IFC is done with the top 10-list thing -- for 2010, apparently. So to make up for the year-end-list lust that seizes us all, they've already listed a string of films they think will be the best of 2011.

They're even ballsy enough to title it "The Top Ten Films of 2011."

They do follow with the parenthetical subtitle: "Or At Least Those We Think Will Be Really, Really Great." They really have to cover themselves regarding Sean Penn in drag. Who I'm starting to think looks really effing cool at this point.

Here are two of them:

"'This Must Be the Place'

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino

Though not yet known much outside of his home country or the festival circuit, Italian auteur Sorrentino received considerable acclaim -- including a Cannes Jury Prize and even an Oscar nomination for best makeup -- for 'Il Divo,' his 2008 tale of political corruption. In his follow-up English-language debut, Sean Penn stars as a retired rock star on the search for his father's torturer, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is hiding in the U.S. Frances McDormand also co-stars. What might be the result is anybody's guess, but the pairing of Sorrentino and Penn is reason alone for great anticipation.

"'The Dangerous Method'

Directed by David Cronenberg

The last time Cronenberg tackled the medical profession, we got the eerily creepy 'Dead Ringers.' The idea that the Canadian maestro is now taking on the birth of psychoanalysis should send shivers down your cerebellum. Based on a play by Christopher Hampton called 'The Talking Cure,' the film stars Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud (he never looked that good), Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung and Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, a patient of Jung's who was also a huge influence on both their theories. A sort of ménage-a-trois of the mind, the 'Method' has all the components of a wonderfully disturbing psychological thriller."

 

Richard T. Jameson and Kathleen Murphy have once again done MSN's annual Moments Out of Time feature, a list of scenes, gestures, flashes, monologues, songs or buckets of water floating downstream (see "True Grit") that made so many great (or even not-so-great) films interesting in 2010.

It's a terrific read. Here's a start:

- The wall that is, and isn't, there: "The Ghost Writer" ...

- In the hills at night, car lights on a distant curve of road: "The American" and "Let Me In" ...

- Gold-brown chicks cupped in Teardrop's (John Hawkes) palms; memento mori in "Winter's Bone" ...

- The nub of a dark quill growing out of Nina's (Natalie Portman) shoulder blade: "Black Swan" ...

- "You'd do that for me?" — a line spoken to, and later by, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) in "The Social Network"; the addressee not getting it in either case ...

- Nic (Annette Bening) getting lost in singing Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" during a dinner party — "The Kids Are All Right" ...

- Catherine Keener's cheekbones in "Please Give" ...

- "Hereafter": Three blocks away, down the street, trees are falling: Marie's (Cécile De France) first awareness of the tsunami ...

- Mattie's (Hailee Steinfeld) bucket floating away downstream after she sees Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), "True Grit" ...

- Stretching away from his dead arm to dabble his toes in a spill of sunlight ... Aron Ralston (James Franco), sometime during "127 Hours" ...

 

 

More films were added Tuesday to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, 25 in all: all interesting choices, all that say something about America. "Airplane!" made it. And damn if it doesn't deserve it.

Here's more from The Hollywood Reporter:

"Films from esteemed directors Robert Altman, Blake Edwards, John Huston, Elia Kazan and Spike Lee and two from George Lucas are among the latest 25 motion pictures named Tuesday to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

"The films, which include Hollywood classics, documentaries, innovative shorts and genres from virtually every era of American filmmaking, span the period 1891-1996. This year's selections bring the number of films in the registry to 550.

"Included this time around is Altman's 1971 Western 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller'; Edwards' 'The Pink Panther' (1964), the first of his eight Inspector Clouseau pics; Huston's 'Let There Be Light,' a 1946 war documentary banned for 35 years by the U.S. War Department; Lee's 1992 biopic 'Malcolm X'; and Kazan's first feature, 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' (1945).

"Lucas' 15-minute student film -- 'Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB,' made in 1967 at USC -- also made the list, as did 'The Empire Strikes Back,' his much-lauded 1980 'Star Wars' sequel that was directed by Irvin Kershner.

"In addition to 'The Pink Panther,' Hollywood comedies also are represented by the snappy 'The Front Page' (1931), W.C. Fields' slapstick sensation 'It's a Gift' (1934) and the zany 'Airplane!' (1980) starring Leslie Nielsen. Such cultural touchstones as the Depression Era's 'Make Way for Tomorrow' (1937), the horror box-office blockbuster 'The Exorcist' (1973), the Watergate thriller 'All the President's Men' (1976) and the disco-infused 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977) also were selected, as were lesser-known yet culturally vital works, such as the black independent film 'Cry of Jazz' (1959) and 'I Am Joaquin' (1969), from Chicano groundbreaker Luis Valdez.

 

 

What a lovely poster. Natalie Portman certainly helps. And, as Kay Thompson would say, "Think Pink!"

Incentive Film Entertainment has released the debut poster for "The Other Woman," which is also called "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits."

The picture, adapted from a novel by Ayelet Waldman, is directed by Dan Roos (he also helmed "The Opposite of Sex") and stars Portman, along with Lauren Ambrose, Lisa Kudrow, Scott Cohen and Charlie Tahan. Portman plays a lawyer who takes away the husband of her boss (Kudrow) and things get ... messy. "Impossible results," as the title states.

 

I was already shocked that Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" was one of the highest-grossing pictures of all time, but this one, well, Sandra Bullock just did a spit take of her decaf latte. "Mia Wasa ... what the hell?"

According to Movieline, the newest actress to gross over $1 billion at the box office this year was:

"Ready for some shocking monetary figures that will put your $9/hour filing paychecks to shame? According to Forbes, Leonardo DiCaprio grossed $1.1 billion at the global box office in 2011 thanks to the fearsome twosome of 'Shutter Island' and 'Inception.' Okay, maybe DiCaprio’s perch on top of this year’s highest-grossing list is not that shocking. What is surprising, though, is which young actress finished just behind the actor, grossing over $1 billion. Any guesses?

"If you guessed Mia Wasikowska, you’re right! The 21-year-old Australian actress tied her 'Alice in Wonderland' co-star Johnny Depp for second place, both with 'a total worldwide gross of $1.03 billion.'"

 

It's been quite a year for Michael Douglas. A critical success with "Solitary Man," a mixed bag with "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and then, of course, his sad bout with cancer, which he is bravely facing.

And now, the Palm Springs International Film Festival will be handing out an award to the actor at its 2011 Awards Gala.

Here's more from TheWrap:

"PSIFF on Monday announced that Michael Douglas will receive its Icon Award, which will be handed out not at the main awards ceremony, but before a January 13 screening of 'Solitary Man' in the festival's Talking Pictures: The Contenders series.

"'We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to honor Michael Douglas at a time when both his creative prowess and his contributions to world cinema have never been more evident – or more deserving of celebration,' said PSIFF festival director Darryl Macdonald in the press release announcing the honor. 'Simply put, he’s an American treasure.'