Accounting For Taste

Film Comment 2011

Intro

The following films appeared in the Film Comment best of 2011 poll. The poll is divided between films that received US theatrical distribution in 2011 and those that did not (including self-distributed films). These are abridged versions of the lists as they appeared in the print edition of the magazine.

Source: Film Comment's End of Year Critics' Poll 2011

Films

1. The Tree of Life

USA
Terrence Malick

Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2011) | New York Times (Scott, 2011) | Sight & Sound (1, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011)

2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Lung Boonmee raluek chat
Thailand, UK, France, Germany
Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2010) | Sight & Sound (2, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2010) | New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Toronto (Masters, 2010)

3. Melancholia

Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany
Lars von Trier

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2011) | Sight & Sound (4, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2011)

4. A Separation

Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
Iran
Asghar Farhadi

Lists: Sight & Sound (2, 2011)

Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2011)

5. A Dangerous Method

UK, Canada, Germany
David Cronenberg

Lists: New York Times (Dargis / Scott, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Gala, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2011) | Venice (In Competition, 2011)

6. Mysteries of Lisbon

Mistérios de Lisboa
Portugal, France
Raúl Ruiz

Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2010) | New York Times (Scott, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2010)

7. Certified Copy

Copie conforme
France, Italy
Abbas Kiarostami

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2010) | New York (Main Slate, 2010)

8. Meek's Cutoff

USA
Kelly Reichardt

Lists: Cinema Scope (8, 2010) | New York Times (Scott, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Rotterdam (Return of the Tiger, 2011) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2011) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2010) | Venice (In Competition, 2010)

9. Hugo

USA
Martin Scorsese

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Work-In-Progress, 2011) | Rotterdam (Regained, 2012)

10. Poetry

Shi
South Korea
Lee Chang-dong

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2011) | Sight & Sound (8, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2010) | New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2011) | Telluride (2010) | Toronto (Masters, 2010)

11. Film Socialisme

Switzerland
Jean-Luc Godard

Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2010) | Sight & Sound (8, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2010) | New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2010)

12. Le Havre

Finland, France, Germany
Aki Kaurismäki

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2011)

13. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceaușescu
Romania
Andrei Ujica

Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2010) | New York Times (Dargis, 2011) | Sight & Sound (8, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2010) | New York (Special Events, 2010) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2011) | Toronto (Visions, 2010)

14. Le quattro volte

Italy, Germany, Switzerland
Michelangelo Frammartino

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2010) | New York Times (Dargis / Scott, 2011) | Sight & Sound (9, 2011)

Festivals: Berlin (Culinary Cinema, 2011) | Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2010) | New York (Main Slate, 2010) | Telluride (2010) | Toronto (Visions, 2010)

15. The Descendants

USA
Alexander Payne

Lists: New York Times (Scott, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Closing Night, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2011)

16. Nostalgia for the Light

Nostalgia de la luz
Chile, France, Germany
Patricio Guzmán

Lists: Sight & Sound (8, 2010)

Festivals: Cannes (Special Screenings, 2010) | Toronto (Masters, 2010)

17. A Brighter Summer Day [1991]

Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian
Taiwan, Japan
Edward Yang

Lists: New York Times (Scott, 2011)

18. Midnight in Paris

Spain, USA
Woody Allen

Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition - Opening Film, 2011)

19. Take Shelter

USA
Jeff Nichols

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Critics' Week, 2011) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2011) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2011)

20. Margaret

USA
Kenneth Lonergan

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Undistributed

1. This Is Not a Film

In film nist
Iran
Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb

Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2011) | New York Times (4 [Documentary] - Scott, 2012) | Sight & Sound (8, 2012 / 10, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Special Screenings, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2011)

2. The Turin Horse

A torinói ló
Hungary, France, Germany, Switzerland
Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky

Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2011) | Sight & Sound (6, 2011)

Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2011)

3. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da
Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2011) | New York Times (Dargis, 2012) | Sight & Sound (8, 2012 / 6, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2011)

4. The Kid with a Bike

Le gamin au vélo
Belgium, France, Italy
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Lists: Cinema Scope (10, 2011) | Sight & Sound (3, 2011)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Masters, 2011)

5. The Loneliest Planet

USA, Germany
Julia Loktev

Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Toronto (Visions, 2011)

6. Miss Bala

Mexico
Gerardo Naranjo

Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2011)

7. Footnote

He'arat shulayim
Israel
Joseph Cedar

Lists: New York Times (4 - Scott, 2012)

Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2011)

8. Kill List

UK
Ben Wheatley

Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2011)

Festivals: Locarno (Histoire(s) du Cinema, 2012) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2012) | Toronto (Midnight Madness, 2011)

9. Sleeping Sickness

Schlafkrankheit
Germany, France, Netherlands
Ulrich Köhler

Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2011)

Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011)

10. Play

Sweden, France, Denmark
Ruben Östlund

Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Toronto (Visions, 2011)

11. Policeman

Ha-shoter
Israel, France
Nadav Lapid

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011)

12. The Color Wheel

USA
Alex Ross Perry

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2011)

13. Two Years at Sea

UK
Ben Rivers

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Views from the Avant-Garde, 2011) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2012) | Venice (Horizons, 2011)

14. Alps

Alpeis
Greece
Yorgos Lanthimos

Festivals: Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Toronto (Visions, 2011) | Venice (In Competition, 2011)

15. Goodbye First Love

Un amour de jeunesse
France, Germany
Mia Hansen-Løve

Lists: New York Times (8 - Scott, 2012)

Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2011) | New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Telluride (2011) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2011)

16. 4:44 Last Day on Earth

USA, Switzerland, France
Abel Ferrara

Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2011) | Venice (In Competition, 2011)

17. Dreileben

Germany
Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf, Christoph Hochhäusler

Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2011)

Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2011) | Locarno (Out of Competition, 2011) | New York (Special Events, 2011) | Toronto (Visions, 2011)

18. The Return

USA
Nathaniel Dorsky

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2011)

Festivals: New York (Views from the Avant-Garde, 2011) | Rotterdam (Spectrum Shorts, 2012) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2011)

19. The Deep Blue Sea

UK, USA
Terence Davies

Lists: New York Times (Dargis, 2012)

Festivals: Toronto (Special Presentations, 2011)

20. Wuthering Heights

UK
Andrea Arnold

Festivals: Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2012) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2012) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2011) | Venice (In Competition, 2011)