Cludge Judges’s Best and Worst of the Year 2011

Cludge Judges’s Best and Worst of the Year 2011

Well folks, it’s the end of another year and what a mixed bag we had.  With most of the blockbusters striking out, it was left to the independant filmmakers once again to come up with something barely original in an ocean of remakes and cinematic disasters. This is a brief skip through the best and worst of.

The Best

Drive     Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn

What it is missing in the dialogue and pace department is ably made up for with  visual flair, cinematic style and an addictive soundtrack. Ryan Gosling is perfection as the unhinged hero with terrific support from Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. Movies just don’t get better than this and very likely one that people will look back to in years to come.

We Need to Talk About Kevin   Dir: Lynne Ramsay

By no means an easy watch but most certainly a rewarding one. Outstanding visuals and performances make this story of a mother’s journey through hell after the birth of her demonic son a must see. Tilda Stinton has never been better and must be a strong candidate for the Best Female Oscar? Perhaps the greatest promotion of contraception ever put to screen.

The Skin I Live In     Dir: Pedro Almodóvar

A gloriously twisted Spanish drama featuring an insane but fantastic surgeon played by Antonio Banderas going to desperate measures to bring back his wife to her full glory after a horrific accident.  The twists and turns of the journey are far more satisfying than the destination. There is some beautiful scenery to admire on the way.

Kill List              Dir : Ben Wheatley     ” The Best of British”

Grim, surreal and shocking hitman horror/ drama featuring some of the most brutal sequences of 2011. Neil Maskell plays a tormented ex-soldier that is talked into one last job that will put his sanity and safety of his family on the line. Critics have argued that the climax does not make sense? Maybe so but it certainly unsettles.

The Adventures of Tin Tin     Dir: Steven Speilberg   Best of the Blockbusters

In fairness there was very little competition apart from the impressive The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Mr Speilberg proves once again what it takes to make a good, old fashioned family movie with great work from Andy Serkis as the inebriated Captain Haddock.

The Best of the Rest: – Source Code, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Neds, Win Win, Snowtown

Guilty Pleasure: – Green Hornet (Total trash but entertaining nonetheless)

The Worst of 2011: –

I’m not going to even waste the space of mentioning why the following films are worth missing. All I can add is that you will regret the time that was wasted in your life by sitting through the running time of each of these disasters.

Demons Never Die (Worst UK flick)

Transformers – Dark of the Moon (Longest running time of list therefore technically the worst)

Green Lantern – For the love of god, please make it stop.

Immortals – Nice visuals and……….that’s it.