Just the List: 50 Favorites of 2011

1. Margaret (Dir. Kenneth Lonergan) – US
2. Drive (Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn) – US
3. Beloved (Dir. Christophe Honore) – France
4. Melancholia (Dir. Lars Von Trier) – Denmark
5. Another Happy Day (Dir. Sam Levinson) – US
6. ALPS (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) – Greece
7. Weekend (Dir. Andrew Haigh) – UK
8. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Dir. Sean Durkin) – US
9. Killer Joe (Dir. William Friedkin) – US
10. We Need To Talk About Kevin (Dir. Lynne Ramsay) – US/UK
11. Kill List (Dir. Ben Wheatley) – UK
12. A Separation (Dir. Asghar Farhadi) – Iran
13. Jeff, Who Lives At Home (Dir. Jay & Mark Duplass) – US
14. When We Leave (Dir Feo Aladag) - Germany
15. The Hedgehog (Dir. Mona Achache) - France
16. The Woman (Dir. Lucky McKee) - US
17. The Kid With a Bike (Dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) – Belgium
18. Pariah (Dir. Dee Rees) – US
19. Carnage (Dir. Roman Polanski) – France
20. Miss Bala (Dir. Gerardo Naranjo) – Mexico
21. Take Shelter (Dir. Jeff Nichols) – US
22. Hugo (Dir. Martin Scorsese) – US
23. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (Dir. Eli Craig) - US
24. Hanna (Dir. Joe Wright) – UK
25. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan) - Turkey
26. Cedar Rapids (Dir. Miguel Arteta) – US
27. Michael (Dir. Markus Schleinzer) – Austria
28. The Turin Horse (Dir. Bela Tarr) – Hungary
29. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Dir. Tomas Alfredson) – France/UK
30. Leap Year (Dir. Michael Rowe) – Mexico
31. My Worst Nightmare (Dir. Anne Fontaine) – France
32. The Skin I Live In (Dir. Pedro Almodovar) – Spain
33. Three Lives (Dir(s). Chistian Petzold; Dominik Graf; Christoph Hochhausler – Germany
34. House of Tolerance (Dir. Bertrand Bonello) – France
35. Rampart (Dir. Oren Moverman) – US
36. Tyrannosaur (Dir. Paddy Considine) – UK
37. Shame (Dir. Steve McQueen) – UK
38. We Are What We Are (Dir. Jorge Michel Grau) - Mexico
39. The Last Circus (Dir. Alex de la Iglesia) – Spain
40. Faust (Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov) – Russia
41. Sleeping Sickness (Dir. Ulrich Kohler) – Germany
42. Tabloid (Dir. Errol Morris) - US
43. Bellflower (Dir. Evan Goldell) – US
44. The Queen of Hearts (Dir. Valerie Danzelli) – France
45. Attenberg (Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari) – Greece
46. Oslo, August 31st (Dir. Joachim Trier)– Denmark
47. I Will Follow (Dir. Ann DuVernay) – US
48. Happy Happy (Dir. Anne Sewitsky) – Norway
49. Bullhead (Dir. Michael R. Roskam) – Belgium
50. Outside Satan (Dir. Bruno Dumont) – France


Honorable Mentions: I Melt With You (US); The Deep Blue Sea (UK); Pina (Germany); Restless City (US); Café De Flor (Canada/France); Tomboy (France); The Artist (France); Bad Teacher (US); The Invader (Belgium); Another Earth (US); Paul (US); Small Town Murder Songs (Canada); Gun Hill Road (US): Livid (France); A Screaming Man (Chad); My Joy (Russia).