Year-End Lists

Skandies: 20 Best Films of 2011 [a poll of about 40 cinephiles]

1. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
2. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
3. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
4. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
5. House of Pleasures
   Bertrand Bonello
6. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
7. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
8. Meek’s Cutoff
   Kelly Reichardt
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
10. Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Sean Durkin
11. Tuesday, After Christmas
    Radu Muntean
12. Of Gods and Men
    Xavier Beauvois
13. The Arbor
    Clio Barnard
14. Putty Hill
    Matthew Porterfield
15. Beginners
    Mike Mills
16. Moneyball
    Bennett Miller
17. Take Shelter
    Jeff Nichols
18. Shame
    Steve McQueen
19. Hugo
    Martin Scorsese
20. We Need to Talk About Kevin
    Lynne Ramsay

Cinema Scope: Top Ten Films of 2011

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. This is Not a Film
   Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
2. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
3. House of Pleasures
   Bertrand Bonello
4. Dreileben
   Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf, Christoph Hochhäuser
5. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
6. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
7. Kill List
   Ben Wheatley
8. It’s the Earth Not the Moon
   Gonçalo Tocha
9. Sleeping Sickness
   Ulrich Köhler
10. The Kid with a Bike
    Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Special Mentions

• 4:44 Last Day on Earth
  Abel Ferrara
• The Color Wheel
  Alex Ross Perry
• Drive
  Nicolas Winding Refn
• Outside Satan
  Bruno Dumont
• Take Shelter
  Jeff Nichols
• Margaret
  Kenneth Lonergan
• Policeman
  Nadav Lapid
• Target
  Alexander Zeldovich
• Two Years at Sea
  Ben Rivers

Dennis Harvey: Favorite Films of 2011, as published by San Francisco Bay Guardian, alphabetically

[see also 2012]

Documentaries

• American Teacher
  Vanessa Roth & Brian McGinn
• The Arbor
  Clio Barnard
• Buck
  Cindy Meehl
• The Last Lions
  Dereck Joubert
• My Perestroika
  Robin Hessman
• Nostalgia for the Light
  Patricio Guzmán
• Pianomania
  Robert Cibis & Lilian Franck
• Pina
  Wim Wenders
• Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
  Matthew Bate
• Vigilante Vigilante: The Battle for Expression
  Max Good
• We Were Here
  David Weissman & Bill Weber

Narrative Features

• The Artist
  Michel Hazanavicius
• Ceremony
  Max Winkler
• Certified Copy
  Abbas Kiarostami
• The Descendants
  Alexander Payne
• Drive
  Nicolas Winding Refn
• Happy, Happy
  Anne Sewitsky
• Hugo
  Martin Scorsese
• I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive
  Claude Miller & Nathan Miller
• Incendies
  Denis Villeneuve
• Machotaildrop
  Corey Adams & Alex Craig
• The Mill and the Cross
  Lech Majewski
• The Names of Love
  Michel Leclerc
• Oka!
  Lavinia Currier
• Rango
  Gore Verbinski
• A Separation
  Asghar Farhadi
• The Strange Case of Angelica
  Manoel de Oliveira
• Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
  Eli Craig
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
  Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Weekend
  Andrew Haigh
• Young Adult
  Jason Reitman

Sean Burns: Top 10 Films of 2011, as published by Philadelphia Weekly

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2012]

1. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
2. Hugo
   Martin Scorsese
3. Carnage
   Roman Polanski
4. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
5. Meek’s Cutoff
   Kelly Reichardt
6. Shame
   Steve McQueen
7. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
8. Martha Marcy May Marlene
   Sean Durkin
9. We Need to Talk About Kevin
   Lynne Ramsay
10. Midnight in Paris
    Woody Allen

Matt Prigge: Top Ten Films of 2011, as published by Philadelphia Weekly [more commentary]

[see also 2016 • 2015 • 2012]

1. House of Pleasures
   Bertrand Bonello
2. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
4. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
5. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
6. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
7. Rubber
   Quentin Dupieux
8. Martha Marcy May Marlene
   Sean Durkin
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
10. Tuesday, After Christmas
    Radu Muntean

Almost!

