The Best DVDs of 2011

best-of-dvds 2011 is almost over, and oh-so-quickly too. But don’t despair – one of the best things about the end of another year (apart from Christmas, and apart from summer that is) are the best ofs lists that look back on the time that was. Over the next few weeks, we’ll count down the top 10 books, films and music of 2011, as chosen by Readings staff and experts.

First up are the best DVDs of 2011.

Meek’s Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt

The year is 1845 and a trio of families set off across the sparse, almost waterless Oregon desert, placing their trust in their guide, Stephen Meek, who claims to know a shortcut through the barren terrain. A brave, slow-building film from director Kelly Reichardt which beautifully brings to light the story of America’s earliest women pioneers. Worth it for the breathtaking cinematography alone.

On Tour
Mathieu Amalric

Mathieu Amalric, of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly fame, acts and directs in this tragicomic, left-of-field road movie about a former television producer who gets more than he bargained for when he brings a troupe of Burlesque dancers back to France for a tour of his homeland. Winner of best director at Cannes last year.

Rubber
Quentin Dupieux

A true original, Rubber is the story of Robert, a discarded tyre with destructive telepathic powers that unexpectedly comes to life in the middle of the desert and goes on to wreak bloody havoc on all it comes across. A knowing take on the genre of the US low-budget horror.

A Town Called Panic
Vincent Patar & Stephane Aubier

Horse, Indian and Cowboy live together in a house on a hill in a town called Panic. Filled with boozy birthday parties, poker games and equine romance, this is a madcap, hilarious claymation from Belgian directors Vincent Patar and Stephane Aubier.

Rango
Gore Verbinski

A truly eye-widening animation that takes on the old Western and wins in the smart stakes. Rango is the story of hapless chameleon who finds himself right in the thick of the action uncovering conspiracies and fighting villains deep in the Mojave desert. Several nods to Chinatown and other movies of the era make for grand viewing for both kids and adults.

Winter’s Bone
Debra Granik

Based on Daniel Woodrell’s 2006 novel, Debra Granik’s adaptation is a poetic rendition of book to film. The story of Ree Dolly and her search for her lawless father Jessup amongst the community of rural Ozarks, this film has too many excellent scenes to count, not in the least of which includes a spine-numbing standoff between Teardrop (John Hawkes) and Baskin (Garret Dillahunt).

The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick (out on DVD Dec 7)

A staggering cinematic vision that scales back and forth between the widest reaches of the universe and the nature of life itself to the musings and pains of a small suburban family in 1960s Texas. Perhaps Terrence Malick’s most ambitious, and divisive, film to date.

Cronos (Blu-ray)
Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo Del Toro’s directional debut is doubly stunning in this blu-ray directors suite edition. An elderly antique dealer discovers an ancient device in the shape of an ornate mechanical beetle which will grant its owner eternal life, but, as it turns out, not without a bloodthirsty cost.

First Life
BBC/David Attenborough

Is there anything better than David Attenborough’s clipped, dulcet tones accompanying sweeping shots of the natural world enhanced by the most groundbreaking CGI technology? We think not. An epic look across time and our planet to discover how the first predators and pray walked the earth.

And Everything is Going Fine
Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh’s outstanding portrait of master monologist Spalding Gray, which sifts through rare footage to compile a brilliant and intimate one-may show. Intelligent and playful, this one rounds out our top 10.