Favourite Films 2011
by Colin Collins | created - 22 Mar 2011 | updated - 04 Dec 2012 | PublicIn my humble opinion the best films released in UK cinemas during 2011. In alphabetical order, ranking them would be impossible!
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1. 13 Assassins (2010)
R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Ikki Sawamura
Votes: 68,628 | Gross: $0.80M
2. A Separation (2011)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi | Stars: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini
Votes: 258,621 | Gross: $7.10M
3. Animal Kingdom (2010)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Bryce Lindemann
Votes: 60,519 | Gross: $1.04M
4. Armadillo (2010)
Not Rated | 105 min | Documentary, War
Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal - no actors.
Director: Janus Metz
Votes: 10,332 | Gross: $0.01M
5. The Artist (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Votes: 248,645 | Gross: $44.67M
6. Barney's Version (2010)
R | 134 min | Comedy, Drama
The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.
Director: Richard J. Lewis | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Jake Hoffman, Macha Grenon
Votes: 26,253 | Gross: $7.50M
7. Benda Bilili! (2010)
PG-13 | 85 min | Documentary, Music
Kinshasa, DRCongo, 2005: Benda Bilili, poor paraplegic street musicians, get noticed by a French film team. Studio recordings get their music out on album and 2009, they have concerts in Europe.
Directors: Renaud Barret, Florent de La Tullaye | Stars: Leon Likabu, Roger Landu, Coco Ngambali, Cubain Kabeya
Votes: 825
8. Biutiful (2010)
R | 148 min | Drama, Romance
A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Votes: 94,630 | Gross: $5.10M
9. Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)
TV-14 | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
'Bobby Fischer Against the World' is a documentary feature exploring the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer. The drama of Bobby Fischer's career was undeniable, ... See full summary »
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Bobby Fischer, David Edmonds, Anthony Saidy, Susan Polgar
Votes: 7,402
10. Black Swan (2010)
R | 108 min | Drama, Thriller
Nina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
Votes: 825,137 | Gross: $106.95M
11. Blue Valentine (2010)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance
The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.
Director: Derek Cianfrance | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, John Doman, Faith Wladyka
Votes: 211,406 | Gross: $9.74M
12. The British Guide to Showing Off (2011)
98 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
British artist and living legend Andrew Logan, loved the world over by celebrities and misfits alike, takes us under his glittering wing and inside his outrageous, anarchic and spectacular ... See full summary »
Director: Jes Benstock | Stars: Andrew Logan, Brian Eno, Grayson Perry, Zandra Rhodes
Votes: 122
13. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
G | 90 min | Documentary, History
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France and captures the oldest known pictorial creations of humanity.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Jean Clottes, Julien Monney, Jean-Michel Geneste
Votes: 17,795 | Gross: $5.23M
14. Contagion (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
Healthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a pandemic as the CDC works to find a cure.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow
Votes: 316,047 | Gross: $75.66M
15. Dreams of a Life (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
A filmmaker sets out to discover the life of Joyce Vincent, who died in her bedsit in North London in 2003. Her body wasn't discovered for three years, and newspaper reports offered few details of her life - not even a photograph.
Director: Carol Morley | Stars: Zawe Ashton, Alix Luka-Cain, Alistair Abrahams, Mandy Allen
Votes: 3,435 | Gross: $0.01M
16. Drive (I) (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama
A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Votes: 704,744 | Gross: $35.06M
17. George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)
Not Rated | 208 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese examines the life of musician George Harrison, weaving together interviews, concert footage, home movies and photographs.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: George Harrison, Harry Harrison, Peter Harrison, Paul McCartney
Votes: 12,630
18. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)
PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary, Comedy
A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.
Director: Morgan Spurlock | Stars: J.J. Abrams, Peter Berg, Paul Brennan, Noam Chomsky
Votes: 15,194 | Gross: $0.64M
19. Hugo (2011)
PG | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 336,884 | Gross: $73.86M
20. The Ides of March (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
An idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.
Director: George Clooney | Stars: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling
Votes: 230,808 | Gross: $40.96M
21. In a Better World (2010)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.
Director: Susanne Bier | Stars: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Markus Rygaard, Wil Johnson
Votes: 41,694 | Gross: $1.01M
22. Incendies (2010)
R | 131 min | Drama, Mystery, War
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel
Votes: 200,460 | Gross: $6.86M
23. The Interrupters (2011)
Unrated | 125 min | Documentary, Crime
A year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.
Director: Steve James | Stars: Tio Hardiman, Ameena Matthews, Toya Batey, Cobe Williams
Votes: 3,616 | Gross: $0.28M
24. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 708,102 | Gross: $138.80M
25. The Light Thief (2010)
80 min | Drama
The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the ... See full summary »
Director: Aktan Arym Kubat | Stars: Aktan Arym Kubat, Taalaikan Abazova, Askat Sulaimanov, Asan Amanov
Votes: 449
26. Mammuth (2010)
92 min | Comedy, Drama
A retiree battles to obtain his rightfully due pension.
Directors: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau, Isabelle Adjani, Miss Ming
Votes: 3,826
27. Margaret (I) (2011)
R | 150 min | Drama, Mystery
A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.
Director: Kenneth Lonergan | Stars: Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, J. Smith-Cameron
Votes: 18,348 | Gross: $0.05M
28. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 find themselves stranded in harsh conditions.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Will Patton
Votes: 15,226 | Gross: $0.98M
29. Moneyball (2011)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 464,819 | Gross: $75.61M
30. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,313 | Gross: $2.43M
31. Passenger Side (2009)
85 min | Comedy, Drama
Two brothers spend the day driving around Los Angeles county looking for the meaning of their lives, or cheap street drugs, depending on who you happen to believe.