• Meek’s Cutoff
  Kelly Reichardt
• Putty Hill
  Matthew Porterfield
• The Arbor
  Clio Barnard
• Hugo
  Martin Scorsese
• Contagion
  Steven Soderbergh
• The Future
  Miranda July
• Cold Weather
  Aaron Katz
• Bellflower
  Evan Glodell
• Shit Year
  Cam Archer
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
  Brad Bird

Empire: Top 20 Films of 2011 [by UK release date]

[see also 2020 • 2012]

1. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
2. Senna
   Asif Kapadia
3. The King’s Speech
   Tom Hooper
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
   David Yates
5. The Artist
   Michel Hazanavicius
6. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
   Tomas Alfredson
7. True Grit
   Joel & Ethan Coen
8. Bridesmaids
   Paul Feig
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
   Rupert Wyatt
10. Black Swan
    Darren Aronofsky
11. Blue Valentine
    Derek Cianfrance
12. The Fighter
    David O. Russell
13. Hanna
    Joe Wright
14. We Need to Talk About Kevin
    Lynne Ramsay
15. The Inbetweeners Movie
    Ben Palmer
16. Super 8
    JJ Abrams
17. Incendies
    Denis Villeneuve
18. The Tree of Life
    Terrence Malick
19. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
    Steven Spielberg
20. Fast Five
    Paul Lim

Reverse Shot: 10 Best Films of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
4. Nostalgia for the Light
   Patricio Guzmán
5. Meek’s Cutoff
   Kelly Reichardt
6. Mysteries of Lisbon
   Raoul Ruiz
7. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu
   Andrei Ujica
8. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
9. The Arbor
   Clio Barnard
10. Extraordinary Stories
    Mariano Llinás

Les Inrockuptibles: 20 Best Films of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. House of Pleasures
   Bertrand Bonello
2. The Strange Case of Angelica
   Manoel de Oliveira
3. How Do You Know [Comment savoir]
   James Brooks
4. The Skin I Live In
   Pedro Almodóvar
5. Declaration of War [La guerre es déclarée]
   Valérie Donzelli
6. Last Screening [Dernière séance]
   Laurent Achard
7. Pater
   Alain Cavalier
8. Super 8
   JJ Abrams
9. Essential Killing
   Jerzy Skolimowski
10. Midnight in Paris
    Woody Allen
11. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
12. Attenberg
    Athina Rachel Tsangari
13. Bridesmaids
    Paul Feig
14. The Tree of Life
    Terrence Malick
15. Hahaha
    Hong Sang-soo
16. Beloved
    Christophe Honoré
17. Black Swan
    Darren Aronofsky
18. Sweetgrass
    Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Ilisa Barbash
19. Le Havre
    Aki Kaurismäki
20. We Have a Pope
    Nanni Moretti
20. Outside Satan
    Bruno Dumont

Marya E. Gates: Favorite Fifteen Films of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
2. Midnight in Paris
   Woody Allen
3. Beginners
   Mike Mills
4. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
5. The Skin I Live In
   Pedro Almodóvar
6. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
7. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
8. We Need to Talk About Kevin
   Lynne Ramsay
9. Rango
   Gore Verbinski
10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    Tomas Alfredson
11. Hugo
    Martin Scorsese
12. Shame
    Steve McQueen
12. Young Adult
    Jason Reitman
13. War Horse
    Steven Spielberg
14. Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Sean Durkin
15. Carnage
    Roman Polanski

J.R. Jones: 10 Best Films of 2011, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Of Gods and Men
   Xavier Beauvois
2. Bridesmaids
   Paul Feig
3. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
4. Terri
   Azazel Jacobs
5. Tabloid
   Errol Morris
6. Client-9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer
   Alex Gibney
7. The Elephant in the Room
   Michael Webber
8. The Wise Kids
   Stephen Cone
9. Beautiful Boy
   Shawn Ku
10. Margin Call
    J.C. Chandor