dressinginthedark’s Top Ten Films of 2011

submitted by dressinginthedark

1.) Shame

1.) The Tree of Life

2.) Weekend

3.) How I Ended This Summer

4.) Norwegian Wood

5.) Melancholia

6.) 13 Assassins

7.) Wuthering Heights

8.) Hugo

9.) Beginners

10.)Young Adult

*Editor’s note: branduponthebrain is asking for your top ten list of 2011. Get in on the fun quickly and submit your list here.

Source: branduponthebrain

On an anime kick…

Watching Porco Rosso tonight hot on the heels of Paprika, Ocean Waves, Totoro rewatch and Castle in the Sky. I have Summer Wars and Perfect Blue on the back-burner but I’m still desperate for more!

Any suggestions? 

Today, in beautiful posters… Police, Adjective- Corneliu Porumboiu *Editor’s note: I really, really cannot get behind the Romanian New Wave and it’s not for lack of trying either. After a few tries, I barely made it through 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, gave up on The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and have been trying to psyche myself up for Police, Adjective…if anyone can suggest a film that might give me a whole new perspective/ appreciation for the movement, I’d be very grateful.
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Today, in beautiful posters…

Police, Adjective- Corneliu Porumboiu

*Editor’s note: I really, really cannot get behind the Romanian New Wave and it’s not for lack of trying either. After a few tries, I barely made it through 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, gave up on The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and have been trying to psyche myself up for Police, Adjective…if anyone can suggest a film that might give me a whole new perspective/ appreciation for the movement, I’d be very grateful.

Wuthering Heights- Andrea Arnold *Editor’s note- An incredibly beautiful, almost hypnotic, film that manages to completely absorb you and features two of the most believable young leads in their debut roles that is almost completely derailed by one horrible Mumford & Sons song…
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Wuthering Heights- Andrea Arnold

*Editor’s note- An incredibly beautiful, almost hypnotic, film that manages to completely absorb you and features two of the most believable young leads in their debut roles that is almost completely derailed by one horrible Mumford & Sons song…

Opera- Dario Argento *Editor’s note: It’s been a pretty fantastic Halloween weekend and I’m finishing it off with this tonight. A few friends are coming over and with this being their first Argento experience, I’m really hoping it goes well. Happy Halloween from The Insatiables!
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Opera- Dario Argento

*Editor’s note: It’s been a pretty fantastic Halloween weekend and I’m finishing it off with this tonight. A few friends are coming over and with this being their first Argento experience, I’m really hoping it goes well.

Happy Halloween from The Insatiables!

American Psycho- Mary Harron *Editor’s note: Going out to dinner tonight. Think I can score a reservation at Dorsia? Via: Sales on Film
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American Psycho- Mary Harron

*Editor’s note: Going out to dinner tonight. Think I can score a reservation at Dorsia?

Via: Sales on Film

Source: salesonfilm

To anyone that takes screencaps from films and then adjusts the shit out of them in photoshop…

please fucking stop. Thanks.

Kontroll- Nimrod Antal Editor’s note: For the longest time, this image haunted me. It wasn’t because I found it mysterious and beautiful, but simply because I had no idea where it was from. And then, I forgot all about it. It wasn’t until I took a film class on ‘Cinema of the Other Europe’ that I saw this image again; this time, in a textbook. I can’t explain how happy I was that I now knew where the man, the angel and the stairs came from.
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Kontroll- Nimrod Antal

Editor’s note: For the longest time, this image haunted me. It wasn’t because I found it mysterious and beautiful, but simply because I had no idea where it was from. And then, I forgot all about it. It wasn’t until I took a film class on ‘Cinema of the Other Europe’ that I saw this image again; this time, in a textbook. I can’t explain how happy I was that I now knew where the man, the angel and the stairs came from.

Battle Royale- Kinji Fukasaku A few years ago, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with Japanese film. Because I gravitated toward anything remotely shocking, strange or obscure, Battle Royale became that one film I had to watch. The fact that it was made out to be notoriously difficult to track down, was ‘banned’ (it wasn’t) and featured such a taboo subject (high school kids forced to kill each other!! How does a film like this get made?!) made it seem almost mythological. While few things live up to this level of hype, this film managed to. While I still love this film on its own merit, if I’m honest, it’s probably more to do with the sense of accomplishment I felt at being able to find it when I did. With such a large cast, it’s inevitable that most of the kids are just cannon fodder and its ending continues to frustrate me. Regardless, the fact that something like the Hunger Games exists annoys me. While I know nothing about it besides it being set in a dystopian future where kids are made to kill each other, you can immediately see why I already feel know it’s going to be a pussy American version of Battle Royale. Unless Jennifer Lawrence takes to sleeping with the other competitors and then stabbing them to death them to get ahead, I think we’re all better just sticking with this.
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Battle Royale- Kinji Fukasaku

A few years ago, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with Japanese film. Because I gravitated toward anything remotely shocking, strange or obscure, Battle Royale became that one film I had to watch. The fact that it was made out to be notoriously difficult to track down, was ‘banned’ (it wasn’t) and featured such a taboo subject (high school kids forced to kill each other!! How does a film like this get made?!) made it seem almost mythological. While few things live up to this level of hype, this film managed to. While I still love this film on its own merit, if I’m honest, it’s probably more to do with the sense of accomplishment I felt at being able to find it when I did. With such a large cast, it’s inevitable that most of the kids are just cannon fodder and its ending continues to frustrate me. Regardless, the fact that something like the Hunger Games exists annoys me. While I know nothing about it besides it being set in a dystopian future where kids are made to kill each other, you can immediately see why I already feel know it’s going to be a pussy American version of Battle Royale. Unless Jennifer Lawrence takes to sleeping with the other competitors and then stabbing them to death them to get ahead, I think we’re all better just sticking with this.

