For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - The Woman In Black
The Impression:
Mr. Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe’s first foray in to the
world of non-Hogwart’s related cinema. It’s produced the
rekindled Hammer films and the trailers impress a haunted
house story set in the countryside of Victorian Britain. All
of these things sound good to me. But I warn you, it is
February and there’s a reason studios torpedo films in to
the murky water of these godforsaken winter months.
The Reality:
For most of its running time, The Woman In Black is a
creepy, well-shot haunted house flick that never tries to be
anything else. Daniel Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps a
widower, and failing lawyer sent to the barren, coastal
marshes of Britain to help put to rest the paperwork of a
deceased client. The town attempts to expel him at all cost,
the house is daunting mess of spookiness, and then there’s
the whole thing about children mysteriously dying at the
hands of the titular Woman In Black - this movie genuinely
scared me. There was a moment near the end, a sustained
moment of fright you might call it, where my body shook in a
way that it has never done before. Not like I was going to
wet myself out of fear or have a heart attack, just a long
drawn out shudder caused by a frightful revulsion of which
I’ve never felt. The film stumbles narrative-wise two-thirds
of the way through and I thought it would derail the film
for me, but it recovers and its impressively morose and
creepy imagery kept me tied to my seat. For those looking to
lambaste Radcliffe for his lack of thespian ability, leave
your coat at the door, Radcliffe handles himself admirably,
perhaps not fully shaking himself clean of the lingering
Potter impression, but nonetheless imbuing his character
with a convincing sense of desperate dread.
The Lesson:
The Woman In Black has me curious as to what both Mr.
Radcliffe (I think it’s time to drop the Potter nicknames,
there will actually never be another one again) and Hammer
Films are planning next.
For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - The Innkeepers
The Impression:
Ti West this, Ti West that - this horror director made a big
impression with The House Of The Devil (a film I
never saw) and his follow up is supposed to be a smart,
funny bit of fright.
The Reality:
I never figured out what Ti West was trying to do in The
Innkeepers. It’s obviously a horror picture - a
seemingly straightforward haunted house story about two
employees of a haunted hotel on its last weekend of
existence - but for some reason I just expected more. I
don’t know if it was the hype behind the film or that it was
so basic in its execution and its concept that I imagined
West was aiming for something more metatextual but the film
just seemed stagnant to me. Sara Paxton is good, if not a
little too quirky, as Claire, the female lead determined to
discover evidence that a ghost haunts the Yankee Pedlar Inn,
but she doesn’t have a lot to do but wander to and fro
through the hotel screaming at things that scare her. It’s a
film that made me think that perhaps I’d nodded off, or that
I’d missed something while distracted, as it ended with an
air of "ohhhhhh, I see" but with no recognizable payoff. I
almost wanted the film to drop the whole ghost schtick, to
just focus on the two main characters and the hotel. Those
were interesting, the ghost B plot seemed a little forced.
The Lesson:
I need to check out Ti West’s other stuff to see what my
thoughts are. This isn’t really a lesson, more just a
description of what I’m going to do after this.
For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Chronicle
The Impression:
A found footage film mated with a superhero film? Could be
interesting. More interesting is the huge studio interest in
Josh Trank post-Chronicle. Not to say that studio
interest means anything anymore, but, it might mean good
things.
The Reality:
The first twenty-five minutes of Chronicle are what
you need to get through if you want to enjoy the rest of the
movie. It’s the set-up of the film, three teenagers (one
dork, one jock, one former-popular kid) find a strange
meteor in the ground and it gives them, well, powers to do
things. Powers that if they use too much cause headaches and
nosebleeds. Powers that are getting stronger each and every
day. For the first twenty minutes, maybe even thirty or
forty minutes, the three kids act incredibly annoying (say
stupid shit, do even stupider shit, listen to shitty music),
then get powers and proceed to act equally annoying but with
a bevy of classic superhero powers (strength, flight,
telekinesis) to add to their ability to annoy. I thought
perhaps this film would just annoy me, but the realization
struck me that this film, and these good actors, were
portraying high schoolers completely straight. High school
kids are obnoxious (I’ve been one) and if granted powers
instead of instantaneously becoming honorable crime fighting
super heroes, they’d probably pull some stupid pranks and
abuse their abilities. Once you’ve settled in to Trask’s
remarkably accurate portrayal of this age range the rest of
the movie is actually pretty strong, if not predictable.
