Top 7 (+3) #4: Top 10 Movies of 2011

Overall, 2011 has more good films compared to 2010, but 2010 has more excellent ones than 2011. There weren't as many big budget / headliner movies that scored high on my cards compared to the ones in 2010 (Toy Story 3, Inception, How to Train Your Dragon). 2011 on mainstream cinema has more wit than budget than 2010, and if anything, 2011 is more of a lead-up year to 2012. In 2012, we'd have The Avengers, Brave, Men In Black 3(D), The Hunger Games, and Battleship to name a few of the expected headliners. We can also blame the MMDA film fest that would make sure we won't have access to good Hollywood films this Holiday season; films such as The Iron Lady, War Horse, Moneyball, Shame, A Dangerous Method, Hugo, etc would have to wait next year and wouldn't manage to enter my list.

Please note that this list comprise of my personal favorites of movies produced in 2011 or late 2010 that I watched this year. This year, my taste went more for comedy than for drama. There are so many good comedies this year, in my opinion.

Anyways, before I unveil my favorite 10 for 2011, here are the runner-ups:

• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Captain America
• X-Men: The First Class
• Super 8
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Crazy Stupid Love
• Fright Night
• Our Idiot Brother
• True Grit
• Ang Babae sa Septic Tank
• The Adventures of Tintin

10. Friends With Benefits

Directed by Will Gluck 

Stars Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Nolan Gould

The Offering: LA local meets New York headhunter and both, feeling strained from the pointlessness of having relationships, decide to content themselves with each other's company on the bed. Eventually feelings grew and things get complicated. Ends with a good song, though.

Admission ticket: People hate Justin, I found that out. Not a lot of my friends wanted to watch this movie because of J.T. Mila Kunis, however, is a blow-torch, and with the very good chemistry with Timberlake, the movie is saved. Not to spare Will Gluck the praises. Gluck has a knack for making the most mundane into something humorous and witty.

9. Insidious

Directed by James Wan

Stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne

The Offering: Husband and wife and two kids move to a suburban American home when they got plagued by ghastly visions and were prompted to move. However, the haunting continues, culminating to their son's coma. This soon prompted them to dig the family's past, leading to a shaky, yet passable, ending.

Admission Ticket: One of the few Hollywood horror movies that's actually scary, Insidious offers more than scare: it offers a scientific angle on the paranormal. That, plus that its offerings of horror just keeps going on an uphill rise to a point where keeping yourself seated near the end is an impossible feat without wanting to empty your bladder on your seat. Had the final act only been better. Tut tut!

8. Horrible Bosses

Directed by Seth Gordon

Stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell

The Offering: Three friends hate their bosses and conspire to murder each other's bosses to make their lives easier. However, things went from silly to real dangerous as one thing lead to another, culminating in an actual murder that might spell them time behind bars.

Admission Ticket: Jennifer Aniston! No, seriously, the whole cast just worked it on this one. The three leads were believable to have been long time friends and the villains were very effective, particularly Aniston who plays a nymphomaniac obsessed with the rather annoying Charlie Day. Spacey was detestable, too in portraying a psycho boss who tortures Bateman. The laughs come easy with this offering, and I think it was rather well-penned.

7. Thor

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

The Offering: Son of Odin breaks the truce of the gods with the Frost Giants, putting Asgard in danger. He eventually loses his father's favor, sends him to Earth, all of which has been planned by his evil brother to usurp the throne. Soon enough, he falls in love, sacrifices himself and is deemed worthy again to be a god.

Admission Ticket: One of Marvel's A-list heroes finally goes to big screen and with a great sense of humor to boot. For something that has always been a riddle to make, Thor ended up passing my expectations. Branagh managed to balance it all out in this atypically good summer flick, not only avoiding to make it cheesy and convoluted, he made it breath-takingly good. The visuals were wonderful, the narration fast-paced, the script wonderfully done, and the storytelling makes you just want see the sequel right after the credits roll.

6. The Help

Directed by Tate Taylor

Stars Viola Davis, Emma Stone Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard

The Offering: Black people are marching in New York for equality while the maids in Jackson, Mississippi, suffer oppression from the hands of their white employers, with some not being able to find work again and some landing in prison. But all that's to change when they meet a spirited female writer who help them propel themselves to a new level of empowerment.

