So without further ado:
Let The Right One In Award - (Foreign film made prior to the current year but released domestically later) - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This movie completely blew me away and I'm not one of the scores of people that read the books first. Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander sublimely becomes the character, the violence and peril seem very intense and real, and the movie takes its time setting up a fairly complex story and establishes a bleak mood with the harsh landscape. Yep, its subtitled in Swedish and yes, the penultimate rape scene is really tough to watch, but the redemption from said scene is amazingly badass. Beyond the fact that American audiences apparently can't handle subtitles at all, I have no idea why this movie is being remade (although David Fincher is an inspired choice for director and the previews look really good, plus its being released in prime "oscar bait" late December slot).
Just missed the cut - The Town (really well made/acted, but not that original - a little too close to Heat), Four Lions (a little uneven and strangely paced, yet had some of blackest and most memorable comedic scenes of any movie that Ive seen - sort of like a modern Dr. Strangelove), and How to Train Your Dragon (first Dreamworks movie to totally blow me away and contain no annoying smirky pop culture jokes)
So without further ado....
7. Machete
Robert Rodriguez's missing Grindhouse flick and Danny Trejo's finest hour, this movie was so enjoyable and fun. Yes, there was a little too much plot, a few too many superfluous characters, and actually tried to have a semi-serious political message (all problems that hurt Once Upon a Time in Mexico). But this sort of super kinetic campy action fest provides Rodriguez ample opportunity to use his active imagination. The cast including a host of Rodriguez favorites like Trejo and Cheech Marin are joined by Don Johnson, Steven Seagal, and Robert DeNiro. I almost wish this movie was with Planet Terror for Grindhouse with Death Proof being a fake trailer.
6. Toy Story 3
Up and Wall-E were more mature, the Incredibles had better action, and Monsters Inc and the second Toy Story had a little better humor, but Toy Story 3 balances the mature, action, and humor elements the best of any Pixar movie to date. Its the rare second sequel that improves on the original on almost every level.
Whereas the first movie had no major antagonist and the second had a comical one with Zerg, Lots O' Hugging Bear joins the rank of memorable Disney villains. Between Michael Keaton's brilliant turn as Ken, the various transformations of Mr. Potatohead, and a certain ethnic mode of Buzz, there's some of the best G rated humor in any movie. For me, its the raw emotion and finality in certain scenes (obviously the stuff in dumpster, but also the ending and beginning bits with Andy) that push this over the top.
There are a ton of characters, both new and old, but all the characters get a moment to shine, including Buzz and Woody. Its the rare movie that seems busy without being over plotted or over crowded and unlike the Dreamworks films, the celebrities are cast for vocal quality rather then just their celebrity status. Finally, I enjoy that Disney has kept producing Toy Story shorts to go before their subsequent movies. There's no way that a fourth movie could ever live up to this, but Disney started with theatrical shorts, so I like that Pixar is continuing that tradition. Also, I think this was the best picture nominee thats the best overall movie, but I personally liked one a bit better...
5. Inception
See, this has been reviewed to death, so I wanted to say first that I genuinely liked this movie, but its not number one because I feel like it kept holding back for the most part. Christopher Nolan is an intensely cerebral filmmaker with dense plots, multi dimensional characters, and deeply thematically stories populating all his films (even his worst work in Insomnia was a great study of character and theme). The funny thing is, as much I liked Inception, I liked Memento, Dark Knight, and maybe even the Prestige a bit more.
Now don't get me wrong, this movie is brilliant, with an amazing concept and a fantastic cast. Its tough to describe standouts, but a focused Joseph Gordon Levitt and an intensely likeable Tom Hardy headline for me. The last hour or so of the movie is one long pulse pounding series of action sequences (highlighted by everyone's favorite zero G hotel fight). I also enjoy the ambiguity of the ending as well as the general movie... the actual machine doesn't get a giant amount of explanation and I think the exposition level is perfect. Like Memento and the Prestige, you have to pay attention to fully appreciate all levels of the plot. Finally, the amazingly ominous music helps to ratchet up the suspense, the score is almost its own entity in this flick.
So... why isn't this my favorite? I think the whole concept of the reality of dreams is fairly underutilized. Compare this to inferior movies like the Cell or What Dreams May Come and the dreams for the most part seem far too rational and linear. I also found the character of Mal to be a fairly weak villain and I'm surprised that how proficient Joseph Gordon Levitt's character was that he never figured out DiCaprio's secret in that respect. Finally, I think the first hour of the movie is fairly slow... there's a lot of setup and exposition for the final hour. Now, these sorts of sequences can be done well (Ellen Page's character's introduction to the dream world is a good example) but considering the somber tone of the movie, to me I was just waiting for the "good stuff" to start. But overall, a very imaginative, well told movie.
