To be honest, 2011 wasn’t that controversial of a year in the music world. I mean, sure we lost a few great bands (The White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, etc.) and saw Katy Perry tie with Michael Jackson for their number of chart-topping songs but this year was relatively quiet compared to the past few years.

It was an interesting year for film. Perhaps not as notable or memorable as 2010, but 2011 certainly had its moments and there were many films released that will likely leave their mark on the world of cinema for years, perhaps even decades to come.

2011 is the weakest year of film in recent memory. That’s not to say there weren’t some pretty good films out there, but it is the first year in which I can recall not having seen a movie that has earned a four-star rating. Whereas some critics give them out like candy, it takes a little more for me to award such a rating. I have to be absolutely blown away by a film for such a rating to be given. For example, last year I saw three four-star films: Inception, The King’s Speech, and Rabbit Hole, each of them a superb achievement in cinema.

2011 has been a pretty good year for film and so far, out of the films that I have seen, quite a few that I didn’t have overly large expectations for really blew me away. Unfortunately, living outside the US means that there are quite a few key films that will be big fixtures in this year’s awards season that I haven’t seen yet. What this means is that this list probably won’t be my final top 10 of the year, rather, it’s more a top ten of what I’ve seen thus far.

Every year it seems more and more films are being released, which of course means that more and more fantastic fresh faces are being discovered, who may start off as completely unknown actors but can grow to become household names in just one short year. 2011 has been a huge year for movies and a huge array of new stars have now taken the world by storm. From films like The Tree Of Life, The Artist, Drive, and many, many more, we have been introduced to a number of fantastic actors who will be sure to shape the world of cinema in the future.

We reach that all important time again: the compilation of the year’s best films. And in all honesty I think this has been a terrific year, which is surprising because in a year in which Hollywood has failed to supply the goods, 2011 has been the year of the independent film. There have only been a handful of great films this year that were big Hollywood productions.

As per usual, the year brought us many stinkers that we as film critics were forced to sit through, so once again, it’s time to air out the dirty laundry to bring you some of the very worst films that the year had to offer.

With political worries and economic woes taking up most of the small screen, 2011 has been a great year for movies because we’ve needed it to be. From big-name blockbusters to the artsiest of indie films, our actors and actresses have taken it upon themselves to give us some much needed distractions, and a lot to talk about. This group is so talented that we’re convinced the Oscars are going to be a bloodbath this year. That’s why we’re sharing our favorite performances of the year, and why we’ll keep talking about them long after awards season is over.

It’s been quite a legendary year for video games. We’ve seen phenomenal releases, stupid PR stunts, and entire communities of people turn on their source of entertainment. We’ve also seen greater disappointment than we’ve ever expected and come-from-behind victories for games we expected nothing from.

2011 has been pretty good year at the movies. Woody Allen returned to form with one of his best films ever, Midnight in Paris, Rango was an animated treat that has lingered in my memory all year long and the Oscar race is shaping up to be a fascinating and fun debate. Best of all 2011 has fewer ‘worst films of the year’ candidates than any year that I can remember since I became a film critic more than a decade ago.