Cavaliers Look To Bounce Back Against the Pistons
December 28, 2011While We’re Waiting… Akron Gets a Coach, Linemen Get Grills and Buckeyes Get Studs
December 29, 2011I tried to count all the movies that I saw this year from 2011 and I got to 32 and probably missed a few. Even I am astonished by that number to be honest. Lucky for you, I will not be discussing all 32. Plus, does anyone really need to hear about Lliam Neeson in Unknown or Topher Grace in Take Me Home Tonight? Didn’t think so. I’ll be talking about some of the most memorable and notable movies to me, but this won’t be a complete take on 2011 until you guys are finished telling us about your favorites in the comments.
Source Code – I actually saw this one twice. It embodied everything I want in a sci-fi movie from good tension, concepts, visuals and acting. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a marine named Colter Stevens, who seems lost in his own personal Groundhog day, except before the alarm clock goes off he gets to discuss his mission with Colleen Goodwin played by Vera Farmiga. Gyllenhaal’s character is transported time and again to a train where he must figure out who has placed a bomb on it. Is it a computer simulation? Is it some kind of training exercise? Who are the people that he interacts with on the train? I don’t know if I sold you on this movie, but trust me when I tell you that you wanted to find out the answers to all those questions and like any great sci-fi movie you were left to decide some answers to questions of your own even after it was over.
Margin Call – This might be a conditional pick by me because I was a finance major. Some of the details of this movie can be a bit heavy-handed as they talk about the collapse of the economy via the liquidation of mortgage-backed securities. Still, even if you aren’t 100% sure of the mechanics of those elements, this movie is so well-acted and directed that you will be captivated by the pressure and tension as day leaks into night and back into day as these financial executives wrestle with their role in their company versus their place as catalyst in the greater economy.
Kevin Spacey will make you forget that he was ever in Pay it Forward as he portrays a middle-manager who is participating in the collapse of his company on the same day his dog died. Zachary Quinto (TV’s Heroes and Spock from Abrams’ Star Trek) kills it as the “Bud Fox” to Jeremy Irons’ “Gordon Gecko.” No, this movie doesn’t really play out like Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, but it is probably the best financial thriller since that movie.
Friends With Benefits – This is an odd choice, I know. Justin Timberlake + Mila Kunis doesn’t necessarily make for an Oscar in a foul-mouthed romantic comedy. Like any romantic comedy there is some cheese and the story arc is predictable, but the execution more than makes up for it. Mila Kunis is impossibly attractive in a “girl next door” kind of way and Justin Timberlake is charming, infuriating and sympathetic.
This movie ultimately makes its mark due to the supporting cast. Woody Harrelson kills it as a gay sports editor, while Jenna Elfman and Richard Jenkins provide the comedy and stability as Justin Timberlake’s father and sister. Add in Nolan Gould (Luke from Modern Family) and you end up with a romantic comedy that is hot, funny, and ultimately sweet without taking you too far in the direction of frustration that so many rom-coms tend to do.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – I like the Tim Robbins version of Planet of the Apes starring Mark Wahlberg. At least I did at the time. I think I just loved the concept of a stranger in a strange land being one of a very few humans being an outcast in that world. In hindsight that movie wasn’t particularly well done. Proof of that was provided by this movie about the origins of how the apes came into existence.
This time James Franco plays a scientist who is working on a drug that battles Alzheimer’s. Out of the best of human intentions the story takes shape. The arrogance of humans once again has unintended consequences. I said, I was in love with the concepts. Did I romanticize that enough for you?
In the end, you end up with a largely CGI-laced movie with pretty believable action and some pretty good acting by the humans who have to pretend they are relating to computer graphics. In the end this movie took all the best parts of the concepts and added enough of the human element to the mixture to make it a movie that I am confident will not only successfully “reboot” the franchise, but also create a product that easily outlives the mediocre efforts by Marky Mark and Tim Burton.
Win Win – I didn’t know if I would ever be a Paul Giamatti fan again after his melodramatic and self-important take on John Adams on HBO. But in Win Win Giamatti got back to what I think he’s done so well over his career. He does so much with subtlety that it was almost insulting to see him in a role like John Adams where he needed to smash the audience over the head with the gravity of the scenario. Not the case in Win Win.
Giamatti plays a beat down attorney and high school wrestling coach. His team stinks and when he does something underhanded to save his legal practice, he comes into contact with a troubled kid who just happens to be an awesome wrestler. I am not doing the story justice, but it was a great backdrop for some moments of dark comedy, drama and useful uncomfortability that fits Paul Giamatti like a glove.
This is just the kind of under-the-radar movie that I expect people to like. Great performances and pretty unique take on some pretty well-worn themes.
