Cannes is over. Three words that are going to be sinking in for a while, while I try to regroup and accept that yes; the glorious, maddening, disorganized, exhilarating, and one-of-a-kind Cannes film festival is over. The Prozac to my depression is that it was an absolute blast, and an experience I wouldn’t exchange for anything. While I spend the next few days catching up on all my sleep and vitamins, the medley of scenes, moments of cinematic enormity, fits of laughter, and gasps of horror will be scooped up along with the bits and pieces of my blown mind, and shaped into a cherished memory. But in the meantime, therapy is in order and part of the 12-step program of recovery after coming back from a place like Cannes is making a Top 10 List. So here we are.

If you’ve followed my coverage, this list might not be very surprising but it’s still a good way to summarize why this was such a fantastic festival, and include some thoughts on the recently announced winners.

Honorable Mention – Whiplash

One of two Director’s Fortnights I managed to see was this Sundance hit, about a teenager’s unrelenting passion to become one of the world’s greatest drummers. With magnificent turns by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons (the latter especially, who should be considered for Best Supporting Actor once we fast-forward seven months from now), and a well maintained adrenaline rush by focused directing and excellent editing, the only reason Whiplash isn’t in the Top 10 is because of it’s noticeably poor depiction of women and predictable emotional beats. Read my review.

#10 – Maps To The Stars

Julianne Moore may have stolen the Best Actress award from Marion Cotillard, but it’s wonderfully ironic that she did it with this role. Obviously, she’s fantastic in it and my review gushed over her. She’s a big reason David Cronenberg’s Maps To The Stars makes it on this list. Hollywood gets scrutinized in brutal fashion by the master of the absurd, and it ranks as one of my most entertaining and alive moments in a Cannes screening. Worthy of noting; this is the only screening I was unable to get into initially and had to schedule in for later, so it’s good to see that the popularity paid off.

#9 – Amour Fou

Jessica Hausner was a discovery for me, but thanks to Way Too Indie’s CJ for making sure she gets a place in the anticipation list because it enticed me enough to check out this wonderfully austere 19^th century tragic-comic look at love in all its silly desperation. After her third appearance in the Un Certain Regarde, Amour Fou really showcases Hausner’s talent and is one of those films which felt misplaced in its sidebar, fitting in main competition. A unique approach to love, and perfectly framed, Amour Fou should be getting distribution if it hasn’t already so hopefully people on this side of the pond will get a chance to laugh with and at all its awkwardness. Read my capsule review here.

#8 – The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

Even though I was fortunate enough to see the much superior Him and Her versions of this heartrending love-story, Them is more than good enough to deserve a spot on this list. Without doubt the biggest “WTF are they thinking” award decision was giving the Camera D’Or to the directors of Party Girl and not Ned Benson, whose tireless years of work on this project pays off in spades with career-turning performances, assured direction, and a deeply felt story of love and loss. I’d still recommend the richer 3-hour version over this two-hour combined perspective, but if your time is that precious, you won’t go wrong with this version once it gets released. Read my capsule review here.

#7 – Mommy

Trepidation coursed through my veins during the awards ceremony because the buzz was so supportive for Xavier Dolan’s Mommy winning the Palme. Thankfully, and deservedly, Dolan shared the Jury Prize with Jean-Luc Godard and his video essay Goodbye To Language 3D. But it’s important to point out how deserving it is that Dolan walked away with something, because Mommy is a joyous experience full of sorrow, laughs, and vigorous humanity. Even the use of music, or Dolan’s knack to indulge with style, ended up being an asset rather than a flaw here. A truly impressive piece of work by a youngster whose talent is undeniable. Read the review here.

#6 – P’Tit Quinquin

The second Director’s Fortnight film I managed to see and it almost makes it into my Top 5. Bruno Dumont is a master filmmaker, there’s no denying that, and while he is known for putting you down (and kicking you a little while you’re down there) with P’Tit Quinquin he made the funniest film I’ve seen at Cannes. But it’s also one of the smartest, which is the major reason it’s appearing here. Bernard Provost gives an outstanding performance, and helps ease the 3 hour 20 minute running time. Another one CJ needs to be thanked for putting in our anticipation list, even though it’s made-for-TV make sure to seek out P’Tit Quinquin in all its cinemascope glory if you get the chance. Read my capsule review here.

#5 – Two Days, One Night

After the reaction the new Dardennes film got from its first screening, critics were declaring Palme. I wasn’t one of them however, because getting a record third Palme D’Or was always going to be a steep mountain to climb. Regardless, if they had won no one would have bat an eyelash because Two Days, One Night is Dardenne dominance at its most simplistic and vital. It lingers on long after the credits role thanks to the greatest closing lines of any film at the festival, and Marion Cotillard. Will she ever win a Cannes Best Actress? This is the third time her performance is praised to immeasurable heights, and she walks away empty-handed. I don’t like to take anything away from Julianne Moore, whom I adored in Maps, but this really did belong to Cotillard. Perhaps an Oscar will lick her wounds. Read the review here.

#4 – Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh is one of my favorite filmmakers working today. That’s just how it is, and Mr. Turner was one of my must-sees. The second film I saw at the festival and its wondrous cinematography, resonant performances, and an organic direction that plays right into my wheelhouse; Mr. Turner proves that Leigh can tackle the tricky genre of the biopic better than, well, anyone I’ve ever seen. Once you see Timothy Spall (who absolutely must be nominated for an Oscar or it’s all gone to shit) grunt, grumble, growl and gawk his way as J.M.W. Turner you’ll know how deserving that Best Actor win was. An absolute delight this film is, and one I can’t wait to relive again. Here’s my review.

#3 – Winter Sleep

And now we come to the three experiences and near-masterpieces. Winter Sleep is our brilliant, refined, introspective, and much deserved Palme D’Or winner. Nuri Bilge Ceylan is now one of the most celebrated filmmakers at Cannes; with two Grand Prix prizes, one Best Director, and now the Palme to his name. Predicted as possible winner before the festival even started, hated on by a few once it screened (including New York Times’ Manohla Dargis), Winter Sleep still managed to take most critics’ breath away and mine included (it also walked away with the FIPRESCI prize.) Thank God it appears to have done exactly that with Jane Campion, Willem Dafoe, Gael Garcia Bernal and the rest of the jury because Winter Sleep is exemplary cinema at its most dignified and sophisticated. A big hip hip hooray for this win. My review.

#2 – Leviathan

Battling it out with Winter Sleep in an almost tied position of second and third spot is Andrey Zvyagintsev’s artistic magnum opus Leviathan. Religion and politics get a scathing scrutiny in a Man vs. State tale, told through allegorical fashion of the biblical Job story. When it was announced that Leviathan won Best Screenplay, my heart skipped a beat, then slightly sank because I knew it meant chances of a Palme were slim to none. Neverthless, it goes back a winner and it’s been acquired by Sony Pictures Classic so a release date State-side is imminent. Everything just works in this film; from magnanimous Philip Glass, absorbing scenery, ridiculous eye for detail, and balletic camera movement; Leviathan is a work of art with a capital A. My capsule review is here.

