The Best Films of 2011

With the Golden Globes this past weekend and the Oscar nominations being announced next week, awards season officially in full swing. Not only that, but all the major publications are releasing their lists of the best films of 2011.

After seeing more of the films of 2011 than I'm proud to admit, it's my turn to make a list of the five best movies released last year. Although 2011 wasn't the most stellar year for film compared to recent past years, it was still difficult to choose just five films.

Listed alphabetically, here is my list of the five movies that I felt to be the best examples of masterful film making in 2011.

The Descendants

After winning the Golden Globes for Best Lead Actor in a Drama (George Clooney) and Best Drama, "The Descendents" is looking to be a frontrunner going into Oscar season. It deserves every ounce of recognition it's getting.

"The Descendents" is certainly the best character drama of 2011, edging out "Shame" and "50/50." It features rich and interesting characters, and every performance is top notch. The storyline gets more interesting as the film progresses without ever running out of steam for even a moment.

Matt King (Clooney) is a descendant of one of Hawaii's first land-owning families and the sole decider of who to sell a large amount of Hawaiian land to. At the same time his distant family is in his ear about what company to sell to, he is dealing with the looming certain death of his comatose wife who experiences a boating accident in the film's opening.

His wife, as King learns from his teenage daughter, had been having an affair before her accident. Clooney gives one of the best performances in his career as a man learning to focus on parenting and settling his wife's affairs while also trying to understand her infidelity.

The two plot points intersect in unexpected and interesting ways, and the whole film ties together satisfyingly and unconventionally.

The Hawaiian setting plays a major role in the film, almost as important as the characters. Understanding Hawaii as director Alexander Payne displays it helps to understand the characters, and the characters help to give a greater understanding of Hawaiian life. The two complement each other with Payne's Oscar worthy direction.

Drive

It's easy to say that Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" is unlike any film I've seen. On paper it may seem like a brother to the average Jason Statham action film, but this isn't even a distant cousin.

Ryan Gosling stars as the nameless lead, a getaway driver-for-hire. As we see in the opening sequence, his craft is remaining composed and blending in, rather than stomping on the gas and racing away.

Gosling's character is the Fonz of getaway drivers, always keeping his cool and being above the situation. His performance is reminding of Marlon Brando in his prime. He seldom speaks, but everything he does say is poignant, and even the tone is total Brando.

The best way to describe the tone of this film is that it's a modern take on film noir, and the best of its kinds since "Sin City" in 2005. There is a constant feeling of darkness and danger to the film, and the interactions between characters have a noir vibe to them.

At the same time, however, it is an homage to the ‘80s film. It's curious how Refn came to such an odd-seeming combination of noir and "Risky Business."

To speak of the plot would be taking away half the fun. Just sit back and let it unfold when it hits DVD at the end of this month. The acting, the direction and the music are so good as to, with a smirk, dare the viewer not to watch the film again and again. "Drive" is not only masterful, it's addicting.

Hugo

Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" is a movie that demands to be shown in any cinema history course from now to the end of time. Scorsese's first-ever family film explores the roots of cinema through the eyes of a young orphan, Hugo Cabaret (Asa Butterfield.)

Hugo lives within the walls of a train station in 1930's Paris. When he isn't operating the station's clocks, Hugo sneaks mechanical parts from a toy vendor at the station in order to fix a mechanical man. The mechanical man, an automaton, was a project that he was working to repair with his father (Jude Law) before he perished.

We later learn that the toy vendor, Georges Milies (Ben Kingsley), is the creator of the automaton and one of the pioneers of film making before he gave up on his passion of creating and entertaining.

The heart of "Hugo" lies in the relationship between Cabaret and Milies as they discover each other. Through Hugo, we are able to understand Milies, and Milies is able to understand himself and the importance of his dreams. Through Milies, we are able to understand what is important to Hugo.

The 3D is the best I've seen; a completely immersive experience that doesn't throw the technology in the viewer's face. The fact that Scorsese managed to perfect the filming medium on his first try, besting even James Cameron, is quite the achievement.