10. Bridesmaids
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Jon Hamm, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper
Director: Paul Feig
Release Date: 13th May 2011

Two feuding bridesmaids (Wiig & Byrne) battle over how to plan their friend’s wedding. Unlike Bride Wars, this isn’t sappy or girly girly. It’s more like a female version of The Hangover, even though it turns more serious in the second half. Ultimately this is Wiig’s tour de force, as she pairs being one of the best comedy actresses around with suprising dramatic skills. The movie was produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Paul Feig, who last worked together on Freaks And Geeks. Bridesmaids has great characters, performances, laughs and replay value.

9. X-Men: First Class
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release Date: 3rd June 2011

60s-set prequel to the X-Men trilogy which focuses on the relationship between Charles (aka Professor X) and Erik (aka Magneto) as young men and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. As Charles establises his school and Erik seeks revenge against his tormentors in the concentration camp, a new mutant threat, Sabastian Shaw, emerges seeking to provoke nuclear war between the superpowers. This is a throughly entertaining movie that plays like a smarter, freakier version of a Bond flick. Fassbender is excellent as Magneto, and Bacon is compelling as Shaw.

8. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (U.S. Remake)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer
Director: David Fincher
Release Date: 20th December 2011

A disgraced journalist (Craig) investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch’s niece 40 years earlier, with the help of a punky computer hacker carrying serious man issues (Mara). Sticking closer to the book and with an on-fire David Fincher at the helm, this is an improvement on the Swedish movie, which was pretty good to begin with. Rooney Mara fully commits to the now iconic role, finding the right balance of agressive edge and vulnerability.

7. The Artist
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Release Date: 23rd November 2011

It’s 1927 in Hollywood and while a silent movie star wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with a young dancer set for her own big break. The movie is shot as if it’s a silent black and white from the ’20s, and while no dialogue might sound daunting, it reminds us that as much, if not more, can be communicated by the face. The leading man won best actor at Cannes this year. The Artist is just a fantastic idea, brilliantly executed.

6. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Josh Holloway
Director: Brad Bird
Release Date: 16th December 2011

The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his new team (Renner, Patton, Pegg) to go rogue to clear their organisation’s name. The villains are played by Michael Nyqvist (09′s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire). Directing duties were given to Pixar animation maestro Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), whose experience of live action was minimal. But it paid off. Critics agree this is the best high-adrenaline action flick of the year, by some way. The edge of your seat tension is capped by the skyscraper sequence, which in Imax is one of the most heart-in-mouth sequences in cinematic history. It’s also the best Mission Impossible movie – not as convolted as the first, bigger in every way than the third.

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