Flashback 2011: My top 10 favorite films from 10 years ago

And I'm back with another installment of my top 10 lists that nobody asked for. This edition I'm looking back one decade to 2011, a solid if not exceptional year for movies that turned out one all time favorite and several solid greats. I most distinctly remember it as the year a movie I actually think is quite bad -- The Artist -- came out of nowhere and won top honors at the Oscars over much more esteemed competition.

It was another year dominated by blockbuster sequels -- with another Harry Potter, another Pirates of the Carribbean, another Transformers, another Twilight and another Hangover topping the charts.

Still, there were a lot of interesting films and breakout performances (Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt both. had a terrific year, while George Clooney was robbed of a richly deserved Best Actor trophy) that I still remember fondly. Here is my top 10 for 2011.

10. Midnight in Paris - It's awkward to include this surprise commercial success from Woody Allen at a time when his reputation and cultural relevance are getting a long delayed re-evaluation, but its hard to deny that this wasn't one of his best and most endearing late career offerings. The fact that he isn't in the lead and the immensely like Owen Wilson is, goes a long way and the movie's note perfect nostalgia for a pre-WWII world is inspiring. Allen would have a couple more strong pictures in him before resorting to pure retreads, but this one can still be embraced for all the right reasons.

9. Bridesmaids - Still, one of the most uproariously funny comedies in recent years. It works because between the comedic set pieces, it's actually a very honest and moving depiction of female friendship. The entire cast is terrific -- Kristen Wiig, in the right role, is a bonafide emovie star -- and it's the movie that seemingly overnight turned Melissa McCarthy into a household name (she scored a very rare Oscar nod for a broad comedy). Wiig and company wisely resisted the urge to pursue a sequel, this is one of those gems that's just right the way it is.

8. The Ides of March - A throwback, old school talky political polemic that works because the cast is peerless. George Clooney, who also directs, gets to show a little bit of his dark side, while old pros like Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei get to bite into meaty supporting turns in this look at an ambitious political operative (played to perfection by Ryan Gosling) whose idealism is crushed when her gets too personally involved in the campaign he's signed onto. An underrated, earnest drama.

7. Contagion - Well-received when it came out, it's become one of the most revisited and prescient films of all time in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. A movie that maybe was undervalued when it was first released because is it so sleek and star-studded, but it's also incredibly smart and perceptive about how a global health crisis might play out on a small and large scale. I wish Soderbergh kept making films like these, he is so skilled at making topical entertainment that works on virtually every level. A modern day classic.

6. Moneyball - The film that probably best captured the essence of Brad Pitt's star persona (until Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). He does some of his career best work as an ex-ball player turned exec who briefly experiences glory when he decides to upend convention wisdom of the sport and embrace complex metrics in order to win. A sports movie unlike any other I've seen, gorgeously photographed and thoughtfully rendered and its finale is an unexpected emotional wallop.

5. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol - The film that reignited the most exciting action franchise in movies right now and for a time my favorite after the original. Director Brad Bird uses his incredibly creative animation brain to bring some of the most mind-bending action sequences of all time to the screen. The Dubai tower sequence may be the best action spectacle of the entire series and Cruise is having a lot of fun in the part for perhaps the first time. An immensely re-watchable epic.

4. The Tree of Life - For better or worse, I think this film represents the apex of Terrence Malick's unique brand of moody, visual storytelling. A breathtaking meditation on the nature of man and family, it's a sprawling, not entirely comprehensible masterpiece -- featuring stellar turns from Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt and even more glorious imagery that ranks among the best I've seen in any film. A beautiful tone poem that managed to find something if an audience but was also too obtuse for some (including co-star Sean Penn, who once admitted to not knowing what his role meant).

