Top 10 Films of 2011

1. "A Separation" (Asghar Farhadi, Iran)

2. "Shame" (Steve McQueen, UK)

3. "The Descendants" (Alexander Payne, USA)

4. "Drive" (Nicolas Winding Refn, USA)

5. "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (David Fincher, USA)

6. "Secrets Objects" (Lee Young-Mi, South Korea)

7. "Crazy Horse" (Frederick Wiseman, USA)

8. "Chico And Rita" (Fernando Trueba, Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, Spain)

9. "Super" (James Gunn, USA)

10. "Madrid 1987" (David Trueba, Spain)

Other great films:

Above Us Only Sky (Germany)

The Adventures Of Tintin

After Fall Winter (France)

Albert Nobbs (Ireland)

Angele et Tony (France)

Anonymous

L'Apollonide Souvenirs de la maison close (France)

Apres le sud (France)

Arthur Christmas (UK)
The Artist (France)
Atlas Shrugged Part I

The Bang Bang Club (South Africa)

Bridesmaids

Bullhead (Belgium)

The Bunny Game

Cafe de Flore (Canada)

Caged (Holland)

Cars 2

Cat Run 

Ces amours-la (France)

Le Chat du rabbin (France)

Corpo celeste (Italy)

Coteau rouge (Canada)

Cracks In The Shell (Germany)

Crazy Stupid Love

A Dangerous Method (Canada)

Elle ne pleure pas elle chante (Belgium)

Elles (Poland)

Eternal Ashes (Venezuela)

L'Exercice de l'Etat (France)

Febre do Rato (Brazil)

Les Femmes du 6ieme etage (France)

The Flowers Of War (China)

Funkytown (Canada)

Le Gamin au velo (Belgium)

Gerry (Canada)

Gnomeo And Juliet

Good Neighbours (Canada)

La Guerre est declaree (France)

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hell And Back Again

The Help
Hugo

If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front

In The Land Of Blood And Honey

The Iron Lady (UK)

Kaboom

Killer Joe

Larry Crowne

Laurentie (Canada)

Little Birds

Little Surfer Girl (Brazil)

Love Actually Sucks (Hong Kong)

Loverboy (Romania)

Machine Gun Preacher 

Marecages (Canada)

Margin Call

Melancholia 

Midnight In Paris

Miss Bala (Mexico)

Mlyn i krzyz (Poland)

Moneyball
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
The Muppets

My Little Princess (France)

My Week With Marilyn (UK)

Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (France)

Nuit #1 (Canada)

L'Ordre et la morale (France)

Polisse (France)

Portrait Of A Call Girl

Q (France)

The Raid Redemption (Indonesia)
Rango 
Rio

Le Sens de l'humour (Canada) 

She Monkeys (Sweden)

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Sleeping Beauty (Australia)

The Slut (Israel)

Snowtown (Australia)

Stephen Faulkner: J'm'en va r'viendre (Canada)

Take This Waltz (Canada)

Tango To Romance

Ticket To Paradise (Cuba)

Tilt (Bulgaria)

Tous les soleils (France)

Truth Of Lie (Germany)

Underwater Love (Japan)

Uwiklanie (Poland)

Une Vie de chat (France)

W ciemnosci (Poland)

W.E.

Winnie The Pooh

X (Australia)

Zhila-byla odna baba (Russia)

Short Top 3:

1. "J'aurais pu etre une pute" (Baya Kasmi, France)

2. "Tabula rasa" (Matthew Rankin, Canada)

3.  "As A Whistle" (Phillip Lee Duncan, USA)

Other great shorts:

Beast (Hungary)

Chers amis (Canada)

Clean
Le Diable en personne (Canada)

Face To Panty Ratio

Hotel Desire (Germany)

Margaret And The Dollhouse (Canada)

Munted (New Zealand)

L'Offre et la demande (Canada)

The Shore (UK)

Time Freak

Ti-Minou Gros-Minet (Canada)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Countdown" (Adria Petty, Beyonce)

2.  "Otis" (Spike Jonze, Kanye West, Jay-Z)

3. "We Found Love" (Melina Matsoukas, Rihanna)

Other great music videos:

Changes
Judas

Nature Zones

Runner

Somebody That I Used To Know

You And I

Top Commercial:

"The Force" (Lance Acord, Volkswagen)

TV Top 5:

1. "Game Of Thrones: Season 1" (HBO)

2. "The Walking Dead: Season 2" (AMC)

3. "Breaking Bad: Season 4" (AMC)

4. "Downton Abbey: Season 2" (ITV)

5. "Homeland: Season 1" (HBO)

Other great TV shows:

Boardwalk Empire: Season 2

Weeds: Season 7

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Muybridge's Strings" (Kōji Yamamura, Japan)

