Top 10 of 2011 and Oscar Preview and Prediction Post

The Oscar Nominations have been announced, we are already many films into 2012, therefore, it is time for my annual look at the top ten films from the previous year!



A list that I've been doing for six years now, so let's start with some links to the past.


In 2005, shortly after starting my blog, I listed my Top 5 films
In 2006, I did my first top ten (also the only time I wussed out and had a tie at the top, although this year I thought about doing it again)
In 2007
In 2008 (I also did a look back at the Top Ten films of 1999)
In 2009 I actually did a Top 20 since the Oscars went to 10 Best Picture Nominees
And last year, 2010

If you are looking for a film you might have missed or just wanting some thoughts on something new to Netflix, maybe these links will give you some ideas.

Now, onto the main attraction.

First, however, some honorable mentions...

Super 8

Abrams has a little too much love of the lens flare for my taste, yet I have to talk about this film, in part, because while it didn't make my Top Ten it does highlight the trend in this year's movies.  (This is something I sometimes notice, for instance, I saw 2007 as a year for Horror)  2011 was the year for Film Nostalgia, and Super 8 kicked it off.

Abrams returns to the film that Spielberg perfected in the 80's, a movie more about the kids than the crazy stuff happening around them.  This captured the feel of a film like ET perfectly, and also happened to be about a bunch of kids who wanted to make movies.  And a movie that was somewhat about movies is something that will show up a few more times in this list.

Green Lantern

There were quite a few comic book movies this past year, and they were all pretty good (Thor, Captain America, and X-Men First class being the others).  While others might disagree, and I recognize that my love of the characters and stories available in the GL Corp might bias me a bit, I thought that Green Lantern was the best of the bunch.

It spent quite a percentage of the year in my Top Ten, although ultimately no Super Hero film made it this year, and while I certainly think that it could have been better (and the extended cut BluRay goes a long way towards fixing any mistakes the film might have made, primarily in pacing) I found myself enthralled throughout.  Ryan Reynolds wasn't my first choice for Hal (I still maintain Nathon Fillion would have been PERFECT), he captured Hal quite well.

I really hope that there is a sequel (partially because Sinestro is such a great villian) because I think this franchise has tons of potential.

Moneyball

I love baseball.  Like religiously.  And so I really liked this movie, but I think that my love (and therefore ridiculous knowledge) of baseball hurt my appreciation for this film a little bit.

I get why people loved it.  The dialogue (as is to be expected from Aaron Sorkin) is perfect.  The acting is fabulous.  The drama is top-notch.

However, some of the behind the scene stuff stuck out to me as being impossible, primarily the way that trades were handled in the film.

There were just too many times where I wasn't able to suspend disbelief, and that ultimately kept it out of my top ten.

JUST MISSING THE TOP TEN

Contagion

What a great film.  Very different from most movies, it moves very slowly and through a lot of stories from a lot of different perspectives, but it never loses momentum or the audiences attention.

Then there is the fact that the movie just gets to you.  If you didn't have at least a little apprehension about germs after seeing this film I think you might actually be a cylon.

My mother refused to touch the sides of the escalator on the way out of the theater and then paused at the door to the street finally decided to use her elbow to open it.  I'm sure that she wasn't the only one with that reaction, and if a film can get you to react that strongly after seeing it, it is doing its job.

Source Code

In my review, I called Source Code "one of the best time travel movies of all time," and it really is.  Unlike a lot of time travel movies, it sets up the rules and follows them, rather than breaking them in order to provide a satisfactory ending (looking at you Deja Vu).

Duncan Jones (who also wrote and directed the incredible Moon) proves himself to be a director to keep a close eye on.  If the end of the year hadn't been filled with some truly fantastic films, this would have unquestionably made the top ten.

AND NOW, THE TOP TEN FILMS OF 2011

10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Ostensibly a film about the attack on 9/11, this is really a film about a young boy with Asperger's who struggles to find meaning after his father (Tom Hanks) dies in the World Trade Center.  His father sent him on elaborate quests in order to get him to interact with others and overcome the social awkwardness that went with his disease.  A chance discovery seems that there might be one more mystery that will allow him to continue to feel the presence of his now absent father.

It walks the fine line of sappy sentimentality that can bring a film down, avoiding the possibility of becoming too preachy or "Hallmark movie of the week" and instead provides a powerful look into one family's struggle with the events of a tragic morning.