4. 127 hours
Man, this is a tough one, because I really, really liked this movie but I feel like I never need to see it again (but I will). When movies take you to a place where you have to realize its just a movie and not something real, its a special experience and the penultimate moment in 127 hours brought me to that raw, emotional state.
Why James Franco didn't win the Best Actor Oscar Statue for this is beyond me... (apparently the Academy rewards stuttering Brits over the emotional tour de force that was this flick)... Its literally 95% Franco with the star being on screen for literally the whole movie and for the last hour+ alone. After seeing the 60 minutes based on the actual events and reading the book and being pretty familiar with the story, I totally forgot I was watching Franco instead of Aron Ralston pretty quickly.
Credit has to go to Danny Boyle too... The guy has brought epic scope to movies like Slumdog Millionaire and 28 days later, yet with the limitations of shooting a movie that spends the middle 45-50 minutes in a tiny canyon, the direction and cinematography was exceptional. It never felt boring or limited and actually was amazingly gripping. I also didn't start playing armchair quarterback and questioning Franco's decisions... the guy seemed really capable and bright despite the awful situation...
Its a tough flick to sit through and really gritty, but in the end an amazing triumph. The climax actually feels uplifting rather then the downer it could have been (and after listening to and reading Ralston's account, I feel like they nailed the general tone).
3. Kick Ass
Speaking of uneven movies... I own this movie, I really enjoy it, I think especially the latter half is a great superhero comedy/deconstruction (I felt a bunch of jabs to Raimi's Spiderman series in particular). However, like Inception, I really feel like the opening third of this movie is a bunch of cliche recycled "high school" jokes that we've seen a bunch before. Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse's character is irritating, Mark Strong (who is contractually obligated to play the heavy in 2 big budget studio movies per year) makes for a bland villain, and we get a big side of Nick Cage ham...
So why do I love this movie (besides the breakout performance of Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl)? Well, the movie is called Kick Ass and the director got the right guy to play the titular hero, Aaron Johnson. At only nineteen while shooting, this breakout role could catapult Johnson to the same league as someone like Ryan Gosling, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s funny as the impossibly geeky hero, but what’s great about Johnson is that he’s also able to pull off some of the more dramatic scenes after this takes a dark turn during the final act.
Now, some people may complain that the tone of the film is inconsistent, but it worked for me, as there is a certain point when the film starts to take itself somewhat seriously, but thanks to the skill both in front and behind the camera, the transition is seamless.
Another great thing about Kick Ass is the use of music. Judging from his brilliant use of music in Layer Cake (Duran Duran was never so epic), Vaughn knows how to choose tracks for his films. Obviously, he took a lot of care selecting the soundtrack, with the film having three credited composers, in addition to a whole slew of source music from artists ranging from The Prodigy, New York Dolls, an epic sample from the 28 Days Later Soundtrack, and even Ennio Morricone’s Clint Eastwood theme from Fistfull of Dollars gets a work out. The film also has a gorgeous, wildly colorful look courtesy of cinematographer Ben Davis who also shot Vaughn’s other films. I was lucky enough to see this projected digitally, and the look was outstanding.
All in all, I found Kick Ass to be an incredibly fun time at the movies, its not particularly deep, but its a really, fun original superhero ride.
2. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
From the moment the iconic Universal logo unfurls in 8-bit style with MIDI fanfare, before making way for a Bill Hader narration and a musical cue from "The Legend of Zelda," you should know you're in for one of the most geek-friendly movies in recent history. But its for more then geeks...
Now, I'll get it out of the way, I'm not a big fan of Michael Cera, but he's an inspired choice for the titular role as Scott Pilgrim. It's not an easy challenge as Pilgrim isn't exactly a flawless protagonist. He makes poor choices, hurts people and generally falls into many 20something emotional pitfalls . But we always connect with him and relate to what he's going with and that speaks volumes to Cera's skills not just as a comic actor (his timing here is impeccable) but his dramatic chops as well.
The rest of the cast, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin and Jason Schwartzman are so good it's easy to think that any of them could be the breakout star of the film. Chris Evans and Brandon Routh in particular completely steal the movie for their sequences. But fantastic cast aside, the real breakout star of Scott Pilgrim is the director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright.
