It’s common knowledge by now that lists of top films are always rather arbitrary. That being given, they are still obsessive fun.

This year, as I was mentally compiling my list, I came to the conclusion that many of the films I would place highly in my list weren’t exactly technically proficient, nor did they push the bounds of storytelling, genre, or acting very far. After deliberating on this for a good long week, the list fractured and split into two.

“Of course,” I thought, “there are films that are the best, and there are films that are my favorite.” The distinction became clear, and while there is some very important overlaps between the two lists (Rango would easily rank high on both lists), I’ve decided to present a list of what I find to be the best films – as chosen by their contribution and influence to and on cinema – and my favorite movies – as chosen by the number of times I shall revisit them, and/or how closely I shall keep them near my heart.

Let it be known that there are still a few films I have yet to see: Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Skin I Live In, The Future, Piña, and Coriolanus, to name a few. (Understand now why these lists are capricious?) But of the near 100 films that I did see this year, here are my lists:

Best Films of 2011 01. The Tree of Life 02. Drive 03. The Artist 04. Shame 05. Rango 06. The Descendants 07. 50/50 08. Hugo 09. Take Shelter 10. The Adventures of Tintin	Favorite Films of 2011 01. The Muppets 02. Crazy, Stupid, Love. 03. Beginners 04. Midnight in Paris 05. Warrior 06. Win Win 07. Attack the Block 08. Hanna 09. The Trip 10. Carnage