by Sam Juliano
I toyed with doing a Top 20 or a Top 25 for the past calendar year. In the end, I stood with the method I have used for decades, one that is noted for the discipline that a longer list disavows. Be rest assured it was arrived at after intense scrutiny and the successful navigation of every 2011 film that I was able to see, most in theatres a small handful on DVDs. But numerical listing is like the weather or human temperament. It can change at any time, and even today’s placements would be altered if I followed up with a listing a day later. This is the list I came up when I finalized the numbers on Sunday, and this is the list I will stand by. I saw close to 200 contemporary films this year exclusive of the additional ones I saw at retrospectives, which would have taken the total to over 300. As a result I have made sure to offer up a “Honorable Mention’ list of 20 films that will follow the Top Ten in alphabetical order. After the painstaking and nearly impossible task of ranking the Top Ten, I opted to leave the follow-up 20 as relatively equal in merit. All of the titles in this runner-up 20 are films originally rated at the diaries with either 4.0 or 4.5 ratings. Another reason I preferred the Top 10 list, was because it limited the number of capsule essays. This makes the limited choices stand out and doesn’t make the presentation cumbersome.
2011 was one of the best years in cinema I’ve ever had the pleasure of investigating and enjoying. A few others have challenged me on this position, but I have steadfastly cited the newest works of venerated directors from around the world and an impressive year for American indes. I’m still not sure how many good to great films would have to release in any given year to satisfy some viewers, but it was clear from the very first months of overlap films from the previous twelve month period that the year was starting off superbly. (more…)
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
