pete at 2011-12-17 23:45:29:

let's go overseas: Submarine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj_DYnWWTk this generation's Rushmore Wu Xia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc5slEKXV8w "a History of Violence" set in old timey China, with bits of detective work thrown in for good measure Villain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6ELkB1LXY an anti-murder mystery that began with the "revelation" and followed the lives of all who were invovled, with an amazing ending

pliny the elder at 2011-12-17 23:54:48:

Hard to have *one* favorite, but...Capt America, X-men, Drive, Moneyball, Bridemaids, Ides of March, Horrible Bosses, and the last HP movie (partly because I grew up 1/2 mile from where they shot the thing). Disagree with Alexander re: CSL script. Decent movie, but *flawed* script.

Annika at 2011-12-18 00:02:40:

DRIVE, hands down. Saw a lower budget film that's kind of hard to classify last night, LOVE CRIME, and really like it, too, as well as MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. MONEYBALL also rocked but I have no desire to see it again anytime soon.

David B at 2011-12-18 00:29:08:

Midnight in Paris, Win Win, Certified Copy, Source Code, Money Ball, Crazy Stupid Love, Young Adult, 50 / 50 , The Artist, The Trip, Melancholia. Yeah, but this list goes to eleven. Merry Xmas.

pliny the elder at 2011-12-18 00:40:12:

Hey, it's my list... I'm allowed to be vague :) I liked Drive a lot, but the reason it seems fresher to American audiences is because of missing European cultural references. I felt I'd seen much of it before. There was a retro/euro quality to the movie that made me think I'd seen it before. Reminded me of those 70's movies with Alain Delon or Jean Paul Belmondo, Besson's Transporter series, and a bunch of Euro tv urban cop shows (like The Sweeney, Alarm Fur Cobra and others) Moreover, wrt the elevator scene.... well let's just say, if you've ever been to a soccer game in Europe, you'll recognize a stomping when you see one. Over here, only the Hells Angels and their ilk stomp people anymore. Also, imho Drive's look, borrowed a lot from the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, especially the night-time driving scenes.

Annika at 2011-12-18 01:48:02:

I liked DRIVE predominantly for the main character. The hot guy who says little but does much has always been one of my favorites in film, but very rare these days.

Debbie Moon at 2011-12-18 04:43:55:

Missed so much this year - I expect Drive, Kill List and Troll Hunter will be on this list when I finally catch up with them, but for now... Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, X-Men: First Class - see, franchises aren't all bad! Attack The Block, Submarine - yup, being a teenager was just like that... Bridesmaids - to quote Captain Hammer, "Not my usual thing, but nice". Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - absolute solid quality. If Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't break your heart, Tom Hardy will.... Source Code - should have stopped with the freeze-frame kiss, instead of over-explaining itself, but apart from that, a proper grown-up sci-fi action movie... And yeah, I admit it, Fast Five. Could have been stronger in places - but they drag a safe through the streets of Rio, demolishing cop cars. What's not to like...?

churnage at 2011-12-18 07:39:25:

"Hugo" was the best movie I've seen this year... just a love letter to the power of the imagination. Also liked a lot "Bridesmaids," "Hanna," "Source Code," "Moneyball, and "50/50." Just saw "Crazy, Stupid Love" and hated it. Way too coincidental and manipulative. Spoiler Alert Especially disliked the surprise regarding Emma Stone's family.

Alexander Gorelik at 2011-12-18 09:50:04:

pliny, i am interested that you say that about the script. just out of curiosity, what makes you feel that the script was flawed? is it just that you agree with churnage's comment below that it was overly coincidental and manipulative or was there something else?

Teddy Pasternak at 2011-12-18 11:59:40:

The Tree of Life was my favorite this year. I also liked The Descendants, Midnight in Paris and Drive. And.... I want to mention Don Hertzfeldt's It's Such a Beautiful Day. It's an animated short and the last chapter of a trilogy. It is great. Hertzfeldt is mostly known for his Oscar nominated Rejected. If you're not familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Annika at 2011-12-18 13:33:53:

I hated CSL, too. Found it to be completely pedestrian and overtly manipulative. It also played on a lot of stereotypes about sex/dating/marriage which made the characters seem very surface, like they were just the physical embodiment of such stereotypes. (Marissa Tomei as the horny, lonely 40-something woman just dying to get her hands on a man particularly bothered me. Was anyone else reminded of that chicken, Miss Prissy, from the old Warner Brothers cartoons?) If the filmmakers had taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to these stereotypes then twisted it, it could have been fun, but instead they seemed to think they were saying something really new and daring and different about male-female relationships, and this is what irked me the most, that they seemed to think they were being really deep and clever and ground breaking when they weren't saying anything that hasn't been said to death.

pliny the elder at 2011-12-18 14:46:06:

That... But mostly the 3rd act, especially how quickly Steve Corell's character likes, hates and forgives Ryan Gosling's character when he finds out Ryan's dating Emma Stone. Can't recall exactly, but my sense is that in the script it all happens in around 10 pages. I also thought Julianne Moore's character was weakly written. Same with Jonah Bobo and Marisa Tomei.

Courtney Chambers at 2011-12-19 00:27:17:

Strictly for entertainment purposes... The Help, Win Win and Bridesmaids. And the clunker of the year goes to... Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

malefice at 2011-12-19 01:51:55:

CHILDREN by Kyoo-man Lee -The film is based on a true yet unsolved murder case from the early 1990s that is known among Koreans as the "disappearance of the frog children."

Earl at 2011-12-19 11:06:54:

Some that stood out to me were Drive and Anonymous. What Drive lacked in plot creativity more than made up for in acting and gorgeous cinematography. Each scene was framed perfectly and the contrast of colors and light were amazing. I believe it should be up for at least Best Director at the Oscars… Anonymous was another brilliantly acted film. The Shakespeare period piece had flawless set design and a plot that kept evolving to deeper depths and metaphorical meanings.