#1 – Jauja

What in seven hells is Jauja? Where did it come from? How was it conceived? Where will it end up? These are the kinds of questions still circling in my mind as I try to wrap my self around this transcendental and illuminating experience. Screening in Un Certain Regarde, and playing around with a format that makes you wish you had every shot hanging on your wall, Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja walked away with the FIPRESCI prize so it’s nice to see others critics clicking with it. By far the most challenging film I’ll likely see all year, similar to how mind-boggling Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux must have felt when it screened in competition a few years ago, part of why I have it over giants like Leviathan and Winter Sleep is because its mystical powers fascinate me beyond words. Viggo Mortensen’s screen presence and his guitar-playing skills are in full effect here, but it’s all Alonso with the irreplaceable shot composition and philosophical depths showing why cinema is unlike any other art-form out there. Read my review here.

Closing Thoughts

My biggest regret was missing Jean-Luc Godard’s Jury Prize winning Goodbye To Language, but thanks to its warm reception chances of seeing it released are much bigger than before the festival started. Another big miss was Alice Rorwacher’s The Wonders, which ended up winning the Grand Prix, but from everything I read and heard, it’s not one I’ll be rushing to see. Unlike White God, It Follows, The Tribe, and Turist; all of which received either some kind of award or incredible word of mouth, and all of which I managed to unfortunately miss.

But that’s how the cookie crumbles with festivals; see some, miss some – it’s just impossible to see everything (but there’s a superpower I’d love to have.) The biggest disappointment was probably Assayas’ Clouds Of Sils Maria (review here) and not Ryan Gosling’s dog’s breakfast Lost River (reviewed here) because the former is an accomplished director and the latter is an actor playing the role of a director, poorly. Though if I could, I would replace Party Girl (capsule here) and The Blue Room (capsule here) with one of my regrets.

But even if I had to endure three Lost Rivers, there’d be absolutely nothing to complain about. The people, the films, the place, the atmosphere, and the joy of covering the world’s greatest festival; all combine for one unforgettable ride. I hope this will be the first of many Cannes film festivals for me, because there’s just simply nothing like it. Thanks to the films on this list, in some ways Cannes will never really be over for me. And now, the next step; sleeping for 48 hours straight.

Now that you have gotten a chance to read Way Too Indie’s Best Films of 2013, a cumulative list from our staff, check out the individual Top 10 Lists from the eight staff members that created the list. The differences between the cumulative site list and these individual ones are actually quite different. First of all, even though mathematically Gravity was our overall #1 film for 2013, it only appears in the #1 spot in one of the eight lists below. Also, because a film had to get at least two mentions to quality for our cumulative list, you’ll find quite a few different titles down below: Leviathan, Paradise: Love, Blackfish, A Hijacking, The Past, and many more.

Staff Top 10 Lists For 2013

Dustin’s Top 10

Jansen’s Top 10

Ananda’s Top 10

Bernard’s Top 10

Amy’s Top 10

Pavi’s Top 10

Blake’s Top 10

CJ’s Top 10

In the spirit of the Cannes Film Festival having recently announced this year’s winners, the staff here at Way Too Indie have decided to compile our favorite films that have previously won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. In order to give ourselves the most freedom, we voted on films that have won any award at the festival, instead of just ones that have won the top prize of the Palme d’Or. Not only are these films our favorite Cannes winners, but these are films that all film lovers should make an effort to watch.

Top 10 Cannes Winners

#10 – Dogtooth

Dogtooth is nothing if not original. In 2009, the film was the winner of the Un Certain Regard category, a selection of film at Cannes that tend to be of the “edgier” fare, though surprisingly it did go on to earn a Best Foreign Language nomination at the Oscars. The film is about a brother and two sisters that are completely fenced in from the outside world by their over-protective parents. The parents instill fear into their children by telling them the cat they sometimes see in the backyard is a vicious creature that they should stay away from. Pairing well with the unique story is the brilliant camera work that carefully keeps everything in the center of the frame. This fixed camera technique means that you are only allowed to see what is inside the frame, detaining the viewer similar to how the high-wall fence around the house detains the children. Dogtooth is a wonderfully disturbing satire on censorship. [Dustin]

Dogtooth movie review

#9 – Taste of Cherry

Abbas Kiarostami is one of the most unique and poetic directors in film today, and Taste of Cherry is as good an example of his vision as any. Mr. Badii, middle-aged man, scours Tehran looking for someone who will aid him in killing himself. He is willing to offer quite a sum of cash to any who will help, but to his surprise, no one is willing to carry that weight. Badii’s potential accomplices try desperately to talk him down from the ledge, but he’s a stubborn one. Winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1997, Kiarostami’s life-affirming masterpiece is one of the great indie treasures of the ‘90s. [Bernard]

#8 – Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola’s film is one of the best ever made about man’s decent into hell. Taking place during the Vietnam War, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is tasked with exterminating (with extreme prejudice) a Colonel (Marlon Brando) who has lost his mind. Traveling up the Nung River on a boat into Combodia, Willard is joined by a small group of soldiers who all seem to be at their breaking point. Coppola fills his film with exciting, visceral images that will haunt you long after the film finishes. Sure some of it is extreme, in one scene has an ox hacked to death with a machete in another Willard’s boat passes a slew of decapitated human heads on large sticks, but certainly you cannot deny how powerful the film is. Dennis Hopper, Robert “I love the smell of Napalm in the Morning” Duvall, Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne populate this frightening film. While the film is definitely hard to watch at times, it is one that is not to be missed. Coppola’s vision of the Vietnam War is the best that cinema has ever produced; unrelenting, disgusting, nightmarish, deplorable, fascinating all at the same time. [Blake]

#7 – The Piano

Told with a sweeping paintbrush of emotion, Jane Campion’s 1993 Palme d’Or winner, is a haunting film. Mute Ada arrives from Scotland on the shores of 19th century New Zealand to enter into an arranged marriage. With only her daughter Flora to interpret her sign language, Ada prefers to communicate by playing her piano. So when her husband-to-be decides the piano isn’t worth the trip through the swamps to their home, she’s understandably upset. Their neighbor Baines retrieves the piano and bargains with Ada to earn it back by teaching him to play; lessons that quickly turn into something more. Holly Hunter truly earned her Oscar that year, making each stroke of the piano keys more sincerely intense than any line uttered (for only her “mind’s voice” is heard in narration), and for fogging glasses with a sexually charged romance with a blue-tattooed Harvey Keitel. Anna Paquin made history as the second youngest actress to win an Oscar for her role as Flora, the contrarily verbose and imaginative daughter to silent Ada. Resonating with imagery, one almost feels damp as the characters traipse through New Zealand’s unsettled land. And accompanied by a flawless score written by Michael Nyman, a librettist who understands how to allow a piano to do most the speaking, The Piano is evocative and unforgettable. [Ananda]

