piece of cinema from director Nicholas Winding Refn, who rebounds brilliantly after the horrific disaster that was Valhalla Rising. 


7.) Moneyball
Moneyball is going to be remembered as a truly great American film, capturing the country's past time by telling a story that is more than the sum of its parts. Sure, the 2002 Oakland Athletics season itself was not very memorable, but director Bennett Miller finds poetry in the game itself. Brad Pitt is splendid as the A's General Manager Billy Beane, who attempts to change the game of baseball forever. Sometimes it's not about whether or not you change something, but rather the heart and courage to do so when everyone around you calls you crazy. That is the definition of an American dream. 


8.) Midnight in Paris
There's something magical about Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a deliciously fun and joyful experience that every aspiring or accomplished writer should see. What if you could get your work reviewed by the greatest literary geniuses in history by traveling back in time when they were in their prime? It's a concept the infamous filmmaker was born to write and one we were born to watch and enjoy. Expect Woody Allen to take home his first Oscar since 1987 for a truly fantastic screenplay.


9.) 50/50
This comedy-drama from the Superbad team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg is the film of the Oscar season that perfectly blends its two genres. In fact, there really isn't anything not to like about this film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues his tremendous success by playing Adam, a mid-20's New Yorker who one day after deciding to see his doctor about his intense back pain finds out he has cancer. The kind that shortens your life extensively. Imagine the cruelness of that day. He wakes up. Everything is normal. He goes to the doctor and his life changes in a matter of seconds. My heart aches for those who must go through this in real life. 50/50 honors this struggle with a story full of heart and humor, delivering trauma when it needs to and laughs when it has a right to. In this case, it's pretty much the entire movie.


10.) Source Code
In 2009, director Duncan Jones crafted the highly underrated independent film Moon, one of the best science fiction entries in modern cinema. Crossing over to the mainstream with Source Code, Jones is proving to be one of the most refreshing filmmakers of his genre. Breathing new life into a Groundhog Day-esque concept, (how fascinating that the mythology of a 1993 Bill Murray comedy about a groundhog is still a brilliant base for science-fiction movies) this highly entertaining thriller is a blast of exciting relevancy.