My friends, the end is nigh…

We’re sixty hours or so from closing the book on 2011, and now of course comes the time for reflection. It’s been a good year if you ask me, while perhaps not a great year. It was a year where many blockbusters left us wanting, and my taste took an irrevocable turn towards the arthouse. But if you’ve read this blog for more than a week, you’ll know that this series of posts is not about me – it’s about my brothers and sisters in arms.

My friends and family in the blogosphere are slowly but surely nailing down their take on the year that was, and I’ve noticed something interesting over the last few days:

There’s no film that’s a consensus choice as top dog.

There are two dozen or so that people are naming as their favorites, and watching the ferris wheel continue to spin leaves me wondering what it says about the year at the movies.

Was it a good year? Was it a bad year? Does the lack of consensus say something about the quality of the field?

Writings and recordings summing up the year are trickling in, which also leaves me a little curious. It’s obvious that many are holding off so they can get as many of the year-end offerings scratched off as possible. What I find curious about that, is that I wonder how many of those will factor into the equation for people. I know that for me, one of those final few came into play, but by and large the year was wrapped weeks ago. But perhaps for some, the next film they see turns out to be the best of the year.

So this week I offer you the lists of others. And as is the custom, this post will continue to be expanded for as long as things keep coming.

In summing up 2011, I give you…

Alex @ Boycotting Trends

Andy @ Andy Buckle’s Film Emporium

Jordan @ The Canadian Cinephile

Stevee @ Cinematic Paradox

Kiva @ Diegetic Sound

Andrew @ I Can’t Get Laid in This Town

Danny @ The King Bulletin

Bartleby @ The Movie Mobsters

Added: Ted @ Flix Chatter

Added: Ruth @ Flix Chatter

Added: Matt @ Dark Matters

Added: Dan @ Public Transportation Snob

Added: Andrew @ A Constant Visual Feast

Added: Nikhat @ Being Norma Jean

Added: Jake @ Not Just Movies

Added: Darren @ The M0vie Blog

Added: John @ John Likes Movies

Added: Joanna @ Cinefille

Added: Shannon @ Movie Moxie

Added: Fandango @ Fandango Groovers

Added: Corey @ Just a Tad

Added: Edgar @ Between the Seats

Added: Marshall @ Marshall and The Movies

Added: Andrew @ GMan Reviews

Added: Courtney @ Big Thoughts from a Small Mind

Added: Rachel & Jess @ Reel Insight

Added: Sean Keally @ SK On Movies

Added: Jessica @ The Velvet Cafe

Added: Tim @ The Mind Reels

Added: Castor @ Anomolous Materials

Added: Joe @ Black Sheep 

Added: Catherine @ Cinema Enthusiasts

Added: Laura @ City Lights

Added: Brian @ Dear Film

Added: Bob @ Eternal Sunshine

Added: Ronan @ Filmplicity

Added: Brittani @ Rambling Film

Added: Anna @ 5plitreel

Added: Jason @ The Entertainment Junkie

Added: Larry @ The Movie Snob

Drop me a comment as you post your own year-end list, and I’ll include it in the post – RM

32 Replies to “Everybody’s Talkin’ 12 – 29 (Year-End Chatter from Other Bloggers)”

  1. Personally I think it has been an exceptional year for cinema. The fact that there is not a clear consensus is a good thing. It is not often you have a year where the majority of the “best of” lists have been so vastly different. I would say the closest thing to a unanimous rave is Tree of Life. Even those who did not like Tree of Life were willing to engage intellectual discussion about it instead of just saying “it sucks.”

    My philosophy is that I only include what I have seen up to December 31st, which is why my list goes up on the first of January. Sure there may be a great film or two that I miss; but I know that I have seen many wonderful films that others have missed (i.e. the film played at a festival, was not released in certain markets, was not deemed to be a “critical darling”, etc).

    1. I’m with you – eventually you just need to draw a line. For instance, I saw a pair of four-star films this year that could have easily made last year’s top five (namely BLUE VALENTINE and INCENDIES). However, that would have had me compiling my top five in late February.

      Conversely, sometimes you can delay making a call in the name of something that looks like it’ll make the cut, and it proves to be a non-factor. (Read: BIUTIFUL).

      Looking forward to reading your list this weekend!

    1. Mine’s coming. The audio version will be up tomorrow morning (which you won’t hear right away since it’ll drop around 8pm on NYE for you). The written version will follow 24 hours later.

      Hope it can make for some interesting conversation!

    1. Your MPC have been stumping the living hell out of me lately mate. So much like my hesitency of getting schooled by Lindsay at Scrabble, I’ve slacked off from playing.

      Happy New Year though!

  5. Ryan, thanks for the link! I was going to send it over today, but I see that you’re already on top of it. I’m looking forward to checking out a lot of these lists today.

  7. Gratzie for the link.

    As others have stated here, it’s nothing but a good thing that there’s such a diverse range of opinions on what constitutes the best of the best in 2011’s cinema. There are only degrees of consensus, in that a select number of films do seem to show up (though not all together) on every single list; Tree of Life and Drive seem to be almost universally loved, for example. But the spread is still wide, and I see some people including random flicks like Limitless on their year-end lists, which I think is great.

    For me, 2011 was a better year for movies than 2010. 2010 felt mostly listless and dull; even the films on my top ten didn’t excite me enough to be really memorable, apart from the Black Swans and the Inceptions and the Social Networks and the Winter’s Bones. 2011, though, had so much good stuff that I had to go from 10 to 15 entries (which also has to do with the fact that I’ve seen almost twice as many films in ’11 as ’10).

    Can’t wait for 2012. There are even more films that sound great on paper being released, and I’m happy to see a number of directors making returns after long silences (Alfonso Cuaron, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, etc). And of course, there’s The Hobbit. Bring ’em all on, says I.

    1. Most welcome for the link.

      Funny that you mention TREE OF LIFE and DRIVE, I know a lot of people who actually quite disliked one or the other (sometimes both!). And I like people who can see value in films that go beyond the critical bracket…people who are including titles like CRAZY STUPID LOVE or PLANET OF THE APES.

      funny that you weren’t fussed about 2010. I still look back on last year with a lot of fondness…INCENDIES, BLUE VALENTINE, SCOTT PILGRIM, THE AMERICAN, SHUTTER ISLAND…so many dude!

      And like you, I’m anxious to get to a new batch – for me right now, it’s all about PROMETHEUS!

  10. Hey thanks for including my pal Ted’s list, Ryan. I’m compiling my top 10 list right now and it’s going to be quite different from his 😀

    Hope it’s been a great year at the movies for you!

    1. It was a fantastic year at the movies for me – I vote you read today’s post or listen to the podcast to find out just how great. I look forward to adding your list alongside Ted’s: Something tells me I’ll have several more additions to slide into this post today.

  16. Thanks for adding Split Reel Ryan! Great lists these all are, unfortunately for some of us all the 2011 releases aren’t available when it’s “time” to produce these. Still waiting to see The Artist and Shame within a weeks time!

    1. Well then you have some good things to look forward to in the coming weeks (As do I with WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and A SEPARATION still to come to Toronto).

      Happy to include your list…hopefully that’s the last round of additions to this post.

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