Kids get stronger and stronger, the nerdy kid (yet the
strongest with his powers) goes a little bit off the deep
end and a whole hell of a lot of bad stuff happens. Trask
makes the found footage stuff work though, using the
obnoxious constant presence of cellphone cameras and iPad
cameras and film-related technology to give us a wide berth
of angles and perspectives. It’s stylish and surprisingly
sleek, and after the film ended the dark cloud of annoying
teenage angst had vanished and I found myself uniformly
happy with the way the film had ended.
The Lesson:
Teenagers are annoying. Give them superpowers and they’re
downright unbearable. Unless they’re beating up police,
destroying shit, and punching each other through buildings.
Then, then they’re okay.
For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Hope that's OK.
Read on!
The
Breakdown - The Woman In Black
The Impression:
Daniel Radcliffe breaks away from the Harry Potter
series and gets ready to start the second part of his
career. First up, an adaptation of The Woman In
Black, a novel from 1983 that has been previously been
featured on the stage and in the form of TV movie.
This is going to be good.
The Reality:
Unfortunately, The Woman In Black is not a good
movie. I wish I could just call it a mess and leave it
at that, but it's not as though it's a wreck in every
aspect. It certainly looks nice and features some
solid performances. The problem with it, though, is
that there's no real story. The film plays out like
someone read the book and then just wanted to see their
favorite parts on the big screen. Is that writer Jane
Goldman's fault, or did director James Watkins just cut out
all of the exposition? I have no clue, but I do know
the film greatly suffers from an extreme lack of
information. I spent a rather large portion of the
movie feeling bored and curious as to when the cheap jump
scares would stop and an actual story would begin. I
mean, at least give me a good twist!
The Lesson:
A mediocre film can be just as disappointing as a terrible
one.
For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Man On A Ledge
The Impression:
Sam Worthington has quickly become a sign to me that the
film at hand is going to be half-assed at best, awful at
worst. Man On A Ledge (the worst title in years)
seems like a pretty half-baked idea and the trailers give
away the big reveal. Also it’s January, where everything is
awful.
The Reality:
January tests me every year. There’s nothing exceptional
that ever breaks the seal in the inaugural month, thus every
film I’m seeing will either be bad enough to leave scars or
just mediocre enough to leave me angry at the state of film.
Man On The Ledge is certainly the latter, the story
of a disgraced cop (Sam Worthington) out for revenge, who
takes to extreme measures to orchestrate a truly stupid
heist. I wasn’t angry after seeing it or offended, I was
just, well, nothing. Asger Leth just sort of slaps together
a movie that is sort of about a man on a ledge, and sort of
about a heist, and sort of about family dynamics and sort of
about, well, seriously who gives a shit? This isn’t a movie
I recommend in any way and even though it features a cast
that includes Anthony Mackie, Elisabeth Banks (awful in this
film by the way, stiff and poorly cast as a hard-nosed,
alcoholic detective on the mend), Ed Harris none of their
considerable talent can drag this film from the pond scum of
mediocrity. Just avoid it.
The Lesson:
January is a terrible month for films. I always try to think
it might be different and it never, ever is.
Time for
your weekly notable news update! Below you'll find a
slew of sentences meant to provide a brief glimpse of what's
been going on over the past week in movieland. If
something leaves you desperate for more info then my advice
is to do a little extra research on one or all of the
following fantastic sites:
Latino Review,
Dark Horizons,
Ain't It Cool News,
CHUD and/or
JoBlo. Now, read on!
Max Landis (Chronicle)
has been hired by Disney to write a space adventure.
Max is the son of John Landis.
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Paul Giamatti have
signed on for a new version of Romeo And Juliet.
Steven Spielberg is expected to sign on to direct Moses
for Warner Bros. The movie is being described as a
Braveheart-like version of Moses' life.
Russell Brand will star in The Haunterpreneur.
The film is said to be about a man who creates a haunted
house in order to bring a town together.
Sarah Jessica Parker has replaced Demi Moore in Lovelace.
Moore had to drop out because of personal issues.
The Hangover 3 is definitely happening, and each of
the three stars of the previous two films are getting $15
million each to reprise their roles.
Catherine Zeta-Jones has reportedly signed on to star in
Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects. The film is
said to center around a doctor who is addicted to
prescription drugs.
