Sam Ashurst (Deputy Digital Editor)
1. Kill List
“Bleak, eerie and utterly weird - and, like all truly great horror films, totally in sync with our times. Kill List wasn't just the best cult flick of the year, it could end up being the best terror tale of the decade.”
2. Animal Kingdom
3. 13 Assassins
4. I Saw The Devil
5. The Tree Of Life
6. Snowtown
7. I Spit On Your Grave
8. The Guard
9. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
10. Rubber
Matt Maytum (Digital Contributing Editor)
1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
“ Tinker… gracefully straddles the cavernous abyss between multiplex and ‘arthouse’: big, starry and thrilling enough to fall into the former category, but intelligent, classy and rich enough for the latter. Great performances, lean scripting, and stylish, crisp direction make for a genuinely deserving awards-contender (as opposed to a cynical one). And it deserves endless credit for making dialogue exchanges more tense than any of this year’s punch-ups.”
2. Blue Valentine
3. Drive
4. The Skin I Live In
5. The Fighter
6. The Tree Of Life
7. Black Swan
8. X-Men: First Class
9. Source Code
10. The Artist
Rosie Fletcher (News Editor)
1. Animal Kingdom
"I was completely blown away by this right from that dark opening - it's one of the most tense and surprising crime dramas I've seen in a very long time, with astonishing performances all round and so many standout moments - the supermarket, the raid, the embankment, the fish shop. I've been banging on about it for the entire year and I intend to carry on doing so in 2012."
2. Black Swan
3. Take Shelter
4. Tucker & Dale vs Evil
5. Bridesmaids
6. Sleeping Beauty
7. The Guard
8. Hugo
9. Snowtown
10. Super
Kathryn Twyford (Production Editor)
1. Black Swan
" Black Swan is so very powerful, which is surprising for a film about ballet. I was gripped by this from the very start - an exhilarating, melodramatic ride."
2. Senna
3. TT: Closer To The Edge
4. Drive
5. Crazy Stupid Love
6. Source Code
7. The King's Speech
8. 127 Hours
9. The Ides Of March
10. Tangled
Louise Brock (Designer)
1. Bridesmaids
"I came out the screening with panda eyes from crying with laughter and on consequent viewings it's been just as amusing. It was fun, didn't take itself seriously and is far better than the stereotypical SATC dross :) "
2. Black Swan
3. Thor
4. X-Men: First Class
5. The Hangover Part II
6. The King's Speech
7. Jane Eyre
8. Drive
9. Arriety
10. Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
Richard Jordan (Production Assistant)
1. The Skin I Live In
"A taut, twisted revenge tale laced with plenty of black humour and even a bit of body horror, beautifully shot and featuring an intense performance from Antonio Banderas. Almodovar back to his brilliantly weird best."
2. Black Swan
3. Drive
4. Animal Kingdom
5. We Need To Talk About Kevin
6. The Fighter
7. Super 8
8. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
9. Submarine
10. Fair Game
Ben Chapman (Digital Designer)
1. Drive
"Post-Schrader Lone Wolf violently outsmarts The Genre with a tale of love, vengeance and existentialism. This is Ultra-Cool, Neon-Noir, Anti-Hollywood Cinema at its most bleeding edge."
2. Snowtown
3. The Tree of Life
4. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
5. The Guard
6. X-Men: First Class
7. Captain America: The First Avenger
8: Source Code
9. The Rum Diary
10. Rango
George Wales (Digital Contributor)
1. Drive
"From the rulebook-shredding heist scene, to the unspeakable violence in the elevator, this modern day noir was a masterclass in celluloid cool."
2. The Fighter
3. Black Swan
4. Blue Valentine
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
6. Source Code
7. Bridesmaids
8. Animal Kingdom
9. Submarine
10. The King's Speech
Josh Winning (Digital Contributor)
1. The Guard
"Armed with a caustic wit and a hilariously belligerent hero, this was the surprise of the year, with Brendan Gleeson winningly tart as the twinkly-eyed lead. An instant, unforgettable classic."
2. The Fighter
3. True Grit
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
5. The Skin I Live In
6. The King’s Speech
7. X-Men: First Class
8. Rabbit Hole
9. Bridesmaids
10. Weekend