3. The Descendants - Director Alexander Payne's possible warmest and therefore most accessible film about a soon-to-be widowed father (played gloriously by George Clooney) who learns his dying wife was cheating on him amid a high stakes land dispute in his native Hawaii. Lots of trademark deadpan Payne humor here, but also some truly sensitive and heartfelt portrayals of father-daughter relationships. A lovely looking film with a delightful mix of belly laughs and brutal heartache. It should have been the Oscar favorite, but I guess it wasn't gimmicky enough.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - David Fincher not only improves on the best-selling book but creates what could have been a franchise built around Rooney Mara's stirring lead performance as an unconventional investigator opposite a bookish Daniel Craig. They have real sparks in this elaborate whodunit that's got top notch production values, a dynamic visual palate and genuine pathos to boot. I'm not sure why this movies wasn't a bigger phenomenon at the time, but it's definitely one of my favorites of this director's impressive filmography.

1. Drive - The epitome of cool, Nicolas Winding Refn's character study of a stoic, mysterious getaway driver turned Gosling into a sought after leading man and made everyone think twice about the persona of comedic actor-director Albert Brooks. It works as a genre crime film, as an ode to movies like The Driver and Thief and as an art film. Deliriously violent, unpredictable and incredible to look at. It's simply one of my favorite movies because it has a little bit of everything I want when I go to the movie.

PAST TOP 10 FAVORITE LISTS

1970 #1 movie - M*A*S*H

1974 #1 movie - The Godfather Part II

1975 #1 movie - Nashville

1976 #1 movie - Taxi Driver

1977 #1 movie - Star Wars

1978 #1 movie - The Deer Hunter

1979 #1 movie - The Jerk

1980 #1 movie - The Shining

1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters

1985 #1 movie - Fletch

1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet

1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables

1988 #1 movie - Coming to America

1989 #1 movie - Batman

1990 #1 movie - The Grifters

1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction

1995 #1 movie - Heat

1996 #1 movie - Fargo

1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights

1998 #1 movie - The Big Lebowski

1999 #1 movie - Eyes Wide Shut

2000 #1 movie - Nurse Betty

2004 #1 movie - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2005 #1 movie - A History of Violence

2006 #1 movie - Casino Royale

2007 #1 movie - There Will Be Blood

2008 #1 movie - The Wrestler

2009 #1 movie - Inglourious Basterds

2010 #1 movie - The Social Network

RIP Yaphet Kotto: A criminally underrated character actor

Yaphet Kotto was never as appreciated as he should have been. He'll always be remembered fondly -- especially by fans of the underrated cop show Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-1999), which was a pre-cursor to HBO's The Wire, and Alien, where he steals pretty much every scene he's in, but his career was incredibly impressive and varied.

For instance, years before Forest Whitaker one the Oscar for portraying Idi Amin, Kotto turned in a creepy and memorable Emmy-nominated turn as the Ugandan dictator in the acclaimed TV movie Raid at Entebbe. 

He's also terrific in a more nuanced than usual blaxploitation film, 1972's Across 110th Street, where he stars opposite the legendary Anthony Quinn as a New York cop.

I first became familiar with him from his charismatic performance opposite Roger Moore as a villain in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. Kotto made history as the first black Bond villain, but he also has a lot to do in that movie (his character adopts a fake tough guy persona, Mr. Big) and has one of the more infamous demises in the franchise's history.

Years later I would come to appreciate his work -- in two very different '70s classics that have become two of my favorite films of all time: Blue Collar and Alien.

In Blue Collar, he is one of three leads (the others, Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor) in Paul Schrader's look at autoworkers who get embroiled in criminal conspiracy involving their union. Pryor definitely has the flashiest role and Keitel is nominally the film's hero which leaves Kotto as the most mysterious and mercurial of the three. He's the one character who is implied to have actually had a criminal past and his imposing stature makes his character's fate especially shocking.

Kotto famously didn't get along with Pryor during the film -- in fact all three stars reportedly feuded and each thought they were the true star of that film, which probably meant making it was a nightmare but the real life tension provides tremendous on-screen tension and the movie is that much better for it.

