So we're at the alpha point to a new year (everybody welcome the end of the Mayan calendar) and a new year in movies... which means that there isn't a better time to toss a few more roses on the coffin of 2011.
What happened at the movies in 2011? Quite a bit actually. Some of it new, some it stale, some of it insufferable. If there was a theme for the year in film it might be Vampires vs. Aliens... I believe the aliens won this time around.
I put together a crack team of Movie Examiners from all over the country, gave them a list of twenty questions to answer about what their year going to the movies played out like, and compiled all of their thoughts and answers here.
As a group these guys lumber into more movies, suffer through more movies, write about more movies, and are steeped in the culture and alchemy of the world of film, then just about any other collection of film aficionados on the planet.
Here's who I wrangled together to contribute to the article:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner.
David Wangberg Chico Movie Examiner.
And yours truly... Jason Roestel Movie Examiner.
And here's what I asked us:
1) Favorite Film of 2011:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Drive.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: They say that picking your favorite movie is like picking your favorite child. If that’s the analogy we’re using, then I demand a paternity test from 2011, as it was full of little ungrateful snot-nosed punks in which I have little to no respect for. In other words, it was a down year for films in general, with only a small handful even worthy of mention. But of them all, my favorite little guy was 50/50, a movie that was so sad, so funny, so real, that I rank it head and shoulders above anything else I’ve seen this year.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: This one’s a little tough, because the best stuff of 2011 is so different. Take Shelter was the one that has lingered in my headed the longest, took over my mind while watching it the most and is the one I’m not interested in sitting down to see once more. It’s surprising, scary and moving in the most interesting ways.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: If you told me that Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol would garner some consideration here, I would have put you in the same class with that jackass who keeps predicting that the world is going to end every three months. While that may be the best action-movie in the last decade, from a critical standpoint, I'm going to say Moneyball was the best thing going in 2011. And that comes from someone who despises everything about baseball.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: The Artist.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: The Artist. It was Drive for the longest time, but The Artist is just really extraordinary. Exceptional performances, an amazing soundtrack, and quite possibly the coolest dog to ever be in a live action film; The Artist is a film I'm convinced I can watch over and over again without getting tired of it.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: You know what? I'm gonna go with Source Code for this one. It was like Groundhog Day meets Timecop, not the most original film, more of a mash-up. But, it was just downright fun. I do like a lot of the films that are in the Oscar hunt like The Descendants, but generally when I pick a favorite I go with the 'guilty pleasure' type of film, the kind you just have a blast watching. Source Code was great for that.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Drive is the perfect synthesis of everything Michael Mann and Walter Hill did well in the early-mid 1980s (such as in The Warriors, Thief, Manhunter, Streets of Fire, The Driver, and the great Southern Comfort) in terms of visual style and crisp editing, and none of their faults. Hill was weak on backstory and character, more worried about having us judge a hero based on his actions than understanding why he behaved that way. Mann’s films were generally humorless, with perpetually agitated loner protagonists who exist primarily to be agitated loners. Refn solved all of these problems in Drive by not worrying about dumbing anything down and letting the inexpressiveness of the hero become the joke, letting Albert Brooks play off that silence, and Ron Perlman, with his permanently etched Joker-face, be the one who is both Brooks’ foil and the one who is arrogant enough to put together such a ridiculous plan that ends up with Gosling turn on him. The car chases are of course exceptional, the best since To Live and Die in LA, and Refn knew which directors to steal from at the right time: That exceptional elevator sequence, with the surreal moment where Gosling and Mulligan get their own personal lighting is right out of Buffalo ’66, when Ricci dances at a bowling alley in the middle of a lane, and is given a totally unmotivated spotlight.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: I have yet to see The Artist, but I don’t know if it or any other film can be better than Drive. Everything about this movie, including the gratuitous violence, was just beautiful. Favorite scene: In the elevator as Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan are kissing and the light goes dim, then it brightens and Gosling begins to kick ass.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Drive. It's a beauty. It's a beast. If you can find me a better scene in any other movie released this year than that strip club beating in Drive I'd like to see it.
