Sunday 8 January 2012

2011 List #7: Missed opportunities

I don't get to the cinema nearly as much as I'd like.  As a result it would be silly for me to do a Top 10 of 2011 list at this stage, particularly as I have so many excellent sounding films to consume.  Here are the top 10 films of 2011 I still need to see.  As you can see, most of these films are in many people's top 10 lists.  Until I see these, I cannot make the all-important decision on my favourites of the year.

In alphabetical order:

A Seperation (Iranian divorce drama critics and bloggers have been raving about)









Drive (Violent, stylish, great music and Gosling and Mulligan- hope this lives up to expectations!)









Incendies (Bleak, twisty Oscar-nominated family drama)








Moneyball (Love Pitt and Hill, sounds like a sports movie with a difference)









Senna (love a good documentary and this has been very highly rated by many)








Snowtown (sounds like a very difficult watch, just the way I often like it)








Take Shelter (one man's descent into madness, right up my street)











The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo (unnecessary remake of a film that I thought was ok but this is Fincher)








Troll Hunter (love a bit of found footage, especially when it's done effectively)








Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine directs, Peter Mullan stars, loads of awards, must be good)









There's a few more that might have a shot but, from what I've read and who directs them, are less likely to make my top 10 I suspect.  These include; We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Skin I live In, Melancholia Contagion and Midnight in Paris.  The love that these films have been getting is huge and I have seen them in many best of the year lists so depite not being a big Almodovar or Woody Allen fan, I am keen to catch them before making my own top 10 of 2011 list.


Then again I might be wrong and I might well have already seen my favourite films of the year.  Perhaps Bridesmaids, Animal Kingdom, Attack the Block, Submarine, True Grit, 127 Hours and Rango will all remain in the top 10 films I have seen this year.  We shall see.



Therefore, please wait in barely concealed anticipation as I Love That Film unleashes it's Best of 2011 list... (cough)... sometime in the future.  Let's meet back here in December 2012 and I might be done!  I hereby declare my new year resoultion is to get to the cinema more this year.  Stop relying on Lovefilm to deliver me DVD's and Blu-rays months after the films have left the cinemas and get out and catch them on the big screen as they were intended.  Anyone else feeling that there's a few films you are ashamed to say that you have outrageously missed last year?

10 comments:

  1. WOW you are in for some real treats.

    I have seen all of the list EXCEPT A Seperation, which I really want to see BADLY!!

    I can't wait to hear your thoughts on all of these

    S

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  2. @Scott, I know and these are just the ones I'm most looking forward to! There's a lot more besides!

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  3. I feel ya, Pete. I definitely had several missed opportunities last year, from Tree of Life and Drive to Take Shelter and A Separation. But then again, it's a lot of $$ and time to dedicate to seeing movies, and no matter how hard you try, you're not going to be able to see ALL the good ones. I just saw Beginners, Win Win, and Warrior all last week, and I loved all of them--three awesome movies from 2011. The thing is, while I'm playing catch-up, more good movies are coming out. I don't think I'll ever fully catch up to the rest of the world in terms of movies.

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  4. @Kristin It's a nightmare! At least with all the 'Worst of 2011' lists coming out, I'm getting a good idea about a few movies it's pretty clear are worth avoiding! It's just that I pay for Lovefilm but can't really afford more than one cinema trip a fortnight and then the local cinemas don't even put on half the above films so it would mean going to London which is another £20 for travel! Nevermind, we do our best!

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    1. Very true. I guess, for me, I'm finding out that I can make only so much time for posting, and the movies I do post about are ones I feel strongly about.

      I'm from Chicago, so you'd think that there would wide releases of a lot of films, but just yesterday I was able to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It came out in the UK in September of last year, and then had a US release date of Dec. 9. It's only THIS WEEK that it's not fully released by me! Kinda ridiculous.

      If you don't mind me asking, where are you from, Pete? I probably go to the movies too much (which means less $ in my pocket), making a trip about once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.

      Haha, yes we do!

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    2. Wow that is a long time to be waiting for a big release like TTSS. I didn't realise you got films after us unless they were just little Brit films that take a while to do well over here like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead!

      I'm from a sleepy town called Bracknell, about an hours train journey from Merry London! At least I got to see The Artist this week in a local cinema so things are looking up!

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  5. It seems we have two in common here: Take Shelter and Dragon Tattoo. I'm not sure I've even heard of Snowtown before, so that's one I'll have to look up.

    Drive is as fantastic as everyone says it is, so you're in for a treat with that one. I also very much enjoyed Contagion, and found Midnight in Paris to be pleasant but light. I haven't seen any of the other films mentioned, although I do have Senna at home from Lovefilm currently, so it'll get watched soon enough.

    Always plenty of promising films to see. :)

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    1. Snowtown sounds VERY grim but by accounts very good. Desperate to see Drive, very difficult to maintain sensible expectations with all the good words written about it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Sounds like a good bunch! Unfortunately I probably cannot get my hands on A Separation before Oscar time...

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    1. I'm incredibly excited about all of them! But it's a long wait for many of the DVD's.

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