9. Ides of March

A friend of mine actually works on political campaigns for a living, so immediately upon seeing this, I thought of him.  He said it was a pretty accurate take on what can take place on the campaign trail.  It is also a very good and dramatic film.  It keeps you intrigued throughout, and the acting is top notch.  While the attention is going to The Descendents and Drive, I thought that George Clooney's and Ryan Gosling's performances were far better in this film.

8. Tree of Life

A movie about love, life, tragedy, and above all else the relationship of a father and a son.  It isn't a typical film told in a typical style, but it works and it is beyond beautiful.  It switches between a cosmic look at life and an extremely personal take on a boy who is entirely too much like his father, both of them struggling to find their place amidst everything else.  If you go in with an open mind, I find it hard to think that you won't walk away touched.  At the very least, the film will make you think.  And that in itself is entirely too rare these days.

7. The Artist

This is another of the films this year that evokes films of the past.  It is almost entirely silent, and yet even without spoken dialogue there is a fantastic story that will make you laugh and cry.  Carried almost solely by the performances of the actors (and one cute dog) you forget that you are watching a silent, black and white film.  It is at once a chronicle of the changing of the guard in film history, a love story, and a tale of despair with the hope of redemption.  Powerful movie making and certainly not easy to pull off successfully in a time where Michael Bay explosions are the norm rather than strong character and storytelling (although arguably, the dialogue in this film where there hardly is any rivals the dialogue in any Michael Bay film).

6. The Muppets

While not exactly evoking the past in film, it certainly qualifies as nostalgia.  Anyone who grew up watching either The Muppet Show or the subsequent films will find themselves falling in love with the Muppets all over again.  The fact that this isn't sweeping all kinds of awards is criminal.  Thankfully, "Man or Muppet" got nominated for Best Song, but there is a rumor that the Muppets won't be able to perform the song at the Oscars!  I really hope cooler heads prevail and the Muppets get at least that recognition since they deserve so much more.  Immediately after seeing this at the midnight showing, I bought the soundtrack, and I have been listening to it nearly non-stop since (four months later!).  I will be buying this film the second I can and will watch it over and over again, because the world is a better place (and life is a happy song) when the Muppets are around.

5. The Help

While I understand the trouble some people have with this film, noting the fact that the black women had to be saved by a white woman.  But it also does a good job of capturing the reality of this time.  Plus the acting was fantastic and very likely will end up with wins in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.


4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I loved the book series, and while there are some minor changes, this is a very faithful adaptation.  Of course, if you are familiar with the books, that means that there are some difficult moments in this film.  However, David Fincher handles the difficult material expertly and delivers a very powerful film that is as exciting and mysterious as the source material on which he based the film.  Honestly, my main problem with the Oscars this year is that this movie wasn't nominated for Best Picture.  And while Rooney Mara did get a very deserved nomination, she isn't going to win.  In my opinion, she definitely should as her portrayal of the title character was beyond perfect, and it certainly was not an easy role to play.


3. War Horse

My top three films this year were so close that I almost wussed out and had a three way tie for number one, but I fought through that desire and ultimately put an order to them.  While some of the films this year were obviously homages to film (including a film still to go on my list), I think that this movie fits in, in a way, with those.  It isn't about film, but it certainly hearkens back to films from the past.  It reminds me of a John Ford epic (as an aside, it is interesting that Spielberg made a film meant to evoke the work of another filmmaker the same year that JJ Abrams made a film meant to evoke the work of Spielberg).  It was a positive and powerful film that had more than its share of sentimentality, but as much as forced sentimentality generally annoys me, under the watchful hand of Spielberg it doesn't bother me at all.


2. Hugo

The final film on the list that is an homage to film, Scorsese made a movie about the very beginning of the film industry that is also a mysterious and adventurous tale about a young boy and the search  for a final message from his father.  This, along with Avatar, shows the true potential of digital film and the power of 3D done right.  Scorsese is a master of the medium of film and in this movie he celebrates its past while showing off the possibilities of its future.


and my choice for the Number One Movie of 2011 is....

1. Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen has been making movies for a long time, but it has been quite some time since he has made a film quite this good.  There are quite a few films on this list that can be called nostalgic, and this is yet another one.  Although the history that this film invokes predates movies.  Instead it is nostalgic about the art of storytelling in a more general sense, but it is wholly nostalgic and wholly original just the same.  To close out my top ten, I'll quote from my review after I saw the film this summer...