#6 – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

As he prepares to die from kidney failure, Uncle Boonmee goes to the countryside with his family to live out his final days. Ghosts, monkey creatures and princesses are only a few of the oddities that pop up throughout Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s masterpiece, a film about moving on to the afterlife that feels like it exists between our world and the next. Despite its bizarre content and free-flowing narrative, including a 15 minute detour involving sex with a catfish, the film walked away with the Palme D’Or in 2010. It was one of the few years at Cannes where the Palme was given to the most deserving film in competition. [CJ]

#5 – The Seventh Seal

Still (for my money) the best example of cinema at its most lyrical and literary, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal is one of cinema’s most essential works. When it won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1957, it alerted the entire film community of the genius of Bergman and the silver-screen titan that is Max Von Sydow. Set in an exquisitely realized middle ages, a knight on the way home from the crusades engages in a high-stakes chess game with death himself (one of cinema’s most enduring images) as he treks a plague-ridden countryside with his partner, the squire. Bergman used The Seventh Seal, like many of his other films, as a way to visually articulate his inner-struggle with mortality and God’s muteness. Says the knight, “I want God to put out his hand, show his face, speak to me. I cry out to him in the dark, but there is no one there.” [Bernard]

#4 – The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life took home the coveted Palme d’Or in 2011 for his visual masterpiece of a film. Despite winning over many critics and picking up Oscar nominations, the film had a difficult time winning over the general audience and has the box office numbers to prove it. But Malick is one of those directors who is in the rare position to not depend on commercial success, which allows him to make such daring and experimental films such as this. The Tree Of Life is a mesmerizing cinematic experience that contains some of the most visually stunning scenes you will ever see in film. It is too bad its theatrical run was cut short, this is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. [Dustin]

The Tree Of Life movie review

#3 – Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver was amid the first few films that kick started De Niro’s career, and one that won the Palme d’Or award in 1976. Argued to be one of the greatest films of all time by Roger Ebert, it holds great cultural and historical significance to American history in regards to the post-Vietnam era. De Niro’s character, Travis Bickle is a war veteran who received honourable discharge from the U.S Marines. He is an extremely lonely and depressive man whose chronic insomnia allows him to take a job as a taxi driver. Travis soon finds himself being overwhelmed and angered by the street crime and prostitution he is witnessing on a daily basis and turns this built up frustration into training his body and his mind into a man capable of doing anything. Taxi Driver is a great classic that has imprinted profoundly within film history and definitely worth a watch. [Amy]

#2 – Pulp Fiction

Resevoir Dogs was a hit for Quentin Tarantino in 1992, but it wasn’t utnil 2 years later when he premiered his highly influential game changing masterpiece Pulp Fiction to the world. The film shot Tarantino into the stratosphere of filmdom’s elite and to countless year-end awards. Pulp Fiction tells three tales of blood, mayhem and hilarity. Two hit men, their boss’ wife, the prize fighter they hunt and a special briefcase that is an enigma unto itself. Tarantino and screenwriting partner Roger Avery expertly weave these three stories from back to front to middle to the back again. Tarantino’s dialogue glides off the actor’s tongues like an ice cube in the heat. A career best performance from John Travolta leads the numerous supporting turns from Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Eric Stolz, Frank Whaley, Harvey Keitel, Ving Rhames and Christopher Walken in a single scene stealing cameo. This is one of the most invigorating film going experiences that cinema has to offer; one that only becomes richer and richer the more it’s viewed. [Blake]

#1 – Oldboy

It is unbelievably difficult to summarize this film in just a few short sentences, seeing as the storyline is so complex and vastly different to anything you may be expecting. Oldboy focuses on the painfully playful torment and torture of Dae-su Oh who has been kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years without any known reason. His mission, once released, is to find his captor and confront him. As Western popular film audiences have only been introduced to Asian cinema through the horror genre, Oldboy is an excellent example of modern East Asian cinema. Oldboy was a phenomenal stylistic achievement and along with the soundtrack and intense original storyline makes it essential viewing to any film fan. [Amy]

Here is a quick numbers breakdown of my 2013 Cannes Film Festival coverage. I spent about 8 full days (I had two half days that I am counting as one) watching a total of 17 films (not counting the one I walked out on). So I managed to see just over two films on average a day with an average rating of 6.8 that I gave out. All in all, I saw a lot of daring films, many of which were hard to watch, but all were crafted among the best talent in cinema today. So while my ratings may seem a little on the low side, it was only because it felt appropriate to critique them on the upmost of scales considering the extraordinary stage they were presented on.

NOTE: Here is a few films that I did not get a chance to see either because of schedule conflicts or general availability of the release in the US after the festival. Some of the the following could have changed the list; Inside Llewyn Davis, Blue Is The Warmest Color, Fruitvale Station, Behind the Candelabra, The Immigrant, The Missing Picture.

My Top 10 Films from Cannes 2013:

#10 – Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Affleck dominates the screen when he appears and makes a good case for one of his better roles as an actor. The sun-filled landscapes of Texas provides great cinematography.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints review

#9 – The Dance of Reality

Although The Dance of Reality is a bit disorganized, the film was extremely playful and entertaining. Feels more like a theatrical play than a film.
The Dance of Reality review

#8 – Nothing Bad Can Happen

Do not be fooled by the title, enough bad and painful things happen in this film, and they will stick with you long after the film is over. Emotions are definitely evoked.
Nothing Bad Can Happen review

#7 – The Congress

Of all the films at this years Cannes Film Festival The Congress may be have the strongest and ambitious plot. The biggest downfall might be that it tried to achieve too much, a shame because it had potential to be much higher on this list.
The Congress review

#6 – As I Lay Dying

This film has to earn the most uniquely shot films of the festival. Several parts of the film are shot in split screen to show perspective and reactions of multiple characters at once. And it did it without it feeling too gimmicky!
As I Lay Dying review

#5 – Borgman

Borgman was this year’s Holy Motors or Dogtooth for Cannes, a film that cranks the bizarre factor to the max. Films that are unlike any others typically sit well with me.
Borgman review

#4 – Nebraska

There is not a whole lot that goes on in Nebraska, similar to the small towns that are featured in it, but this is a road trip/family bonding film that is extremely heartwarming and entertaining.
Nebraska review

#3 – Sarah Prefers To Run

Sarah Prefers To Run wonderfully allows the audience to make their own guesses on what results in the film because of how subtle the film handles much of what is shown. The film contains a great message of controlling your own destiny.
Sarah Prefers To Run review

#2 – The Great Beauty

The Great Beauty takes a few jabs at the current snapshot of Italian culture and does so by showcasing hilarious satire with magnificent cinematography. It ends up being a love letter to Rome, or at least the great beauty of it.
The Great Beauty review

#1 – Like Father Like Son

Like Father Like Son shows its cards nearly right away but it remains intriguing long after you think it has played its hand. It takes a rather simplistic plot and turns it into something of a complex story that explores every angle.
Like Father Like Son review

The lineup at this year’s SF IndieFest was unbelievably strong; I anticipated that there would be at least a few certified duds, but that wasn’t the case. Though I didn’t love every film, each had its unique voice, ambition, and spirit. From the lowest-budget short to the most polished full-length feature, they all offered a brand new experience. This made making my list of ten favorite films very difficult. I connected with many, many films at the festival, but these ten are the ones that I felt compelled to champion the most.