The Crow remake that was dead is now alive. F.
Javier Gutierrez (Before The Fall) will direct.
No word yet on who will star in it.
Liam Hemsworth (Hunger Games) will star in
Timeless, which is about a man who builds a time machine
so that he can see his now dead wife once more.
Darren Aronofsky's Noah is expected to begin filming
this summer. Michael Fassbender is said to be
interested in the starring role that Christian Bale passed
on.
Paul Reubens has reportedly signed on to play a film critic
in Charlie Kaufman's upcoming Frank Or Francis.
John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) will direct the
adaptation of John Grisham's The Partner.
For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Haywire
The Impression:
Steven Soderbergh is like any great auteur, a consummate
genre-jumper. Happy to dip his feet in crime, or comedy, or
infection thriller just to use his immense skills to meld it
to his own form. Haywire, Soderbergh’s collaboration
with MMA fighter Gina Carano is his foray in to straight up
action. Paired with Lem Dobbs, his writing cohort on the
amazing The Limey, Soderbergh seems set for another
shot out of the park.
The Reality:
I was stunned at how boring Haywire is. People would
assume that casting an MMA fighter is akin to casting a
wooden block that can kick and punch, but it isn’t Gina
Carano’s acting that stimies the film. Soderbergh, working
as his own DP, crafts a film that hints at a peppy
action/spy caper, but is dragged in to lip-dragging boredom
by it’s cement-booted pace. Gina Carano plays a super secret
agent on her way out of the system but dragged back in after
a mission goes bad. It sounds like the plot of a 90s cable
action movie (especially with the, er, well endowed MMA star
kicking ass at its helm) and Peter Andrews (Soderbergh’s
pseudonym) frames the movie thusly. Grainy color palettes,
digital zooms, poorly composed shots - it seems like some
sort of faulty mix of Soderberg’s early more indie work and
the recent big budget adventures like Ocean’s 11. I
imagined the story itself, though generic in concept, would
zing under the auspices of two talented men like Soderbergh
and Dobbs, but it’s one note with no aspirations to evolve.
Carano is hunted and in turn hunts down a series of bad guys
(all men) whom she promptly puts in there place with a
series of truly jarring moves. Perhaps Soderbergh was
attempting to create a third-wave feminist film, but instead
he glues a bunch of, admittedly, awesome fight scenes on to
a made-for-television script. The moments with Michael
Fassbender (playing an Irish spy) are almost sexy, and his
eventual beat-down is the best in the film. Carano herself
is actually quite charming, though robotic at times, and I
found myself more and more attracted to her as the film
continued. Maybe next time she’ll actually be in something I
can get down with.
The Lesson:
Those who jump genres, don’t always jump correctly.
To be frank,
2011 wasn’t my favorite year in film. Oh I saw films I
loved, and certainly saw films I hated, but sitting here
staring at the screen, trying to organize a list of ten
films I really loved, hasn’t been as easy as it was in years
prior. I’m going to chalk this up to a few things:
1. I’m going to put 2011 on record as the first year I
really went at as a "film critic." I plugged in to the vast
network of film screenings in the Bay Area and for an
extended period of time saw everything, everything, I could.
This is quite possibly the biggest of rookie mistakes a film
critic can make as throwing yourself in to every film
(especially when you’re charming editor allows you to write
about anything) will burn you out - quickly. It’s quite
possible that my lackluster reaction to some of the big
pictures of the year was due to my film-loving soul being
dragged across the barnacles of shit film for a concentrated
period. It’s hard to see out of the cynic fog when you’re
using it as a life-saving shield.
2. I just wasn’t that impressed with film this year.
Seriously. It felt like the big pictures of the summer were
mediocre, the nerd-films of the year didn’t sit terribly
well with me, and even the new pictures from the big guns
seemed, well, pretty eh. There were certainly films that
stood out, but they weren’t standing that far out, if you
know what I mean. I’ll say this, Sherlock Holmes: A Game
of Shadows almost made my list this year. And not to say
that the movie isn’t great, but on any other year it
would’ve topped the list of popcorn favs, but never seen
even the bottom rungs of the best of ladder. It was just
that kind of year.
That said, these are the ones that struck me hard enough to
reverberate on through to this Top 10 list. Thanks for a
great year, and as always, thanks for reading.