2. "A Morning Stroll" (Grant Orchard, UK)

3. "Breakfast On The Grass" (Mari Pakkas, Estonia)

Other great cartoons:

Ballad Of Nessie

Weak films of 2011:

17 filles (France)
Las Acacias (Argentina)
The Adjustment Bureau
Adventure (Hungary)

Amnesty (Albania)
Apollo 18
The Bad Truth (Argentina)
Beginners
La Bellezza del somaro (Italy)
The Bend (Canada)
A Better Life
Body (Turkey)
Le Bonheur des autres (Canada)

Bumrush (Canada)
Carnage
Che bella giornata (Italy)
Le Colis (Canada)
La Conquête (France)
Crazy-ism (Japan)
The Dead Sea (India)
The Debt
A Decent Arrangement 

Décharge (Canada)
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
En terrains connus (Canada)
Et maintenant on va ou? (Lebanon)
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
Facing Mirrors (Iran)
Festung (Germany)
The Finger (Argentina)
Fish And Chips (Cyprus)
Five Square Meters (Spain)

Footnote (Israel)
French Immersion (Canada)
Frisson de collines (Canada)
Good Neighbour (Germany)
The Graveyard Keeper's Daughter (Estonia)
Hanna
Hasta la vista (Belgium)
Le Havre (Finland)
Here I Am (Australia)
The High Cost Of Living (Canada)
The Ides Of March
Innocence (Czech Republic)
In Our Name (UK)
Intouchables (France)
Jaloux (Canada)
Jane Eyre (UK)
J. Edgar
Jo pour Jonathan (Canada)
The Kate Logan Affair (Canada)
Kung Fu Panda 2
Less Modern Times (Argentina)
Limitless

Les Lyonnais (France)
Un Monstre a Paris (France)
My Prince My King (Germany)
Nessuno mi puo giudicare (Italy)

Omar m'a tuer (France)
Operation Casablanca (Switzerland)
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pater (France)

La Peur de l'eau (Canada)
Pina (Germany)
Pour l'amour de dieu (Canada)
Presumé coupable (France)
Une Pure affaire (France)
Puss In Boots
Real Steel
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
The Roadside House (Russia)
La Run (Canada)
Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows
Snow And Ashes (Canada)

La Source des femmes (France)
Starbuck (Canada)
Sur le rhythme (Canada)
Take Shelter
Terraferma (Italy)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (UK)
Toutes nos envies (France)
Transformers Dark Of The Moon
Transit Cities (Jordan)
The Tree Of Life
Trou Story (Canada)
Undefeated
Le Vendeur (Canada)
La Vérité (Canada)
La Vie meilleure (France)
Une Vie qui commence (Canada)
War Horse
Warrior
We Need To Talk About Kevin
The Whistleblower (Canada)
The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (Canada)

Young Adult

Weak shorts:

All That You Loved
Amor Azul
Awake
Bento Monogatari
Beyond Man
Bill Please
Bip Bip
Blink
Les Bons termes selon Dewey
Brain Juice
Breathing
Bred In Captivity
Brother's Keeper
Cafe Cleopatre
Celia
Close To Her
De quel sommeil reviendrons-nous ?
Despertar
Dulce
Eka utshite - N'oublie pas
Entre deux etats
L'Ete indien
Exilio e transhumancia
Faraway
Les Fausses notes
The Fruit Machine
Going
Le Grand Cycle
Hit Me
Hotel Alpha Mike
I'll Be Waiting Outside
Les Interdits
L'Invite
It's Nobody's Fault
Jardiniers clandestins
Je les aime encore
The Kidnapping
Landing
Leben Lassen
Liz
Looking Up
Mise a pied
Moving Slowly
Noeud papillon
No Words Came Down
Pas de deux
Pentecost (Ireland)
La Piece
La Queue du peloton
Raju (Germany)
Recits d'hyperinflation
Release
Rising Son
Ryan And Ally
Shades Of Grey On The Silver Screen
She's A Soul Man
Smoulder
La Statege
Strike 3
Suburban Swingers
Tuba Atlantic (Norway)
Vodka canneberge
Wiggle Your Toes

Weak cartoons:

The Ame Seller (Canada)
Dimanche (Canada)
Door (Canada)
The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr Morris Lessmore
La Luna
Les Petites chimeres (Canada)
Riviere au Tonnerre (Canada)
Wild Life (Canada)

Weak TV shows:

Black Mirror: Season 1 (UK)

Top Musical of 2011

"The Muppets" (James Bobin, Disney)

A Separation (2011) *****

A superlative Iranian drama about a serious dispute between two couples. It's impossible, in view of the current tensions between Iran and The West over nuclear weapons and terrorism, not to see this film as a political allegory about a mutual lack of understanding among people. A well-deserved Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film.