Top 10 Films from SF IndieFest

#1 Simon Killer

The thing about Simon Killer is, it’s a difficult movie to digest, but in the best way possible. The teeth-grinding level of discomfort Antonio Campos and Brady Corbet are able to achieve in Simon Killer resonated with me more than anything else at the festival. Corbet finds a way to make Simon both magnetic and repulsive, and Campos captures Paris at its most deeply colorful and richly textured. Pound for pound, my favorite movie of the festival.

Remember to keep it tuned in to Way Too Indie in April for our full review of Simon Killer and our interview with director Antonio Campos.

#2 Be Good

Though not as flashy as Simon Killer, Todd Looby’s Be Good also finds its protagonist going through alarming mental transformations that surprise even him. Be Good will break your heart stealthily, little by little. Joe Swanberg’s All the Light in the Sky does the same and shares the same naturalistic tone, but when it comes to picking my personal favorites of the festival, Be Good just hits closer to home. Every moment in this movie feels earned, and Looby’s characters are handled with care. It’s the type of movie that just might teach you something about yourself by the time the credits roll.

#3 I Declare War

There were more than a few movies at this year’s festival that evoked feelings of nostalgia, but I Declare War recalls an era of movies (The Goonies, Stand by Me) that I just happened to grow up with. The kids playing their supposedly innocent ‘game’ quickly realize that their heated prepubescent emotions are too powerful to contain. The child actors’ performances are beyond impressive, and the film’s intensity and stakes are consistently high throughout the running time.

#4 The Legend of Kaspar Hauser

‘Strange’ does not begin to describe this movie. To attempt to describe what ‘happens’ in The Legend of Kaspar Hauser would be to betray it. It’s a visually and sonically stimulating film that rubs you in a way that no other film can. It will make you laugh, squirm, headbang, ponder, gag, yadda yadda yadda. You just…you just need to watch it. It’s absolutely nuts… in a good way.

#5 Antiviral

Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral serves as a showcase for its gifted lead actor, Caleb Landry Jones, much like two other films at the festival, Simon Killer and The Story of Luke. What sets Jones’ performance apart from the other two is his spine-chilling physical transformation. Cronenberg’s imaginative and haunting imagery are as arresting as his fathers’, but Jones makes use of every bit of his body to burn the images of his painful deterioration into our minds.

#6 All the Light in the Sky

Films are best when they act as a mirror, illuminating our darkest fears and forcing us to confront them. As Jane Adams, as Marie, fights internally to find her place in this gigantic world, we realize that she’s fighting something we all must all face sooner or later. Nobody has captured the 21st century adult on film quite like Joe Swanberg, and he delivers another stunning time-capsule work of art with All the Light in the Sky.

#7 The Story of Luke

Of all the characters I’ve encountered in the many films at SF Indiefest, The Story of Luke is the one I hold nearest to my heart. The attachment you feel for Luke and his quest for love is inescapable, mostly due to Lou Taylor Pucci’s spot-on performance. The powerful message of acceptance and love The Story of Luke delivers is one that fit the spirit of SF Indiefest and the great city of San Francisco like a glove.

#8 The We and the I

Leading up to the opening night screening of Michel Gondry’s The We and the I, the thing I was most looking forward to was just how innovative Gondry would get with his camera in the super-enclosed space that is a city bus. Just how many interesting camera angles could he find? The answer? It doesn’t matter. Gondry does use his camera in interesting ways, but what makes this film special are the ever-changing dynamics of the loud-mouthed, quick-witted, unfiltered characters that occupy the bus.

#9 The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

Watching this film in 35mm at The Roxie was one of the cornerstones of my incredible SF Indiefest experience. Having the director, Paul Bunnell, and the cast there, the energetic crowd, the buttery popcorn, the technical difficulties; these things all added up to an unforgettable night at the movies, which is what SF Indiefest is all about.

#10 Funeral Kings

The ultra-vulgar kids in Funeral Kings remind me of myself as an awkward teenager. I chuckled at how much of myself I saw in these characters in their pursuit of attention, validation, and sex. To see them chase after girls and sneak around their parents’ houses in the middle of the night was like a blast from the past. Like I Declare War, Funeral Kings features some incredible performances by young actors. The attitude these kids exude is authentic, and nothing about their performances feels forced.

There were loads of fantastic independent shorts shown at this year’s SF Indiefest, and while I wasn’t able to watch all of them, the ones I did see (I still saw a lot) ran the gamut from exciting, to comedic, to thought-provoking, to emotionally devastating. These were my favorites from the festival, though almost all of the shorts I saw are worth watching.

Top 10 Short Films from SF IndieFest

#1 The Beginning

A flurry of hilarious dialogue delivered rapid-fire, Brian Tolle’s The Beginning is a polished, funny, captivating short that grabs you by the ears and never lets go. We join Daniel and Richard immediately after a sexual adventure, as they awkwardly try to suss out each other’s intentions, wants, and needs. Within minutes, we watch them go from strangers to lovers, and the dialogue that takes us on this mini-journey is sharper than sharp. Nothing bad to say about this one. Everything is pitch-perfect here, and the audience absolutely ate it up.

#2 Best if Used By

Maggie’s husband, Max, just died. She smuggles his body out of the morgue and carts him to the grocery store she works at. Gradually, more and more people discover what Maggie has done, and instead of calling the police, they participate in hilarious existential conversations as they pow-wow around Max’s lifeless corpse. The dialogue and comedic timing are spot-on here, which is key as the morbid premise can be difficult to laugh with. It’s a good-looking film, to boot.

#3 Desire Inc.

Experienced filmmaker Lynn Hershman provides a thought-provoking look into technological fantasy Desire Inc. Filmed in 1985 before the internet had taken over the world, Hershman shares a set of ads she created and ran in the Bay Area, in which a seductive model urges viewers to call her. We are then shown footage of actual men who responded to the ads and the fascinating effects the ads had on their minds. It’s a deeply explorative work of art that contemplates the “phantom limb” we all utilize to reach into our television screens and interact with our most personal fantasies. When asked in the Q&A that followed the film if she would have made the film differently in the internet age, Hershman stressed that Desire Inc. and all films are portraits of their time and forever live just in that place.

