Dream Oscar Ballot 2011

Oscar nominations are a few days away. As always, a lot of what gets in is going to be standard awards bait. But whenever the Academy gets the chance to truly break ground, they typically stay away from it. Even this year, while they have the opportunity to honor difficult-but-rewarding material like Shame or We Need To Talk About Kevin, we can't be sure they'll ultimately bite. Meanwhile, actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Glenn Close will likely glide by on name recognition and prestige despite the fact that their films are very near terrible.

So each year, I like to highlight what I would have paid attention to if I was ever given the chance to vote for these awards. Of course, some of our tastes inevitably overlap (you cannot deny the charms of Michelle Williams or The Artist and you shouldn't try) but many do not. The Academy keeps it to five for each category (except Best Picture, which now can be 5-10, I'll be going with the latter) yet I usually let myself go beyond to six and sometimes seven. After all, what's with the reluctance to honor too many great works?

There are a number of works I didn't have time for this year, and some smaller ones that simply never came around to me. (Most notably, everyone's favorite foreign language film A Separation still has not arrived, as well as a number of other foreign and documentary entries). But these choices are almost perfectly representative of what the year was for me and more than a few surprises are surprising even for me. Winners are bolded (and pictured) while runners-up are italicized for fun. And, of course, these are inevitably subject to change, but for now, enjoy.

The Best Films of 2011.

If you looked at the list of presumed Oscar nominees, you might have no idea what a fairly great year of film it happened to be. With their need to embrace the mediocre (The Help, War Horse) and sometimes plain bad (Albert Nobbs, J. Edgar) this year's best films will likely go unnoticed by the Academy and other awards bodies. Yet 2011 carried a number of gems, some you have surely heard of, others perhaps not, but all worthy of your attention.

This year was so good, in fact, that I don't even feel compelled to write about the worst the year had to offer. Mostly because I avoid that which seems obviously bad (no Jack & Jill reviews for me) but also because it's hardly worth talking about a piece of dreck like Green Lantern when focusing on the films that made this year so memorable seems far more important. I will have more to say when I write up my personal Oscar ballot as this year, more than any other, featured a number of great performers and technical achievements in less satisfying works. But for now, let's celebrate that which makes going to the movies my continued favorite past time, and the people who make that possible.

Over the year that was, I managed to see about 90 films and wrote about a great deal of them (not most, of course). Looking back on it, I had neglected to realize how difficult it would be to narrow that list down to my very favorite. 10 features made my final list, with a few honorable mentions, and a number of others that merit a note among this year's best. Before you is a mix of mainstream and independent, homemade and foreign, silent and talkie (okay, perhaps only one silent), but all films that stuck with me over the year that was 2011. Let me know if you agree, or just as intriguingly, if you don't.