Between festivals and theatrical releases, I saw over 100 new films this year.  Some were awful, some were good, and some were mediocre.  And then there were the movies that stayed with me, and more importantly, held up on repeat viewings.  In past years, I’ve usually only had one chance to watch a movie and sometimes the initial positive impression was enough to land it on my annual Top 10 list.  Then I looked back on the list six months later and realized some films shouldn’t have made the cut.  This year, I got to attend major festivals and received “For Your Consideration screeners, which made it easier to double-check movies I enjoyed.  If you’re wondering why movies that originally received an a high rating didn’t make the list, it’s because while I still liked them on a second viewing, their faults became more apparent.  The movies on my Top Ten list became better on repeat viewings and I look forward to watching them again and again over the years.

Hit the jump to check out my picks for the Top 10 films of 2011.

As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

The first word I would use to describe Hanna would of course be basdass. Taking what Chloe Grace Moretz accomplished in Kick-Ass to a whole new level of insane, director Joe Wright pushes the little-girl assassin sub-genre into a way more mature and refined world, and everything is simply stunning. The fight choreography is tight and visceral, the editing is sharp and precise, and the music/sound editing collaborates perfectly with the story. Along with very affecting cinematography and enchanting acting throughout, Hanna is easily one of my favorite films of the year.  To check out my review of the DVD hit the jump.

Focus Features has released some artwork inspired by Joe Wright’s latest film Hanna. The studio sought out artists who “could capture the spirit of the characters and bring them to life in their own mediums.” The resulting product is pretty damn cool. Hanna stars Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana.

Hit the jump to check out the artwork. And if you haven’t seen Hanna yet, do yourself a favor and make a point to check it out before it leaves theaters.

Woo-hoo.  Folks, it looks like 2011 has indeed soared to its first big weekend win in months on the wings of Fox’s Rio.  The 3D animated toon rose from the ashes of a lower than expected Friday figure to earn an estimated $40 million for the three day frame.  Unfortunately, there was not a lot of love left over for Wes Craven’s Scream 4 but, no matter!  The weekend should still end up ahead of last year by approximately 12%.

Remember how box office watchers were counting on this weekend to become 2011’s very first big winner?  A frame whose combined grosses would finally top 2010’s?  With two high profile releases – Rio and Scream 4 – that seemed a reasonable conclusion and it still appears doable.  Unfortunately, Friday’s estimates suggest that it will not be the unqualified rout we expected considering that last April’s strongest contender was Kick-Ass.  Fox is reporting a $10.2 million opening for Rio from 3,826 locations (well over half of those in 3D).  That is not much above the $9.6 million debut of the year’s top opener Rango, which had no 3D price boost in its favor.  Projections originally put Rio above Rango’s weekend total but it now appears that the toon will end up well below that $38.1 figure.  Meanwhile Scream 4, which many believed would win Friday, pulled in an estimated $8.3 million from 3,305 locations.  That puts the sequel on track for a $22 million weekend – well below even the most conservative early projections.  Finally, three films are statistically tied for fourth place with Soul Surfer, Hanna and Arthur all estimated in the $2.1 million range for Friday while The Conspirator debuted at number ten with $1.7 million.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Four new releases hit theatres this weekend, including one that was marketed to within an inch of its life.  Still, year-to-year grosses will be down once again by almost 10% and it was a holdover that took the number one title.  Universal’s Hop earned an estimated $21.7 million to put it on top of the US box office for the second week in a row.

It looks like a good news/bad news kind of morning for Russell Brand.  The good news is that his voice-only role in last weekend’s number one film Hop will give Brand a second weekend on top of the US box office.  The bad news?  Warner Brothers’ highly-promoted Arthur redux – the film in which he actually gets his face on film – wasn’t particularly aided by the comedian’s recent PR blitz.  The widest of this weekend’s four new releases, Arthur earned an estimated $4.5 million to Hop’s $5.5 million.  Arthur’s mediocre showing was counterbalanced by two Friday overachievers.  Focus features’ Hanna took in an estimated $4.2 million while Sony’s inspirational shark-attack biopic Soul Surfer earned $3.7 million in 2,214 locations.  That just leaves us with Universal’s Your Highness.  How this R-rated comedy from David Gordon Green and Danny McBride wound up nearly tied on a Friday night with a movie about a one-armed surfer is beyond me.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

With director Joe Wright’s (Atonement) action/survival film Hanna opening this weekend, I recently got to speak with most of the cast.  Starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana, the film tells the story of a 16-year-old trained assassin (Ronan) whose perpetual fleeing an intelligence agent (Blanchett) takes her across Europe. Like I said when I posted the clips, I thought Hanna was fantastic and the music by The Chemical Brothers fits the movie perfectly.  Definitely recommended.