Admission Ticket: An anthem to racial discrimination and rising above it fueled by powerful performances from Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer (very scene-stealing one, this is), Emma Stone, and Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help is a genuine reaching out and call to change. It is one of the movies of 2011 that has a true soul.

5. No Other Woman
Directed by Ruel S. Bayani
Stars Anne Curtis, Derek Ramsey, Cristine Reyes, Carmi Martin

The Offering: Husband cheats wife with a beautiful heiress, but wife fights the hell for her husband. A hackneyed material should not be entertaining to see, but Director Bayani made this film into one of the highest-grossing Filipino films of all time, all because it is extremely entertaining. Just have to bear the boring final act, but all else is fine.

Admission Ticket: This is possibly Anne Curtis' finest performance to date. She can shift from vulnerable to extremely frivolous to emotionally detached. The fine writing in this film is only undermined by the poor final act which stretches the film to unnecessary length. Having managed to stay in theatres for more than a month and breaking box office records, No Other Woman is one of the most memorable Filipino movies to date.

4. Contagion
Directed by Steven Sodebergh
Stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle

The Offering: A silent medical thriller and a social commentary, Contagion is a series of vignettes and snippets that explore social breakdown in case of global medical crisis taking place. Also bolstered by an ensemble cast with fine acting and proper pacing.

Admission Ticket: Contagion is not for everybody. It's a medical thriller shown as a pseudo-documentary on how society acts in case of a global medical crisis. The plot is tight and the narration just keeps on mounting the suspense for one final hill in the end, which is the eventual discovery of the vaccine that featured a memorable redeeming scene over Christmas. Contagion is a well-acted and properly narrated Apocalyptic movie that 2011 needs.

3. Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston

The Offering: Driver gets enamored by a neighbor and eventually entangled with her husband's problems that involve a bunch of thugs with guns. The film seemingly reminiscent of a Tarantino work has a silent vibe jiving with an acquired 80s bistro feel.

Admission Ticket: A crime film fueled by a stylized 80s feel and tasteful violence and gore, Drive features a calm narration and silent but powerful acting from its cast. Gosling was at his most charming here. He speaks a lot less, but is all the more compelling and lovable, it's impossible to not have a man-crush on him. The intensity of Drive is not paralleled by any of the films I've seen in 2011. Its style and sophistication speaks volumes of just how well-planned this movie is.

1. Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis

The Offering: A veteran ballerina lives in fear of being upstaged by a relatively new understudy, practices herself to insanity, and delivers a performance of a lifetime that cannot sanction an encore.

Admission Ticket: I know, 2010 film, what is it doing here? Black Swan was shown in theatres a week before the MMFF and continued its run 2 weeks after. That said, I managed to watch it only January this year. This film is a heavy Oscar contender last February, garnering 5 nods, with 3 being major ones, and a nomination for best Cinematography for fellow Filipino Matthew Libatique. What do we know about Black Swan? It is nothing short of breath-taking. Every scene is calculated and well-planned, the plot is properly developed, the acting is refined and well-schooled, and even with a greatly discussed dance double controversy plaguing Portman's performance, I believe this is her finest performance in a film, making this one of the most unforgettable films I've seen. And just like its companion, The Wrestler, which I've just only seen late this year on Blu-Ray, Black Swan is an art film, one that transcends pure viewing pleasure, earning its spot on my list this year at number, a tie it shares with...

1. Bridesmaids
Directed by Paul Feig
Stars Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd

The Offering: Woman suffering middle life crisis after her cake business comes down becomes maid of honor for her best friend's wedding. Slowly, she finds her life sinking lower and lower into bottom as she makes one misguided event after another for her best friend's wedding. Having reached bottom, she gets tough love from of the bridesmaids and starts fixing herself up to save the wedding.

Admission Ticket: It's basically a toss coin between Bridesmaids and Drive for the number one spot of 2011 (since Black Swan was officially released 2010), but given how much charm and recall factor Bridesmaids has, the choice is clear. Wiig is relatable, and everyone in the cast feels genuine, with the laughs coming from a cornucopia of SNL experience, Bridesmaids works and does not disappoint a single second. O'Dowd's chemistry with Wiig, Byrne's smiling plasticky evil, McCarthy's scene-stealing lines and quips just make Bridesmaids one of 2011's best cinematic gems, and for me, this gem is the brightest and the most memorable.

How about you? What's your 10 favorite films of 2011?