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This film has been super high on my most anticipated list since I learnt about it.

Per IMDB – On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.

When I first saw Super 8 I was almost certain that it would be my #1 film for 2011, and on repeat viewings that opinion didn’t change.  Then I saw Another Earth, and it’s so easily my #1 film of 2011 I feel Super 8 should be embarrassed.

If you watch the trailer before seeing the film, which I assume pretty much anyone reading this will do, please don’t let the sci-fi elements contained in the trailer turn you off from watching the film.  All in all the sci-fi element within Another Earth takes up a very small part of the film.  In actuality, the film is far more about the connection between Rhoda (Brit Marling) and John (William Mapother), and Rhoda’s feelings about what she did and how she can move on, than it ever is about the discovery of “another Earth”.  Ultimately, the film is about being human, the choices we make, the friendships we develop, and what makes us who we are.

Both Brit Marling (who wrote and produced the film) and William Mapother give great performances, with Marling’s performance making her an actress to keep an eye on.  The film was shot on a very small budget, but has such beautiful cinematography that you wouldn’t really know.  There’s an abundance of wonderful imagery throughout the film and it’s accompanied by a majestic and haunting soundtrack by Fall on Your Sword.  Like a lot of films in my best of 2011 list, Another Earth has a mood and feel to it that sucks you in until the very end.

Given my very strong enjoyment of Another Earth, I’m excited for Brit Marling’s next writing/starring project, The East, which tells the story of a contract worker who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its leader. The East also stars Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgård.

On the list of honours for Another Earth, it was nominated for 8 awards, and won Best Actress at Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance, and the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

Watching the trailer again sent chills down my spine.  I cannot possibly put into words how brilliant I think this film is.  If I try it just devolves into nonsensical stuttering with a final demand that “you have to watch it”.  Well, you have to watch it.

This is the follow-up by Quentin Dupieux to his weird (and wonderful) Rubber, and stars Alexis Dziena, Steve Little and William Fichtner.

Per IMDB – During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.

I saw this film on the Upper East Side, just near Shake Shack, when I was in New York in June.  It was a pretty fucking awesome day.  After speaking to some friends about Super 8 and hearing their general ho hum reaction to it, I initially thought that my enjoyment of the film was due to the events surrounding my viewing of it, and that if I’d seen it back home that I might have been underwhelmed by it too.  That’s not the case.  I’ve watched Super 8 a couple more times since I first saw it, and it has left me impressed after every viewing.

J.J. Abrams has delivered the best Spielberg film in a long long time.  It’s like watching a ’70s/’80s bunch of kid friends film, à la Stand By Me or The Goonies.  That’s never a bad thing.  I really enjoyed the sense of wonder that fills the film, the adventure the kids go on, and the depiction of budding first love between Joe (Joel Courtney) and Alice (Elle Fanning).

Like all films which feature children in prominent roles, they live or die by the performances, and I have to say that each and every one of the kids in Super 8 does a good job.  That’s another reason why the film reminds of stuff like E.T., Stand By Me, and The Goonies.   All those films, and probably more that I’m forgetting, featured children in all the major roles, and all of these films were good not only because of the story being told, but because of the great performances by the children.  It’s easy to spot poor acting by children, it’s always stilted and fake, and it constantly takes you out of the film.  There’s a reason the first bunch of Harry Potter films aren’t as good as the later ones, and it’s not just the ever increasing dark storylines.  It’s also a prominent reason why The Phantom Menace sucks, and why I can’t even handle 10 minutes of Mary Poppins any more.  Kid actors either elevate or ruin films, and the kids in Super 8 elevate it to something wonderful.

There’s an undeniable nostalgic feel to the film but, for me at least, it doesn’t come across as manufactured or manipulative, it simply makes me feel like a kid again.

I Saw The Devil  is the gold standard of revenge flicks.  There’s nothing that compares to this film.  Nothing.  The only film which comes close is Oldboy.

One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes the victim of serial killer Kyung-chul (Min-Sik Choi) and is found dead in a horrific state.  Her fiance Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee), a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself.  He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.

I really don’t want to say too much to spoil the film for anyone who might be reading this.  There aren’t any real twists or surprises, but I think it’s better to go in only knowing that you’re watching another brilliant South Korean revenge flick, and let the events hit you like a battering ram.  Filled with fantastic acting, great fight sequences and a shit ton of blood and gore.  A great thriller/drama that’s also one of the most breathtakingly beautiful films I’ve seen a long time.  It’s that fucking good.

