After the Oscars: Best Movies You Didn’t See in 2011
No offense to all of Sunday night’s winners, but here are some great movies that the Academy overlooked. (P.S. I saw all of these at the Belcourt).
Feature Films
My favorite film of 2011, this grungy anti-romance (with Medusa the flame-throwing car!) will first charm you and then mess with your mind.
This hillbilly horror spoof is far, far funnier and goodhearted than it has any right to be. I went in skeptical but came out laughing and impressed.
This is a beautifully shot meditation on aimlessness and loneliness, brought to you by Sofia Coppola.
This disturbing story of a girl who flees a cult—but can’t flee the damage it caused her—has the best ending I’ve seen in a long time.
Documentaries
Directed by Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame, this tells the story of the CeaseFire program in Chicago, where former instigators of street violence now spend their days disrupting it.
Joyce McKinney is a delightfully unreliable narrator in this Errol Morris film full of surprises.
The thing that sticks with you most after seeing this documentary (about a 1970’s animal behavior experiment gone horribly wrong) are the valiant efforts of a few good people to make amends.
This Muppet-filled tale of Elmo’s human counterpart is the feel-good movie of the year.
American: The Bill Hicks Story
This is a tribute to a stand-up comic who was also a brave and despairing critic of American society.
-Beth
Themocracy
I double endorse all of these! Thanks Beth!