The Most Overlooked Films of 2011 (So Far)

The year has hit its halfway mark (well, February technically puts that milestone off by a couple of days, but work with me here), so when better to stop and look back – in chronological order – at the hidden gems of these past six months.

1. The Way Back (now on DVD/Blu-ray)

Master and Commander director Peter Weir’s sweeping epic about escapees from a Siberian gulag (played by Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Saoirse Ronan, among others) got a half-hearted theatrical release back in January. Now that it’s on home video, we recommend watching it at a friend’s house – really, wherever you can find the biggest screen on which to get caught up in a good old-fashioned adventure story.

2. Cold Weather (on DVD August 2nd)

Among indie films, the label of “mumblecore” became something of a four-letter word to describe any low-budget outing that focused on twenty-/thirty-something relationship troubles and ennui. The term seems to have petered out a bit, but at first glance, it would seem well-suited to describe Aaron Katz’ low-key character study. That is, before the charms of lead Cris Lankenau and the cast pay off when the plot turns into an honest-to-goodness mystery – one interesting enough that you’ll wish the film didn’t meet such a traditionally mumblecore end when it does.

3. Carancho (now on DVD)

This drama about an ambulance chaser (Ricardo Darin) and a paramedic (Martina Gusman) was Argentina’s submission for last year’s Academy Awards, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a smoldering romance, a damning critique of a broken healthcare system and a crackerjack thriller rolled into one confidently helmed package. Imagine Michael Clayton crossed with The Square, and you’ll have a rough idea of what you’re in for.

4. I Saw the Devil (now on DVD/Blu-ray)

South Korean cinema has pretty effectively cornered the market on intense revenge thrillers with films like Oldboy, The Chaser and this tale of a secret agent (Lee Byung-hun) playing cat-and-mouse with the madman (Choi Min-sik) who murdered his fiancée. Director Kim Jee-woon laces the proudly excessive violence with a wickedly dark sense of humor, yet grounds it all with a genuinely conflicted sense of morality. The leading men are both fantastic, and the camerawork is often impressive in its own right; check it out if you have the stomach for it.

5. Jane Eyre (on DVD/Blu-ray August 16th)

This umpteenth adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel is the leading contender for 2011’s most understated romance, as the much put-upon Jane (Mia Wasikowska) and the secretive Rochester (Michael Fassbender) hit it off at his English manor. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that those two work wonders together, nor that Adriano Goldman’s cinematography is effortlessly gorgeous throughout.

6. Rubber (now on DVD/Blu-ray)

Certainly a lock for the year’s biggest WTF? film, Quentin Dupieux’s riff on the slasher movie formula – starring a killer tire (yes, as in car tire) – also doubles as a sharp commentary on audience expectations. You probably already know whether you’re in or out, but I promise that you’ve never seen anything quite like this before.

7. Meek’s Cutoff (on DVD/Blu-ray September 13th)

Kelly Reichardt’s frontier journey is a much different animal from something like The Way Back. We’re only given the scantest narrative to follow – Michelle Williams and fellow settlers fear that they’re lost in 1845 Oregon – and Reichardt takes her sweet time with her shots (composed in the claustrophobic 1:33 aspect ratio) and plot developments. The pace couldn’t be much slower, but the stakes couldn’t be much higher, as doubt and determination drive our characters to strike out into unknown literal and emotional territory.

8. Ceremony (now on DVD/Blu-ray)

Sam (Michael Angarano) is convinced that Zoe (Uma Thurman) still has feelings for him, and he’s willing to crash her wedding to the smug Whit (Lee Pace) to prove it. Don’t worry – Wedding Crashers 2, this is not. Instead, Max Winkler’s winning directorial debut owes much more to the dramedies of Hal Ashby, striking a welcome balance of quirky antics and melancholy.

9. 13 Assassins (on DVD/Blu-ray July 5th)

Takashi Miike’s most mainstream picture of late is simply an old-school tale of samurai honor, clearly modeled on the works of Akira Kurosawa and capped off with a staggering 40-minute climax that has to be seen to be believed.

10. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (on DVD/Blu-ray September 13th)

This documentary follows the stand-up comedian on last summer’s “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television” Tour, and while it’s certainly full of laughs, it also doesn’t flinch from the physical and emotional toll that the tour takes on the funnyman and his occasional resentment towards an establishment that always wants more out of him than he’s able to give. The only pick on this list still in a limited theatrical release, Can’t Stop is also available on demand through most cable providers.

Over the next six months, we’d recommend that you keep an eye out for 50/50 (9/30), Attack the Block (7/29), The Interrupters (7/29), Project Nim (7/8) and Thunder Soul (9/23), just to name a few.

Which of your favorites did we leave out? Beginners? Certified Copy? Submarine? The Tree of Life? Win/Win? Recommend more titles in the comments below.