#4 The Missing Key

A touching tale about inspiration, determination, and friendship set in a wholly unique, gorgeously realized version of 1920’s Venice, Jonathan Nix’s The Missing Key blew me away. Hero Wasabi (adorable) is a composer who aspires to win the grand prize at the Abacus Scroll musical competition, but standing in his way is a greedy veteran composer who will step on and over anybody who crosses his path.

The character and set design are amazing. Each character has a different mechanical device in place of a head, like a record player (Hero), telephone, or radio. The Venice Nix and his team imagine is lush and deeply colorful, almost like a G-Rated Bladerunner. The animation is a seamless combination of both 3-D and hand-drawn images that works so well together, you forget that it’s a movie and completely lose yourself in the world. It’s easy to root for Hero, a beautifully animated character, whose journey of musical discovery and triumph give the pretty images substance.

#5 Foxed!

A young girl, Emily, has been enslaved by foxes in a cave underneath her house. She manages to evade the foxes long enough to discover that she has been replaced in her home by…a fox! Frighteningly, she also discovers that her mother is unaware of the swap, fooled by the foxes’ illusion.

3-D cinema advocate and pioneer James Stewart and director/writer Nev Bezaire present a gorgeous stop-motion animated film with a dark twist. The meticulously crafted figures and sets are enchantingly dark and photographed cinematically, with minor digital effects used appropriately, creating a rich atmosphere. The sinister tone of the film works well without being alienating or off-putting, evoking childhood fears of the big bad wolf and the boogeyman. The final moments are very effective. The prospect of Foxed! becoming a full feature is exciting, and I look forward to delving into Stewart and Bezaire’s world even deeper.

#6 DeafBlind

A deaf-blind woman, Maggie, feels a deep connection with Christ that she discusses with a priest. Though she is strong spiritually, she is devastated by depression and loneliness. One day, a mysterious man starts following her around her house and watching over her, though his intentions are nebulous. Director Ewan Bailey uses just the right amount of ambiguity in this stirring tale, and the cinematography is haunting and cold-as-ice. A very resonant piece.

#7 Manhole 452

In the vein of Chris Marker’s classic La Jetee, Manhole 452 sets well-acted, cryptic narration by an anonymous man over footage of manholes erupting with water and fire on San Francisco’s Geary Street. The man describes an incident in which his car was split by an exploding manhole cover and the paranoia and obsession with probability that resulted. The combination of the dialogue and imagery is riveting, and had me shaking in my boots as I rode on the bus down Geary Street the day after I saw the film.

#8 Retrocognition

A moving tapestry of fragments from 50’s golden age radio and sitcoms, Retrocognition is one of the most visually striking things I saw at the festival. Using retro sound clips and images stitched together, director Eric Patrick tells a disturbing (a baby is murdered) tale of a man and wife that looks and feels like nothing you’ve ever seen before. You need to see this.

#9 La Storia di Sonia (Sonia’s Story)

A surrealistic journey of perseverance, we follow Sonia from childhood to adulthood in a politically turbulent 1970’s Italy. The cinematography and sound design are highly-stylized, recalling the great Sergio Leone and surrealist art. Director Lorenzo Guarnieri really takes his time to let the images sink in to our brains, and some of the images (particularly one in which Sonia emerges from a wall of water) are incredibly poignant and unforgettable.

#10 Keep the Fire

The funniest film of the festival, by far. In Keep the Fire, a Keeny Loggins fan describes the legend behind the cover art of Loggins’ classic album, Keep the fire, to a group of music snobs at a listening party. That’s funny already. We are then transported back to the days when the album art was conceived, in a ridiculously embellished false reenactment. The crowd at the Roxie was dying with laughter, and the film’s absurdity and sense of humor are undeniable. Better than Saturday Night Live’s Blue Oyster Cult sketch. Yes, I said it.

I still remember the feeling I had immediately after watching Beasts of the Southern Wild; my heart was beating out of my chest, a long-lasting smile was on my face, and I had that feeling that I just watched something great. Regardless of the title, it is special when a film can make you feel this way. So it should be of little surprise that Beasts of the Southern Wild is my number 1 film of 2012. But the main purpose of this preface is to highlight potentially important films that I did not get a chance to see before making the list. Some of these films include; The Sessions, Amour, The Comedy, Cloud Atlas, and The Silver Linings Playbook just to name a few.

Also to note, Paradise: Love is absent from my list (although it would have likely been in the Top 3). This is because of the rules we set up, only films with a North American release date of 2012 can count. Therefore it will have to appear on the list next year.

Dustin Jansick’s Top 10 Films of 2012

Honorable Mentions

Sound of My Voice
Goodbye First Love
Compliance
Ruby Sparks
Arbitrage

After the cinematic high that was 2011, 2012 naturally looked weaker. My top 5 consists of leftovers from 2011 (they only got a US release this year and therefore qualify) but 2012 was filled with plenty of highlights. Only a few films really felt like masterpieces to me but for the most part this year was consistently strong. At this time I’ve seen 94 films from this year, and while there’s still a large amount that I wish I could have seen before submitting this list, here are my 10 favourite films of 2012. (Special note: While I can’t include it since it comes out in 2013, Leviathan literally blows these films out of the water. Do yourself a favour and see it when it comes out.)

C.J. Prince’s Top 10 Films of 2012

Honorable Mentions

The Comedy
Detention
In Another Country
Starlet
Cloud Atlas

Let’s face it, compared to 2011, this year was a relatively boring year for movies. While the year started out great with some fantastic films getting released after June the quantity of quality films dropped significantly. That’s not to say that there are not any great movies to be seen, but compared to 2011 where it was one great film released after another, this year has been very disappointing. Granted I have not seen a few films yet such as Zero Dark Thirty, Cloud Atlas, Lincoln, Skyfall, Django Unchained and The Hobbit. But even if all those movies were great I still don’t think it would’ve come close to last year.

I found that it was much easier this year to make a top ten list then last year. Where last year it took me maybe a week to decide what goes where, this year I probably spent a day overall on my list. Without further ado, here is my list of ten films which I felt were far and away the best of the year. Following my top ten list is my selection of honorable mentions; films I felt were oh so close to making my top ten but ultimately were not as good.

Blake Ginithan’s Top 10 Films of 2012

Honorable Mentions

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Killer Joe
Cabin in the Woods
The Amazing Spider-Man
Cosmopolis

During this last year, I have had the unique opportunity to spend the entire year aboard which means that I have been rather isolated from the hub of the celebrity music world. I missed the passing of Etta James, Davy Jones of the Monkees, and Whitney Houston. I never caught any of the tweets surround the reuniting of the Spice Girls for the Olympics in London and I never had to suffer through the hype surrounding “Call Me Maybe.”