Madrid 1987 (2011) ****

W ciemnosci (2011) ****

Q (2011) ****

Apres le sud (2011) ****

L'Apollonide Souvenirs de la maison close (2011) ****

Chico And Rita (2011) ****

Super (2011) ****

Crazy Horse (2011) ****

Secrets Objects (2011) ****

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) ****

Drive (2011) ****

The Descendants (2011) ****

Shame (2011) ****

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) ****

The last instalment in the ''Harry Potter'' saga. Dark, apocalyptic, somber, frightening and very fast-paced (unlike several recent episodes). Closer in sprit to the ''Lord Of The Rings'' trilogy than to the first ''Harry Potter'' films, but quite impressive. Ralph Fiennes steals the movie as Voldemort.

Laurentie (2011) ****

Love Actually Sucks (2011) ****

The Adventures Of Tintin (2011) ***

An exciting animated action film based on the famous European comic books. Here, Tintin resembles an all-American action hero (a diminutive Bruce Willis with a weird hairdo) more than the original Hergé creation, but director Steven Spielberg nonetheless managed to accurately depict many memorable supporting characters, including Captain Haddock, Dupont and Dupond (Thomson and Thompson) and Bianca Castafiore. Only Professor Tournesol (Calculus) fails to make an appearance. The story is based on three Tintin's books (“Le Secret de la Licorne”, “Le Trésor de Rackman le Rouge” and “Le Crabe aux pinces d'or”), with one scene taken from “Coke en stock”, but most of the film's second half is entirely original, including the most exciting action pieces (essentially, everything from Tintin's arrival in the Arab prince's palace to the dueling port cranes is nowhere to be found in any of Hergé's books).

Hugo (2011) ***

Martin Scorsese's love poem to a great pioneer of cinema, Georges Melies. Visually stunning, complex and cleverly constructed film that manages to enchant the viewers with its technical prowess while telling a touching and beautiful story about a great artistic genius.

L'Ordre et la morale (2011) ***

French docudrama about a hostage crisis in Nouvelle Caledonie during the 1988 presidential election in France.

Le Chat du rabbin (2011) ***

Uneven, but often brilliant animated film about Africa, Judaism, Islam and Russia.

The Help (2011) ***

There are a few weak and unconvincing scenes (especially Constantine's firing and Stuart breaking up with Skeeter), but otherwise it's an engrossing, moving and biting drama about racial and class conflicts in Mississippi in the 1960's. Bryce Dallas Howard is particularly good as a racist Southern bitch who gets her just desserts (quite literally, actually). Jessica Chastain is quite moving as a young trophy wife cruelly ostracized by all women in town. Viola Davis's Oscar-nominated performance is flawless, but it's actually a supporting role, with less screen time than Olivia Spencer, who won as Best Supporting Actress (while Davis was inexplicably nominated as Best Actress, and lost to Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady").

Arthur Christmas (2011) ***

Entertaining animated feature about Santa Claus' younger son trying to deliver a Christmas present to a little girl in England.

Rango (2011) ***

Animated western about a heroic lizard saving a lawless town from thirst.

Machine Gun Preacher (2011) ***

True story of Sam Childers, an American missionary in South Sudan who fights against Joseph Kony's LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).

The Muppets (2011) ***

Superb songs (including Oscar-winning "Man Or Muppet" and the legendary "Mahna Mahna", not to mention "Life's a Happy Song" and, of course, "The Muppet Show Theme"), self-reflexive humor ("This is going to be a really short movie", "You were reciting some sort of important plot point", "Are we working for the bad guy?"), Amy Adams and the Muppets. What more can you ask for ?

Atlas Shrugged Part I (2011) ***

The first part of an adaptation of Ayn Rand's famous novel about innovators and elite enterpreneurs going on strike, leading to a complete collapse of a socialist society.

Rio (2011) ***

Excellent animated film about birds, birdnappers, Rio and the Rio carnaval.

Anonymous (2011) ***

A "DaVinci Code" in iambic pentameter - a tale, told by Roland Emmerich ("Independance Day"), full of sound and fury, signifying that William Shakespeare might have been a fraud. However, the "Stratfordian vs Oxfordian" authorship controversy is almost of a secondary importance here, overshadowed by the sex life of Queen Elizabeth and the political intrigues related to her succession. Like with Dan Brown's story of Mary Magdalen, the fiction is far more fascinating (and intriguing) than the boring reality, making us wish that it was all true, but ultimately, once again, does it really matter ? What difference does it make if "Hamlet" was written by a legitimate son of a glover or an illegitimate son of a queen ?