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2) I Hated, Hated, HATED this movie:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: What’s Your Number? is too easy a target, and The Company Men was more offensive to this middle-class joe than it was downright angst-inducing (you seriously want me to sympathize with an upper-one-percenter who loses his job and…gasp!...forces his kid to sell his Xbox???). But the word "hate" was never better applied to a film in 2011 than with Hesher, ironically starring the same guy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who stars in my favorite 2011 film. Hesher was ugly, awful, and self-serving…a film that tries to beat it over your head that it is a cool film. I for one am proud not to have gotten the point of Hesher or it’s filmmakers, the smug bastards.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: There was a lot to hate in 2011 too, but nothing dug into my skin like an unwanted tick more than The Hangover Part 2. The first one wore out its welcome by the end of the first hour. Part 2 continues the monotony of car crashes, people yelling and people yelling even louder.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: I was pretty harsh on the comedies this year. But what was by far the biggest waste of my time: Mars Needs Moms. Remember when Walt Disney always put out a solid product? No, seriously....can you?
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: The Hangover Part II.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: The Smurfs. Pretty much the worst theater experience I've ever had. I was wishing, hoping, PRAYING I had strapped a bomb to my chest before I went to that just so I could blow up everyone inside because they were that damn annoying. I couldn't see any other terrible movies after this. This was my breaking point.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: This is the easiest one to pick this year. Red Riding Hood was close to, if not, the worst film I have ever seen. The acting was worse than a Spanish soap opera, the effects were like something from a film school dropout and the story and dialogue were laughably bad. They even had some kind of weird, drug-fueled rave right in the middle of the film for no apparent reason whatsoever. Absurd.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: I could just copy and paste the opening paragraphs of my review for The Reflecting Skin where I go on and on about why Sucker Punch was such an agonizing experience. But I didn’t write a review for the film originally because it felt like piling on, and unlike a lot of critics, I don’t get any pleasure out of piling on. Also, I hate when people do what I just did, which is to align themselves against every other theoretical critic just so they can seem like a lone ranger. "Everyone else hated this particular movie, but I had the wisdom to find the redeeming factors that make me more perceptive than everyone else on the planet and simultaneously a rebel." Of course, so many critics do this that the person who is taking a stand against or for whatever film ends up being just as generic and groupthinky as the fantasy critics that they claim to decry. All this has nothing to do with Sucker Punch, and is probably pretty unprofessional of me to go on and on about what I hate about people who hate things just to prove that they’re not the boring middlebrow person that they are. Continuing in that unprofessional vein, while I could easily detail the nonsensical and headache inducing material that made up Sucker Punch, I’m just going to offer up my immediate and totally classless initial reaction to the movie. It’s pretty clear that the Scott Glenn part is supposed to be David Carradine. But I bet Snyder hired Glenn because David Carradine killed himself rather than appear in Sucker Punch.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: Sucker Punch. It’s almost a tie between this and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. There were many offensive and just flat out stupid films this year, but I don’t think any other film was as misogynistic, cynical and hypocritical as Sucker Punch.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Bellflower may have proved the theory that prop builders and auto mechanics make for awful screenwriters and filmmakers. (this means you Evan Glodell - you are to dialog what the Lakota Sioux Indians were to George Armstrong Custer... ) The Mad Max fan in me screams for bloody retribution against the film-school brats responsible for this embarrassing demonstration of schlock and blah.
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3) Best Sequel/Prequel/Remake?
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: Hands down no questions asked, X-Men: First Class is one of the best films of the year as well as one of the best comic book movies ever. I was also pleased with the final chapter of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and although the remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was only so-so for me, it is a minor miracle that Rooney Mara was able to pull off an incredible performance and interpretation of a character that I thought was owned by Noomi Rapace. Bravo.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Fright Night was that tasty blend of horror and comedy that so few films ever get right, with an ensemble of game talent up for all the shenanigans.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: Easily going with Fright Night and Footloose. Fright Night was such a loyal remake that ironed out the mistakes the original had. And Colin Farrel played one hell of a deadly vamp. As for Footloose, it was by far one of the most enjoyable theater going experience one could have this year. And yes, I'm straight.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This was way better than it had any right to be.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: This has to go to X-men: First Class. This was a series heading downhill fast and the 'reboot' idea to take the story back a couple decades and to throw in a bunch of new mutants worked to perfection. This was one of the few 10 out of 10 ratings I gave out this year. Even if you took the film out of the X-men series it would be a fantastic standalone film. Planet of the Apes was a close second. I enjoyed that one a lot more than I thought I would.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: The Skin I Live In, which is Almodovar’s uncredited premaquel to his own Talk to Her. All credit must be given to Almodovar for making me sympathize with a rapist in Talk to Her, but I’m not sure any amount of kudos is enough to congratulate him on making me sympathize with two different rapists at the same time, sometimes even when one is being raped by the other.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: X-Men: First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes were both very good pre-boots. (prequel/reboot). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was a magnificent way to end the series.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Batman: Arkham City. Errrr... I mean The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. How do you remake a foreign film that was obviously inspired by the early work of David Fincher? Grab Fincher himself. Then go grab Trent Reznor to score the film while you're at it. The American remake is cleaner, sharper, and put the hammer down harder as far as content went. As for prequels? X-Men: First Class was first class. My favorite sequel? Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Pure. Frakking. Fun.
