{"id":6501,"date":"2011-12-31T16:55:59","date_gmt":"2011-12-31T06:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=6501"},"modified":"2014-04-26T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2014-04-26T06:58:06","slug":"top-ten-films-of-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=6501","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Films of 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the frustrating things about Australian release dates for films is that they are usually day and date in alignment with American blockbuster films released in the middle of the year but when it comes to the independant films and Oscar season films, they are usually several months behind in their distribution.\u00a0 And given that most of those films are released in their country of origin at the end of the year, we often don’t get see them in Australia until the following year.\u00a0 As a result, films like True Grit<\/em> and Black Swan<\/em> which I think are widely identifiable as films of 2010 are actually 2011 releases in Australia.\u00a0 Is it better to do a list that excludes them or go with a list that contains ‘old’ films?<\/p>\n

I’ve chosen to opt in and include these films.<\/p>\n

And on that note, here is my pick for the ten best films released in Australia in 2011.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

True Grit – Film of the Year<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Coen Brothers remake of True Grit<\/em> was everything I hoped for.\u00a0 The Coen’s earlier films have always exhibited the characters, pace and sensibilities of a good Western and they certainly don’t disappoint in their first bona fide attempt at the genre.\u00a0 This adaptation is truer to the novel than the John Wayne version but more importantly, it is a film that plays to the strengths of all the players involved.\u00a0 Jeff Bridges is a fantastic Rooster Cogburn and he has two terrific foils in Hayley Stanfield and Matt Daemon.\u00a0 The film has moments of humour, heartbreak, tension and sadness.\u00a0 My favourite film of 2011.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

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Another Year<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This Slice of Life film from Mike Leigh is absolutely fantastic.\u00a0 It shows us a year in the lives of Tom and Jerry, a cheerful and sweet natured couple who have a long lasting marriage built on companionship, good food and gardening.\u00a0 Less happy are some of their friends who often need Tom and Jerry’s support to get them through their lives.\u00a0 This is a very modest but affecting film that has characters that really resonated with me and some of whom struck a very familiar chord with people I know in real life.\u00a0 Leigh’s eye for detail and ability to find a story in ordinary people is admirable.\u00a0 I wish more people saw this film.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rise of the Planet of the Apes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the most pleasant surprises of the year was how good Rise of the Planet of the Apes<\/em> was.\u00a0 It’s directed by some guy I’ve never heard of and has the questionable choice of casting James Franco as a brilliant geneticist.\u00a0 And yet if there is any film that has come close to bringing me to tears in 2011, its Andy Serkis in his role as Caesar the chimpanzee.\u00a0 The look of sadness in his eyes when he sees the alzheimer-stricken Jon Lithgow get attacked…well, I won’t spoil what happens afterwards but its pretty awesome.\u00a0 I know Serkis won’t get an Oscar nomination for his role but he really, really should.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

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Win Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Similar to Another Year<\/em>, Win Win<\/em> is a film about well meaning, good hearted people going through tough times.\u00a0 I’ve long been a fan of director Tom McCarthy who previously made The Station Agent<\/em> and The Visitor<\/em>.\u00a0 Here he makes a film that is effectively about the average American going through the current tough economic climate and what consequences that carries.\u00a0 By the end of the film he offers an answer but its not an easy one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Code<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Duncan Jones’ follow up to Moon<\/em> is another excellent sci-fi film in the form of Source Code<\/em>.\u00a0 The premise is an interesting one – a solider wakes up to find that he is aboard a train that only has minutes left before a bomb detonates on board.\u00a0 He then is given multiple opportunities to reshape the events of what happens on board the train and to locate both the the bomb and the terrorist.\u00a0 Things get complicated when he also starts to develop feelings for the girl sitting across from him.\u00a0 This is a great film and probably the first things since Donnie Darko<\/em> that I’ve really enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal in.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Warrior<\/h2>\n

The beauty of Warrior is its simplicity.\u00a0 Two brothers compete in a mixed martial arts cage fighting tournament that has a prize money of a million dollars.\u00a0 One of them needs the money to save his family home from foreclosure.\u00a0 The other needs the money to support the widowed family of a comrade who died in the Iraq war.\u00a0 Not since Rocky<\/em> has there been a more exhilerating and enjoyable combat movie such as this.\u00a0 Both Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are fantastic.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

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Red Dog<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Red Dog is a thoroughly enjoyable Aussie outback film about a stray dog that helps bring together a small mining community.\u00a0 It sounds cheesy as hell, and it is, but its also a really enjoyable and earnest film that revels in its subject matter.\u00a0 Heaps of fun, has plenty of great Aussie character actors and a rather emotional ending.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Drive<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Strangely enough, this might be both the most stylish and violent film of 2011.\u00a0 Nicolas Winding Refn’s film plays like an early Eighties Michael Mann film and has an absolutely killer soundtrack.\u00a0 Ryan Gosling plays a near-mute driver for hire who gets in over his head with some criminals and a girl he develops feelings for.\u00a0 The first half of the film is filled with slow tempo cool.\u00a0 Then, the moment that gangster fires the first shotgun blast, the whole thing shifts into another gear and becomes a brutal, intense action film.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Guard<\/h2>\n

One of the best comedies of the year was this fish-out-of-water tale about CIA inspector Don Cheadle travelling to Ireland to help the laconic, laid back Brendan Gleeson solve a speight of murders in a smalltown Irish village.\u00a0 As you would expect, these two experienced actors play off each other wonderfully well as the mismatched crime solving duo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Attack the Block<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Horror comedies are a rare thing but when they’re done well, there’s nothing better.\u00a0 Attack the Block<\/em> is a film by Joe Cornish that has the unusual premise of an alien invasion set in a council flat in London.\u00a0 Equal parts funny and scary, this is a real treat and one of my favourites of the year.<\/p>\n

Full Review<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the frustrating things about Australian release dates for films is that they are usually day and date in alignment with American blockbuster films released in the middle of the year but when it comes to the independant films and Oscar season films, they are usually several months behind in their distribution.\u00a0 And given …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1802,15,5],"tags":[471,1140],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of-the-year-movies","category-blog","category-films","tag-top-ten","tag-top-ten-films-of-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6501"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14027,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions\/14027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}