The Best and Worst of 2011

Best Film

1 - The Tree of Life
It's the kind of film that gets inside your heart and mind and stays there, with its bottomless mysteries and ambiguities continually provoking further thought
2 - A Separation
It is so rare to see a film that treats its characters and its audience with as much respect as this one does
3 - Mysteries of Lisbon
To watch Ruiz unravel the interlocking stories within stories that this sumptuous film consists of is to watch a master filmmaker at work
4 - Margaret
A sprawling, unpredictable rollercoaster of anxiety, sadness and truth
5 - Meek's Cutoff
Long scenes consist of little more than these characters wandering across the square screen, the wheels of their wagons creaking incessantly, but it is utterly transfixing to watch
6 - True Grit
It possesses the kind of deceptive simplicity that only filmmakers at the very top of their game are blessed with
7 - Tomboy
Tomboy is a small film – running for little more than 80 minutes – but few pictures this year have felt more perfectly formed
8 - Senna
This is Asif Kapadia's first documentary feature, but it unfolds with the momentum of a great drama
9 - Weekend
How rare it is to see a contemporary cinematic romance that feels honest, intelligent and real
10 - Essential Killing
A film that lingers in the memory long after its incredible final shot has faded away

Honorable Mentions
The Artist
Blue Valentine
Hugo
Melancholia
Miss Bala
Poetry
Rabbit Hole
Take Shelter
Warrior
Win Win

Worst Film

1 - The Change-Up
The Change-Up exemplifies mainstream Hollywood at its worst, displaying a scant regard for quality or for the taste and standards of its audience
2 - 3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
I tolerated the first half and loathed the second
3 - Brighton Rock
Nothing coheres, and the film just plods forward with a complete lack of tension and menace
4 - Zookeeper
An unspeakably tedious farce
5 - Age of the Dragons
I am honestly bewildered by the idea that anyone considers it worthy of a cinematic release
6 - Tomorrow, When the War Began
More often than not, the film generates unintentional laughter
7 - Arthur
It was always inevitable that a film like Arthur would be written for Brand, and that it would ultimately expose his shortcomings
8 - Julia's Eyes
Totally bereft of imagination, emotion or genuine scares
9 - Anonymous
Nothing more than a bloated and silly period soap opera that's too trivial to have any merit
10 - The Inbetweeners Movie
I can't help wishing they'd stayed on the small screen, where they clearly belong

Dishonorable Mentions
The Beaver
Cars 2
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Film socialisme
The Green Hornet
Hanna
Hereafter
I Am Number 4
Jack Goes Boating
We Have a Pope

Best Director

1 - Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
2 - Asghar Farhadi - A Separation
3 - Raúl Ruiz - Mysteries of Lisbon
4 - Kelly Reichardt - Meek's Cutoff
5 - Joel & Ethan Coen - True Grit

Best Actor

1 - Jean Dujardin - The Artist
2 - Peyman Moadi - A Separation
3 - Michael Shannon - Take Shelter
4 - Vincent Gallo - Essential Killing
5 - Brendan Gleeson - The Guard
6 - Tom Cullen & Chris New - Weekend
7 - Jeff Bridges - True Grit
8 - Jim Sturgess - One Day
9 - Peter Mullan - Tyrannosaur
10 - Joel Edgerton - Warrior

Best Actress
1 - Anna Paquin - Margaret
2 - Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
3 - Zoé Héran - Tomboy
4 - Olivia Colman - Tyrannosaur
5 - Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea
6 - Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
7 - Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
8 - Yun Jeong-hie - Poetry
9 - Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
10 - Stephanie Sigman - Miss Bala

Best Supporting Actor

1 - Matt Damon - True Grit
2 - Bruce Greenwood - Meek's Cutoff
3 - Brad Pitt - The Tree of Life
4 - Ben Mendelsohn - Animal Kingdom
5 - Ryan Gosling - Crazy, Stupid, Love
6 - Tom Hiddleston - Thor
7 - Simon Russell Beale - The Deep Blue Sea
8 - Corey Stoll - Midnight in Paris
9 - Nick Nolte - Warrior
10 - Albert Brooks - Drive

Best Supporting Actress

1 - Sareh Bayat - A Separation
2 - Bérénice Bejo - The Artist
3 - J. Smith-Cameron - Margaret
4 - Rose Byrne - Bridesmaids
5 - Dianne Wiest - Rabbit Hole
6 - Charlotte Gainsbourg - Melancholia
7 - Jeannie Berlin - Margaret
8 - Jessica Chastain - Take Shelter
9 - Malonn Lévana - Tomboy
10 - Emma Stone - Crazy, Stupid, Love

Best Original Screenplay

1 - A Separation
2 - Margaret
3 - Win Win
4 - Weekend
5 - Poetry

Best Adapted Screenplay

1 - True Grit
2 - Mysteries of Lisbon
3 - Rabbit Hole
4 - The Deep Blue Sea
5 - Hugo

Best Cinematography

1 - The Tree of Life
2 - Hugo
3 - Wuthering Heights
4 - Mysteries of Lisbon
5 - Miss Bala

Best Editing

1 - Senna
2 - The Tree of Life
3 - A Separation
4 - True Grit
5 - Blue Valentine

Best Original Score

1 - Snowtown
2 - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3 - The Artist
4 - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
5 - Contagion

Best Costume Design

1 - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2 - Mysteries of Lisbon
3 - Hugo
4 - True Grit
5 - Midnight in Paris

Best Production Design

1 - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2 - Hugo
3 - The Tree of Life
4 - The Deep Blue Sea
5 - Thor

Film Experience of the Year

1 - Shoah at the Prince Charles Cinema
An unforgettable, exhausting, once in a lifetime experience. Claude Lanzmann's 9½-hour Holocaust documentary is one of the crowning achievements in cinema. A relentless torrent of words that conjures images to break the heart. A humbling, monumental film.

2 - The Passion of Joan of Arc at the Royal Festival Hall
Carl Theodor Dreyer's film remains one of the most moving cinematic experiences one can have, and at this Royal Festival Hall screening it received a new lease of life from Adrian Utley and Will Gregory's excellent new score.

3 - The Devils at the Barbican
In the months before Ken Russell passed away, British film fans had two opportunities to see his notorious The Devils uncut. It was revealed to be a true masterpiece from this maverick filmmaker.

4 - Beggars of Life at the National Film Theatre
A train-hopping silent classic starring Louise Brooks, Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen, which was enlivened by a tremendous new score from The Dodge Brothers.

5 - The Clock at the Purcell Room
Christian Marclay's film is a staggering achievement. Assembled with skill and wit, it's utterly engrossing and consistently surprising. Worth devoting a day of your life to.