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4) Favorite Alien Invasion Of 2011?
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Super 8.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: This has got to be a tie between Paul and Super 8, unless you count Sophie Vergara in New Year’s Eve. Oh wait, that was my least favorite alien invasion.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Without question, Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block wins this category in a walk. The film consistently drew big laughs and the action brings to mind the best of John Carpenter. I’d be sad that so few people saw it if it didn’t seem like the movie’s cult-appeal is already spreading. Believe it.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: Not sure how many people saw it, but Attack the Block - a British flick - trumped everything. Yes, even the all-star duo of J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg, who united their powers for Super 8, could not hang with this playful ride.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: Super 8.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: Attack the Block. I hated or was completely disappointed with the rest of the alien invasion films from the rest of the year. Attack the Block managed to pay tribute to its influences while also presenting a new adventure that was completely fresh and just a hell of a lot of fun.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: Definitely Cowboys & Aliens. I may be in the minority in the critic community but I loved this film. The casting was spot on and the direction was brilliant. They went with a more traditional western style and used the aliens as the antagonists instead of a villain in a black hat. The blend of sci-fi and western just worked out perfectly. I even nominated this one for Best Cinematography…of course, it didn't make the final ballot, but it did get one nod.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Another Earth was such a calm film compared to the very similar and histrionic Melancholia, and without any attempt by the director to rub our noses in the lives of insufferable rich people. Another Earth was the rare sci-fi film that only incidentally had science in it, and was more worried about characters than gimmicks. It was like watching a pro remake Primer, and even making the technical explanations semi-coherent. Plus, the male lead, Thomas Mapother, looks just like Eli Manning.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: Super 8. Even though we don’t really see the ship come down until the end, that train crash sequence was incredible. You could count that part as the alien invasion.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: I had fun during Invasion Earth 2011. When planets weren't colliding with our world (Melancholia and Another Earth) convoys of alien warships were. I loved Battle Los Angeles, Cowboys and Aliens, Attack the Block, The Thing prequel, and (my favorite invasion of 2011) Super 8. Hell, I even sort of dug I Am Number Four. Bring on Prometheus.
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5) Biggest Waste of Talent?
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: J. Edgar.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: Good question. So many to choose from, but I’m going to go with Ryan Gosling in Drive. Some critics are applauding this movie and Gosling’s performance, but for me it was the most wooden, uninspired, and useless performance in recent memory.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Frances McDormand doesn’t work a lot. To see her immense acting ability wasted as annoyed government official in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon was the definition of disappointing.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: Everyone involved with Cowboys & Aliens. If I continue writing on this subject, I will get angry.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: The Hangover Part II.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: Coriolanus. Loved the cast, loved several of the performances, but I felt like the movie was lacking in just about every other area.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: This is a tough one. I would have to go with Mr. Popper's Penguins if I could only pick one, but Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a close second. The reason I would go with Penguins is simply the fact that if you put Jim Carrey in a kids/family film all you need to do is have a simple, even superficial story and let Carrey be Carrey. But, this film was just atrocious. For the most part the movie forgot it was a film about penguins and focused on a divorced couple, their kids, a restaurant that needs saving and rekindling the relationship. Way too complicated for a kids' movie. Pirates was just an utter waste of great actors…horrible, horrible film.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: The camera operator in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’m not saying this to be contrarian, I truly laughed through the entire screening. It wasn’t just the plot holes that got to me (so James Franco hasn’t moved that bottle of smart formula in his fridge in 5 years? Even though a woman moved into his home and no doubt cleaned him up?), or that it was the best ape in a sweater movie I saw that week, it was that this camera operator was ahead of everyone else on set and overly anticipated where the CGI would be added later. The camera seemed to know where the apes would end up, not following them, but beating them to the spot. It was a nagging technical issue that I would generally ignore, but it was so prevalent that I started to imagine him bored on the set while the complicated effects shots are being put together, tuning out and drifting into his own world, which is why he kept starting the shot long before anyone called action.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: New Year’s Eve. So many good actors in such a contrived mess.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Hesher. (Portman. Joe Levitt. Metallica!) Contagion. The Big Year. And if I could point you all in the direction of Roman Polanski's Carnage... this is how you blow a quartet of ridiculously good Oscar talent right out yer' wrinkled, white, Polish ass. On the contrary... the best use of talent was in Chandor's Margin Call. Welcome back from the cryptozoo Paul Bettany.