"If you categorize it as romantic comedy (and I'm not really sure that is the classification I would use, I would rather refuse to try to box it in to any one genre) then it is unquestionably the best romantic comedy I have ever seen."

As for tonight's Oscars, they won't really be that filled with mystery.

The Artist will take home Best Picture

Viola Davis will win Best Actress (although I believe Rooney Mara should)

 Jean Dujardin will probably win Best Actor for his role in the Artist, although George Clooney has an outside shot.

Octavia Spencer will win Best Supporting Actress

Christopher Plummer will most likely win Best Supporting Actor

Michel Hazanavicius will win Best Director for The Artist, although it should go to Woody Allen or Martin Scorsese in my mind

And finally, most importantly,

Man or Muppet will win Best Song and deservedly so.



Until Next Time, check back in the next couple of days for my 7th Annual My Thoughts As I Had Them During the Oscars Post

You Have, As Always, Eight Minutes (My Review of Source Code)

The sophomore effort of Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) does not disappoint.  While not as perfect as Moon, Source Code is still one of the best time travel movies of all time.  Unlike the recent Denzel Washington thriller with a similar premise, Deja Vu, Source Code sticks to rules that it sets up and has a far more believable science in its science fiction, sticking to a multi-verse view that is really the only plausible way that time travel could exist.

Duncan Jones shows off, yet again, his ability to do a lot with a little.  Although this isn't as small budget as Moon (which amazingly was made for just 5 million dollars), Source Code looks like it was made for much more than just 32 million dollars.  Jones is able to use special effects to great effect, and handles the story, visuals, and characters with precision that belies the fact that this is only his second feature film.  Especially considering that this is a fairly complex and potentially convoluted story.  Yet the direction of Jones, script by Ben Ripley, and performances by Jake Gyllennhaal, Michele Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffery Wright, all combine to keep the plot understandable, but also intriguing and sufficiently full of twists and turns.

The film certainly has a similar idea to Deja Vu, but, like I said, works far better.  There are also traces of the old television show Quantum Leap (which the movie acknowledges through a nice cameo from Sam Beckett himself, Scott Bakula) and the classic repetitious plot film, Groundhog Day.  Like Groundhog Day, Source Code manages to keep repeating the same time period over and over again fresh and interesting, and in the case of Source Code it is only eight minutes being repeated as opposed to an entire day.

Ultimately, Duncan Jones continues to impress me and has added himself to a list of directors whose films I will go see immediately upon release, a list that includes the Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, Alfonso Cuaron, and Guillermo Del Toro.

Until Next Time, do yourself a favor and go see what I consider to be the best film of 2011 so far, Source Code.

Sucker Punch is What Happens to the Audience

The visuals are amazing, you can't expect anything else from Zach Snyder, the soundtrack is pretty freakin' fantastic, but for some reason the movie just doesn't work.

There is a good movie in there, it is just surrounded by a very poor attempt at a cool idea.

Any drama or pathos or suspense is removed the second we go into an imagined reality, but the problem is we travel from that imagined reality into even more imagined realities.

Some scenes that we see take place have absolutely no bearing on the real world of the film, they flat didn't happen, in fact something completely different must have taken place, but we have no clue what since we only see the film from in the somewhat deluded minds of the characters.

Something is happening in the real world of the film, and it even somewhat (probably) relates to what we are seeing on the screen, but not enough for any of the action on the screen to really concern you, or to ever really allow you to get connected to the characters.

I don't mind that the main characters have created an alternate reality for themselves in order to protect themselves from the hell that they are in, I think that that is an interesting idea, but the implementation of the idea just doesn't really work.

The thing is, working with multiple fake realities upon fake realities is not the best way to make a film.  It just doesn't work too often.  (Of course, when it does, you get Inception.)

My friend Justin (from good old Cavemen Go) saw the movie with me and described it as multiple music videos put together.

That's about what the sequences boil down to.

Look, the movie looks amazing, but it isn't a very good film.

Sure, it is hard to argue when a film introduces you to Nazi Steampunk Zombies (yeah.  I know.  Awesome) no matter how imaginary they are.

But sadly, a music video featuring Nazi Steampunk Zombies (really, I would watch an entire movie about Nazi Steampunk Zombies) surrounded by other music videos only loosely tied together story wise by hot chicks kicking ass probably isn't worth the exorbitant amount of money that theaters are charging these days.

