1) Take Shelter
Utterly devestating and essential treatise on mental illness and the apocalypse. Michael Shannon managed to accuraetly capture the essence of illness itself being both an observer and participant in his own collapse.
2) 13 Assassins
Beautifully presented with images of shocking brutality contrasted with lush stillness. Leading to a climax that stands alone as one of the greatest stage action sequences ever commited to screen.
3) Kill List
Magnificently brutal occult thriller that contrasted gritty realism, dark comedy and some serious pagan worship.
4) Xmen: 1st Class
A sensual prologue that boasted dignified performances and breathtaking action. A film that lived up to it’s casting.
5) Drive
Ryan Gosling shone, as did Ron Perlman, in a film that was dream like, surreal, stomach churning and visceral.
6) Troll Hunter
A lot of care was taken to create an immersive and convincing universe where Trolls walked the earth. Immersive joy.
7) True Grit
A standout from the start of the year threw few with it’s tone, not quite as jet black as we might have expected, the Coens nevertheless turned in a film of gritty moorish sweetness.
8) Rise Of The Planet Of the Apes
The pacing alone was a masterclass. Add your dose of clever scripting, ingenious plotting and stunning fx and we got blockbuster of the year.
9) Arriety
Just fall in.
10)Tree Of Life
A film that was reviled and loved simultaneously by all quarters, the themes and ideologies seemed to chime very close to my heart indeed. It was a struggle to watch with moments of epic drift that finally resolved in a spiritual miasma. A family shattered by grief looks into eternity. Sometimes art needs to be hard.