During my interview with Blanchett, we discussed why she got involved in Hanna and who she plays.  We also talked about how Wright directs on set, what’s her karaoke song, and I asked her what’s up with The Hobbit and how she prepared to play the police investigator in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz. Since she wore a mask during her brief scene, you may not have known she was in it.  But I’d argue her performance is the only reason the film works.  It was that important.  Hit the jump to watch.

Director Joe Wright has finally proved he’s a force to be reckoned with.  Atonement was undercut by a poor script and his direction on The Soloist overpowered the story and the performances, but with his latest film Hanna, he finally strikes an impressive balance and transforms a standard revenge flick into an effective and surreal dark fairy tale that punches the landscape almost as hard as its protagonist punches her foes.  Hanna is a film that defiantly and confidently plays by its own rules and the result is an action flick that is as thoughtful as it is exhilarating.

With director Joe Wright’s (Atonement) action/survival film Hanna opening this weekend, I recently got to speak with most of the cast.  Starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana, the film tells the story of a 16-year-old trained assassin (Ronan) whose perpetual fleeing an intelligence agent takes her across Europe. Like I said when I posted the clips, I thought Hanna was fantastic and the music by The Chemical Brothers fits the movie perfectly.  Definitely recommended.  For more on the film, here’s the full synopsis and a bunch of clips.

During my interview with Bana we talked about preparing for such a physical role, what was it like to film in Berlin, working with Wright and the way he uses long takes, how did he get involved in the project, his next movie Blackbird, and, of course, I asked what’s his karaoke song.  Hit the jump to watch.

Last weekend featured the live-action/animated comedy Hop as 2011’s highest grossing debut so far. Will Russell Brand strike gold two weeks in a row when his remake of Arthur hits the screens this weekend? Perhaps a new contender will take the box office crown. It could be the assassin-centric suspense thriller Hanna, or the uplifting tale of a shark attack survivor in Soul Surfer. But my money’s on the raunchy fantasy comedy Your Highness, starring Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman.

Hit the jump for synopses and trailers for these headliners as well as our coverage on such limited releases as Ceremony, Henry’s Crime and Meek’s Cutoff.

With director Joe Wright’s action/survival film Hanna opening tomorrow, I recently got to speak with him at the Los Angeles press junket.  While I loved Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, I was definitely let down by his last film, The Soloist.  Thankfully, Hanna is a fantastic movie filled with amazing performances and an awesome soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers.  While some directors work in the same genre again and again, Wright has shown that he has the skills to work in any genre.  For more on the film, here’s a bunch of clips and our write up from WonderCon.

During the interview we talked about film vs. digital and why, 3D, how did he get The Chemical Brothers to do the score, does he read online sites, why does he do sych long takes (says it has to do with the budget), and I asked what’s his go to karaoke song.  Hit the jump to watch.

With director Joe Wright’s (Atonement) action/survival film Hanna opening this weekend, I recently got to speak with most of the cast.  Starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana, the film tells the story of a 16-year-old trained assassin (Ronan) whose perpetual fleeing an intelligence agent takes her across Europe. Like I said when I posted the clips, I thought Hanna was fantastic and Ronan gives an amazing performance.  In addition, the music by The Chemical Brothers fits the movie perfectly.  Definitely recommended.

During my interview with Ronan, we talked about the challenges of this role and how she prepared, if she could go back to any of the places they filmed where would she go and why, what’s her karaoke song, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

After seeing the fantastic footage from Green Lantern and Cowboys and Aliens earlier today and yesterday, I was afraid that all the other presentations at WonderCon would pale in comparison. However, when I sat down for the Hanna panel, I found out I was dead wrong. Hit the jump for my thoughts on the footage and panel from the Hanna presentation.