I’ve been compiling my best of list from my Flickchart and it has led to a bit of a problem.  See, the way Flickchart determines the release date for a film is when it gets it’s first public showing.  A lot of the time this would be fine, but for the indie fare which pretty much always debuts at a festival and then takes a while to find a distributor, this can mean that Flickchart can be off by a year or two.  I’ve now realised that two films which saw a limited release this year, but which Flickchart has as being released in 2010, were excluded from my draft list of best films for 2011.  Happythankyoumoreplease is one of those films, the other is the next spot up in my rankings.  This has lead to a 4a and 4b, not to indicate a tie, but rather as a means to include films on this list which deserve to be included.

Happythankyoumoreplease tells the story of a six New Yorkers who juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler (Josh Radnor, who also wrote and directed the film) is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends – Annie (Malin Akerman), whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie (Pablo Schreiber) and Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan), a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi (Kate Mara), a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye.

Ever since How I Met Your Mother came on the air in 2005 I’ve been impressed by Josh Radnor.  He always comes across as a likeable guy even in his more douchey moments on the show.  It was with that in mind that I was interested to see what he was like as both a writer and director.  Turns out he’s good.

The film is for all intents and purposes a coming of age tale for people in their late twenties/early thirties, set in New York, and accompanied by an indie soundtrack.  In other words, this is exactly the type of film that I love.  You add in Radnor, Akerman, and the wonderful Tony Hale, and it’s plain as day that I would rank this high.

I often try and explain why I like a certain film to friends or family and more often than not I end up saying it has a “certain feel” to it.  That’s typically my way of saying I enjoyed how it looked and sounded, and the mood it put me in both when I was watching it and after it had finished.  Happythankyoumoreplease is another film that has an unquantifiable “feel” to it that will appeal to you if you’re a  fan of indie dramas.

After watching Happythankyoumoreplease and Martha Marcy May Marlene, I was over the moon to learn that Radnor’s next writing/directing/starring project, Liberal Arts, also stars Elizabeth Olsen and is due to debut at Sundance this year.  I can’t wait to see what he does as a follow-up.

It’s hard to put into words why I like Cedar Rapids so much.  It’s a pretty quiet, understated, indie comedy featuring comedic juggernauts Ed Helms and John C. Reilly.

The film tells the story of Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), an insurance salesman who goes to a convention in Cedar Rapids in place of the office star (Thomas Lennon) after he dies.  There he meets fellow salesmen/women Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche).

In essence I guess the film is a fish out of water story, but a description of that nature doesn’t really seem to do the film justice.

Cedar Rapids is interspersed with these quiet romantic moments between Tim and Joan, and for me they are the highlight of the film.  That’s not to say the rest of it isn’t wonderful, I just found these scenes to be a distinct change of pace for a comedy.  The highlight is the pool scene with Tim, Dean and Joan.  There’s a moment in there which is shot in such a beautiful way I find myself waiting for it every time I watch the film.

Not much more to say other than watch this film.  It’s all kinds of awesome.

OK, first thing’s first, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  He’s by far my favourite actor.  I mean it isn’t even close.  Second, Seth Rogen is perhaps my second favourite comedic actor behind Will Ferrell.  With that in mind it’s pretty clear that I was always going to like 50/50.  You add in the cute and wonderful Anna Kendrick, plus Bryce Dallas Howard playing a mean-spirited bitch, and it all adds up to a wonderful film.

The film tells the story of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who’s diagnosed with cancer, how he attempts to cope with this diagnosis, and his struggle to overcome the disease with the help of his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) and his trainee therapist (Anna Kendrick).

It was pretty much a given that Gordon-Levitt and Kendrick would give good performances, Angelica Huston was good too as the overemotional and annoying mother that Adam just wanted to avoid, but I was impressed by Seth Rogen.  He hasn’t played that many semi-serious roles so far in his career, except in Observe and Report and Funny People, but it’s always a treat when he does.  He has the ability to be funny and serious at the same time, if that makes sense, and in 50/50 that ability is put to good use because he comes across like a best friend would do in that situation.  Trying to lighten up his friend and make him feel like it’s not all bad.  I also loved how Kyle fired into Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) after he caught her out and told Adam.

It was also pretty cool to have Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer in the film.

Ultimately, I think the film did a wonderful job showing what someone might go through if they were diagnosed with cancer.  The world doesn’t end, they still have friends, they still have family, they still laugh, and there are people in their lives who will try and make it OK.

And spoiler alert, I absolutely loved loved loved the ending because I truly didn’t think that Adam and Katherine would end up together just because of the whole doctor/patient relationship thing.