The following year's Alien was an even bigger triumph for Kotto. Not only was the film an enormous hit but the movie and his performance in it are iconic. He bucked the trend of black guys dying first in movies like these and his chemistry with Harry Dean Stanton lends the movie some of its only accessible humanity.

Curiously, after this he was apparently offered the role of Lando Calrissian which eventually went to Billy Dee Williams. It'd definitely likely be a very different character if he'd taken on the role and while I'd never want to trade in Williams' suave charm, it's interesting to think about.

After that he popped up here in there and was always welcome -- like his slow burn FBI agent in Midnight Run -- and squandered a little bit of goodwill by behaving a little eccentric in his later years (he one claimed to have been aliens in real life).

And at 81, sadly, he's gone. He will always remain vivid in cinema history though, not many actors have one all-time classic movie on their resume, let alone three. But now hopefully people will appreciate his contribution to these movies more.

What could be next for Eddie Murphy?

Hollywood has never quite known what to do with Eddie Murphy. His singular talent has been put to good use but almost always through his own initiative. He first exploded playing dynamic but still somewhat stereotypical streetwise hustlers in 48 Hrs. and Trading Places. He flipped the persona on its head with his triumphant Beverly Hills Cop, which established him as a leading man in his own right.

But after that things got to be more hit or miss. Coming to America -- for a long time -- became is last across the board hit, and recently I revisited two movies from his rocky early 90s period that were a great crash course in what he can't do and what he should probably do more of: Vampire in Brooklyn and Boomerang.

Vampire in Brooklyn is easily one of the strangest (and one of the worst) films in his filmography. His performance is almost totally devoid of comedy and he's attempting to play a dangerous and scary character. But Murphy is such a non-threatening and inherently likable actor that seeming him play an angry, slick killer is just not his forte.

Boomerang is a more interesting case. The movie is a beloved cult classic with black audiences, but it's not as well known by more casual Murphy fans. It's incredibly problematic and dated jokes aside, it's an interesting curiosity. Murphy plays a relatively grounded character -- a womanizing ad exec (with one of these impossible massive NYC apartments that Hollywood is always concocting). 

It's a relatively more low-key comedic performance that grows very funny when tables are turned on his character (hence the title) when he seduced and then discarded by a woman who is not as easily manipulated (Robin Givens). While the movie will win no awards for its woke gender politics, it's a film that provides Murphy and opportunity to be not just vulnerable but to poke a little fun at his hyper cool off-screen persona. It's the kind of performance I wish he were afforded the opportunity to play more often.

Part of why he was such a revelation in Dolemite Is My Name is that it was one of the rare roles that provided Murphy with a chance to play those more insecure and needy notes -- they were always there but are frequently downplayed for wisecracks or completely neutered in the countless forgettable childrens' films which have dominated the last twenty years of his career.

At 59 he is entering a new phase of his career and it could easily go a number of different ways. Right now he is sitting on top of the world with his well-received (by fans, if not critically) long-awaited follow-up to Coming 2 America. 

It's not a groundbreaking film, but a likable enough one and a cozy reminder of how effortlessly funny Murphy can still be especially when playing someone relatable and likable. Still, I'd hate to see Murphy spend this part of his career simply going down memory lane and cashing in on our nostalgia.

I'd love to see him team up with a direct who will really put him through the ringer, like the Safdie Brothers did with Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems, take him out of his comfort zone. I'll always be a fan, he's been a big comedic inspiration for me -- but I feel like he still hasn't consistently explored the full range of his talent, even in an Oscar-nominated turn in Dreamgirls he was relatively restrained.

The only question is whether he is willing to take more risks. He always did in his stand up -- sometimes going to far to the dark side. But a little bit of that edge and unpredictability would be great for his acting too.

