Ten good movies you probably weren't aware of in 2011.

Some of these films are now available on pay-per-view, DVD and/or streaming video.

In no specific order:
1. THE TRIP (2011)--feature-length version of the UK television comedy miniseries with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; a highlight is their dueling imitations of Michael Caine.
2. RESTLESS--dumped by its studio, this Gus Van Sant-directed romance with Mia Wasikowska and Henry (son of Dennis) Hopper has plenty of charm, geuine intimacy and poignance--the antithesis of pumped-up stuff like the TWILIGHT series.
3. BUCK- documentary about the real-life "horse whisperer" Buck Branneman.
4. PROJECT NIM--acclaimed documentary about what happens when a chimpanzee is subjected to being raised by humans; would make a great double bill with RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.
5. GAINSBOURG--biopic of the controversial French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
6. MARGIN CALL--sometimes a bit too much like a stage play, but a gripping drama of how the dump-the-bad-assets mess of Wall Street in 2008 came to pass.
7. THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975--Swedish TV journalists' take on the USA Civil Rights era and its aftermath; interviewees include Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis.
8. THE GUARD-- just-right mixture of comedy/drama/thriller involving Irish policeman Brendan Gleeson and fish-out-of-water FBI agent Don Cheadle.
9.  MELANCHOLIA--Lars Von Trier's wedding-as-sign-of-world's-end drama features what might be a close-to-career-best performance from Kirsten Dunst.
10. ATTACK THE BLOCK--also dumped by its studio for apparently being too British for US multiplex audiences; fast and entertaining comedy/thriller/sci-fi about inncer-city London youth saving their city from invading space aliens--one of the executive producers is Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ) and Nick Frost (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, PAUL) has a supporting role.