Your time and money is probably best spent elsewhere.

Until Next Time, it really is starting to seem that Zach Snyder is capable of making a film under only one visual style (see 300, Watchmen, and Sucker Punch) and it is a visual style that I do not think fits Superman at all.  I really am not excited that he is the person bringing the Man of Steel back into theaters, but that is probably best saved for another post.

So... Not a Thumbs Up Then?

"Watching Battle: Los Angeles is like watching other people play a video game.  It looks cool for a while, but it quickly becomes tiresome." - Richard Roeper.

 Roger Ebert, longtime host of "Siskel and Ebert" (then after Gene Siskel's death "Ebert and Roeper") just released his review of the somewhat anticipated film Battle: Los Angeles.

Personally, it wasn't a film that I was too intrigued in, primarily because it reminded me far too much of the recent Aliens attack us and we're all going to die film Skyline (which incidently was ultimately just an 80 minute or so trailer, not an actual movie).

After reading Ebert's review, I feel pretty safe skipping this film.

His review is honestly one of the most scathing reviews that I have ever read.

Here are a few of the choicer quotes...

"Battle: Los Angeles" is noisy, violent, ugly and stupid.

The aliens are hilarious. Do they give Razzies for special effects?... they look like stick figures whipped up by apprentice animators.

You gotta see the alien battleships in this movie. They seem to have been assembled by the proverbial tornado blowing through a junkyard.

When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation. 

 His conclusion is extremely scathing...

Young men: If you attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are idiots. Young women: If your date likes this movie, tell him you've been thinking it over, and you think you should consider spending some time apart.

Wow.

Until Next Time, thank you Roger Ebert for turning the movie review into an art form, especially where crappy B-movies involving aliens attacking are concerned.

Scorsese Scores with Shutter Island

Let me start by saying that if this film came out in November of 2009 as originally planned, I would argue that this movie deserved serious consideration as Best Picture of 2009. As it stands, this film is currently the best film to be released in 2010, but seeing as it is February, that isn't saying much.

I've been watching a lot of Olympics lately, so let me put it this way, it reminds me of watching Downhill Skiing, the first skier could have a great run, but since there are still so many skiers to go, you just feel like there is little chance that the great run will hold up for the gold.

Coming out in February and winning the Best Picture of the Year is very rare, but it isn't unprecedented. In fact, a film that is very similar in tone and type to Shutter Island, did it in 1991.

Shutter Island, like Silence of the Lambs before it, is a psychological thriller, a film about the human mind and the horrors that humans are capable of because of it.

The Island on which all of the action takes place is almost a character itself, as Scorsese and Robert Richardson get all that they can out of the beautiful but harsh and deadly environs of the Island.

The actors are all superb, Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are sufficently creepy and ominous as the doctors in charge of the mental institution placed on the Island. John Carrol Lynch (who is so likable as Marge's husband in Fargo [Blu-ray]) plays the role of the deputy warden with such perfection that it is impossible for you to get a handle on where he stands or what he is up to. Mark Ruffalo gives a great understated performance as DiCaprio's partner and matches him throughout the film.

As for Leonardo DiCaprio, in each film that he has made with Scorsese (Gangs of New York (Two-Disc Collector's Edition),The Aviator [Blu-ray], and The Departed [Blu-ray]) you see more and more how this partnership is developing as they learn to work into each other's strengths more and more, much like watching DeNiro and Scorsese early in their respective careers. Shutter Island marks the culmination of the partnership, just as Raging Bull [Blu-ray] did for DeNiro and Scorsese's partnership. In each of the previous three films, I thought that DiCaprio did a fantastic job, but in each of them I wouldn't have argued if some other actor had been in the role. After seeing this movie, and the performance that Leo gives in it, I can't imagine another actor in the role. DiCaprio owned it that completely. It was an amazing performance.

The story isn't anything too new or surprising in the psychological thriller genre, but it is rarely handled this expertly. Coming from a novel by Dennis Lehane (who also provided the story for films like Mystic River [Blu-ray] and Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray], as well as wrote for television's masterpiece The Wire: The Complete Series) and given to us by Martin Scorsese, even tried and true genre moments feel fresh and surprising.

Overall, I think that this is a film that will reward multiple viewings, as it is masterly put together from the very first sounds over the Paramount opening to the final frame.

