The Daily Flick 2011 Review

So we're coming to the end of 2011, another year where great cinema has been served up to the masses in limited quantities. As is so often the case, the average cinema goer once again rewarded mediocrity with some genuine turkeys near the top of the box office. However, it is these critical flops that highlight the excellent work that has been released.  So without further ado, here are my choices for the best and worst of 2011:

Top 15 of 2011

15. Bridesmaids: Certainly one of the funniest films of the year, it marked a break through for its stars Kristen Wiig and Chris O'Dowd. The Daily Flick Review is here.

14. Between The Canals: A realistic look at life in inner city Dublin, this is a gritty gangland thriller. The Daily Flick Review is here.

13. Source Code: Duncan Jones follow up to his mind bending 2009 sci-fi Moon is another mind bending sci-fi. Unfairly maligned, this is a better film then the box office would tell you. The Daily Flick Review is here.

12. Barney's Version: A film that got a blink and you will miss it release in Ireland at the end of January. This is yet another fine performance from Paul Giamatti telling the life story of a Canadian curmudgeon and everyman Barney Panofsky. The Daily Flick Review is here.

11. Drive: A film that will top many people's end of year lists, I felt that while it was very stylish and Ryan Gosling's performance was suitably psychotic, it lacked any real heart and was violent for the sake of it. The Daily Flick Review is here.

10. The Skin I Live In: Undoubtedly the most bizarre and macabre release of the year, this is yet another enthralling film from the Spanish master Almodovar examining the dark nature of seeking perfection. The Daily Flick Review is here.

9. The Adjustment Bureau: Hollywood once again mines the Philip K Dick back catalogue and comes up with surprisingly good results. Matt Damon shines. The Daily Flick Review is here.

8. Senna: A fascinating and lovingly edited look at a complex sporting hero, Brazilian racing legend Ayrton Senna. It captures his driven nature perfectly. The Daily Flick Review is here.

7. Submarine: The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade makes his directorial debut with this wryly funny look at growing up in a small Welsh town. A very fine debut. The Daily Flick Review is here.

6. Take Shelter: An epic performance from Michael Shannon drives this dark tale of mental illness or impending doom? It's your call. The Daily Flick Review is here.

5. Super 8: Spielberg and Abrams combine for this heart warming tale of growing up in late 70's small town America. Recalling the best of Spielberg's work, it is thrilling old school tale. The Daily Flick Review is here.

4. The Ides of March: Clooney, Gosling, Seymour-Hoffman, Giamatti. 70's style political thriller. Can't say much more really. The Daily Flick Review is here.

3. The Guard: Brendan Gleeson gives a tour de force performance in this darkly funny Irish cop film. Combining wonderfully with Don Cheadle and a fine a script, Gleeson is superb. The Daily Flick Review is here.

2. Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen makes Paris his canvas and creates his best film in years. Romantic, funny and a joy to watch. The Daily Flick Review is here.

1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: A dark and riveting adaptation of Le Carre's classic espionage thriller, it has one of the best British casts put together in a grey cold war era London. The Daily Flick Review is here.

Best Irish Film:

The Guard clinches it here. Gleeson's performance is superb.

Best Documentary:

Again, it has to be Senna with an honourable mention for Scorsese's George Harrison Living in the Material World

Best 70's Film Reviewed in 2011:

Chinatown: One of the best films of the 70's, it has to be Polanski's ode to 30's detective fiction. The Daily Flick Review is here.

Best 80's Film(s) Reviewed in 2011:

WarGames: A teen drama that successfully combines romance and the threat of nuclear war and combines the talents of the always lovely Ally Sheedy and Matthew Broderick. If that's not enough, it was Oscar nominated in 1983! The Daily Flick Review is here.

Cutter's Way: A dark thriller set in a sunny beach community, quite simply the best film of the 80's. The Daily Flick Review is here.

Best 90's Film Reviewed in 2011:

The Big Lebowski: The life and times of Jeffrey The Dude Lebowski and his quest to get a new rug. The Daily Flick Review is here.

Two Flick's of the day I didn't expect to like:

1. The Vanishing: A Dutch thriller from the late 80's you say? Truly terrifying. The Daily Flick Review is here.

2. Don't Look Now: Nicolas Roeg's psychological thriller makes great use of its cast and the Venice setting for a dark tale of loss and regret. The Daily Flick Review is here.

5 Films to look forward to in 2012:

1. The Dark Knight Rises: Christopher Nolan closes off his Batman trilogy in what promises to be spectacular fashion. 

2. Rush: Ron Howard directs this story of the 1976 Formula 1 season when Niki Lauda survived a crash that almost killed him to challenge James Hunt for the title.

3. War Horse: Steven Spielberg's Oscar baiting tale of a horse during the First World War promises to be epic but won't arrive on Irish shores till 2012. 

4. Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino. Western. Leonardo de Caprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen, Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz. What more can I say? Well I've read the script and it is as typically OTT as we've come to expect from Tarantino.

5. Lincoln: Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg combine for this biopic of America's 16th President. 

6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close:: Tom Hanks and Max von Sydow combine in this tale of a boy searching a post 9/11 New York for a lock to fit a key left behind by his father who was killed in the terrorist attacks.