02 janvier 2012

2011: A Year in Cinema

Continuing the tradition, what follows is a list of films seen for the first time in 2011, or revisited and reconsidered, in rough order of preference. I also wrote some little things for year-end roundups at Vinyl Is Heavy and for the Mubi Notebook. I've got some other thoughts, but not sure they'll drift their way into print in the immediate... for now, let's just say these top 5 (and maybe 6) will be influencing me for a long, long time.

Adam's Rib (George Cukor, 1949)
Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry, 2011)
This Is Not a Film (Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi, 2010)
Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
Passeio com Johnny Guitar (João César Monteiro, 1996)
A King in New York (Charles Chaplin, 1957)
The Pinochet Case (Patricio Guzmán, 2001)
Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark (Al Jazeera documentary, 2011)
Eadward Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (Thom Andersen, 1974)
The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography (William E. Jones, 1998)
The Exiles (Kent Mackenzie, 1961)
The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987)
Ars Colonia (Raya Martin, 2011)
Big (Penny Marshall, 1988)
Salvador Allende (Patricio Guzmán, 2004)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010)
Dead Island: Official Announcement Trailer
Palestinian Chicken episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2011)
A Village Fading Away (Patricio Guzmán, 1995)
Film Socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard, 2010)
The Angel Wore Red (Nunnally Johnson, 1960)
Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Andersen, 2003)
The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993)
Mister Softee episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2011)
The King's Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010)
"Hang With Me" (Max Vitali, 2010)
Get Out of the Car (Thom Andersen, 2010)
Inside Job (Charles Ferguson, 2010)
History Lessons (Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, 1972)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Nimoy, 1986)
Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944)
The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr & Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
Broadcast News (James L. Brooks, 1987)
George Harrison: Living in the Material World (Martin Scorcese, 2011)
Tauw (Ousmane Sembene, 1970)
The Ace of Hearts (Wallace Worsley, 1921)
Bi-Sexual episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2011)
Car Periscope episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2011)
Almayer's Folly (Chantal Akerman, 2011)
Three on a Couch (Jerry Lewis, 1966)
Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967)
The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev, 2011)
The Immortal Story (Orson Welles, 1968)
Bhopali (Max Carlson, 2011)
Goodbye, Michael episode of "The Office" (2011)
Bobby Fischer Against the World (Liz Garbus, 2011)
Cops (Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton, 1922)
Cabs Are Here! episode of "Jersey Shore" (2011)
Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)
Ministry of Fear (Fritz Lang, 1944)
The Trip [theatrical version] (Michael Winterbottom, 2010)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
The Scarecrow (Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton, 1920)
The Aristocrat (Greg Croteau, 2010)
Unstoppable (Tony Scott, 2010)
Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
Dallas (Stuart Heisler, 1950)
The Tall Target (Anthony Mann, 1951)
The Wedding Night (King Vidor, 1935)
Super 8 (J.J. Abrams, 2011)
Cold Weather (Aaron Katz, 2010)
Notorious (George Tillman, Jr., 2009)
The Wolf Man (George Waggner, 1941)
The Paleface (Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton, 1922)
The Devil is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
Union Depot (Alfred E. Green, 1932)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
British Agent (Michael Curtiz, 1934)
The 3 Rs (David Lynch, 2011)
Haiku (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2009)
Two & Two (Babak Anvari, 2010)
Raffles (George Fitzmaurice, 1930)
The White Meadows (Mohammad Rasoulof, 2009)
The Informant! (Steven Soderbergh, 2009)
The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966)
House Party (Reginald Hudlin, 1990)
Along the Great Divide (Raoul Walsh, 1951)
All Blossoms Again: Pedro Costa, Director (Aurélien Gerbault, 2006)
Knight Without Armor (Jacques Feyder, 1937)
Jumping (Osamu Tezuka, 1984)
Killed (William E. Jones, 2009)
Discrepancy (William E. Jones, 2008-2010)
Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham, 2010)
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (Oliver Stone, 2010)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1968)
Faust (Alexander Sokurov, 2011)
Fun on Mars (Sally Cruikshank, 1971)
Too Big to Fail (Curtis Hanson, 2011)
Cinema Verite (Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, 2011)
Due Date (Todd Phillips, 2010)
Autumnal (Scott Nyerges, 2008)
Film Montages (for Peter Roehr) (William E. Jones, 2006)
Berlin Flash Frames (William E. Jones, 2010)
Punctured (William E. Jones, 2010)
Cop Out (Kevin Smith, 2010)