Top 10 of 2011

 

Hello All,


So its been a while since the last post. I've had a hard time coming up with a movie that I have a lot to say about via review without spoiling the hell of out of it. In the meantime, I have seen all nine 2011 Best Picture Oscar Nominees and feel like there aren't any more notable releases that could be added to my list. It was an odd year for me personally and I honestly didn't have one of the Best Picture nominees blow me away like Inception, District 9, Inglorious Basterds, or even Toy Story 3 from recent years. I was also disappointed by the animated features including Pixar's weakest to date, Cars 2.

Let The Right One In award (Foreign film released internationally within the past 2 years that I didn't get to see until the current year

Rare Exports, a Christmas Tale.

I already talked about this movie at length in this post: http://www.pgsaisle.blogspot.com/2012/02/dark-scandanavian-fantasies-and-by-that.html

I'll add that its one of the best edited, more tightly paced and scripted movies too. Its quick, to the point, and takes itself far more seriously then the jokey "Finnish killer santa movie" description would let you believe.



Honorable Mentions: The Descendents (well made but a little too depressing for me), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake (the directing, editing, and music were amazing but Daniel Craig seemed miscast and although Rooney Mara tried hard, she's no Noomi Rapace), and Moneyball (great effort, but a little too dumbed down and Hollywoodized compared to the book and reality)


10. Source Code

It was tough to decide between this and my next selection, but I've not considered buying Source Code. Its really tightly paced (93 minutes including credits), smart movie from director Duncan Jones (who also created the excellent, underrated Moon) featuring a great use of Jake Gyllenhaal's lead acting talents (the script puts Gyllenhaal's character as much in the dark as the audience is so that the inevitable exposition doesn't seem too out of place).

Now this same premise has been used before (Deja Vu, Butterfly Effect, Quantum Leap) but Source Code never gets bogged down in technobabble or pathos. In the modern era of the stupidity of the Transformers series and Battleship, Source Code shows that sci fi action can be exhilarating as well as thought provoking.




9. Bunraku - Already discussed it in length here... http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5635953885994164597#editor/target=post;postID=4698203020564432437
If you don't want to read that review, its a stylized, fun, Western/Noir film that reminded me some of Sin City and some of a lighter hearted Kill Bill... Super enjoyable and one of my favorite Josh Hartnett characters.


 8. Trollhunter my original review - http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5635953885994164597#editor/target=post;postID=11455619621870657
 Its a mockumentary that's amazingly earnest and serious despite the somewhat ridiculous subject matter. My only thing I didn't mention is that the dub is really terrible so if you check it out, make sure you use subtitles. 

7. ThorThis was a tough one to rate... because after my second viewing, my first comment/thought was "wow, this is the big budget version of the 80s live action He-Man movie." Okay, here's a plot synopsis... Muscle bound heroic warrior from a fantasy world is transported to earth after trouble in his home dimension. He has a bunch of wacky comedic "fish out of water" moments that culminate in him fighting a big bad guy from his dimension to save his newly found human friends. Obviously there are some specifics that are different, but if you've seen Dolph Lundgren's opus, you know what I'm talking about...

So what makes Thor better then that movie besides the huge budget? The acting from everyone involved is completely on point - Its Chris Hemsworth's action star making role (showing more charisma in his bicep then Sam Worthington has in his whole body), solid supporting work from vets like Anthony Hopkins and Stellan Skarsgard, and Natalie Portman's love interest even seems fairly natural and unforced.

I just personally wish that more of the movie took place in Asgard. Kat Dennings' comic relief character was pretty irritating. Also, I liked Tom Hiddleston/Loki, but his character's scheming nature took him out of most of the direct action.. I hope in the sequel (coming holiday season 2013) that the villain will be stronger/more threatening and less whiny. I also hope that we get more of Thor's warrior buddies (who stole their few scenes). In the end, Thor is an entertaining, fairly whimsical summer movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.


