'Midnight in Paris' is a favorite 2011 film

Of the roughly 250 movies that come through Salt Lake City each year, my wife and I see some 60 or 70 together and I see maybe another 20 with friends.

Think that's a lot? Maybe, for those who see only a handful each year, or even more ambitious moviegoers who think 12 to 15 in one year is perhaps overdoing it a bit.

But for me, it marks a dramatic drop from my two-decade tenure as the paper's critic when I saw all 250, plus occasional special engagements and many more entered in the Sundance Film Festival.

As a result, I don't pretend to be on top of everything these days. In fact, I passed on a lot of 2011 movies that are now making top 10 lists, gathering Oscar buzz and have all ready landed Golden Globe nominations.

So I no longer compile end-of-the-year best/worst lists, although I could easily do a lengthy had-no-desire-to-see-it — so I didn't — list. Which, this year, would be led by two of 2011's biggest hits: "The Hangover, Part II" and "Bridesmaids."

But hey, it's Christmas weekend, so let's instead focus on the positive, some of the good movies that came out this year. Yes, there were good movies in 2011. There are always good movies. You just have to search a little harder to find them amid all the pomp and ceremony for big-budget Hollywood blockbusters.

My favorite this year? Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," a summer picture that was released this week on Blu-ray and DVD (Sony Classics, $35.99/$30.99).

I know! It surprised me, too.

Allen's annual writing-directing efforts have been very hit and miss — mostly miss — in the '00s but he struck gold with this one, a romantic fantasy that is charming, funny and completely winning. It has also become his most financially successful film (which probably surprises him, too).

One thing that many of Allen's latter-day movies have in common is a central character who is more or less a stand-in for Allen himself.

Look through his filmography of the past two decades and you'll see a number of popular actors sort of "doing" Allen: John Cusack in "Bullets Over Broadway," Kenneth Branagh in "Celebrity," Will Ferrell in "Melinda and Melinda," Josh Brolin in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," etc.

For "Midnight in Paris" it's Owen Wilson. But with a difference.