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6) Best Film Nobody Saw?
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: 13 Assassins.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: Another question that inspires me to go on and on…The Myth of the American Sleepover was one of the smallest, yet unique takes that I’ve ever seen on the coming-of-age teen drama…it’s worth finding and is enchanting if you go into it expecting something other than American Pie or Porky’s. I was also a fan of The Beaver (hee hee), and a slew of documentaries that probably nobody saw, namely Thunder Soul, We Were Here, Undefeated, Where Soldiers Come From, and Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Lastly, the small foreign film My Afternoons With Margueritte has one of the year’s finest performance, by the very talented Gerard Depardieu…also a very good movie.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Andrew Haigh’s Weekend was romance done right, showing how falling in love is more than a pop-song and a walk through the park. Leads Tom Cullen and Chris New are spectacular together and hopefully the critical love for the movie will be enough to get all involved significant opportunities in the future.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: Going to have to go with Trollhunter here. It was a found-footage film that came out of Norway. And the filmmaking execution of this genre was top-notch compared to the slew of others that have crowded the movie-industry these last ten years or so. Naturally, there's already a greenlit U.S. version coming out in a couple years (we're pathetic).
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: Another Earth.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: The Skin I Live In. If you like films that mess with your head, this one is a must. If somebody spoils it for you, karate chop them in their kidney.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: Another easy one for me: Sympathy for Delicious. I actually saw this film when Mark Ruffalo and Christopher Thornton screened it at a film festival a year or two ago and loved it. I watched it again when they sent screeners out before the U.S. release date and loved it even more. It's just a great independent film about the human condition and base human emotions and interactions. I've never been a big Ruffalo fan but his acting and directing in this one were phenomenal. It also stars Orlando Bloom, Laura Linney and Juliette Lewis. It was one of my few 10 ratings as well.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Last year I said that Margaret was the movie I was looking forward to. Of course, since I saw a rough cut at a test screening back in 2006, I’ve been saying that every year since then, as nothing in the last 5 years has approached the ambition and combative nature of Kenneth Lonergan’s screenplay, nor been as challenging and enraging. And since the movie was buried by Fox Searchlight (my original newspaper review from 2008 ended with their phone number, pleading with the reader to badger them into releasing the film) and got a spite release in a compromised version put together by the producer so he could use its failure as evidence in a lawsuit against Lonergan, amongst other vastly complicated legal issues, only critics have really been able to see this highly flawed masterpiece.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: The Tree of Life. Yes, it was an independent release, but so was Midnight in Paris and that was a huge hit. Yes, it won the Palme d’Or, but I still feel that nobody saw it. Just look at its box office reception. It’s hard to explain the whole film in a few sentences, but The Tree of Life was such a mesmerizing experience for me.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Warrior. You idiots all missed Warrior. I can forgive you for not seeing Christopher Smith's outstanding Black Death, (who knew the guy that made Severance and Triangle could make an amazing movie worth braving Netflix streaming for?) and can also forgive you for not catching Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles and Senna (docs o' the year) when they ran in two theaters nationwide and in the back alleyways of On Demand... but Warrior? They were practically giving away tickets to this movie.
