The Top 10 Movies of 2011

It was supposed to be the year of sequels. Even Pixar couldn't come up with something entirely new and submitted Cars 2 for the year. It was also a good year for fans of superheroes and comic books, despite some disappointments such as The Green Lantern . As for the rest, here are my 10 favorite movies of 2011 and a couple extras that I think are worth mentioning.

10. Friends with Benefits - there were two movies about the same thing: two people who try to have a relationship with each other just for the sex and without emotions. I didn't see the other one and, really, can we put Ashton Kutcher back in his box somewhere and make him go away for a while? This movie stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and it was one of the most charming and funny movies I saw all summer. In fact, at the showing my fiancee and I attended, the laughter was so long and loud from the audience that you often missed the next lines and the next jokes. Is it a perfect movie? No. Did it manipulate your emotions a bit and delve into the land of cliche? Yes. However, Timberlake and Kunis proved to be an excellent onscreen couple and that both of them have great comedic chops. Yes, the character of the father suffers from what can only be "Hollywood Alzheimers," but it was still poignant at times and, mostly, just a lot of fun. The cameos of Emma Stone and Adam Samberg were also stellar.

9. X-Men: First Class - probably my favorite entry in the X-Men series. Why? Because this one focused on what was always my favorite character in the X-Men universe: Magneto. In the comic books he is vastly powerful and capable of firing bolts of magnetic energy from his hands. In the movies, he can move really big metal objects. He was always a complicated villain, as well, and I always like that in a villain. He wants to destroy the human race, but only because he wants to protect his own kind. His end result is sound, his methods are monstrous. Michael Fassbender plays Magneto in the movie and his pain at living through the Holocaust is real and his development into the man who would threaten the X-Men throughout their careers is compelling. Fassbender may be getting greater praise for his almost-all-nude performance in Shame, but for my money his best role was in X-Men: First Class. Plus, come on, Kevin Bacon!

8. Real Steel - few films this entire year have brought more sheer unadulterated joy at just going to a movie that this tale of boxing robots. Again, there may be a few times that this movie dips into schmaltz and movie cliches, but who cares? Hugh Jackman plays a man who is a terrible father, but was a great boxer. He his now a down-on-his-luck robot boxer looking for one last shot at redemption. A lot of people compared this to Rocky and the movie deserves that comparison. The fight scenes will leave you on the edge of your seat and the theater I saw this in stood up and cheered in the final fight. You go to movies to forget your troubles and have fun and given the state of the economy, no movie lived up to that better than this one.

7. Captain America: The First Avenger - I have been a fan of Captain America for a long time. I like the fact that he, technically, does not have any super powers. No, Steve Rogers has just been brought to the peak of human perfection using chemicals and science to fight the Nazis. He has always deserved better than he has gotten in the movies and, quite honestly, even in the comic books. This movie, however, finally does Cap right. Hugo Weaving is outstanding as the villainous Red Skull. Chris Evans is Steve Rogers and he portrays Cap just the right way. It is one of the best comic book adaptations to come out of the Marvel cannon in a while and I am looking forward to seeing Cap again in the Avengers movie due out in 2012.

6. Hugo - Another movie for ever movie lover. Martin Scorsese makes his first foray into family-friendly fare and he hits it out of the park so much he makes me write alliteratively. It is the story of a young orphaned boy whose father stumbled across a strange automaton man in a museum and how Hugo feels that he has to find out how to make it work. For fans of film, Ben Kingsley as Georges Milies is delightful. Sacha Baron Cohen is excellent as the train station police officer. Then there is the 3D and leave it to the master, like Scorsese, to do 3D right. He plays with it, adds depth and makes it stand up and sing without dimming the picture. The action is first rate, but more importantly, the story itself moves you as much as it moves the characters within the film. The movie is fun and still manages to convey Scorcsese's message about the importance of rescuing and restoring old films, which right now are decaying somewhere in warehouses and private collections around the world.

5. Bridesmaids - few movies have been just as laugh-out-loud funny than this one starring just about every fantastic female comedian you can find. The movie was written, in part, by SNL alum Kristen Wiig, one of the best cast members of recent years. The best find of the film is Melissa McCarthy who manages to bring about huge bouts of insane laughter with nearly every sentence she utters. The story itself is simple. Wiig plays a woman whose lie is spiraling down and out of control, when her best friend decides to get married and then asks her to be her Maid of Honor. However, a rich woman that her best friend has gotten to know steps in and tries to out-do Wiig's character ever step of the way. The laughs get bigger and bigger as the movie goes on, but the highlight has to be the part where all of the members of the wedding party try on dresses while fighting off the effects of food poisoning. I dare you to watch that and not think about lava without laughing ever again.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II - It was one of the several sequels planned for this year, but this was by far the best. It was also, by far, the best of the Hary Potter series. Harry and his friend soared as they faced off in the final battle against Voldemort. Every English actor on the planet eventually ended up in one of these movies and every one of them was as excellent as their pedigree would have you believe. However, the true joy of it all was seeing Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson finally and truly bloom into fantastic actors in their own right. The action is edge-of-your-seat and the final battles managed to live up to every expectation. It was a great film with great performances that managed to maintain the excitement and story delight of the books.

