Bridesmaids

Oh Kristen Wiig where have you been all my cinematic life?  Your representation of female friendships was bitterweet and your impersonation of a penis was accurate.

Drive

Any other director then Nicolas Winding Refn and any other actor then Ryan Gosling and this film could have been directed by Tony Scott and staring Nicholas Cage or Liam Neeson. What a hideous thought. That lift/elevator scene is one of the best things I have seen all year, and I saw a man fit through a tennis racquet.

If this list was in any notable order this would definetely be top.

Midnight in Paris

My first of two Tom Hiddleston films. Pure coincidence. I swear. I really enjoyed the sentiment of this Woody Allen film. A love letter to the literary and cultural greats he admires so feverishly and (you suspect) continually tries to emulate. And Adrian Brody makes a great Dali. It is a nice little dedication to his inspirations and I loved loved watching his interpretations of the personal lives of the great writers from the days of yore. Like Grazia for the readers digest crowd.

The Tree Of Life

Terence Malick can be called many things (mostly by Sean Penn) but unambitious is certainly not one of them. This beautifully flawed film (perfection is sooo overated) manages to cover some pretty big themes (God, morality, the loss of innocence and creation of the universal to name but a few) in a relatively normal running time and introduces us to the talent and luminance that is Jessica Chastain. (Look at her being all the embodiment of Grace and that)

I thought it was at its best when the camera quietly and beautifully observed the relationship between the brothers and parents, like a wonderful hazy memory played in the minds eye of Sean Penn’s troubled architect, and at its worst when the overly earnest voiceovers kicked in. I could have done without those dinosaurs too…. Ultimately it is a far more interesting film thematically and visually then many others that came out last year, even if Sean Penn had no idea what as going on.

The Adjustment Bureau

Not the best plot, nor the best film but the best chemistry I have seen between too actors (Emily Blunt and Matt Damon) all year. Genuinely elevated the film for me to something particularly special.

Watch it and have fun with it you. Have most fun with the bit where they can travel through magical doors that don’t bend to the laws of physics, but only if they are wearing Trilby’s.

Animal Kingdom

An Australian film about a dysfunctional crime family that both terrifies and disturbs with acting and camera work that is never hysterical or overplayed, just considered and very well done. Jacki Weaver gives a masterclass in acting as a truly terrifying matriarch who makes Joe Pesci look like a de clawed puppy dog with no testicles. Her Oscar nom was very well deserved.

A Life in The Day

80,0000 people submitted videos to youtube showing the mundane and interesting events that occurred to them on July 24 2010 and Ridley Scott, Kevin Macdonald and Joe Walker edited it together into a documentary. It produces a smorgasboard of emotions and you can watch it here FOR FREE (what else are you going to be doing? Making some kind of sandwich?)

World’s Greatest Dad

Weird and dark and mental and made by the guy with the squeaky voice in Police Academy. Robin Williams stars as the father of a throughly unpleasant boy who makes his sons terminal asphyxia wank look like a suicide making him an unlikely poster boy for a mis understood generation.

The Deep Blue Sea

A very British affair with Rachel Weiz as a post war lady who surrenders herself to the tragedy of romantic love but with a steely determination and a stiff upper lip. It felt like a play, but a really good one.

Melancholia

The first time I saw this film I got motion sickness and had to leave the cinema, the second time I sat further back and closed my eyes for the first ten minutes. Its ending left me in a state of complete and utter despair, confusion and flux. I thank Lars Von Tier for this reaction. The opposite of apathy. The opposite of comfort. The opposite of “meh.”

Kill List

This British film about two hit mens “last job” made me feel sick and unnerved for a good long while. Part Coronation Street and Part Wicker man, it’s a very hard piece not to wake up sweating about in the middle of the night.

Another Earth

A low budget sci fi film that isn’t really about sci fi but the chance we all have at redemption. Or something like that. Written by and starring Brit Marling, it uses some fairly dodgy science to explore the idea of parallel universes but in a very personal way. The last two minutes are totally killer too.

Senna

Senna is composed solely from archive footage thus The Academy have ruled it out as a best documentary contender. FOOLS. It is a excellent film about brazilian Formula 1 racing car driver Ayrton Senna, and his triple world championship winning ways and hopefully the much more sensible BAFTA team will give it the recognition it deserves.

Other Notable Contenders

Thor (This film was a monkey barral load of fun, thanks Kenneth and thanks Tom Hiddlestone and OMG AVENGERS! AM I RIGHT?)
We Need to Talk about Kevin
The Skin I Live In
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Hugo
Super 8
Beginners
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

and the less said about X Men the better.

Ellen x