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7) Didn't Deserve the Beating It Took From the Critics:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: In Time.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: The Beaver (hee hee), Larry Crowne, The Ides of March.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: I Am Number Four isn’t an especially good movie, but it’s got enough little pieces of fun scattered through out. Timothy Olyphant is gold as always, and the story – even if it’s generic – is thoroughly adequate. Okay, maybe it was just Olyphant that made it watchable. I just don’t see in a world of Adam Sandler, Bradley Cooper and Ryan Reynolds movies why this is on so many bottom of 2011 lists.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1. Wait, didn't most critics slam this? Yeah, but they should have annihilated it! Zero...point...zero.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: W.E.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: In Time isn't quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's just incredibly disappointing.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I enjoyed the first Transformers and hated the second. I didn't expect much from the third and was dreading the screening. I actually had quite a bit of fun watching this third film I ended up giving this one an 8 out of 10 mostly due to the decision to kick Megan Fox out of the production and a vast improvement over the second film. The movie knew what it was, a loud, chaotic, special effects driven summer popcorn flick. They embraced it and accomplished that mission.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Drive Angry was the best use of 3D yet (apart from Jackass 3D), and William Fichtner, as Satan’s accountant, gives a legitimately great performance. It also plays like a more consistently entertaining and ludicrous remake of Faster. The remake of The Mechanic was equally dumb and outrageous and blows the ending that is set up so well in the original Bronson film, but it’s the only hitman movie I’ve ever seen that has a "taking your puppy to a coffee shop" montage.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: Well, I’ll probably get hell for it, but I didn’t think Larry Crowne was THAT bad. It was corny and a bit schmaltzy, but I enjoyed the performances by Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Plus, my hometown university (Chico State) got a mention in the film.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: I guess Clooney didn't make The Ides of March with his liberal lubbin' cousins in the critics circles in mind. Nor did Bruce Robinson make The Rum Diary with teams of tween Depp fans in mind. As for Battle Los Angeles....? It took a beating alright. But it's a tough film. It can take a good beating.
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8) Didn't Deserve the Love It Got From the Critics:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: My Week with Marilyn.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: No question, Tree of Life. It’s art for art’s sake and I prime example of when not to listen to movie critics…no average movie-goer will enjoy this film. I also thought Take Shelter was overrated, as was The Descendants, which was good, not great.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Often misogynist and poorly acted, Bellflower had one thing going for it; nice cinematography on a budget. Yes, the film looks stellar; its innards are rotten.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: I'm sorry, well, actually, I'm not, but Horrible Bosses was a major under-achiever. Maybe its the jaded corporate America segment of my life speaking here, but this could have been way more clever. If it wasn't for Jennifer Aniston finally acting like a slut; and Colin Farrel showing what his future will look like, I would have seriously contemplated walking out on this. Coming in as close second is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I'd be willing to bet all my guitars that every critic who watched this dozed off at multiple points. They were just too afraid to hammer it since a bunch of "notable" critics praised it.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: My Week with Marilyn.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: Take Shelter. I loved Michael Shannon's performance. The rest of the film didn't seem to affect me the way it should have or at least the way most critics said it affected them. I was really disappointed I didn't love it.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: You know, I actually enjoyed Super 8 quite a bit, but I think that one got a little too much hype. But, my ultimate choice for this category would be Paul. This one is sitting at a 72% on RottenTomatoes.com and I can't for the life of me figure that one out. I gave this one a 3.75 out of 10. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have made some funny films but they are at their best when it is just the two of them being goofy and bouncing witty banter off each other. Throwing Seth Rogen as a CGI alien into the mix and trying to give him all the punchlines turned this comedy into a snoozefest. This is normally the kind of film to get trashed by critics but for some reason they loved it.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Bridesmaids is a lively, smart movie for about 20-25 minutes (I love that scene with Terry Crews as the trainer who berates Wiig and Rudolph for not paying to be in the class), before the absolute desperation of the puking/poop sequence kicks in, derailing any good will the move has built up and the whole thing turns into a series of manufactured crises. 125 minutes on a lonely woman being overbearing? There hasn't been such non-conflict in a movie since I Love You, Man and Bridesmaids also continues the Apatow obsession that began with Step Brothers, 90's nostalgia (it's funny because it's really Wilson Phillips singing?). And doesn't the casting of the cop who becomes Wiig's boyfriend reek of Jason Segal not being available? The only difference between them is the cop's Irish accent.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: I liked Young Adult, but I didn’t think it was magnificent as some critics are saying it is. And it looks like I’m in the minority when it comes to The Adjustment Bureau and Limitless. Both films were major disappointments in my opinion.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: I would have said Footloose or Like Crazy... until I saw the reviews Carnage was pilfering from the press. I guess date rape - as well as making bad movies - are the only two things Roman Polanski gets a lifetime pass from. It felt like he did both in Carnage. And War Horse is bloody awful. Anyone who tells you different is an AGENT OF THE DARK ONE.