Da 4 Snubs: Predicting this year's inevitable Oscar misses

The Oscars have been wildly disappointing for years, maybe forever. And last year was so egregiously bad I skipped watching the ceremony for the first time that I can remember. I still am not over the snub of Lupita Nyong'o. And while the Best Actor race was stacked, you can't tell me that Jonathan Pryce impersonating the Pope was more worthy than Robert De Niro (for The Irishman) or Eddie Murphy (for Dolemite Is My Name). And this was on the heels of the year they gave Best Picture to fricken' Green Book.

Of course, the Oscars can melt your heart as well as break it. And it's incredible that Parasite took home deserving Best Director and Best Picture honors last year. That being said, the way this year's race is shaping up, or is expected to, I already anticipate being seriously disappointed by the results.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of admiration for front-runners Nomadland and Minari. Both are fantastic and deserving of winning top honors. But there were a handful of performances that were on the bubble for nominations and seem to be on the outs for one stupid reason or another, and I thought I'd highlight them here.

Maria Bakalova - Ever since she became the breakout star of the Borat sequel, this newcomer has been popping up on a lot of critic's lists and seemed to have a real shot at a nomination. Her co-star, Sacha Baron Cohen, has definitely gone out of his way to sing her praises and I think she is deserving. Her performance as Borat's daughter wasn't just a stunt, she invested a ludicrous character with real feeling and pathos and walks off with some of the film's biggest laughs. She may still score a nomination but I fear that as almost always, anti-comedy bias will keep her from getting real consideration.

Bill Murray - Speaking of comedy getting shortchanged, when I saw Sofia Coppola's lovely On the Rocks I thought Bill Murray was assured a nomination for doing some of his career best work as the well-meaning but morally dubious father of Rashida Jones. For a while he was very much in the running and then for inexplicable reasons (maybe he didn't campaign for it?) he was getting pushed aside for the likes of Jared Leto, who gives a mildly entertaining performance in a mildly entertaining movie, The Little Things. This feels like this might of been Murray's last chance to get the awards recognition he richly deserves, but he'll almost certainly get snubbed again.

Delroy Lindo - My hands down favorite performance of the year in my favorite movie of the year. Again, Lindo was at the top of everyone's list this summer and perhaps he peaked to early as is the sixth man on many prognosticator's lists. It's a shame because this criminally underrated character actor gave a tour de force acting clinic in Spike Lee's war film Da 5 Bloods and his was easily the most memorable, emotionally compelling work I saw this whole year. I know this is Chadwick Boseman's award, and he deserves it, but Lindo should be in the final five not Gary Oldman.

Elizabeth Moss -  One of the last movies I got to see in theaters was the note perfect action thriller, The Invisible Man. More than just a potboiler, it was a serious meditation on the nature and trauma of abuse. And at its center was Moss, delivering what has become another one of her trademark unhinged performances. Say what you will about Moss' off-screen persona, she's rapidly become one of the most exciting leading women in movies, and this hit showed off the full range of what she can do. If only genre movies warranted real consideration by the awards community!

'Coming 2 America' is a delightfully gift for original's fans

The big critical rub against Coming 2 America is that is basically a retread of the original -- but the movie knows that it is, embraces it and is better for it. It's a raucous, silly good time and defy anyone who doesn't take themselves too seriously not to enjoy it.

For fans of the original, nearly all your favorite characters come back -- and there is no explanation given for why the aged in the 1988 original are still alive and kicking. For newcomers there are plenty of appealing and attractive new faces including the luminous KiKi Layne (of If Beale Street Could Talk) whose storyline updates the original's subtle pro-feminism message.

If I have a quibble -- and its not entirely a small one -- is that I wanted more Eddie Murphy. At some point his surprise new male heir (played by the affable but not magnetic Jermaine Fowler) takes center stage and this is where the movie loses a little stream. Fowler isn't Eddie Murphy -- who is -- and so his romantic subplot, while sweet, feels a little leaden.

