Top 5 Films of 2011

Only rule here is that they must've been seen on the silver screen, that is, at the cinema.

1. Black Swan (US, 2010)
2. In a Better World/Hævnen (DK/SE, 2010)
3. Melancholia (DK/SE/FR/DE, 2011)
4. Little White Lies/Les Petits Mouchoirs (FR, 2010)
5. True Grit (US, 2010)

Yep, almost all of 'em 2010; Black Swan got a long run which spilled over into early 2011 while True Grit got a brief repeat at QFT.

2046 (HK/CN, 2004)

Something might've gone over my head here; it's rather subtle and mannered, with a sci-fi dimension; works best when concentrating on Chow's various loves and the associated events.

There's some nice tonal photography as one would expect from WKW, but it's difficult to get too enthusiastic about it overall.

4 (RU, 2005)

Again, I will have to plead to being a slight Russophile when it comes to film; after FR, RU is, I'd argue the second greatest non-Anglophone film producing country out there...The first part of the movie introduces the 3 main protagonists chatting in an bar. The vaguely attractive prostitute Marina returns to her remote rural homeplace to attend a funeral. It is this sometimes outré sequence which takes up the greater part of the film and we learn only a little of what happens the other two.

It's an engaging (in places fascinating), articulate, original, offbeat, dimly lit, downbeat movie, with occasional sly humour. There are some interesting departures in this film; it surely deserves a higher rating on IMDB. Would probably have made it to annual top 5 had I seen it in a cinema. Makes me want to visit RU.

I Walked with a Zombie (US, 1943)

Another installment in BBC2's early morning run of early horror/Jacques Tourneur classics. If Cat People was a horror, but came on like a noir, could not the same be said of IWWAZ? True, the supernatural isn't typically a feature of the archetypal gritty urban noir, but the complex, slightly choppy plot, remote island location and chiaroscuro photography are pure noir.

Having heard the Roky Erikson song back in the day (or, at least, REM's cover of it), I was expecting more of a gaudy, psychedelic, trashy affair (yeah, I know, 1943, too early for that). A better film than Cat People.

Cat People (US, 1942)

Generally cited as an example of an early horror as opposed to noir, it gets a good write-up on Noir of the Week; it's not bad, but I find it hard to see why Steve O is so enthused. There's some good noir photography particularly the swimming pool scene and the bus scene immediately after it.

The Baader Meinhof Complex / Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (DE, 2008)

Largely factual portrayal of unsympathetic terrorists of the RAF (Red Army Faction) and their campaign in mid-70's Germany. My first movie of the Christmas holiday season.

The Pumpkin Eater (UK, 1964)

Adapted from a Penelope Mortimer novel which would appear to be largely autobiographical. Perhaps a slightly dated film in terms of dialogue and subject matter, it's timelessly beautiful however, and made all the more beautiful by the beautiful Anne Bancroft.

Electra Glide in Blue (US, 1973)

Robert Blake as the Arizona motorcycle cop keen on a promotion to the homicide squad.

Slightly inconsistent but always compelling, recalling (a little) Vanishing Point and Easy Rider; it has "something" to it, a B/cult movie feel.

Diamonds of the Night / Démanty noci (CZ-SK 1964)

Short (< 70 mins) early Czechoslovak new wave feature which follows 2 young male escapees from a concentration camp-bound train as they attempt to survive, fleeing cross-country. Flashbacks illustrate brief scenes prior to the occupation, the boys thoughts and their likely fate.

A recurring theme then of the 60's CZ-SK corpus, with the same recent historicity, simplicity and experimentalism. I'm lucky enough to have seen a few of these since starting this bog.

• Q1. The Czechoslovak new wave was better than the French new wave. Discuss.