BY JAKE MATHISON/February 15, 2012
One of the year's biggest surprises, Shawn Levy's Real Steel is a great underdog story and sensational pop filmmaking-- especially if you're a sucker for anthropomorphic robots or Hugh Jackman, or both.
9. YOUNG ADULT (R)Jason Reitman's Young Adult is a purposefully uneasy film, meant to hit home and hit hard, allowing for an extremely interesting, nuanced performance by the venerable Charlize Theron.
8. THE IDES OF MARCH (R)
George Clooney's big year was punctuated by his poignant political thriller, The Ides of March, which in a turn of cinematic magic, saw him sparring with heavyweight Ryan Gosling.
7. THE DESCENDANTS (R)
Alexander Payne's The Descendants is a lovely, forthright film built around an unusually vulnerable performance by the stalwart George Clooney as a father trying to piece his family back together.
6. THE HELP (PG-13)
Tate Taylor's Civil Rights-era exploration, The Help, is an talent tour de force that features phenomenal work from its ensemble cast, including Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain.
5. 50/50 (R)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic as a young cancer patient in Jonathan Levine's touching 50/50, which also features another great turn from the meltworthy Anna Kendrick.
Marion Cotillard dazzles in the charming time travel flick, Midnight in Paris, which down the road, has the potential to be considered one of Woody Allen's finest, most approachable films.
3. DRIVE (R)In Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn takes us on a timeless, complex joyride through the seedy backstreets of gritty L.A. with a resurgent Albert Brooks and two of the very best young talents working in the industry, Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.
2. ANOTHER EARTH (PG-13)
Mike Cahill's feature debut, the duplicate Earth drama Another Earth, took the festival scene by storm, and for good reason-- it's full of fresh, character driven sci-fi goodness and features a bold, breakthrough performance by writer/actress Brit Marling.
1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (R)
David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo impressively outdoes the Swedish original (an excellent film in its own right) in every way, and Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander will leave you gobsmacked.
COMING SOON: 10 WORST FILMS OF 2011
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