Top 5 Movies

I definitely have to preface this year's movie list by telling you that I did not watch movies much this year. At least, not the ones that were released in 2011. I caught up on a lot of old ones I hadn't seen. Last year's list didn't include anything from December 2010; this year's doesn't include anything from November or December of this year. Oh well.

5. Bridesmaids

I actually didn't like this movie as much as I thought I would based on what everyone else was saying. I mean, I laughed, but not as hysterically as I was expecting. What I did like about it, and what made it a top 5 movie for me, was the relationship between Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's characters, and the problems that arise for both of them with the introduction of Rose Byrne's character. It felt very real. It's hard to be friends as adult women sometimes.

4. Black Swan

Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses and seeing her in this role was pretty awesome. It was fun to watch her lose it in that way. There's the question of what was really going on in the movie, i.e. sexual abuse by the mother? Mila Kunis's character: exists or imaginary? How much of the movie was actually happening or was hallucinated?, and by this time, you surely know I like movies that make you question things. Darren Aronofsky, who directed this movie, does that really well. I left the movie with no definitive idea of what had actually happened, and I like that. On second, later, viewing, I think I got a better idea of what was real and what wasn't.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Harry Potter has been a part of my life for about 15 years. Watching this movie was like a culmination of all the tears I had put into this story. There are many things I disliked about the other film versions; to be honest, there were a few things I disliked about this one. But the good outweigh the bad for this one. Over the course of the story, Neville became my favorite character. Finally getting to watch Neville become the hero - the one he could have been had Voldemort "chosen" him at birth - in the moment that he cut the snake's head off was AWESOME. Granted, I didn't like the way they changed that scene, but it was still great fun. This probably isn't a top movie for anyone who isn't a fan of the series. I get that.

2. The King's Speech

Colin Firth is incredible in this movie. I love him. Everything about this movie was awesome. See it now; I don't know what else to say about it.

1. Drive

Ryan Gosling is a god. Also, not to be confused with Drive Angry, starring the not-so-godlike Nic Cage. Drive is not a movie for everyone, but I was intensely moved by a lot of things about it. Gosling's acting was out of this world. I haven't seen The Ides of March yet, which is the one he's going to get nominated for an Oscar for, but I wish that it had come out in a different year than Drive, because he deserves a nod for this as well. The music was PERFECT. The scene in the elevator where Gosling makes out with his girl for the first time before brutally killing a guy sent to kill her was INCREDIBLE. This movie was not about driving cars; it's about what drives people, about what motivation there is behind our actions. It was interesting how much I was moved by this movie about the things that move people and then to see other people who were moved in such a different way than I was. Seriously, now I just want to go watch it.