Noah's Top Films of 2011
10. Moneyball, d. Bennet Miller
I think Bennet Miller’s Capote is a stellar, chilling
film and I’ve been waiting fairly eagerly for a follow-up. I
think Michael Lewis' Moneyball is a great book, if not one
better suited for MLB stat nerds than the general public. I
thought Soderbergh would’ve done something magical with the
strangeness of the book, and when he bailed the project
seemed dead in the water. Even with the addition of Bennet
Miller, I was skeptical. How does one change this book in to
a film? Someone should ask Bennet Miller 'cause he, sigh,
knocked it out of the park. Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane is such
a beautifully sad character, a man obsessed with turning
over the traditions of baseball, but unable to even approach
his own personal life. Miller uses the world of baseball as
a haunting stage to showcase Beane’s rise and fall and rise
again. Pitt does career work here, allowing his star shine
to exist underneath a thick cloud of earned sadness, his
shaggy good looks perfectly fitting a failed baseball star
turned revolutionary owner.
9. The Skin I Live In, d. Pedro Almodovar
I don’t know a lot about Almodovar. I’m a late convert to
his genius and am still trying to find time to catch up with
his earlier beloved films. Regardless, The Skin I Live In is
a brilliant movie. I won’t saying anything about what
happens, just know that it’s horror as only a true cinematic
master can create. Almodovar has always been truly genius at
making even the strangest of character choices seem
enjoyable (the small man who climbs in the vagina in Talk To
Her?) and he puts that to good use here. His reunion with
Antonio Banderas reminds why Banderas was so famous in the
first place, his brilliant plastic surgeon, a seemingly
cold, heartless bastard slowly revealed to be much, much
more.
8. Ides of March, d. George Clooney
I’m a sucker for 70s political thrillers, and George Clooney
has outdone himself in paying homage to them. Based on the
play Farrugat North, Clooney tells a familiar tale of
political corruption amongs the left-wing idealist community
and though it doesn’t address any shocking new issues, it’s
such a solidly told tale that you can forget about it’s
timeliness or originality. That and it’s the best cast film
of the year. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, George
Clooney, Ryan Gosling (with only standout performances this
year), Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Woods - every actor really
pulling out the A-game to make a truly ensemble film shine.
After Leatherheads I was worried that Clooney might not
actually have it in him. Those thoughts have been dispelled.
7. Hanna, d. Joe Wright
Joe Wright’s Atonement is a stellar film based on a solid
book that I thought was completely inadaptable. The man
obviously has talent but to say I was skeptical of his foray
in to action is, well, an understatement. And as always, I
was so very wrong. Hanna is the action movie that every
other action movie should aspire to. Veering sharply from
traditional American blockbusters, Hanna tells the tale of a
little girl trained to be a killer with one simple task -
eliminate a woman she’s never seen. Wright makes a film that
banks heavily on the work of Jean-Luc Godard and the French
New Wave, a beautiful edited, highly symbolic film about a
little girl learning what it’s like to be human. Every shot,
every character, every plot twist is spot on - especially
the anti-climactic final scene. Eric Bana, an actor I worry
about, does sharp work here as the father of Hanna, with
Saoirse Ronan continuing her ascent as the new Dakota
Fanning. No one is as good as Jessica Barden (the little
girl Sophie), a bubbling pit of modern kid-values thrust in
to the strange world of gay killers and violence Hanna
accidentally drags her in to.
6. Drive, d. Nicolas Winding Refn
C’mon, this film was amazing! Great soundtrack, great
cool-guy performance by Ryan Gosling, and dedication to tone
and concept by Nicolas Winding Refn we rarely see these days
in Hollywood films. People complained about the violence,
but Winding Refn uses it as a threat, a shock, a reaction.
It’s brutal and scary and unexpected - just the way violence
is. Albert Brooks, all meat and perm, is a great gang boss
with Ron Perlman his violence prone sidekick. Ryan Gosling
has firmly cemented himself in my mind as the actor of his
generation and between this and Ides of March I’ll watch
anything the tinny-voiced stallion puts out.
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene, d. Sean Durkin
Turns out there’s a third Olsen sister who can totally act
and this guy Sean Durkin threw her in to a real subtle film
about cults and how scary they are and John Hawkes plays the
cult leader and Elizabeth Olsen plays a girl who escapes the
physical reality of it but can’t escape the mental clutches.