*Strange love: Speed Racer- The Wachowski’s *There are a few films I love intensely that no one else seems to or understand why. This is one of them. Editor’s note: To all my new Speed Racer loving tumblr friends, I love you. Glad to know I’m not alone when it comes to this film. If you want to read some more about my love for this, click here for a short piece I wrote. Again, you’re all awesome.
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*Strange love:

Speed Racer- The Wachowski’s

*There are a few films I love intensely that no one else seems to or understand why. This is one of them.

Editor’s note: To all my new Speed Racer loving tumblr friends, I love you. Glad to know I’m not alone when it comes to this film. If you want to read some more about my love for this, click here for a short piece I wrote. Again, you’re all awesome.

The sadness I feel knowing that I’ll never be able to experience this theatrically is indescribable. Look at this! I’m resorting to emoticons :’(
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The sadness I feel knowing that I’ll never be able to experience this theatrically is indescribable. Look at this! I’m resorting to emoticons :’(

I saw the Devil-  Jee-woon Kim *Editor’s note- When asked by a friend what the film was about, I said “It’s about a police detecitve whose pregnant girlfriend is brutally murdered by a serial killer. To get revenge he tracks down the killer, smacks him around and then attaches a tracking device to him. Then, for the rest of the film, he just pops out when least expected and beats the shit out of him. It’s really good!” They weren’t sold.
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I saw the Devil-  Jee-woon Kim

*Editor’s note- When asked by a friend what the film was about, I said “It’s about a police detecitve whose pregnant girlfriend is brutally murdered by a serial killer. To get revenge he tracks down the killer, smacks him around and then attaches a tracking device to him. Then, for the rest of the film, he just pops out when least expected and beats the shit out of him. It’s really good!”

They weren’t sold.

With all of these portraits together for the first time, we can see how Radcliffe’s character has grown up over the years, from being a precocious youth to a determined young man. We can also gauge how much darker the series has become over time. Yet all of these dots make us wonder: When will we see Radcliffe stippled next? via WSJ Editor’s Note: I love Harry Potter…I have to admit that the films are generally mediocre, but it’s hard to find fault with something you’ve grown up with. The problem is that I enjoyed the books so much that I’m willing to overlook any misfire or the shitty acting I’m like a battered housewife that insists ‘He hits me to say that he loves me.’ before I crawl back home.
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With all of these portraits together for the first time, we can see how Radcliffe’s character has grown up over the years, from being a precocious youth to a determined young man. We can also gauge how much darker the series has become over time.

Yet all of these dots make us wonder: When will we see Radcliffe stippled next?

via WSJ

Editor’s Note: I love Harry Potter…I have to admit that the films are generally mediocre, but it’s hard to find fault with something you’ve grown up with. The problem is that I enjoyed the books so much that I’m willing to overlook any misfire or the shitty acting I’m like a battered housewife that insists ‘He hits me to say that he loves me.’ before I crawl back home.

Restrepo- Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger R.I.P. Tim Hetherington…this was the first film I watched with my new friends in my adopted city and will always hold a special spot in my heart. Thanks for this, Mr. Hetherington. You will be missed. For more, click here.
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Restrepo- Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

R.I.P. Tim Hetherington…this was the first film I watched with my new friends in my adopted city and will always hold a special spot in my heart. Thanks for this, Mr. Hetherington. You will be missed.

For more, click here.

127 Hours- Danny Boyle Watching this film for the first time with my incredibly squeamish friend was memorable. Not so much for the fact that she ‘watched’ the scene where Ralston cuts his arm off by watching my reaction to it through her fingers, but because I apparently talk to myself during films. This is something no one has either noticed or bothered to point out. As she maintains, when Ralston falls down the crevice and gets his arm crushed by a boulder, I would periodically mutter the words ‘fuck,’ ‘shit,’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘fuck shit.’ It’s not even that I was particularly impressed by the film as I still believe it is more of an ‘experience’ than it is a film, but that I kept imagining myself in that situation. Really, what is left to say besides ’fuck,’ ‘shit,’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘fuck shit’ when your arm is trapped by two giant pieces of rock?
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127 Hours- Danny Boyle

Watching this film for the first time with my incredibly squeamish friend was memorable. Not so much for the fact that she ‘watched’ the scene where Ralston cuts his arm off by watching my reaction to it through her fingers, but because I apparently talk to myself during films. This is something no one has either noticed or bothered to point out. As she maintains, when Ralston falls down the crevice and gets his arm crushed by a boulder, I would periodically mutter the words ‘fuck,’ ‘shit,’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘fuck shit.’ It’s not even that I was particularly impressed by the film as I still believe it is more of an ‘experience’ than it is a film, but that I kept imagining myself in that situation. Really, what is left to say besides ’fuck,’ ‘shit,’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘fuck shit’ when your arm is trapped by two giant pieces of rock?