Todd McCarthy is one of the most reputed film critics in the United States. He wrote for Variety for over 31 years as its chief film critic before being fired in 2010 and being hired by the The Hollywood Reporter. His views are seen as an important way to elevate certain films above others and recognise which movies have genuinely been the greatest of the year.
So with the year almost at its end and almost every critic imaginable looking to amass a top ten list that makes them look intelligent yet not pretentious, Todd McCarthy has decided to release his list.
He starts off by noting that " the best films of 2011 were quite good, and there were quite a few of them. Not absolutely great, perhaps, but there were at least 30 movies I could unhesitatingly recommend and quite a few more I could agree were worth seeing."
Todd's full list can be seen below.
TODD McCARTHY'S BEST OF THE YEAR: From franchise-ending finales to classics remade, from cinema's origins (silents) to its future (two unexpectedly brilliant uses of 3D), 2011's top films covered it all.
The Descendants (Alexander Payne) Payne puts it all together. Again.
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg) As artistically precise as a Zeiss lens.
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick) I also happily would see a shorter version without Sean Penn, as well as the rumored six-hour cut.
City of Life and Death (Lu Chuan) A startling panorama of the Rape of Nanking and a credible view of how it happened.
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi) An entirely accessible Iranian film that doesn't speak in code or parable.
Hugo (Martin Scorsese) An amazing evocation of the first flowering of the cinematic imagination and 3D at its best.
Le Quattro Volte (Michelangelo Frammartino) The better of the two "silent" films of the year, simple and often very funny.
Tuesday, After Christmas (Radu Muntean) Adultery, separation, nary a false beat.
Poetry (Lee Chang-dong) A lovely tale of how creativity can elevate a soul.
Shame (Steve McQueen) Sears the mind, doesn't go away.
Pina (Wim Wenders) For a Pina Bausch fan, a great souvenir, and more great 3D.
Young Adult (Jason Reitman) All involved extend their range in the film equivalent of a tart short story.
Margin Call (J.C. Chandor) An exceptional debut, the economic meltdown in gripping miniature.
Moneyball (Bennett Miller) Makes fine entertainment out of a numbers game.
My Joy (Sergei Loznitsa) So breathtaking as cinema and so grim as a picture of modern Russia.
Warrior (Gavin O'Connor) A gritty portrait of desperate straits in the guise of a sports melodrama.
Another Earth (Mike Cahill) One of the year's craftiest and most original independent debuts.
Rango (Gore Verbinski) A director escapes the Caribbean and makes the year's best animated film.
Bellflower (Evan Glodell) A homemade movie that seethes, sweats, bleeds and bursts creativity.
The Guard (John Michael McDonagh) Great rude dialogue, great rude Brendan Gleeson.
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius) A charming tale of the last days of silent Hollywood filmmaking, cleverly done in the language of the time.
Bridesmaids (Paul Feig) The gross-outs seemed out of place, but all else was aces in this down-to-earth comedy.
Jane Eyre (Cary Joji Fukunaga) A fine, rigorous adaptation of the perennial.
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus) Felicity Jones, the find of the year, made a simple love story come vibrantly alive.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates) It ends very well.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin) Absorbingly creepy, coldly shot like a European art film.
Win Win (Tom McCarthy) A flawed man trying to do the right thing and touchingly managing it.
J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood) Problems and all, it stays in the mind.
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen) Minor Woody, but who hasn't thought about going back to mingle with the legends of the past, when things were better, right?
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan) The lost cause of the year, now almost a period piece, which implodes in the second half but still has more meat on its bones than many other films.