It’s creepy and beautiful and has one of those endings where
you spend the next few days looking over your shoulder
saying, "What the fuck?" Hawkes has to be one of the great
actors of his time because I’m almost positive if you met
him in person he’d light your cigarette and talk about
literature and be the nicest man alive, but in films like
this he’s a total scary son-of-a-bitch who I wouldn’t let
anywhere near my house. This movie made me breathless.
4: Bill Cunningham: New York, d. Richard Press
I don’t care if you know who renowned fashion photographer
Bill Cunningham is. I don’t care if you don’t like fashion
or photography or hell, even New York. Bill Cunningham: New
York, a portrait of Bill Cunningham the New York Times’
resident on-the-street fashion photog is a both a touching
portrait of a lonely old man who finds solace in his work
and a sad portrait of the New York City that’s getting eaten
away by big budget developers and the homogeneous bent of
modernity. So unexpectedly brilliant.
3. The Artist, d. Michel Hazanavicius
I don’t like silent films - or I haven’t given myself the
opportunity to like silent films. I’d heard good things
about The Artist but really only went because it was being
shown in the Dolby Film Labs, a theater I’d never gone to
and one I assumed would have amazing sound and picture. It
did, and even better The Artist blew me away. Hazanavicius'
ode to silent films is, quite honestly, a love letter to
movies as a whole. The film, almost entirely silent, tells
the story of silent star George Valentin, a famed silent
film actor, who’s washed away by the talkies and has to
depend on the love of a dog and a woman to bring him back in
to the spotlight. It’s traditional in its storytelling but
is so heartfelt and beautifully put together that it scours
a place in to your heart. Hazanavicius manages to make a
truly meta-film about traditional filmmaking.
2. Beginners, d. Mike Mills
I was so entirely sad that I saw this film without anyone.
Mike Mills Beginners is the touching semi-autobiographic
story of his 70 year old father coming out of the closet in
the brief years before he passed. It’s also about
discovering love and realizing that there’s something else
out there. It’s quirky and silly and just borders on the
edge of overly-coy with subtitled dog talk and quick cuts
and monotone voice-overs, but Mills wrangles it all in to a
really touching piece about fathers and sons and how we move
on. Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer are both stellar
but are both thrust in to shadow by the jaw-dropping good
looks of Melanie Laurent.
1. The Guard, d. John Michael McDonagh
The McDonagh family has to be weened on some truly amazing
water, ‘cause these brothers are fucking talent monsters.
Michael McDonagh’s In Bruges was my favorite film in 2008,
and now The Guard is easily my favorite film of the year. It
just seems like the Europeans know how to do action better
(what with Hanna and Drive, reinventing the genre) and
The
Guard does it even better. Brendan Gleeson plays Sergeant
Gerry Boyle, the type of back-woods police officer who
spouts racist comments and generally doesn’t do dick. When a
team of drug trafficking psychopaths start haranguing his
small Irish seaside town, he has to team up with an FBI
agent (Don Cheadle in striking form) to avert them. It’s a
stark, cold movie, punctuated by blasts of black humor and
the most entertaining performance of the year by Brendan
Gleeson. McDonagh crafts a screenplay that tinkers with the
traditional structure of the action film but imbues it with
wit and intelligence and a shocking amount of heart.
Absolutely fantastic film, quite handily the best of the
year.
And just
like that, 2011 is gone. I had made a goal to see at
least 100 theatrical releases over the year, and I was able
to do just that. Below you'll find my 50 favorites,
and a few other items. Read on!
Top 50 Films of 2011
50) The Innkeepers
49) Paul
48) The Squad
47) El Narco
46) Crazy Stupid Love
45) Super
44) Cedar Rapids
43) Shame
42) I Saw The Devil
41) Shame
40) Hugo
39) Point Blank
38) Captain America: The First Avenger
37) Thor
36) Puss In Boots 3D
35) Fast Five
34) Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
33) Win Win
32) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
31) The Descendants
30) Take Shelter
29) Rango
28) Ip Man 2: Legend Of The Grandmaster
27) Warrior
26) Source Code
25) Haunters
24) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
23) Martha Marcy May Marlene
22) Headhunters
21) X-Men: First Class
20) The Muppets
19) Tree Of Life
18) Super 8
17) Melancholia
16) Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
15) Bridesmaids
14) Attack The Block
13) Tucker And Dale Vs Evil
12) Juan Of The Dead
11) The Artist
10) The Guard
Whoever decided that Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle should
be in a buddy comedy together is deserving of a huge round
of applause. If you don't like films that play out as though
they're smarter than you, then don't see this. Otherwise, I
wish you good luck in not wanting to just watch this on
repeat.