Thankfully, though, music has gone digital and even during my foreign hiatus, I have still been able to keep myself connected to the indie music world. This year brought a handful of new releases from indie greats—Of Montreal, Andrew Bird, The Shins, The Mars Volta, M. Ward, Jack White, Regina Spektor, Animal Collective, David Byrne & St. Vincent, the Avett Brothers, Cat Power, the xx, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford & Sons, Calexico, and even No Doubt. However, in my opinion, 2012 was an even greater year for the rising stars of indie music. Although many of the artists gracing my top 10 list this year are not exactly new to the scene, they have managed to provide a fresh, yet lasting impression on this ever expanding musical landscape.

Way Too Indie’s Best Albums of 2012

#1 Kishi Bashi – 151a
This album still manages to blow me away, even after having it for months. In fact, it is the first entire album to make my top played list. 151a is a complete 35-minute aural experience between the listener and a musician equipped only with a violin, his voice, and a looping machine. With ethereal lyrics and beautiful, intimate riffs, Kishi Bashi’s debut is one that will set the standard for music in the years to come.

#2 Hurray for the Riff Raff – Look Out Mama
What do you get when you combine a transient Puerto Rican New Yorker, a transgendered drummer, and a honky-tonk band and mix them with the vibrant world of New Orleans’ music? Hurray for the Riff Raff and their newest release Look Out Mama. One part old time, bayou ho-down and one part rockabilly, with a pinch of 1960’s fuzzy surfer rock, Look Out Mama is a sunny day sound track and an incomparable showcase of Alynda Lee Segarra’s exemplary vocals.

#3 Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Produced by Andrija Tokic (who also produced Look Out Mama) the Alabama Shakes are a pleasant reminder of how great those rocking, southern blues can be. Lead singer Brittany Howard carries the album with her hearty, soulful vocals. She is backed by an extremely talented and consistent band, which manages to display a great amount of musical maturity for their first release. Clearly, they have been doing their homework and Boys & Girls is the perfect testament.

#4 Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
With one of most haunting and distinctive voice in music today, Sharon Van Etten’s newest release, Tramp, has not lost the anguish of her earlier albums. However, it feels although she spent these last two years polishing those sentiments and the result is an eloquent display of human emotion.

#5 Dan Deacon – America
For someone who is normally not a fan of electronic music, Dan Deacon’s America broke all of my expectations for the ringleader of the DIY dance club world. Self-described as “electro-acoustic,” America is a “fluid blend of the rigid perfection found in electronic music and the indistinct irregularities that come from the humanization of music.” Deacon accomplished what he set out to do, to capture the essence of America in a single record, a feat I never thought possible, especially from a techo-guy.

#6 Andrew Bird – Hands of Glory
A throw back to his early days as Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, Hands of Glory is the fiddle companion EP to the violin pop of Bird’s earlier 2012 release Break It Yourself. In my opinion, this is Bird at his finest—he has dropped his Cheshire cat persona to focus on the music above enigmatic lyrics. The result is a well-balanced, engaging album to revive your love in Bird just as it was beginning to fade.

#7 Cat Power – Sun
Chan Marshall is back, ladies and gentlemen, and proving that she can still produce a powerful album. Sun breaks Marshall’s long hiatus and offers a side of Cat Power that has remained relatively unexplored in her previous recordings. “Plugged-in and propelled by driving beats and backing vocals, the album is refreshing, confident, and cogitative. Marshall has cut much of the angst that so readily defined her earlier music and the result is eleven tracks with a surprising sense of coherence.”

#8 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The Heist
Storming the music charts in early October, Seattle MC, Macklemore, and his producer, Ryan Lewis, brought a new edge to hip-hop with their album the Heist. Touching on a wide range of topics from addiction to shopping at thrift shops to consumerism to gay marriage to their loathing with the recording industry, the Heist in a bold yet sensitive contemporary commentary. Musically, it highlights some of the finest indie talent on the west coast, making it equally as impressive as it is lyrically stirring.

#9 Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
There is a very fine line between country music worth listening to and country music that the world would be better without, but to Justin Townes Earl that line has never existed. Instead there is just music and for JTE, it happens to come in a blend of blues, folk, and a good bit of Americana country. His fifth release is a pleasant reminder that JTE is capable of holding his own as a recording artist, not to be deterred by his turbulent lifestyle or the overbearing presence of his famous father.

#10 Ty Segall – Twins
The last minute addition to this list, I will be very upfront with the fact that I am hardly familiar with this seemingly prolific artist. Regardless, this album rocks—straight up, head banging, grungy, garage-style rocking. It brings you back to those early days when you first stepped away form your parent’s soft-rock CD collection and started to explore edgier alternatives. More so, Segall is able to achieve this high energy without screaming and screeching or causing the onset of an epileptic fit. Bravo!

Honorable Mentions

Tame Impala – Lonerism
Another last minute addition to this list, Lonerism is the sophomore release of the Australian psychedelic rock group. These guys take the genre beyond the traditional 1970s feel and leave you lost in the music, dreading the moment the album ends.

∆ – An Awesome Wave
If I could predict the next direction for indie pop in a post-Animal Collective world, these guys would be it. Although I am hardly a fan of the stylization of artists, albums, and song titles, ∆ (Alt-J after the Mac command for the symbol) delivered an innovative album that is as charming as it is eccentric.

Mati Zundel – Amazonico Gravitante
Although I never touch on indie music beyond the English-speaking world, this last album is just too good to not mention—so here’s my one pick from my beloved genre of Alt-Latino. Released on the preeminent Argentinean ZZK Records label, Amazonico Graviante combines the traditional folkloric Latino rhythms, such as cumbia, with modern electro-beats. In doing so, Zundel created an album that will define Alt-Latino music for years to come, not to mention the perfect soundtrack for anyone backpacking through Central and South America.

The staff at Way Too Indie narrows down the Top 10 films that we are most excited for at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. The task of narrowing a list down to only 10 is not an easy one considering that there will be over 300 films playing at the festival. Way Too Indie’s CJ Prince will be there to cover the festival and plans to review some of those that are listed below Listed below are Way Too Indie’s Top 10 Most Anticipated Films playing at Toronto International Film Festival 2012.

