I collected about 25 lists of “Best Films of 2011” and combined them into one list. Here are the results – all the films on 4 or more lists, with their directors. The numbers in bold and underlined indicate the number of lists that mentioned that particular film. For films I’ve seen, I’ve added my personal rating on a 1-10 scale.
On 24 “Best Films of 2011” Lists
The Tree of Life – Terence Malick (10/10)
On 22 Lists
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi (9/10)
20 Lists
The Descendants – Alexander Payne (8/10)
18
Drive – Nicolas Winding Refn (7/10)
Hugo – Martin Scorcese (8/10)
16
Melancholia – Lars von Trier (8/10)
Moneyball – Bennett Miller
14
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius (8/10)
13
Take Shelter – Jeff Nichols
12
Beginners – Mike Mills (9/10)
Certified Copy – Abbas Kiarostami
Martha Marcy May Marlene – Sean Durkin
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen (7/10)
11
Bridesmaids – Paul Feig (6/10)
Margin Call – J.C. Chandor (8/10)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tomas Alfredson
10
A Dangerous Method – David Cronenberg (8/10)
Mysteries of Lisbon – Raoul Ruiz
Poetry – Chang-dong Lee (9/10)
Shame – Steve McQueen
9
J. Edgar – Clint Eastwood (7/10)
Le Havre – Aki Kaurismäki
Le Quattro Volte – Michelangelo Frammartino
Meek’s Cutoff – Kelly Reichardt (8/10)
The Skin I Live In – Pedro Almodóvar
8
Margaret – Kenneth Lonergan
7
The Future – Miranda July (7/10)
Incendies – Denis Villeneuve
The Interrupters – Steve James
The Trip – Michael Winterbottom (8/10)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Apichatpong Weerasethakul
War Horse – Steven Spielberg
Win Win – Thomas McCarthy (8/10)
Young Adult – Jason Reitman (6/10)
6
Contagion – Steven Soderbergh (6/10)
Like Crazy – Drake Doremus (8/10)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – David Yates
Rango – Gore Verbinski
Super 8 – J.J. Abrams (6/10)
Tuesday, After Christmas – Radu Muntean
Warrior – Gavin O’Connor
We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lynne Ramsay (6/10)
5
Bellflower – Evan Glodell
City of Life and Death – Chuan Lu
Coriolanus – Ralph Fiennes
Into the Abyss – Werner Herzog (9/10)
Of Gods and Men – Xavier Beauvois (9/10)
Senna – Asif Kapadia
Weekend – Andrew Haigh
4
Another Earth – Mike Cahill
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu – Andrei Ujica (7/10)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams – Werner Herzog (10/10)
50/50 – Jonathan Levine (8/10)
Film Socialisme – Jean-Luc Godard
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Fincher
The Help – Tate Taylor (6/10)
Project Nim – James Marsh
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Rupert Wyatt
Source Code – Duncan Jones (4/10)
Terri – Azazel Jacobs