09) 50/50
A comedy about cancer? I honestly can't say I was 100% in
when I sat down to see 50/50, but I gave it a shot
because of the people involved, and I didn't end up
disappointed. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is as impressive as he's
ever been (which is saying something), and I think that even
Seth Rogen may have done enough to rescind some of the
backlash that swirled up after his sudden success.
08) 13 Assassins
This is just a cool flick. Takashi Miike could have done a
lot of different things with this, but for whatever reason
he decided to make the sort of classically-themed samurai
movie that you want to pull out and watch anytime the word
samurai is mentioned within 500 miles of you. The world
needs more films like this.
07) Hanna
While I fell in love with this twisted fairly tale story
immediately, I did figure that by the end of the year I'd
find something to push it out of the Top 10. Nope! As it
turns out, the more I thought about Hanna, the more I
found myself attached to it. Here's hoping Saorise Ronan
keeps landing roles this good.
06) Jeff, Who Lives At Home
I think the Duplass Brothers are overrated. They've done a
few solid films. That's it. Nothing more. Jeff, Who Lives
At Home, however, is so very good. Jason Segel and Ed
Helms are both fantastic in it, and while it plays like a
movie built on nothing but convenient plot devices, it packs
so much heart that it's nearly impossible to not love it.
05) The Skin I Live In
Pedro Almodovar is a brilliant director, and a master at
making me want to squirm in my seat. This effort, which
finally sees Antonio Banderas back in a respectable role, is
probably the most squirm-worthy thing Almodovar has done in
years, and there isn't a blip of it that won't keep your
eyes glued to the screen. I can't wait to see on it on blu-ray.
04) A Boy And His Samurai
I caught this family friendly effort at Fantastic Fest and
loved it like you wouldn't believe. I don't know if it'll
ever be released here in the US, but I beg that you try to
seek it out. I promise you won't even remotely regret any
effort that you put into finding a way to see it.
03) Beginners
Quirky indie romances are a dime a dozen, but I'd be a liar
if I didn't say this impressed me every moment it was on the
screen in front of me. You could watch this for another
great performance from Ewan McGregor, or some nice work from
director Mike Mills, but I recommend a viewing just to see
how lovely Melanie Laurent is. Why isn't she in more stuff?
02) Drive
This is the big hype movie of the year. Ryan Gosling has
done so much good work, and yet it's this little genre film
that has seemingly broke him to the masses. In the world's
defense, this is a great flick. It's beautifully shot, the
soundtrack is as good as it gets, and Gosling really is an
absolute gem in it. I don't know how much love it'll receive
come award season, but I hope it takes home a few trophies.
01) Midnight In Paris
I love Owen Wilson. He isn't always great, but when he is,
he's as charming and lovable as anyone on the face of this
planet. Yeah, Woody Allen wrote and directed a movie packed
with literary references (some that flew way over my head)
and great characters, but it was Mr. Wilson who made it all
work. I knew this was my favorite movie of 2011 the moment I
saw it, and I expect I'll continue thinking that even with
repeat viewings.
5 Worst Films Of 2011
Cave Of Forgotten Dreams
Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon
Freak Dance
Sucker Punch
Battle: Los Angeles
Most Disappointing Film Of 2011
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II
I waited 10 years for an anti-climactic battle between the
boy wonder wizard and the most evil dude of all time? No
thanks. There could have at least been a dance number at the
end.
Biggest Guilty Pleasure Of 2011
- New Kids Turbo
This movie is so dumb. Seriously. It will lower your IQ.
Only watch it if you're drunk and know you'll be able to
forget you ever saw it.
Favorite Documentary Of 2011 -
Senna
It's beyond me how anyone could not love this documentary,
which is masterfully crafted from a series of videos shot
over the course of race car driver Aryton Senna's life. Just
an impressive doc from beginning to end.
5 Films I Missed
Moneyball
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Contagion
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A Separation
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