Still, overall the movie moves at a breakneck pace with glorious dance sequences (albeit with the some problematic stereotypes), a bevy of incredible celebrity cameos and some killer supporting comic turns from a who's who of black comedians including Tracy Morgan and a scene-stealing Leslie Jones.

The movie is curiously much more family-friendly than the original (save for one great gag involving royal bathers that's a callback to the first film). It's rated PG-13, which is perhaps a nod to how much of a family film the original has become in its more neutered TV form. A part of me wanted a little bit of a sharper edge from this film -- but it made me laugh and smile so much I soon realized it was delivering me what I had always wanted warm laughs and comforting nostalgia.

Is that going to change cinema as we know it? Of course not. And while Murphy is as lovable as ever here, he's not challenging himself the way he did in his bravura turn in Dolemite Is My Name. But who cares? He's earned this victory lap and it's great to see him back at what he does best after years of forgettable movies or just plain no movies at all.

And he had the graciousness to not only resurrect the best aspects of the first film as well as its positive messages -- but he provides great material for all his old co-stars, especially Shari Headley as his wife. In a role that could have easily just been window dressing, she gets to give a fully-fledged performance and is so striking on screen you'll be mad that she hasn't popped up in more stuff since the 1988 classic.

I think the original Coming to America has endured because it's the Murphy movie that had the best blend of heart and hysterical laughs and this new film doesn't surpass it, but it's a worthy successor all these years later. I don't think it could have been much better and they clearly spared no expense to make the best version of this movie they could.

I'll always have a soft spot for the fictional Zamunda -- and I am so glad I got to make the journey one more time.

'Rosewood': John Singleton's underrated racial drama revisited

The late John Singleton will always be remembered, and rightly so, for his searing debut and masterwork -- Boyz n the Hood. A film that remains a seminal piece of storytelling about the inner city black experience in the late 80s and early 90s. But there's another film he made that was not as commercially successful but which warrants reappraisal, and that's 1997's harrowing Rosewood.

It's ambitious period epic, very loosely based on the horrific events of a 1923 'race riot' which claimed the lives of several people, mostly African-American, and was spurned by a likely false allegation of sexual assault made by a white woman against a black man. Not unlike the now better known Tulsa riots, this is the story of a self sufficient predominately black community that was destroyed because of white racist rage.

What Singleton chose to do -- which was audacious at the time -- was alter the narrative from simply a document of black suffering to a heroic tale of liberation. Not unlike Tarantino's revisionist histories, Singleton chose to invent the character aptly named Mann (played with stoic gravitas by Ving Rhames) who becomes something of a black avenger against marauding mobs of white killers.

And yet, this movie is not a simplistic morality play. I am particularly impressed by how the white characters are rendered. These are not cartoonish bigots that are easy to dismiss. The always impressive Michael Rooker is phenomenal as a sheriff with a shred of humanity but without the guts to quell the white community. And if you can stomach his presence, given his modern politics, Jon Voight gives an interesting performance as a comparatively decent white man (whose engaged in an affair with a black woman) who reluctantly comes to the aid of black people in his community. The always good Bruce McGill conveys the subtle jealousies and insecurities that belie prejudice.

At times the film is reminiscent of the intense final scenes of Do the Right Thing, where callousness and chaos co-mingle in a terrifying brew. Singleton wisely doesn't censor the horrors of lynching, demonstrating how the majority who participate took joy in their work, saving trophies (ears and genitals) and posing for photos in front of decaying bodies.

One moment I will never forget -- a child covers his eyes to avoid watching the mutilation of a body and his mother pulls them away, encouraging them to look. It's just a few seconds, but it speaks volumes.

The film also brilliantly conveys how easily and with impunity white mob 'justice' could be exacted. It's a particular breed of terror that nearly every black person I know has. The idea that any black person can be turned into a suspect, have their identity questioned, their home invaded, and, ultimately, their life taken.

This is all surprising coming from Singleton, who for all his skill as a filmmaker, was often more than a little heavy handed with the messaging in his movies. Here his storytelling and subject matter is so striking it doesn't need much underlining and embellishment.