6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
 This is just a really good movie. I don't really have a lot of in depth explanation, but as far as doing the job of provoking emotional response, having some good character beats, impressive visuals, and an awesome third act... I will say that the trailers spoiled the better action scenes and after seeing them, theres a lot of "waiting around for apes to attack." Andy Serkis seems to be the go to guy for motion capturing primates (he also did King Kong in the Peter Jackson epic) and the animators really get a lot of emotional range and response from his performance. Caesar may not be quite as complex a character as Gollum, but hes definitely more realistic.

Nitpicking a bit, there weren't any really "wow" moments and the eventual conclusion seemed pretty weak. Also, Brian Cox was in scummy villain mode and his fate also left me unsatisfied. There's also a lot of fake drama considering the movie is called "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." The dramatic earlier scenes are very well done, James Franco ably carries the first act, but its almost like in Jaws... there's only so much character development you can get though before it bogs down the movie. The best part of the movie though - no Marky Mark blandness... Woot!

5. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Now we are on to my "fun" section. I've had discussions that Hollywood has forgotten how to do great parody/spoof movies. Over the last 10 years, the only truly memorable ones have been Walk Hard and 2012's Cabin in the Woods. Tucker and Dale comes in a close 3rd. I can't really pin down what makes this movie so outstanding. The chemistry between Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk as the titular pair really grounds the movie, along with the beautiful Katrina Bowden (perusing her IMDB most known for 30 Rock).

The movie plays on the fact that the PBR drinking good ole boys Tucker and Dale are misunderstood as backwoods killer hillbillies by a group of college students who have seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn a few too many times. Its especially funny because the "killer in the woods" movies are so played out (even a C list title like I Spit on Your Grave got remade in 2011) and the movie uses the audiences expectations and completely turns them around. The result is a hilarious, extremely dark comedy that references every relevant suspense movie about the woods from Deliverance to the Evil Dead.

There's even a deeper message about projecting people into stereotypes present. Finally, the movie is short and to the point, there's only one real joke, and over about 85 minutes, it doesn't get too played out. In fact, I'd really like to see some sort of a sequel or further adventures because Labine and Tudyk work so well together as Tucker and Dale there's room for other movies (like maybe Tucker and Dale vs. Ghosts or what not).

4. X-Men First Class

 Yep, I really like the X-Men. The comics, the animated series, the first 2 movies, I even enjoy the Wolverine spinoff movie for what it is (c'mon, like a PG-13 Wolverine produced by Fox was going to be amazing). Matthew Vaughn, once attached to X3 (and then replaced by the man behind Rush Hour, Brett Ratner), proved an excellent choice. Looking over his IMDB, between Kick Ass, Stardust, Layer Cake, and this movie, I apparently own all of Vaughn's movies. He definitely can handle an ensemble cast and can balance multiple character arcs while weaving in action and comic relief.

The casting is completely spot on all over the movie... One thing that the better Marvel movies have done is make smart casting decisions... Michael Fassbender as Magneto/Erik Lensherr does steal the movie (and his early James Bondish scenes are probably the highlight, but hes supported ably by James McAvoy as Charles Xavier  (thankfully not doing a Patrick Stewart impression), Nicolas Hoult (channeling Kelsey Grammar as Beast), Jennifer Lawrence in blue body paint as Mystique (very nice), and an amazingly campy Kevin Bacon as our villain, Sebastian Shaw (one of the criticisms of the movie was how much scenery he chewed, considering how serious a lot of the movie is, I found his performance extremely entertaining).

There's already a planned sequel covering the time traveling Days of Future Past storyline from the comics (interested to see if they use Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde like in the comics or finally bring in Bishop like the animated series did). Regardless, with Vaughn at the helm, I have high hopes for the X-Men franchise (and as for the film's best moment, it involves a great cameo that I can't spoil here).

3. Attack the Block
This movie was completely perfect for what it sent out to do... a fun 90 minutes of British street youth fighting off an alien invasion. I enjoyed the humor, tone, and action a lot more then the Men in Black series (a similar scifi comedy type). Director Joe Cornish, amazingly in his directorial debut, does a fantastic job with a crisply edited and fast paced final product.

I don't want to say that its mindless fun. There are some genuinely serious and touching moments, especially involving the arc of Jodie Whitaker's character as she learns more about the backstory of the street youth. There's a scene towards the end that takes place in the main character's morose apartment that was more effective then the melodrama of serious class/race films such as Crash.