Lastly, here are some movies that I would recommend people see, but not enough to write a ton about them. Contagion was a movie with a storyline I wanted to like more, but it was too much Steven Soderbergh for me. The director was too heavy-handed imposing his style to an otherwise interesting plotline. Attack the Block was a pretty cool take on an alien invasion movie. Super 8 was decent even if it could have been so much more than a combination of The Goonies, Cloverfield and ET. Drive was an interesting movie with an eclectic soundtrack. While I love Carey Mulligan the movie was just a bit too weird to make it a bigtime recommendation. The Adjustment Bureau was a lot of fun for me, but it missed the larger mark for most viewers, I would guess.
Honorable mention goes to Red State, because I don’t review Kevin Smith movies. I am far too big a fan of Smith’s and subsequently far too biased. I see everything he does and would watch them over and over again on cable including the much-maligned Cop Out. (Really.) That being said, I can’t recommend Red State highly enough because of John Goodman and Michael Parks’ performances. Goodman is so good that his stick of gum should get a supporting actor nomination. (Me = biased.)
So that’s it from me. What did you guys see this year that you would recommend and why?
19 Comments
Midnight in Paris and Moneyball were by far the best movies I saw this year. I also liked Harry Potter and The Muppets a lot. Nothing else really impressed me much.
I have been meaning to check out Source Code, though.
Source Code was a lot better than I was expecting. Excellent performances and a plot that kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat.
There aren’t many new movies from this year that stick out to me, but off the top of my head my favorite would be Horrible Bosses. Solid comedy with a great cast. I went in with high hopes, and it met them.
“Tree Of Life” was very good.
I also loved the re-release of Edward Yang’s, “A Brighter Summer Day.”
I also heard that Lars von Trier flick was good.
you have to have Warrior on the best of 2011 list.
Cowboys vs. aliens…. Really. Not really.
you’ve got to be kidding with Source Code. The movie was god awful. Terrible plot, no story, no ending outside of a guy digging in his yard, terrible story telling… Just a horrific movie.
whoops – my rant was referring to Margin Call. Source Code was probably terrible too so rant may still apply outside of ‘guy digging in yard’.
I’m sorry but you cannot call ‘Source Code’ a good sci-fi movie. It’s not even sci-fi. It doesn’t have any science in it. And it’s just plain stupid
Moneyball and Horrible Bosses were my favorites, though I didn’t see many this year.
The science of Source Code is that they are bending space, time or dimensions or something (depending on your perspective.) There is definitely science in there.
What about Moneyball?
We have a whole post coming on Moneyball by Jon.
@Craig No, no, no. The science of it is never explained and nobody bothered to explain. It’s not a science movie it’s your average run of the mill “love conquers all” type of a contrivancy. You wouldn’t call Groundhog day a sci-fi movie, would you?
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” was my favorite (I haven’t seen Moneyball Midnight in Paris, Win Win, 50/50 or Planet of the Apes yet). It’s the best movie of 2011 that won’t be nominated for an Oscar. This isn’t your typical cliche romantic comedy, it manages to be intelligent and entertaining. Ryan Gosling was a scene stealer.
Source Code was surprisingly good (and was definately a Sci-Fi movie).
30 Minutes or Less was a solid comedy.
Overall it felt like a down year for movies (compared to last year’s powerhouses with The Social Network, The King’s Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, and Toy Story 3).
Drive is the best that I’ve seen. Bridesmaids deserves some kind of recognition too.
Horrible Bosses & 30 Minutes or Less were hilarious, to me anyway, so they get my nod. Also Pirates of the Carribean on Stranger Tides gets my vote because I’ve been hooked on the Pirates movies since the first. Just my couple pennies.
I can’t believe that 30 Minutes Or Less has been mentioned twice. That was one of the least funny “comedies” I have ever seen.
I know people have different opinions and senses of humor and everything, and normally I would just accept that…but I really can’t imagine anybody actually laughing at that movie.
Tim Robbins…oh no, you mean Tim Burton! and Yes the new one was amazing. But no love for Drive, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, 50/50, Cedar Rapids, and possibly Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Then even others that were good in their own way like Fast Five (YES it was good), Transformers (the 3D was the craziest I’ve ever seen…better than Avatar) Harry Potter, Bridesmaids, & Rango.
Oh and yes Source Code was a surprisingly good movie (DO have to side with it being sci-fi..unless you can prove to me that you can do what they did in the movie, and no Groundhog’s Day wasn’t Sci-Fi because he isn’t being scientifically put back in that day every time) 30 Minutes or Less was very underwhelming considering the talent of the cast (seriously Jesse Eisenberg? You follow up the Social Network with that!! Is Danny McBride actually becoming less funny??) and Pirates 4 was just horrible. I loved the first 3 (defended the last 2) but this one was just terrible.