Sadly, because Rosewood failed at the box office, Singleton would pivot to more commercial fare for the rest of his career with mixed results. Had the film maybe won some awards and been better appreciated, Singleton might have been able to develop more historic epics of this kind. Still, it remains a testament to what he was capable of with a budget and subject matter worthy of him.

Does the movie end on a tad to optimistic a note? Perhaps. But a bit of hope is sometimes warranted, especially when the alternative is death and destruction. And, the film's final shot is a haunting reminder that all is far from well.

Rosewood is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel as part of their Black Westerns series. Check it out, if and when you can.

Happy birthday dad: Films my father taught me

Today is my father's 75th birthday and as a tribute to him (which he will likely know nothing about because I am not friends with him on Facebook) I thought I'd take a look back on the influence he's had on me as a filmgoer and film buff. Probably more than anyone, in my early, years, my Dad had an outsized influence on the movies I saw.

As I grew older, and developed my own taste, my Dad and I would frequently go to the movies together. He'd drive me nuts because he would almost always leave late and we'd arrive at the theater seemingly seconds before the trailers had begun (cutting it way too close for comfort for me). We had our share of bitter battles (like the time he dozed off during one of my favorite movies, The Royal Tenenbaums). But we usually were on the same page about most movies and had pretty eclectic taste (we were some of the only people to see the 2002 Solaris in the theater). 

When I think about the movies he introduced me to, or at least put on my radar, here are a few titles that come to mind...

The original Star Wars trilogy - To this day, I have no idea what my father thinks of the Star Wars films, if anything he's probably indifferent. But when I was probably about 7 or 8 years old he had to right instinct to introduce me to the original trilogy on VHS and it's safe to say I was blown away from the start. I feel like there's nothing like experiencing this saga for the first time, especially when you're young. And although my Star Wars fandom went far beyond that first viewing and continues to this day, I'll always be grateful that we bonded over it.

Cool Hand Luke - This is probably my father's favorite movie and certainly his go-to film whenever he was basically forcing us to watch one of 'his' movies when we were growing up. Paul Newman has probably always been his favorite actor and as a minister I think he's always been drawn to the Christ-like figure he portrays here. It's a wonderful movie, that I came to appreciate far more when I got older. But as a kid I simply thought it was a bore -- except for the infamous egg scene of course.

Casablanca - "Not another. black and white movie!" -- this was a regular refrain when my father would come back from the video store with one of his picks. It was often a Humphrey Bogart. black and white classic, and I am sure one of them was this classic. I am sure I begrudgingly watched it many times, turned off by it's old timey-ness but also a little bit intrigued too. Clearly, I see the wisdom in him showing me this movie now.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - There was a period where my film interest was exploding and my Dad decided to intervene and insist that if there was a film I wanted to see where there was a book version that I'd have to read the book first before I'd get permission to see the movie. For some reason, this one stands out in this regard. I grumbled about having to read the book first but of course -- while it was different than the movie (far bleaker) -- reading it made the movie a more rewarding experience.

Dr. Strangelove/Being There - I went through a big Peter Sellers phase as a child, mostly because of the Pink Panther movies, which were so silly that I was endlessly tickled by them. It was my Dad who then turned me on to Sellers' two greatest films -- the deadpan Dr. Strangelove (which I completely didn't get at the time) and the brilliant,  oddly moving Being There (which I did enjoy on first viewing). Both are among my 100 favorite films ever.

Caddyshack - I wanted to rent Caddyshack when I was a kid -- but it was rated R. I knew nothing about what it was about, but I was drawn to its cover with recognizable Chevy Chase and Bill Murray on it. My dad offered a compromise, he would watch it first and determine whether it was appropriate for me, I will never forget sneaking downstairs and hearing him howling with laughter, only to tell me the next day I couldn't see the movie. 

Happy birthday dad.