The Master (director Paul Thomas Anderson)

I think it is fair to say, even setting aside my complete biased opinion, that P.T. Anderson ranks up there among one of the most prominent American directors of today. That being said, it is easy to see why The Master, his follow up to 2007’s There Will Be Blood, is a highly anticipated film. At the helm as one of the lead characters is an Anderson veteran Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman plays a charismatic intellectual who starts up a faith organization and recruits drifter Joaquin Phoenix. Just from the trailer one can see how berserk Phoenix’s character goes and if anyone is fit to play that role it is Joaquin Phoenix. The other reason The Master is getting a lot of attention is that it is being shown in 70mm widescreen format that is suppose to look drop-dead gorgeous. [Dustin]

Spring Breakers (director Harmony Korine)

No one ever thought that they’d hear the words ‘Selena Gomez in a Harmony Korine film’ in their life, but here we are. The director of films like Trash Humpers, Mister Lonely and this disturbing Black Keys music video, Korine would seem like the last person in the world to team up with stars from Disney and Glee (Vanessa Hudgens, Dianna Agron and Korine’s wife Rachel round out the rest of the female cast). The casting may sound like it came straight out of Hollywood but the plot, about a drug dealer (James Franco aping the look of rapper Riff Raff) who hires the four bikini-clad girls to be his hitmen after they rob a fast food restaurant, sounds bizarre enough to fit in with the rest of Korine’s films. Now, with all of the crazy set photos and news of Skrillex getting involved with the score, Spring Breakers sounds like Korine has managed to capture the zeitgeist. [CJ]

Cloud Atlas (directors Tom Tykwer & Wachowski brothers)

The Wachowskis, directors of the Matrix Trilogy and the underrated Speed Racer, team with Tom Tykwer, director of Run Lola Run and The Princess and the Warrior, team to make this centuries spanning film involving actors playing different roles over the course of those centuries. As soon as the film was announced for TIFF a stunning trailer set to M83’s ‘Outro’ was released. The film looks to be a shoo in for technical awards at next year’s Oscars. It is not known whether or not the film will be a mess, though we’ll have a clearer picture in a couple of weeks. [Blake]

To The Wonder (director Terrence Malick)

It has been rumored that To The Wonder is even more experimental than Terrence Malick’s last film, The Tree Of Life, which seems hard to believe but if true we could be in store for another Malick masterpiece. The film is being billed as a romantic drama about a man who is reconnected with a woman after his marriage falls apart. It will star Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck and Javier Bardem. The only thing that has me a little worried is this will be the first time that Malick has ever released films in consecutive years. [Dustin]

Argo (director Ben Affleck)

The last time Ben Affleck came to TIFF it was for The Town, which went on to snag an Oscar nomination along with a surprisingly big haul of $92 million at the box office. Two years later, Affleck is hoping to repeat his success with Argo. Based on a true story, Argo follows a group of CIA operatives who go to Iran posing as documentary filmmakers in order to free six Americans trapped in the country. Unlike The Town, Affleck only takes on directing and acting duties this time (he doesn’t have a writing credit) but he’s assembled an impressive cast with names like John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, Victor Garber and Alan Arkin to name a few. It’s hard to tell if audiences will be interested enough in the story and 70s period setting, but Affleck has proven himself to be a strong enough director that Oscar buzz is building around the film. With a theatrical release right around the corner after its TIFF premiere, it won’t take long before we find out if Argo will be a serious contender in the awards race. [CJ]

Like Someone In Love (director Abbas Kiarostami)

Abbas Kiarostami last wowed audiences with his masterfully crafted Certified Copy starring the lovely French actress Juliette Binoche as a woman walking the Italian country side with a man she may or may not have a past with. Kiarostami’s new film is rumored to be a semi-sequel to Certified Copy. This film takes place in Tokyo and involves a relationship between a young woman and an old man. [Blake]

Room 237 (director Rodney Ascher)

After receiving both high praises and concerns over possible copyright issues, Room 237 made a splash at Sundance Film Festival this year. This documentary aims to explore theories about the hidden meaning in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The three decade old film is still being studied by scholars and hardcore fans as well as debated which is what this documentary shows. Of course, this documentary will only appeal to people who enjoyed The Shinning but you can count me in as it is my all-time favorite horror film. [Dustin]

Leviathan (director George P. Cosmatos)

Directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel focus their cameras on the ocean in Leviathan, a new documentary about a fishing boat. Castaing-Taylor and Paravel spent two months aboard as the ship traveled around catching fish, but their goal wasn’t to do their own version of The Deadliest Catch. Sharing multiple GoPro cameras with the fishermen on board, footage was captured from the bowels of the ship to under the ocean. We talked about the incredible trailer on here earlier, and the film received rave reviews (along with many walkouts due to feelings of nausea) at its premiere in Locarno. Leviathan looks like a truly original experience that will take its toll on viewers mentally and physically, but hopefully it should be something no one will ever forget. [CJ]

Berberian Sound Studio (director Peter Strickland)

I have a soft spot for Italian horror films. This new film by Peter Strickland looks to go behind the scenes of these horror movies to see how they are made. The film looks to be about a British sound engineer (Toby Jones) who is hired by an Italian director to do the sound for his newest film. However, it seems that life soon begins to imitate art as his job starts to get deadly. The film looks to be a great throwback to the 70s filmmaking era, especially the Horror genre. This could be a sleeper hit in the making. [Blake]

Penance (director Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa established himself early in the 2000s with the terrifying horror film Pulse. Since then he spent several years trying to re-capture his success at scaring people with films like Loft and Retribution but his output was uneven. In 2008 Kurosawa (no relation to legendary director Akira Kurosawa) changed gears with Tokyo Sonata, a drama about a family in crisis after the father is laid off. It was another masterpiece from Kurosawa, but he hasn’t made another film since then. Now, four years later, he makes up for his lost time with the 4.5 miniseries Penance. Taking place over 15 years, the miniseries follows a woman who tries to get vengeance for the unsolved murder of her daughter. Kurosawa’s filmography may be uneven, but he’s proven himself capable of making truly great films. Hopefully Penance will be the sign of a terrific comeback. [CJ]

For those who don’t know, Sight and Sound is one of the most well-respected film publications in the world. Since 1952, Sight and Sound have been asking critics and filmmakers to submit a list of the 10 greatest films of all time, and every decade since new lists are created and compiled into one big list. This year the rules around the list have gone under a few changes.

The biggest change would be the number of contributors, with “more than 1,000 critics, programmers, academics, distributors, writers and other cinephiles” asked and over 800 lists submitted in time. The lists themselves could be made in any way, with some people picking titles out of a bowl as a way to make their own list. So, with all of the changes were there any big surprises?

It all depends on how you take the results really. The biggest piece of news from the list is that Citizen Kane no longer holds the top spot. The title of ‘Greatest Film of All Time’ now goes to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The list also has a new addition this time with Dziga Vertov’s documentary Man With a Movie Camera placing at #8. Sight and Sound has also compiled a list that was taken from over 350 submissions by directors which has a few differences from the main list. Yazujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story takes the top spot on the director’s list (it came in third on the main one) and includes more modern films like Apocalypse Now and Taxi Driver. The youngest film on the critics’ list is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey which means nothing from the 1970s onward even cracked the top 10. You can see the two respective lists below.