Wright has framed the film so it plays out something like a musical. We're in a relatively real and grounded world but instead of people breaking out into song and dance, they break out into massive fight sequences. And the action sequences are so brilliantly conceived, you never once flinch at the notion of Michael Cera kicking the ass of seven henchmen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead doing battle with a giant hammer or a Bollywood-style song/fight. Its a completely original series of spectacles (my minor gripe is after the Routh/Evans sequences, the final fight is a skosh anticlimactic).
But honestly, all the cool action sequences in the world wouldn't make the flick worth without an emotional center and Cera brings that as Scott. I might sound like Im repeating myself, but his mistakes, stupid choices, and broken heart carries the movie between the fights. In fact, for a film that deals so heavily with pop culture and 20somethings, at its core, Scott Pilgrim is, dare I say it, a fairly adult film. Its about growing up and falling in love, choices, taking responsibility, coming to terms with the past and ultimately finding yourself. While taking on the seven evil exes, Scott isn't just defeating Ramona's past but his own demons as well.
The music will make your feet tap (epic contributions by Beck and Metric), the battles will make you cheer, the romance will warm your heart and, in the end, this movie will kick your ass (apologies to #3). It's one of the best films of the year and a movie I just absolutely loved.
1. Piranha 3D
This movie was perfect. There, I'll say it. Perfect. Is the technically best acted, best effects, best directed movie ever? Hell, no. But as far as... Did this movie accomplish what it set out to? Unequivocally yes!!!
I saw this in the theaters at a weekday matinee and it completely blew me away at every level. It was funny, scary, sexy, gory, all the actors "got it", well paced, pushed the American "R" rating right to the limit...
I'm not even sure where to start... Steve McQueen's grandson played the "hero" and he did a commendable job with the "straight" character and it was good to see Elizabeth Shue back in a leading role. However, all the supporting parts (and some are really more like extended cameos then anything else, sort of throwing back to the star studded 70s disaster movies) are what brought this home... In a scant 88 minutes, we get a badass Ving Rhames, a Jaws throwback Richard Dreyfuss, Dina Meyers, Eli Roth, comedian Paul Scheer, Adam Scott.... but for me, the two standouts were Jerry O'Connell playing a loud mouth, abusive, self centered asshole antagonist and Christopher Lloyd in an all too brief role as the "scientist" just completely channeling his inner Doc Brown...
The other star to me is horror phenomena director Alexandre Aja's technical work. The man brought me my favorite original horror film of the last 10 years (High Tension) and my favorite American remake (Hills Have Eyes) and he brought his skills to the table here as well. The flick was snazzyly shot, with stylish camera moves, sleek cinematography and gnarly Piranha POV shots (that reminded me a lot of the fact that original was a Roger Corman Jaws knockoff).
Aja is no stranger at generating tension(quasi pun intended)/suspense and delivering potent shocks and even though this is a much lighter tone then his previous work... I caught myself teetering on the edge of my seat many o times and even though the characters were two dimensional at best, I felt antsy for some of them and didn’t want “some” to buy the farm. To achieve that level of involvement with the characters with this goofy of a film... props go to Aja.
Finally, the special effects were bang on! As per usual, master gore peddlers KNB knocked the gory goods out of the park and the Piranha CGI did the trick design & execution wise. The film was shot in 3D and there were some memorable Piranha gore gags in 3D (that still look fairly decent at home). I was frankly shocked and amazed at the level of gore that the climax reached within the confines of a R rating. I'm not going to spoil that part, but if you enjoy nasty spirited kills and plentiful mutilation, the final act delivers in spades!
If Im going to nitpick at all, the score was pretty unmemorable and the characters make some dumb "horror movie character" mistakes. But to me, the latter was part of the charm. Its a crowd pleasing, man's movie that brings the boobs (yep, we finally get back to the horror movie nudity too) and blood in spades while wearing its inspiration on its sleeve.
On a post script note, Im looking forward to Piranha 3DDs (the sequel) and I hope it comes out in August 2012 as it would make a perfect late summer capper to the people tired of the onslaught of sequels/remakes/Snow White movies of 2012.
As its now a new year, my 2011 recap won't be up for a while... I am planning on seeing all the 2011 Academy Awards Best Picture nominees before I write my top 7 list. As I only have the 1 at a time Netflix, this might take a while. My New Year's Resolution is to finish my best of 2011 before New Year's 2012...
Take care and thanks for reading
Patrick
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