Popular movies are not necessarily quality movies so no wonder some of the best of 2011 were among the worst performers at the box office. Talking of three super hits -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, all grossing more than one billion dollars each -- it seems the answer to the riddle of success lies in the craze for sequels. However, irrespective of their business value, great movies stand out and here are two of them.

The Ides of March

Political topicality has its immediate appeal since politics affects everyone but not a political movie as such does unless there is ingenuity in weaving the plot that might have to take the audience along the labyrinthine corridors of cunningness, conspiracy, betrayal, scandal, murder and even romance. The Ides of March passes the test successfully. Based on Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North and released on August 31, 2011, the movie is purely a conversation based drama that builds on secrets, deceptions and integrity in the main.
 
Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is a smart and ambitious Junior Campaign Manager for Mike Morris (George Clooney), who is a Democratic presidential candidate and is competing with Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell) for winning the nomination. They both are aggressively campaigning in Ohio because the victory in this state will secure Morris' nomination over Pullman. During this campaign, Meyers receives a call from Pullman's Campaign Manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) who requests him for a surreptitious meeting. Meyers tries to contact his boss, Senior Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), to inform him about this call but Zara is not available.

After battling with his mind for some time, Meyers finally goes to see Duffy and rejects the offer. Meanwhile Meyers gets romantically involved with an intern in his office, Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), and while in their romantic interactions he finds out the darkest secret of Morris which if divulged will tarnish Morris' public image seriously and will eventually destroy all the chances of his nomination. Meyers does everything to prevent the secret from leaking out.

When Zara comes to know about Meyers' visit to Duffy she fires him. To his utter bafflement, Meyers discovers that his meeting with Duffy was a trap set by the opponent team.

The way Meyers fights back for his job is extremely intriguing. Despite the level of intensity, the movie is never boring. It vividly portrays the dirty side of politics in a very smart way.

The only problems with the movie are the ending is too abrupt and the delicate matter of Molly Stearns' death has not been handled with care.

As director, George Clooney has done a fabulous job but as Morris he is even better. However, the star of the movie is Ryan Goslings. Each and every expression of his is impeccable.
 
If you have not watched The Ides of March yet, you should give it a shot; you will not be disappointed.
 
A Separation

A Separation is an Iranian drama movie written and directed by Asghar Farhadi. Ever since its release in Berlin Film Festival on February 15 last year, it has received a number of awards and now is heading towards Academy Awards as the official Iranian candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film. Its production cost is US$500,000, and so far it has earned about US$3,100,000 in Iran and US$14,908,906 abroad.
The movie starts off with Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (PeymanMoaadi) in a courtroom pleading for a divorce to end their fourteen years of marriage. Simin wants to settle abroad as this would ensure the future of their eleven year old daughter Termeh (SarinaFarhadi) but Nader does not want to leave Iran and his father (Ali-AsgharShahbazi), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Since they both cannot come to a compromise, Simin decides to divorce her husband. However, the judge does not think that this is a strong ground so he rejects Simin's application. Simin  stays with her parents leaving behind their daughter with Nader. In the meantime Nader appoints a maid, Razieh (SarehBayat), who would do the household chores and more importantly take care of Nader's father while Nader is away. Razieh is extremely religious and she brings her cute little daughter Somayeh to Nader's place every day.
 
One day, Nader along with his daughter Termeh comes back home and finds his father lying unconscious on the floor with his hands tied to the bed; money is missing from the house and so are Razieh and her daughter. When Razieh returns, Nadir yells at her furiously and turns her out of the house. A few days later Razieh and her husband Hojjat (ShahabHosseini) hold Nadir responsible for Razieha's miscarriage accusing that Nadir threw Razieh out of his house in a violent manner. From this point onward the story revolves around whether Nadir is guilty or Razieh is lying and how all this affects Nadir and Simin's separation and what impact the situation makes on the two little girls in two different families.

The movie may not be technically very well made but the director has managed to capture the emotions of the protagonists perfectly and the actors have done a fantastic job in defining their relationships. The relationship between Simin and Nadir, who are on the verge of their divorce, is beautifully portrayed. There is no trace of romance between them but the feeling and the care for each other can clearly be seen in the actors' eyes. The father-son relationship of Nadir and his father is simply adorable. Termeh's and Somayeh's interactions with their parents are amazing. Perhaps the most critical role is played by Sareh Bayet as Razieh; she portrays superbly the character of a woman who outwardly remains firm with her protestations while inwardly being tormented by the fear of having committed a sin.

Other than the slow pace of the movie and the open-ended conclusion to the story, there are hardly any flaws in A Separation that can detract from its charm of presenting the domestic life of a contemporary urban Iranian couple in the most credible manner. 

Oditi Shirleena Mostafa from ET Entertainment Desk