10 Best films of 2011

I know, I know, I'm cutting it close to the wire. But still, 25 minutes until 2011 is over so without further ado . . . Movie Mazzupial's 10 best films of 2011.

10. Scream 4
What's your favourite scary movie? Of 2011 it was Scream 4, something I was both delighted and relieved about because lets be honest, Scream 3 was shite. Yet how, in the decade of horror movies since the last Scream movie, could Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven make a witty, sassy, self-aware statement on the genre again? By being darn clever, that's how. With an opening so dangerously meta to an ending poignantly commentating on our current fame obsessed society, Scream 4 proved an original spin can have endless worth in a genre drowning in remakes.

9. Blue Valentine

Love is glorious. Love is beautiful. And love is sometimes not enough. No one captured that better than Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as a married couple nearing the end of their relationship. Writer/director Derek Cianfrance spliced scenes of their disintegrating relationship with the story of how they first met and fell in love, making the inevitable conclusion all that more heartbreaking for the audience. Realistic, raw and unforgettable.

8. The Bang Bang Club

This gritty drama was based on the real life exploits of The Bang Bang Club - a group of four photojournalists capturing the final days of apartheid in South Africa. Like an underrated version of Blood Diamond, this was a hard hitting look at the civil unrest in Africa told through the stories of the notorious band of photographers who took some of the most famed images of all time. Jaw-dropping, action packed and shocking (even more so when you consider the truth of the story) this is one of the best movies on journalism. Period. The curve ball cast - which includes Ryan Phillippe and Malin Akerman - are also super impressive, none more so than Friday Night Lights alumni Taylor Kitsch. He gives a career best performance as Kevin Carter and illustrates his potential outside of the Hollywood blockbuster sphere.

7. Never Let Me GoKazuo Ishiguro's award-winning novel is flawlessly adapted by director Mark Romanek is this soul-shattering, breathtaking piece of cinematic art. Perfectly capturing the despair, the hopelessness and the black romance of the book, Never Let Me Go will leave you feeling like a shell of your former self afterwards. But it's worth it, partially thanks to pitch perfect performances from three of Britain's greatest young actors: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield.

6. Jane Eyre

One of my favourite books of all time turned into one of my favourite films of the year thanks to the masterful direction of Cary Fukunaga and the powerhouse double act of Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. Jane Eyre and Rochester have already been explored countless times in modern pop culture, but these two great performers gave them new life and energy. Jane Eyre brought a passion to the big screen in 2011 unlike anything else I saw. Wistful sigh.

5. Drive

Originally a $100m action vehicle for Hugh Jackman, Drive proves just how important the singular creative vision of a director can be. Ryan Gosling, undoubtedly the actor of the year, gave a subtle yet powerful turn as a Hollywood stunt driver who gets on the wrong side of the local criminal underworld. Director Nicolas Winding Refn spliced together romantic moments of French New Wave with Tarantino-esque ultra violence and one of the best soundtracks of the year.

4. Agora

For those who saw Agora during its limited theatre run, it left a searing impression. Rachel Weisz plays famous female philosopher Hypatia during the rising tide of Christianity in Roman Egypt. Max Minghella and Oscar Isaac round out a trio of superb performances in this heartbreaking, soul-destroying and ultimately uplifting historical drama from acclaimed Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar (The Others, The Sea Inside).

3. HannaOne of the most underrated films of 2011, this fairytale parable starred Oscar-nominated teen actress Saoirse Ronan as a blue-eyed killing machine trained by her father (Eric Bana) and out to kill a sinister CIA agent (Cate Blanchett). A jaw-dropping, stylish turn from director Joe Wright (best known for his period pieces Pride & Prejudice and Atonement), this was an edge-of-your-seat action thriller with no safety nets. The Chemical Brothers haunting score is unforgettable.

2. Attack The Block

Few films made as big a splash in 2011 as the debut from British writer/director Joe Cornish. A homage to classic sci-fi /horror films of the eighties, it follows a teen gang forced to defend its South London housing block from a vicious alien invasion. Hilarious, scary and exceptionally original, Attack The Block instantly gained cult movie status among genre aficionados.

1. Midnight In Paris

A time travel film. From Woody Allen. On paper it sounds like a disaster, but the veteran filmmaker made something truly remarkable with this ode to nostalgia and Paris's golden age. Full of wit, beauty and more celebrity cameos than rehab, you couldn't help leave the cinema with a goofy grin on your face. Some have called it Allen's return to form. Yet for the diehards out there, one of cinema's longest lasting voices never went away.