The Greatest Films of All Time (The Critics)
Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
La Règle du jeu (Renoir, 1939)
Sunrise: a Song for Two Humans (Murnau, 1927)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1927)
8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)

The Greatest Films of All Time (The Directors)
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
(tie) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
(tie) Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)
Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1980)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)
(tie) The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
(tie) Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1974)
Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)

Summer officially begins on Wednesday June 20, 2012 for the Northern Hemisphere and the staff here at Way Too Indie wants to make sure your cinema schedule is set when summer begins. After careful consideration we came up with our Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of the Summer. We also had four films that may be worth checking out as honorable mentions that did not quite make our Top 10.

#1 Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild has generated a ton of buzz wherever it has played. New York Times said it was one of the best films to play at Sundance in two decades and Roger Ebert recently said it is the best film he has seen this year. Perhaps what is most impressive is that all this buzz surrounding the film was accomplished by a first-time filmmaker, Benh Zeitlin. To his advantage, the star of the film Quvenzhané Wallis, has people eating out of her 7-year-old palm with her performance. Whether or not it can live up to all the hype remains the biggest question but that did not stop us from putting it as our most anticipated film for the summer. It is safe to say June 27th has been marked on our calendars; you should probably do the same. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Beasts of the Southern Wild

#2 Prometheus

People predictably went nuts when it was announced that Ridley Scott would, after 30 years, be making another science fiction movie. Then we found out it was possibly but not definitely related to Alien in some capacity (it was originally planned to be a prequel). Then we got a cast with the likes of Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba. Then came the teaser for the actual teaser, the teaser, the teaser for the actual trailer and finally the trailer itself which blew everyone away. If you could sum up 20th Century Fox’s marketing campaign for Prometheus in two words it’d be “blue balls” but the strategy is working beautifully. Prometheus looks like the movie event of the summer, a smart and terrifying sci-fi film that’ll knock our socks off. Even if the movie ends up being a flop, the marketing team deserves some kind of award for their work. [CJ]

UPDATE: Our review of Prometheus

#3 Killer Joe

Let me start off by saying that I’m a huge William Friedkin fan. I actually wanted to see this at TIFF last year it just didn’t fit into my schedule. I wish I had. The film supposedly has Matthew McConaughey’s best performance to date and is rumored to feature some outlandish scenes involving fried chicken. McConaughey is hired by a red neck family to kill one of their family members for the life insurance. When they can’t foot the bill, McConaughey takes interest in the young girl of the family. I imagine things don’t go as planned in this gruesome thriller. [Blake]

#4 The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan’s newest film has so much buzz around it one wonders if the film will overcome it. Of course, every other film Nolan has done has so you’d think this will have no problem. Based on trailers this trilogy will not have a good ending. Batman’s newest villain Bane seems to want Gotham to burn to the ground. From bringing a football stadium to rubble to blowing up bridges, Bane looks to be giving a serious makeover to the city. The Dark Knight will be a hard movie to outdo, but knowing Nolan, he should have no trouble with this feat. [Blake]

UPDATE: Our review of The Dark Knight Rises

#5 The Loneliest Planet

If you haven’t heard of Julia Loktev (and odds are you haven’t), go seek out Day Night Day Night. The movie, which followed a suicide bomber as she prepared for an attack in Times Square, was a nerve-wracking experience that kept piling on as much tension as possible until its final act. While Day Night Day Night had its share of issues, it sounds like Loktev has improved considerably with her next film. The Loneliest Planet premiered last fall on the festival circuit to rave reviews and is finally getting a limited release in August. The synopsis, about a couple backpacking in the Georgian wildness, sounds simple but according to reviews there will be a lot more surprises in store. [CJ]

UPDATE: Our review of The Loneliest Planet

#6 To Rome With Love

Would you have ever expected a light comedy about time travel with Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali to become a hit? I don’t think Woody Allen even imagined that Midnight in Paris would go on to become his highest grossing movie yet, but it ended up being his best film in years and one of the most entertaining movies of 2011. This year Allen continues his tour of Europe, landing in Italy with the likes of Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Penelope Cruz. It’s unlikely that Woody Allen will have the same amount of success as last year (looking at the rest of his recent output, Midnight in Paris was the exception and not the rule) but even at his worst Allen’s films are light enough that they serve as a nice counterweight to the big blockbusters filling up the majority of the screens over the summer season. [CJ]

#7 Moonrise Kingdom

It is hard not to be excited for a film that has Wes Anderson’s name attached to it. Add in the fact Moonrise Kingdom has a plethora of talent cast members that include; Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton and is about enough for anyone to be excited for the film. From watching the trailer you can see that Wes Anderson’s uncompromising style is present here as it is in most of his other films. The film is about a boy and girl who fall in love and run away. Laughs, claps, and even tears may be in store for this film. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Moonrise Kingdom

#8 Your Sister’s Sister

After watching the film Humpday I have kept director Lynn Shelton on my radar. Which has turned out to be an easy assignment because she has not done a film since Humpday in 2009. My ears perked when I heard she would be doing another film called Your Sister’s Sister. It is easy to see the resemblance in Your Sister’s Sister to Shelton’s previous work. The film was shot in just 12 days and apparently was mostly improvised. It certainly looks like it could provide a genuine and fresh take on a relationship film when the lead character starts to fall for his friend’s sister. Update: I saw the film a day after this was written and I can say it was definitely worth being excited for. Read my review. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Your Sister’s Sister

#9 Take This Waltz

Keep in mind I did not see Sarah Polley’s first feature, Away From Her. The film went on to receive a couple of Oscar nominations and had a lot of critical support. This is another film I planned to see at TIFF last year, but was sold out before I could get tickets. Take This Waltz stars Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams as a married couple living in Toronto whose marriage is put to the test when Williams starts to fall for a man who moves in across the street. A good supporting turn by Sarah Silverman backs up the leads. [Blake]

UPDATE: Our review of Take This Waltz

#10 Ruby Sparks

It is hard not to compare the plot of Ruby Sparks with Stranger Than Fiction, a struggling writer who in this case does not only hear the voice but can see the fictitious character he made up. However, I believe the creators of Little Miss Sunshine will add something special to the tired plot that has been done before. Paul Dano seems like a perfect choice for the film since directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris worked with him previously in the excellent Little Miss Sunshine. At the very least, it looks like a romantic comedy that is actually worth seeing. [Dustin]

Honorable Mentions: Here are four films that almost made it into our Top 10.
Extraterrestrial
Safety Not Guaranteed
Compliance
Red Hook Summer

Blake and I list our top ten favorite films of 2011. Comparing films to one another is hard to do when they are often so different. Thus ranking other people’s artwork such as films is never easy but everyone likes a Top 10 list (which is the reason why I told Blake we should do a numbered list of 10 instead of just an alphabetical one). So without further ado, our list of Top 10 Films of 2011:

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