The best of 2011

Best books (that I've read this year)

1. The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

2. North And South by Elizabeth Gaskell

3. Adventures In Two Worlds by A.J. Cronin

4. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

5. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

6. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

7. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

8. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

9. Paradoxical Undressing by Kristin Hersh

10. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson

Best albums (that I bought in 2011).

In alphabetical order.

A Thousand Years Of Popular Music by Richard Thompson

Automatic For The People by R.E.M.

Debut by Bjork

Everything All The Time by Band Of Horses

Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes

God Willing & The Creek Don't Rise by Ray Lamontagne

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Limbo by Throwing Muses

Passenger by Lisa Hannigan

Philharmonics by Agnes Obel

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

University by Throwing Muses

Best films of 2011 (that I saw. Due to ill health I missed quite a few films that looked great, like Drive, Midnight After Paris, etc. They will be on my dvd list of 2012.)

1. The King's Speech

2. True Grit

3. The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

4. Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (US version)

6. The Fighter

7. Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

8. 127 Hours

9. Source Code

10. Limitless

Best DVD's (that I watched in 2011)

1. Amadeus

2. Of Gods And Men

3. The Secrets In Their Eyes

4. North And South (2003 tv version)

5. Away We Go

6. The Remains Of The Day

7. 21 Grams

8. The Orphanage

9. Harry Brown

10. Adam

Babes of 2011 (my favorite part of the list)

1. Lucy Liu

2. Amanda Seyfried

3. Norah Jones

4. Nia Long

5. Camilla Belle

6. Cobie Smulders (Robin from How I Met Your Mother)

7. Freida Pinto

8. Zoe Saldana

9. Monica Bellucci

10. Anna Friel

Amadeus

Creative license is a great thing. And it is applied to great effect in Milos Forman's glorious Amadeus. All it needed was a decent car chase and some kung fu action scenes and it would be nothing short of a masterpiece. I watched the director's cut and it did not drag for one second of the 173 minutes of its runtime. This is due to great storytelling, sumptous costume and set designs, wonderful acting, a sharp script and of course the sublime music. The right music is used at the right time in the film, so take a bow Milos Forman and your staff of editors and writers and musical advisers. The portrayal of Mozart caused some upset when it was first released in cinemas. The Mozart in the film is giddy, frivolous, temperamental and naive, hence the creative license, but this is intrinstic to the plot. The story centers around the relationship between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, court composer for Emperor Joesph II of Austria. Salieri is infuriated that God has blessed the childish Mozart with such genius and he is so consumed by jealousy that he schemes to wrestle fortune and fame away from his rival. It is also a form of revenge against God, who he feels is mocking him through Mozart. Salieri was a real person and a much respected composer and teacher in 18th century Vienna, but to the best of my knowledge the depiction of his character in Amadeus is highly fictionalized. I've conducted a little research (okay I just looked up Wikipedia) and there might be some truth that the two composers viewed each other as rivals but this seemed to be purely on a professional level and without the drama and tragedy of the film. Revenge and envy are the driving forces of Amadeus, much of the film being a flashback told by an elderly Salieri to a priest in confession, but significant aspects of Mozart's life and music are shown with a mixture of humor and poignancy: his married and family life, the ups and downs of his musical career, his relationship with his father, and of course his genius. Tom Hulce was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Mozart but he lost out to his co-star F. Murray Abraham. Both are wonderful but, for once, I think the Academy got it right in giving Abraham the award for his portrayal as Salieri. Amadeus is a fascinating, powerful and delicious piece of cinema. 9/10