But, really, did you expect anything less from Martin Scorsese?

Until Next Time, I'm interested to see how the year in film plays out, rather or not there is a stronger film still to race down the mountain.

AVATAR - This is Going to Change Everything

I haven't even written my review for the amazing film The Road yet, and it might be too late, because I've just seen a movie that I have to place above it.

My entire life I could only imagine what it was like for someone in May of 1977 who was then the same age that I am now, they go in to see a movie that had a fair amount of hype attached to it, but no matter what they had heard going in, they weren't prepared for what they saw.  No, for what they experienced.

I have always wanted to know what it felt like to step out of that theater having just seen movies change forever.  Having just seen Star Wars.

Now, I think I know.

I've grown up in a world that has always had Star Wars.  It came out before I was born (although my parents saw it while pregnant with me, that probably has something to do with my obsession for everything Star Wars), so I never knew a world without Star Wars.

A case can certainly be made that a lot of what got made because of Star Wars was a waste of time, money, and talent (if using that word isn't being too kind), but there was a magic that happened that day, and there have been magical movies since that wouldn't have existed without the masterpiece that George Lucas gave us just over 30 years ago.

For the first time since that film, movies have been forever changed again.

It is the only way I can explain what I experienced in that theater tonight.

"This is going to change everything."

James Cameron has done what filmmakers have been trying to do for almost two decades now.  He has created a world that it is utterly, totally, and completely real, beyond any doubt in your heart, even if your mind knows differently, and none of it exists.

He created not only totally believable humanoid characters that you could almost swear must exist, he also created an entire world for them that I want nothing more than to visit.  I can't imagine that it isn't there, because it looked and honestly felt so incredibly real.

There are only two things about my feelings on the film that could even possibly be construed as negative, but I'm going to explain to you why I am not taking them as negatives.

First, the story is a bit predictable.  There is no denying that.  I can honestly say that I knew each twist and turn of the story well before it happened.  But I wasn't bothered by that in the least.

The story is, as they say, an age old tale.  I can rattle off tons of movies and books that have told a thematically similar story, and I can even point to one in the history books, Pocahontas and John Smith.  Sure the story has been told before, and in many, many different ways and places, but that is because there is truth to the story.  The story is true, as true as it was when John Smith first laid eyes on Pocahontas, as true as it was the millions of times that it happened before then.

And the world is so extraordinary, that maybe we needed a true and familiar story to draw us in as completely as James Cameron draws us in.  Either way, I have no problem with the story or the fact that it is predictable.  The point of the matter is, it works.

The other small thing I have to say that could be construed as negative is that the perception of the 3D gets in the way a little bit at times, especially early in the military base.  Later in the film on Pandora, it simply immerses you completely in the world, but in the human constructions occasionally it takes you out of the movie.  The reason that I don't think that this is that much of an issue is because I didn't see this film in IMAX.  At least I haven't seen it in IMAX yet.  I saw it on a regular digital 3D screen, and I think that it is clear that this is a film made for and meant to be seen in IMAX.  If it is at all possible for you to see this film in that format, I highly recommend it.

That being said, the magic is still there 110% seeing it in 3D on a normal screen.  And I think that it probably is seeing it in 2D as well, although I don' t plan to find out.

The performances are fantastic throughout the film, and the dialogue is strong, especially compared to Cameron's last epic film which will get no mention from me here (sorry Shannon).  I doubt that it is possible, but I think that Zoe Saldana (who was also spectacular as Uhura earlier this year in Star Trek) should get a nomination for best actress, even though her character was completely CGI'd.  I'm not sure that just anyone could have brought that character to such complete and total life the way that she did.

Sam Worthington did a great job as well, both in and out of his Avatar.  I was actually pretty worried about him because I didn't think that much of his work earlier this year in Terminator:Suckvation, (Hah, get it, Suckvation) but in the hands of a good director, he was very good.

The score which I have been listening to quite a lot on XM 76, Cinemagic this week, was brilliant, right up there with The Road and Star Trek for the best of the year.  James Horner (Braveheart, Wrath of Khan, and Terminator 2 amongst many others) might have done his best work on this film.  It fits the mood and the film so perfectly and naturally.  I will be getting it from iTunes as soon as I finish this review.

Overall, I can't recommend this experience (because that is what it is, it is an experience, not a movie) enough.  Do yourself a favor and see it.  Because, truly...

This Is Going to Change Everything...