3. Crazy, Stupid, Love - Ryan Gosling had a great year. This was one of the movies that showed he had true talent. Steve Carell shows he has more range than he has perhaps been given so far as a man whose life suddenly turns upside down when his wife tells him she wants a divorce. Gosling is a ladies man who seduces and then destroys who takes Carell under his wing and teaches him how to be a single man who can get the ladies. This is a comedy that works the way old-fashioned comedies did. The jokes come slowly and when they arrive, they pack a punch and maybe just a bit of pain. The characters are all outstanding and you find yourself caring about each and every one of them. In the end the story is funny and touching and works on all levels, without making a villain out of any one of the characters. That is a very rare thing indeed.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I actually ended up liking this version better than the Swedish version. Director David Fincher manages to take the monstrously popular book and turn it into one of the best whodunit movies in recent years. There are scenes so harrowing that they will make you want to turn your face away from the screen. The really find here is Rooney Mara, who plays the titular girl, Lisbeth Salander. The amazing thing about the character of Salander is that she is so compelling and watchable and you find yourself rooting for her despite the fact she is so emotionally damaged that you would, in all likelihood, not want to spend 10 minutes in a car with her. Daniel Craig manages to portray the wounded and damaged Mikael Blomkvist and makes you forget all about him as James Bond. Fincher and his screenwriters make some minor changes, but keep the harrowing and dark edge that is inherent within the books. These are dark people engaged in a dark business and then, well, it just gets worse from there. And yet, as the audience, we cannot get enough and want more. It is this that makes the entire Millennium series so compelling and such a phenomenon.

1. Drive - As I said, this was Ryan Gosling's year. No movie has left a bigger impression on me than this one where Gosling stars as The Driver. Many have compared this movie to Clint Eastwood westerns, but if you do that, then you have to compare it to Akira Kurosawa's movies such as Yojimbo. In this movie Gosling plays a man who is a stunt man for movies by day and hires himself out to criminals as their driver at night. The movie was marketed as a Fast and Furious kind of film, but it is anything but that kind of mindless drivel. The Driver does not get away from the police just by driving fast, but with wit and brains. The opening getaway is still one of the best and most clever chase scenes I think that has ever been filmed. The Driver is a kind of samurai and, more importantly, a ronin. He serves no master and hires himself out - a great dishonor is samurai culture. He then finds a chance at redemption when he meets and falls in love with Carey Mulligan's character, the neighbor from down the hall. When her husband returns from prison and gets into more trouble, The Driver steps in to help. He manages to defeat almost all of the villains with his wits and bare hands. He is superhuman, unstoppable and capable of intense violence, all without raising his voice or uttering more than a few words at a time.

Take the scene in the elevator. Mulligan and Gosling stand side-by-side. The Driver notices a gangster standing in front of them. He knows that he must do something to defeat him and save Mulligan. However, he also knows that this violence will likely shock her to the point that he will lose her forever. So, the movie goes into slow motion. He leans in and kisses her and the world around them vanishes for a moment. It is the most tender moment they will ever share. He then proceeds to stomp the gangster to death with his own feet in front of her.

When people look back on this film, they will know it is a classic in the noir genre as wells as others. They will recognize Gosling as the tremendous talent that he is. He may have become a heartthrob with The Notebook, but with Drive he becomes a true actor. Just writing about this movie has made me want to see it again.

And now for a couple of honorable mentions, since the movies of this year were too numerous for just 10.

The Adjustment Bureau - This movie did marginally well, but should do better and receive a second life on cable and DVD. This happens to be a great thriller with a bizarre metaphysical bent, plus men in great fedora hats, and a great love story. Do we really get to determine our own destinies? Or is there a plan for each of us and is there a force at work that makes sure we stick to that path?

Source Code - This was the Inception of 2011. A mind-bending story about trying to change the past. The science involved seems convoluted, but the story itself will keep you on the edge of your seat. An excellent thriller, to boot, and there's even a pretty decent love story thrown in to make it interesting.