Year-End Lists

Noel Murray: Best Films of 2011, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also The 10 Best Documentaries of 2022 • The 10 (or 11) Best Documentaries of 2021 • The Best Films of 2021 • The Best Films of 2020 • The Best Films of 2019 • Top 15 Films of 2018 • Best Films of 2017 • The Best Films of 2016 • The Best Films of 2015 • Top 15 Films of 2014 • 15 Best Films of 2012]

Top 15

1. Martha Marcy May Marlene
   Sean Durkin
2. Hugo
   Martin Scorsese
3. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
4. The Future
   Miranda July
5. Weekend
   Andrew Haigh
6. Tabloid
   Errol Morris
7. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
8. Terri
   Azazel Jacobs
9. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
10. Rango
    Gore Verbinski
11. Tuesday, After Christmas
    Radu Muntean
12. The Arbor
    Clio Barnard
13. Winnie the Pooh
    Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall
14. Project Nim
    James Marsh
15. Super 8
    JJ Abrams

The next five

• House of Pleasures
  Bertrand Bonello
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
  Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• The Catechism Cataclysm
  Todd Rohal
• Take Shelter
  Jeff Nichols
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  Rupert Wyatt

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Year in Film 2011

Scott Tobias: Best Films of 2011, as published by The A.V. Club

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

Top 15

1. Meek’s Cutoff
   Kelly Reichardt
2. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
3. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
4. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
5. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
6. Martha Marcy May Marlene
   Sean Durkin
7. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
8. Weekend
   Andrew Haigh
9. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
10. The Arbor
    Clio Barnard
11. House of Pleasures
    Bertrand Bonello
12. Tabloid
    Errol Morris
13. Hugo
    Martin Scorsese
14. Tuesday, After Christmas
    Radu Muntean
15. The Interrupters
    Steve James

The next five

• Terri
  Azazel Jacobs
• Take Shelter
  Jeff Nichols
• Source Code
  Duncan Jones
• Bridesmaids
  Paul Feig
• Attack the Block
  Joe Cornish

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Year in Film 2011

Roger Ebert: Best Films of 2011, as published by The Chicago Sun-Times, among films that opened in Chicago in 2011, excluding documentaries

[see also 2012]

1. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
2. Shame
   Steve McQueen
3. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
4. Hugo
   Martin Scorsese
5. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
6. Kinyarwanda
   Alrick Brown
7. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
8. Midnight in Paris
   Woody Allen
9. Le Havre
   Aki Kaurismäki
10. The Artist
    Michel Hazanavicius
11. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
12. Terri
    Azazel Jacobs
13. The Descendants
    Alexander Payne
14. Margaret
    Kenneth Lonergan
15. Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Sean Durkin
16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
    David Yates
17. Trust
    David Schwimmer
18. Live, Above All
    Oliver Schmitz
19. The Mill and the Cross
    Lech Majewski
20. Another Earth
    Mike Cahill

Other Excellent Films

• 13 Assassins
  Takashi Miike
• Beginners
  Mike Mills
• Boy Wonder
  Michael Morrissey
• Certified Copy
  Abbas Kiarostami
• The Future
  Miranda July
• The Guard
  John Michael McDonagh
• Higher Ground
  Vera Farmiga
• I Will Follow
  Ava DuVernay
• J. Edgar
  Clint Eastwood
• The Last Rites of Joe May
  Joe Maggio
• Le quattro volte
  Michelangelo Frammartino
• Margin Call
  J.C. Chandor
• Meek’s Cutoff
  Kelly Reichardt
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
  Brad Bird
• Moneyball
  Bennett Miller
• Mysteries of Lisbon
  Raoul Ruiz
• My Week with Marilyn
  Simon Curtis
• The Princess of Montpensier
  Bertrand Tavernier
• Rango
  Gore Verbinski
• A Screaming Man
  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Silent Souls
  Aleksei Fedorchenko
• Tyrannosaur
  Paddy Considine
• Queen to Play
  Caroline Bottaro
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
  Guy Ritchie
• The Whistleblower
  Larysa Kondracki

Dana Stevens: Top 10 Movies of 2011, as published by Slate, alphabetically

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

• Buck
  Cindy Meehl
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams
  Werner Herzog
• Certified Copy
  Abbas Kiarostami
• The Clock
  Christian Marclay
• The Interrupters
  Steve James
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  Rupert Wyatt
• A Separation
  Asghar Farhadi
• The Tree of Life
  Terrence Malick
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
  Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Weekend
  Andrew Haigh

Keith Uhlich: Best Films of 2011, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2012]

1. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
2. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
3. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
   Tomas Alfredson
5. Psychohydrography
   Peter Bo Rappmund
6. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
7. To Die Like a Man
   João Pedro Rodrigues
8. Poetry
   Lee Chang-dong
9. Agrarian Utopia
   Uruphong Raksasad
10. Sucker Punch
    Zack Snyder
11. Nostalgia for the Light
    Patricio Guzmán
12. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
13. Mysteries of Lisbon
    Raoul Ruiz
14. The Adventures of Tintin
    Steven Spielberg
15. Of Gods and Men
    Xavier Beauvois
16. Winnie the Pooh
    Stephen J. Anderson
17. Jane Eyre
    Cary Fukunaga
18. The Way Back
    Peter Weir
19. Arthur Christmas
    Sarah Smith
20. Tyrannosaur
    Paddy Considine