In fact, the whole cast plays the situation straight on, there's no winking at the camera or breaking of the fourth wall. In fact, the enthusiasm and earnestness (and an intense performance from John Boyega as the leader of the gang) displayed by the young cast is what makes the movie work so well.

In fact, I wish this movie had performed better at the box office, only receiving a very limited theatrical release of 66 theaters making a little over 1 million domestically and just 5.8 world wide on a 13 million dollar budget. I hope it finds its home on Netflix and DVD, providing major studios a how to guide on making summer movies. Its not a deep, complicate formula... You need sharp characterization, spirited dialogue, a good sense of place/setting, and competent camerawork/editing (no bullet time or shaky cam here). Action and comedy and suspense, a perfect mix.


2. The Muppets


I'm not a particularly huge Muppets fan (I like the original movie, Christmas Carol, and Treasure Island) and considering the gory horror/thrillers I enjoy, its an odd choice, but once again, pitch perfect, a movie that could have gone embarrassingly awry.

The story is nothing new or special, but the sheer enthusiasm and heartfelt affection writer/star Jason Segel brings to the movie (making it a sequel to the original movie and the show and ignoring most of the subsequent years) is hard to ignore. The songs written by Bret McKenzie capture the clever wordplay and innocent fun of the characters. The gags are silly, the villain is ridiculous (Chris Cooper completely chewing the scenery) and although the movie gets serious (the initial scene with Kermit is actually pretty touching) it never gets overly sappy.

I'm also happy to report that despite a ton of celebrity cameos, there are no unnecessary pop culture references (well, the fake trailers had a few), CGI animals, or 3-D shenanigans. Its an epic happy film with splashy musical numbers, manages to utilize all the classic muppets (if you weren't familiar with Uncle Deadly or wanted to hear Rowlf talk again, you are luck), and a story that pays homage to the Muppets’ rich history. It was a rough year for me personally and maybe the good spirit touched me... believing that there’s still goodness in the world, still things worth fighting for, still a reason to get up every day. A big thank you, Jim Henson, for creating timeless characters that are still relevant today.

1. Drive






Wow... That's all I could say after watching Drive. Every single moment, from the flicker of a street light to the blast of a shotgun, held my attention. Director Nicolas Winding Refn, a master in minimalism shows how to say everything with an actor’s glance, a well-placed shot, an inspired music cue, and a perfectly-timed cut. There's a balance though because not once does it feel like Refn is showing off (Tarsem, take notes that you can be visually interesting and still get across a story).  Rather than celebrate his own skill, Refn decides to entertain.  He allows the audience to revel in a taut car chase, the coolness of the 80s vibe, the shockingly gruesome violence, but none of it is shallow, silly, or overblown. Also, the mostly synthesizer score perfectly complements the onscreen action (I like driving around to the soundtrack).

Its funny because I could talk about the direction for pages but the casting is as perfect as the direction. Apparently Hugh Jackman was originally attached to star with Neil Marshall of Dog Soldiers/Descent fame attached as director (and I can see a much different action  packed version of the movie with that combo). Gosling says very little, letting his eyes do the acting, but when he talks, it packs a big impact. Albert Brooks playing grossly against his normal comedic type as a ruthless mobster (how he didn't get a best supporting actor nomination is crazy) along with Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, and Carey Mulligan as the love interest.

The remarkable technical skill and acting talent combines to create a gritty, hard-boiled story that explores themes of solitude, heroism, nobility, and identity. Similar to classic detective stories, Drive reminds audiences that there's a price to heroism and its a harsh lesson. Its part of why I love genre of film noir (and wrote about the neo-noirs). There's a lot of moral grayness, antiheroes, and none of the typical black and white morality prevalent in most big budget hollywood films. The best film noirs are at heart character studies that present a simple moral choice. The actions that lead to this choice draw direct comparison to personal limits, the balance of virtue and power, and between what is easy and what is right.

I'm not generally this intellectual in reviews, but I'm trying to succinctly describe why I like this movie so much. Drive is the apex of film noir and also my favorite movie of 2011.