My top five movies of 2011

One of my goals for 2011 was to keep an updated list of my top movies of the year. This idea was going well for a few months, but then I kind of let the project die. I guess moving to D.C. kind of kept me busy. I've also been a horrible blog updater since I moved too. Regardless, I still saw a lot of movies in 2011, and after finishing up the task of watching all the movies nominated for a Best Picture at the Oscars (second year in a row I've accomplished that), I'm ready to offer my top five movies of 2011.

This is the third year that I've offered such a list. For the record, the past two winners of the not-coveted-at-all top movie spot were District 9 (2009) and The Social Network (2010). I have mixed feelings toward this year's Oscar nominations. I agreed with basically all of the ten picks last year (I would've only swapped out Winter's Bone for The Town), but the Academy and I aren't on the same page this year. Many of my favorite movies of the 2011 didn't even get nominated for Best Picture, and, conversely, I think a few of the Academy's honorees are crap. Films like The Ides of March, 50/50 and Drive, and talent like Ryan Gosling, Andy Serkis and Shailene Woodley were ignored. Trent Reznor somehow didn't get a nomination for Best Original Score. The Artist is probably going to win everything, even though, regardless of how nice of a film it is, it's mainly a gimmick. The Academy voters seem to get caught up in confusing gimmicks like a movie being black and white and silent or being shot in immersive 3D with quality lately. It happened in 2009 with Avatar, which was a visually stunning film but was wholly unoriginal and predictable. If you took The Artist's plot and put in in color, with sound and shot in 16:9 would it be worthy of a Best Picture statuette? I just don't think so.

Anyways, here are my top five movies of 2011:

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I was actually torn between putting this film or Drive at No. 5. When it came down to it, I asked myself, "What film would I miss the most if it had never been made?" The answer to that question was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Growing up, I spent one summer borrowing every movie from the original Planet of the Apes series from the library. I often had to turn to inter-library loan, waiting weeks for the next installment to be available. By the end of the series, the films were awful, but they were fun and they are forever part of my childhood memories. Tim Burton's failed series reboot? Not so much. Rise of the Planet of the Apes accomplished what many thought was impossible. It resurrected a decades-old franchise and did so with originality and heart. Andy Serkis' work as Caesar should have been recognized by the Academy. I can only hope that the film wins the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and Serkis joins the crew on stage. There has never been a motion-capture performance as engaging and, often, heartbreaking as Serkis' in this film. Every time I watch this film, I rewind and rematch Caesar's "NO" and "Caesar is home" moments repeatedly.

4. Moneyball. For the second year in a row, a movie with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin makes it into my top five. Brad Pitt and crew should be proud that they made a baseball movie that was more about people than the sport. The Academy made the right choice when it nominated Jonah Hill for Best Supporting Actor. Hill is usually associated with films like Superbad (one of my go-to movies), but he showed that he deserved to be considered for serious roles thanks to his performance in Moneyball. 

3. War Horse. I was very doubtful going into this film. I think I actually saw it mainly to check it off the list of movies I had to see to get ready for the Oscars. Thankfully I saw it in theaters, because I thought it was just awesome. When a director like Steven Spielberg is able to tell a story through a non-speaking character like Joey (the horse) that captures the viewer, he's done something special. I was shocked when Spielberg's name wasn't included among the nominees for Best Director.

2. The Descendants. Of the nine Best Picture nominees, The Descendants is the one that I feel is most worthy of the statuette. Unfortunately, the award will probably go to The Artist, which is a shame because The Descendants told a story that was touching, had excellent performances and was the all-around strongest film of 2011. I'm not going to talk about George Clooney, because everyone has talked about Clooney this award season. One of the biggest snubs of the upcoming Oscars has to be the lack of Shailene Woodley being included among the nominees for Best Supporting Oscars. Not only do I have her on my own list for top five supporting actresses, but I have her ahead of The Help's Octavia Spencer. I wish the Academy voters offered some kind of explanation for why Woodley wasn't included. Young actresses don't often give performances this strong, especially not when their performances are being comparing to a Clooney performance.

1. The Ides of March. No nomination for Best Picture. No consideration for Ryan Gosling or George Clooney. I wish I knew why the Oscars felt The Ides of March didn't belong among this year's honorees. I love this film. Absolutely love it. Maybe it's because I love politics. That may be the case, but Gosling's performance was not only his strongest of the year (the guy also got ignored in Drive and Crazy. Stupid. Love) but quite possibly the strongest of his career. The Ides of March should've been the kind of film that not only brought Gosling Oscar love but should've solidified his spot in the A-list. I hope people still find and enjoy this film though. I've watched it a few times already, and my high opinion of it completely holds up.