Favorite Netflix Watches of 2011

Troll Hunter (2010)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
The Trip (2010)
The Guild: Seasons 1-4 (2007-2010)
13 Assassins (2010)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1980)
The Silent Partner (1978)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Cronos (1993)
The Horde (2009)

Roger Ebert  in a post discussing the fall in revenue at movie theaters for 2011 claimed that Netflix accounts for 30% of all internet traffic at night.  The correlation between seeing fewer movies in the theater and watching more Netflix is absolutely true at our house.  While I am not happy about the rise in their subscription fee, it is still an amazing deal when you consider the depth of programming available.  It is almost enough to make me consider dropping cable, but then how would I get my BBC America and HBO?

While perusing my list of watches through Netflix, I was surprised to see how few horror movies I watched, but the few that I did were exceptional.  Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos was a treat to finally catch up with and the French film The Horde was action packed and mostly intelligent take on the modern day existential zombie attack genre.  While not on the short list, I did enjoy George Romero's Survival of the Dead in spite of the odd zombie on horseback moment.  While not quite horror films, the two dark fantasies of Troll Hunter and Rare Exports were exciting takes on mythology that were full of sharp teeth to keep you wondering what lurks just beyond the pale.

While there are similarities to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai beyond the expansion of the title in Takeshi Miike's 13 Assassins, this is no homage but a bloody classic to stand side by side with the master.  And while I have not yet seen the remake, the original Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a nail biting thriller which kept me guessing for much of its six hour run time.  I am intrigued to see how they will boil down such a dense story.  Speaking of boiling, a couple of hardboiled crime films made the cut with Christopher Plummer's bank robbing Santa in The Silent Witness and sad sack sleepy eyed Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle which only goes to show that the 1970's were the last hurrah for great character based crime films.

Finally, two of the funniest films of the year were The Trip with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on an epicurean journey through the wilds of England and The Guild which is a web series lampooning online gamers.  Part of the brilliance of both is their ability to poke fun at themselves in the most unflinching ways possible.  Pointing the finger at someone else and laughing is easy, but looking within to make the joke is hallmark of a great comic.  While also not on the short list, the same could be said for Patton Oswalt: No Reason To Complain who laughs as much at himself as we do.  However, he is no Louis C.K., who is truly the master of uncomfortable self reflection at the moment.