Top 10 favorite male performances of the last 5 years

It has been over two weeks without a post from yours truly and I figured I needed to close the year in proper blogging fashion. Being that I will NOT be posting a best films of 2013 list before the end of the solar year, I thought I would gather my thoughts to share my favorite acting performances of the last five years.First, I will give you my favorite 10 male performances in alphabetical order followed, in a couple of days, by my 10 favorite female roles of the half-decade from 2009 to 2013 (warning: blind spots in 2013 abound!)As usual, I expect discerning tastes, and I would love to hear some recommendations as to whom should have made my list.

The Best Films of 2011 (updated)

It comes 10 months into 2012 but, for the first time, I am confident enough to make my own list of the “best” films of 2011.

Imagine how important it was for me to wait until now to publish this list, that the film that eventually ends up at the top is one that I only managed to watch 3 weeks ago. Without it, this list would have been a crime against my own taste.

Instead of giving you a top 10 or a top 20, I simply give you a run-down of all of the films that received, at the very least, a 4/5 (very good) in my rating system. The result is that there are 17 films out of the almost 100 films from 2011 that I managed to watch, 11 of which received a 4/5, five films received a 4.5/5 and only one received the very rare 5/5.

Despite still missing some highly praised films released the previous solar year (it is impossible to cover them all), I now give you my favorite films of 2011 (and why they are) when we are already in October 2012:

Mini Film Reviews for February & March (part 1)

Contagion

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Year: 2011

Steven Soderbergh directs Contagion, a film that explores the impact that a fast-spreading and deadly virus could cause with a scientific approach.
There is a raw quality and intensity to the film that makes it feel unique despite having a concept too often explored in the big screen.
For that same reason that sets it apart, Contagion often feels too didactic and procedural, feeling distant and void of emotion, turning death into a statistic that rarely comes across as tragedy.

Rating: 3/5 (above average)