Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life practically demands to be watched repeatedly, all the while tugging at its various artistic intricacies. While the central story centered on the rough progression of childhood is as simple as can be, the movie … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number One
Perhaps the only thing more unlikely than Michael Lewis’s journalistic take on the statistically-driven transformation of the small market Oakland A’s turning into a major bestseller is the eventually film adaptation, which had its own torturous path to completion, standing … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Two
I don’t quite know how to describe the movies that Kelly Reichardt makes. There are the highly reductive terms that were commonly used to describe her latest, Meek’s Cutoff: slow, small, understated. I can see how someone could decide each … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Three
In Certified Copy, written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, an English writer is in Italy on a book tour, promoting his latest work which examines the philosophical underpinnings of art itself, challenging the very notion of authenticity considering … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Four
I remember watching Martin Scorsese’s excellent 2004 outing The Aviator and feeling certain that scenes that revolved around subject Howard Hughes operated as an obsessed director in old Hollywood represented a peak of personal filmmaking. For all the amazing work … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Five
There are human tragedies that are ultimately too enormous to be captured onscreen, but that, of course, doesn’t mean filmmakers should stop trying. Because sometimes, just often enough, they succeed in capturing some small slice of the unthinkable, some glimpse … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Six
In the introduction to this year’s ten best list, I noted that my personal tally was filled with films that couldn’t reasonably be called perfect, but compensated with brilliantly messy ambition. I think that Melancholia from director Lars von Trier … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Seven
While all movies strive for authenticity, there’s an added expectation of voracious adherence to the truth when it comes to documentaries, even as advocacy pieces become more and more prevalent. And yet there’s also a growing commitment to transforming non-fiction … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — Number Eight
My favorite moment in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive–the moment that encapsulates everyone that’s special about this reinvention of the old-school action movie–isn’t especially iconic or gripping in a conventional way. It’s not the elevator attack or some burst of shocking … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 – Number Nine
It really seemed that Errol Morris had decided to devote his considerable talents as a documentary filmmaker to heavier, more deeply important fare, never again to revisit the sort of offbeat stories and individuals that he originally made his name … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 – Number Ten
Coffee for Two 