The best films of 2011

I'm two months late in compiling my favourite films of 2011 but because most films are released in Australia very late, I needed the time to get to see them first.

 I don't like arranging these in order of preference because I love them all the same so I'm just going to list them alphabetically. Without further ado here are my top ten favourite films released in 2011 (according to their American release):

Less than half of these got nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. How War Horse and Extremely Loud got nominated is beyond me. I think the Academy needs to do a yearly audit of its members and dismiss those with poor film taste. 

The Academy also needs to have the balls to recognise young, fresh talent and not just nominate the same people every single year. I'm still trying to figure out why Elizabeth Olsen wasn't nominated for Martha Marcy May Marlene or why Drive was snubbed. I feel really bad for Ryan Gosling too. He had two fantastic roles this year and he wasn't nominated for any. Let's not forget about Michael Fassbender. Argh! I could go on forever. I'm just going to stop right here.

Honourable Mentions:

Tyrannosaurus

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Descendants

Hugo

Bill Cunningham New York

Contagion

Certified Copy

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Trollhunter

Jane Eyre

Haven't seen but probably would have made it on the list:

A Separation

Take Shelter

Moneyball

Shame

A Dangerous Method

Young Adult

Le Havre

Incendies

Another Earth

All images are screenshots from trailers or posters.

A package from Hogwarts

My satchel came in today in the most adorable packaging. It looked like something Hedwig would deliver. For a quick second I honestly thought I got accepted to Hogwarts even though they were a few years too late. But alas, still a Muggle. One can still dream.

It came just in time for me to use it for my uni lecture today. The satchel is big enough to carry my iPad and books and everything else I need. I can even fit my Macbook Pro in there. 

Have a good weekend everybody and if you go to UNSW, Oktoberfest is tonight! Can't wait. My beer belly needs feeding.

Images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling

Okay, this is going to be a personal post. 

I freaking love Harry Potter.

I was that 11 year old who checked the mailbox several times a day to see if I received a letter to attend Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the very first novel I ever read and finished. Don't ask me why I started with the third book, I don't really remember why but I just did. Even though I only understood small parts of it due to my limited understanding of English because I only just moved to New Zealand from the Philippines. I remember falling in love with books after that and spent so much time with my nose buried in a book, Harry Potter or otherwise. Apart from that TV show Arthur and that library card song they sang, I could only attribute my love for reading and writing to J.K. Rowling and her magical creations.

Not only did the Potter series inspire me to read and write, it also nourished my expanding sense of imagination. It also punctuated my childhood and reminiscing back, I realised most of my fondest memories involved Harry Potter. 

I remember reading too much books in dim light and sitting too close in front of the television so that my vision would worsen and I would get to wear glasses like Harry. This was when pretentious, non-prescription spectacles did not exist like they do today.

I remember playing faux-Quidditch using mops and brooms found in the garage and I ran around with my brother and neighbours in the backyard throwing around a Quaffle (which was just a basketball) and chasing a pretend Snitch.

Those Harry Potter rumours sections of K-Zone, Disney Adventures and other kids' magazines were my tabloids (Dumbledore's Animagus is Hedwig?!?!).

I remember trying to make Butterbeer using butterscotch and goodness knows what. It ended up tasting gross by the way.

I got into trouble after making a mess staining my notebooks with tea and breaking pens in half to extract the ink so I can use the feather I found on the street as a quill.

I used to have a journal and I called it Jesue's Standard Book of Spells, like the textbook Hogwarts students were prescribed with. I wrote spells in there, some taken from the books and some I made up on my own, complete with details such as wand movements, (Wingardium Leviosa is with a swish and flick) the incantation and how to pronounce it and instructions on how to fully master the spell (one must find their happiest memory in order to conjure up their Patronus Charm).

Those are just some of the memories I have growing up with the series. I'm sure there's lots more.

What are your Potter memories?

Image from SiixDream