Critics' Choice Movie Awards of 2011

Last week, we rolled out our Most Redeeming Movies of 2011.

This week, it's our annual Critics' Choice Awards, recognizing those films our critics believe were the best movies of the year as movies, whether they carried a redeeming message or not. Five of our choices also appear on our Most Redeeming list, and five were also nominated for Oscars for Best Picture. We also pay more attention to small indie films than the Academy generally does—thus our inclusion of films like Win Win, Of Gods and Men, Drive, and The Mill & The Cross.

Drum roll, please: Presenting the CT Critics' Choice Awards for 2011.

1. The Tree of Life

Directed by Terrence Malick
(Fox Searchlight) | PG-13

2. The Artist

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
(The Weinstein Company) | PG-13

3. Win Win

Directed by Thomas McCarthy
(Fox Searchlight) | R

4. Hugo

Directed by Martin Scorsese
(Paramount Pictures) | PG

5. Of Gods and Men

Directed by Xavier Beauvois
(Sony Pictures Classics) | PG-13

6. Moneyball

Directed by Bennett Miller
(Columbia Pictures) | PG-13

7. Drive

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
(FilmDistrict) | R

8. Midnight in Paris

Directed by Woody Allen
(Sony Pictures Classics) | PG-13

9. Super 8

Directed by J. J. Abrams
(Paramount Pictures) | PG-13

10. The Mill & the Cross

Directed by Lech Majewski
(Kino Lorber) | Not rated

Honorable Mentions: (in alphabetical order)

The Descendants, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, The Muppets, Take Shelter, War Horse, The Way

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