Director: Matt Bissonnette | Stars: Adam Scott, Joel Bissonnette, Richard Medina, Mickey Cottrell
Votes: 961
32. Project Nim (2011)
PG-13 | 93 min | Documentary
Tells the story of a chimpanzee taken from its mother at birth and raised like a human child by a family in a brownstone on the upper West Side in the 1970s.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Nim Chimpsky, Stephanie LaFarge, Herbert Terrace, Wer LaFarge
Votes: 8,600 | Gross: $0.41M
33. Le Quattro Volte (2010)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama
An old shepherd lives his last days in a quiet medieval village perched high on the hills of Calabria, at the southernmost tip of Italy. He herds goats under skies that most villagers have ... See full summary »
Director: Michelangelo Frammartino | Stars: Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Timpano, Nazareno Timpano, Artemio Vallone
Votes: 4,274 | Gross: $0.15M
34. Route Irish (2010)
109 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend's death and sets out to discover the truth.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop, Geoff Bell
Votes: 4,790
35. The Rum Diary (2011)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
American journalist Paul Kemp takes on a freelance job in Puerto Rico for a local newspaper during the 1960s and struggles to find a balance between island culture and the expatriates who live there.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Johnny Depp, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli
Votes: 108,027 | Gross: $13.10M
36. The Salt of Life (2011)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
Gianni is a retiree who has become invisible to most everyone around him. In response, he tries his best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life.
Director: Gianni Di Gregorio | Stars: Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Alfonso Santagata, Elisabetta Piccolomini
Votes: 1,860 | Gross: $0.32M
37. Senna (2010)
PG-13 | 106 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
Director: Asif Kapadia | Stars: Ayrton Senna, Reginaldo Leme, John Bisignano, Neyde Senna
Votes: 75,844 | Gross: $1.61M
38. La casa muda (2010)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A young woman becomes trapped inside a house and is unable to contact the outside world as mysterious forces haunt it.
Director: Gustavo Hernández | Stars: Florencia Colucci, Abel Tripaldi, Gustavo Alonso, María Salazar
Votes: 8,028
39. Sleeping Beauty (2011)
TV-14 | 101 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.
Director: Julia Leigh | Stars: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie, Bridgette Barrett
Votes: 34,638 | Gross: $0.04M
40. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,628 | Gross: $0.01M
41. Son of Babylon (2009)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
A willful young boy follows his just as obstinate grandmother in a journey across Iraq, determined to discover the fate of her missing son, Ahmed's father, who never returned from war.
Director: Mohamed Al Daradji | Stars: Shazada Hussein, Yasser Talib, Bashir Al Majid, Salih Abdul Rahman Farhad
Votes: 1,528
42. Submarine (2010)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: to lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.
Director: Richard Ayoade | Stars: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine, Noah Taylor
Votes: 96,558 | Gross: $0.47M
43. Take Shelter (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart
Votes: 108,173 | Gross: $1.73M
44. Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon (2011)
Not Rated | 87 min | Documentary
A behind-the-scenes look at the rise of the American rock band, Kings of Leon.
Director: Stephen C. Mitchell | Stars: Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill
Votes: 901
45. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
R | 127 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet Agent within MI6.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong
Votes: 212,562 | Gross: $24.15M
46. Tomboy (2011)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama
A family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.
Director: Céline Sciamma | Stars: Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani
Votes: 22,283 | Gross: $0.13M
47. Treacle Jr. (2010)
82 min | Drama
Tom is forty. He walks out one day, rather abruptly, on his wife and baby boy and his seemingly happy life. He finds himself living on the streets of London. One night alone in a park he is... See full summary »
Director: Jamie Thraves | Stars: Thomas Murray-Leslie, Elizabeth Murray-Leslie, Tom Fisher, Jonathan Thomas
Votes: 649
48. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,610 | Gross: $171.24M
49. Tyrannosaur (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.
Director: Paddy Considine | Stars: Peter Mullan, Archie Lal, Jag Sanghera, Mike Fearnley
Votes: 33,777 | Gross: $0.02M
50. Waste Land (2010)
Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary
On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro is Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill, where men and women sift through garbage for a living. Artist Vik Muniz produces portraits of the workers and learns about their lives.
Directors: Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, João Jardim | Star: Vik Muniz
Votes: 9,362 | Gross: $0.19M
51. The Way (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.
Director: Emilio Estevez | Stars: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick van Wageningen
Votes: 35,355 | Gross: $4.43M
52. Way of the Morris (2011)
64 min | Documentary, Biography, History
As quintessentially homegrown as a game of cricket or a plate of fish-and-chips, Morris dancing is one of Englands most ancient roots traditions. And yet to your average man on the street, ... See full synopsis »
Directors: Rob Curry, Tim Plester | Stars: Billy Bragg, MyAnna Buring, Chris Leslie, The Adderbury Village Morris Men
Votes: 40
53. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell
Votes: 167,816 | Gross: $1.74M
54. Weekend (II) (2011)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance
After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.
Director: Andrew Haigh | Stars: Tom Cullen, Chris New, Jonathan Race, Laura Freeman
Votes: 32,867 | Gross: $0.46M
55. The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011)
Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1930s southern France, a father is torn between his sense of honor and his deep love for his daughter when she gets in trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.
Director: Daniel Auteuil | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Votes: 4,229 | Gross: $0.39M
56. Win Win (2011)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale
Votes: 55,268 | Gross: $10.18M
57. The Yellow Sea (2010)
R | 136 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the attempt to kill a professor goes wrong, a series of violent events are triggered which force a taxi driver to run for his life.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Lee Yoo-mi, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Yoon-seok
Votes: 22,961
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