For 2011 (Top 10)

10. Benda Bilili!


Directors: Renaud Barret, Florent de La Tullaye


Calling Benda Bilili a rags to riches tale barely scratches the surface of the everyday strife that a bunch of disable Congolese street musicians must endure on the path to becoming world music phenomenas. Their troubles manifest through limps crippled by polio, extreme poverty in the survivalist Kinshasan ghettos, improvised transportation methods and homelessness. Their triumphs are simply garnered by the ability to transmogrify such hardships into sound, a sound made more remarkable by its origins of makeshift rehearsals in the local zoo and production from homemade instruments. All of which is captured in this joyous documenatry that is filled with all the charm and warmth you could wish for.

9. Hanna

Director: Joe Wright
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana





"Saoirse Ronan may just be the best young actress on the planet at the moment..."






8. Melancholia

Director: Lars von Trier
Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland

“A Pessimist is never disappointed”.. well not in Lars von Trier’s moody science fiction gloom-fest about the impending apocalyptic threat created by a blue planet named Meloncholia on a collision course with mother earth. There are no Bayhem like Armageddon heroics, instead there is just inward despair and crumpling panic. There is also a superb Kirsten Dunst performance that holds the film and its themes firmly in tact, her portrayal of Justine a manically depressed bride becomes the embodiment of Melancholia’s symbolic resonance, in as much blueness hangs overhead, everyone dealing with their own anger, denial or morbid acceptance. Von Trier tells a crushing tale of life in its final moments and moments in lifes dying embers.





7. Submarine


Director: Richard Ayoade
Stars: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins and Paddy Considine


"Ayoade’s directorial flair makes for a flourishing aesthetic..."



6. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


Director: Tomas Alfredson
Stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy



Tomas Alfredson’s stunning cold war spy piece and adaptation of John le Carré’s much loved novel delivered one of the years more sophisticated films. Gary Oldman’s range and talents have never been more on display here where he plays the antithesis of his much loved commissioner Gordon as a partly disgraced, partly retired and particularly crusty MI6 stalwart George Smiley who must track down the double agent among his former colleagues, with only a pair of incongruous intelligence officers for assistance. 70's London creates an immersive backdrop of an extraordinary grey and murky colour palette giving the film a gorgeously authentic look. Alfredson unclutters the heavy tone of a complex espionage narrative into an easily digestible 2 hour “who dunnit” lifted by a superb cast who create a sliceable and taut atmosphere with mere raising of eyebrows and folding of hands - a quite dextrous enterprise from all involved.


5. Win Win

Director: Thomas McCarthy
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan and Jeffrey Tambor

"McCarthy pens a story very much of our time.."




4. Moneyball

Director: Bennett Miller
Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright and Jonah Hill

Whilst many actors of his generation are getting lazy and settling for undemanding DVD fodder, Brad Pitt continues to diversify his career with a tremendous foray into the business world of America’s favourite past time. Moneyball like 2009’s Blindside is based on a Michael Lewis book that at its heart is a study of the change in player and talent evaluative measures in American sports. Billy Beane’s (Pitt) Oakland A’s must battle the swelling odds brought about by the financial inequities within Major League Baseball. With help of a Yale economics grad (Jonah Hill), his scientific computer generated financing method and some thick skinned resistance to the “Old Skool” ideologies Beane transforms The A’s fortunes. Subject matter aside director Bennett Miller broadens the films appeal by exploring deeper into Beane’s personal space, finding failures in equal measure to his success', be it fatherhood or his own underachieving playing career. Moneyball revels in its own transcendence, a story of second chances, perseverance and collaborative spirit that could work in any setting or any time.

3. Drive


Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston



A penny for Quinton Tarantino’s thoughts… having attempted the same kind of whizzing B-movie pastiche in his bloated 2007 effort Death Proof, The oft revered director must have been consumed by the green eyed monster after watching (If indeed he has) Nic Winding Refn’s dizzying Crime Actioner Drive. Rich in cinematic bluster and bursting with creative influences in something close to alchemic genius, Drive is the years biggest surprise. Ryan Gosling’s strength as a screen presence is he is a majestic talker The Believer (2001) being a hard boiled evidence. Yet his role as the semi-eponymous lead “The Driver” a part time getaway speedster/part time Hollywood Stunt driver , is closer to a Clint Eastwood like silent hero archetype - allowing his striking features and to the point actions optimal prominence. Following a botched heist the Driver and love interest Irene (Carey Mulligan) are unwilling left holding the loot and find themselves at the mercy of some nefarious mob characters in the process. Refn's  thrill ride delivers a poetic, operatic and ultra-violent experience topped with on of the best eclectic soundtracks you'll hear.

2. Senna 


Director: Asif Kapadia

"...charting a journey from Go-Karting ambitions to Formula 1 glory, exploring the vitality of a great sporting rivalry and uncovering the truths about a sport with a politically oppressive system. ....a celebration of a miraculous figure"



1. We Need To Talk About Kevin


Director: Lynne Ramsay
Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller




"..Director Lynn Ramsey is in masterful form weaving together a tri-linear composite of hazy memories, comprising of barely conceivable early warning signs of the unimaginable. They are vignettes offering such subtle indicators as overly involved video-gamesmanship, odd breakfast time behaviours and other nihilistic virtues- Rounding it off with a bleak realisation of a life in tatters and the daunting task of picking up the pieces. There is a noticeable attention to detail through incredible visceral sounds of thumping heart beats and reoccurring themes of varying stains of red matter, Ramsey’s artistry is simply stunning..."