Gavin Burke has complied his Top Five of 2011 for your reading pleasure below.
1. We Need To Talk About Kevin
I don't know if it's because I became a parent this year and tapped into Tilda's sense of fear and stress and everything that goes with the responsibility of having a baby, but WNTTAK hit home as much as The Smiths did when I first heard them. The book had me enthralled from page one and Lynne Ramsay's adaptation, although a faithful one, is its own beast. A remarkable movie that keeps the reveal as surprise even though lovers of the book saw it coming. And Swinton's performance? Perfect. I don't want to see it again – that's how good it is.
2. The Tree Of Life
Another parent-to-be movie that hit home. I love Terrence Malick but wasn't gone on his last venture, The New World. This was a return to form, however – one of the most ambitious movies of the year. It tries to explain life, the universe and everything. It didn't come close (or maybe it did) but kudos for trying. Can't wait to see this again.
3. Animal Kingdom
There were two Aussie flicks that caught my eye this year: Snowtown and this nifty stripped down crime drama. Animal Kingdom mightn't have the high-octane explosive car chases and whatnot but it more than makes up for it in a rising tension. Jackie Weaver has to be the creepiest mother since Psycho.
4. Blue Valentine.
There's no use in denying it anymore. After The Ides Of March, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive and this warts-and-all (anti) romantic drama, I'm gay for Ryan Gosling. The man exhibits real chemistry with Michelle Williams, and x factor sadly missing from most romantic movies. Not exactly a date movie, Blue Valentine had the balls to show the ugly side of love.
5. The Messenger
Released stateside in 2009, it took until this year for The Messenger to wander its way over this side of the water and it's a conundrum why it took so long. Woody Harrelson turns in his career best as by-the-book captain with the unenviable job of telling bereaved families that their son/daughter has died in combat. Sometimes all it takes is a few memorable scenes to make a great movie and this has a few. One in particular sees Harrelson and Ben Foster, under strict instructions to only tell immediate family, forced to wait until the deceased's mother to come home while his unmarried pregnant girlfriend demands to know what is wrong. It's one of the hardest to sit through all year. Wonderful stuff.