Joshua Rothkopf: Best Films of 2011, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

1. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
2. Shame
   Steve McQueen
3. We Need to Talk About Kevin
   Lynne Ramsay
4. 13 Assassins
   Takashi Miike
5. The Trip
   Michael Winterbottom
6. Coriolanus
   Ralph Fiennes
7. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
8. Incendies
   Denis Villeneuve
9. My Perestroika
   Robin Hessman
10. Attack the Block
    Joe Cornish
11. Senna
    Asif Kapadia
12. Moneyball
    Bennett Miller
13. Certified Copy
    Abbas Kiarostami
14. Higher Ground
    Vera Farmiga
15. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
    David Yates
17. Kaboom
    Gregg Araki
18. Contagion
    Steven Soderbergh
19. Young Adult
    Jason Reitman
20. The Artist
    Michel Hazanavicius

David Fear: Best Films of 2011, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2012]

1. Shame
   Steve McQueen
2. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
3. Tuesday, After Christmas
   Radu Muntean
4. Moneyball
   Bennett Miller
5. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
6. Cold Weather
   Aaron Katz
7. Incendies
   Denis Villeneuve
8. Senna
   Asif Kapadia
9. The Trip
   Michael Winterbottom
10. My Joy
    Sergei Loznitsa
11. The Arbor
    Clio Barnard
12. Meek’s Cutoff
    Kelly Reichardt
13. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
    Göran Olsson
14. Take Shelter
    Jeff Nichols
15. The Interrupters
    Steve James
16. 13 Assassins
    Takashi Miike
17. The Future
    Miranda July
18. Le Havre
    Aki Kaurismäki
19. Rampart
    Oren Moverman
20. Drive
    Nicolas Winding Refn

Slant Magazine: 25 Best Films of 2011 [individual ballots and near-misses]

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

1. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
2. A Brighter Summer Day
   Edward Yang
3. Mysteries of Lisbon
   Raoul Ruiz
4. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
5. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
6. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
7. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
8. Tuesday, After Christmas
   Radu Muntean
9. Nostalgia for the Light
   Patricio Guzmán
10. Poetry
    Lee Chang-dong
11. Take Shelter
    Jeff Nichols
12. Film Socialisme
    Jean-Luc Godard
13. In the Family
    Patrick Wang
14. Tomboy
    Céline Sciamma
15. Beginners
    Mike Mills
16. El Sicario, Room 164
    Gianfranco Rosi
17. A Dangerous Method
    David Cronenberg
18. Leap Year
    Michael Rowe
19. Meek’s Cutoff
    Kelly Reichardt
20. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    Tomas Alfredson
21. The Time That Remains
    Elia Suleiman
22. Extraordinary Stories
    Mariano Llinás
23. The Skin I Live In
    Pedro Almodóvar
24. Hugo
    Martin Scorsese
25. Of Gods and Men
    Xavier Beauvois

The Next 25

26. The Interrupters
    Steve James
27. To Die Like a Man
    João Pedro Rodrigues
28. Le Havre
    Aki Kaurismäki
29. Petition
    Zhao Liang
30. A Useful Life
    Federico Veiroj
30. Polytechnique
    Denis Villeneuve
32. Midnight in Paris
    Woody Allen
33. Bellflower
    Evan Glodell
34. Love Exposure
    Sion Sono
35. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
    David Yates
35. Putty Hill
    Matthew Porterfield
37. Road to Nowhere
    Monte Hellman
38. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
    Werner Herzog
38. Incendies
    Denis Villeneuve
38. Drive
    Nicolas Winding Refn
41. The Descendants
    Alexander Payne
41. The Mouth of the Wolf
    Pietro Marcello
43. Foreign Parts
    Verena Paravel & J.P. Sniadecki
43. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
    José Padilha
43. The Inheritors
    Eugenio Polgovsky
46. Melancholia
    Lars von Trier
46. Senna
    Asif Kapadia
48. Carnage
    Roman Polanski
49. Bridesmaids
    Paul Feig
49. Heartbeats
    Xavier Dolan

Stephen Holden: Top 10 Movies of 2011, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012]

1. The Descendants
   Alexander Payne
2. Of Gods and Men
   Xavier Beauvois
3. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
4. Margin Call
   J.C. Chandor
5. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
6. We Were Here
   David Weissman
7. Incendies
   Denis Villeneuve
8. A Dangerous Method
   David Cronenberg
9. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
10. Moneyball
    Bennett Miller

Kristopher Tapley: Best Films of 2011, as published by HitFix

[see also 2012]

1. Margaret
   Kenneth Lonergan
2. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
3. Drive
   Nicolas Winding Refn
4. Rampart
   Oren Moverman
5. Shame
   Steve McQueen
6. Martha Marcy May Marlene
   Sean Durkin
7. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
8. The Adventures of Tintin
   Steven Spielberg
9. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
10. Rango
    Gore Verbinski