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9) Favorite Performance of 2011:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Ryan Gosling in Drive.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: Other than Kirk Douglas at last year’s Oscars, my favorite performances of the year belong to Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn, Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin, Gerard Depardieu in My Afternoons With Margueritte, and Jean Dujardin in The Artist. But for some reason, the one performance that sticks out for me is Mel Gibson in yes, The Beaver (hee hee), and not just because of the film’s name…if he wasn’t on Hollywood’s blacklist, this would be a surefire nomination in my opinion.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: Probably even tougher than naming the best film of the year. Nevertheless, it goes to Take Shelter, particularly Michael Shannon’s turn as beleaguered father/husband Curtis. It isn’t simply that Shannon depicts a guy possibly going crazy. What makes his performance so astounding is the fear in his eyes that he might be losing his marbles.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: Brad Pitt is taking home the Oscar for his charismatic work in Moneyball. But I have to give credit where its due (even though I didn't really like the movie) that horse in War Horse did some pretty impressive stuff. Hank Azaria as Gargamel in the shanty version of The Smurfs was entertaining to watch as well.
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: Michael Fassbender in Shame.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: This is really hard for me. Probably Michael Fassbender in Shame. It was just so honest, genuine, and kind of heartbreaking. I loved that.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50. He was absolutely brilliant as the young cancer patient showing the entire range of emotions. It was a tough role and I can't imagine anyone doing it better.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: Elle Fanning blows everyone else away in Super 8, Ellen Page is fantastic in Super, but Anna Paquin’s performance in Margaret is extraordinary in what is a very difficult part. She is required to be instantly unlikable and shallow, but we understand her immaturity and arrogance completely. Nobody writes shrill women better than Kenneth Lonergan, and Margaret has three of them (Jeannie Berlin, J. Smith-Cameron, and Paquin), all of whom avoid being shrews.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: For male: Brad Pitt in Moneyball and The Tree of Life. They were both very different roles, but he was incredible in both. George Clooney in The Descendants was also amazing. For female: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn. She was a spitting image of Marilyn Monroe. Everything from the voice, to the hair, to even the dimple was 100% Marilyn.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Pollyanna McIntosh in Lucky McKee's The Woman. I've never been so frightened of being so turned on.
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10) Best Opening:
Ryan Pratt Movie Examiner: Drive.
Tom Santilli Detroit Movie Examiner: The Guard with Brendan Gleeson shows a group of teens drinking and driving way too fast in their sports car. They speed past policeman Brendan Gleeson who in any other movie would pull out and chase the offenders. Instead he sits emotionless, and we hear a crash as the car had swerved and crashed. Gleeson walks out to the dead bodies and mess thrown all about, reaches into one of their pockets and finds some acid. He then puts it in his mouth, and declares to the sunset "What a beautiful f#$#$’in day." Brilliance.
Brian Zitzelman Seattle Movie Examiner: The largely dialogue-free opening to Drive is visceral filmmaking at its best. As a robbery occurs, our protagonist (Ryan Gosling) waits patiently at the helm of a getaway car, checking his watch and listening to a Clippers game of all things. Nicolas Winding Refn somehow makes what follows entirely movie-magic, even as it remains grounded in a reality where chases don’t include twenty car pileups or blaring pistols, all set to the mechanical heart of Cliff Martinez’s score thumping underneath.
Joe Belcastro Tampa Movie Examiner: The opening credits for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Put that sequence on repeat and I won't get up for an hour (as in, stand).
Jorge Carreon LA Personalities Examiner: The credit sequence from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Chris Sawin Houston Movie Examiner: The Adventures of Tintin. The opening credits are done in 2D, introduce you to John Williams amazing score, and have a mini mystery solved by the time the credits end. It’s paced better than the actual film. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Shame are a very close second and third though.
Tom Clocker Baltimore Movie Examiner: I would say Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Similar to the James Bond format of filmmaking, the M:I movies tend to open things up with like a 'mini mission' or the tail end of a mission before they hit you with the theme music and start laying out the story of the next mission. So, that is what I expected and that is what I got. The beginning was action-packed, humorous and a great start to the film.
Adam Lippe Movie Examiner: The best part of Drive’s opening is how focused it is. When Gosling lets the two criminals out of the car, the camera does not follow them, and for all we know, they got into a big shoot-out with the cops. But Gosling’s part of the job is done, and so, despite a natural temptation to resolve things, Refn stays with him.
David Wanberg Chico Movie Examiner: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has the craziest opening sequence I’ve seen in years. It’s like a James Bond intro, but much darker and much cooler.
Jason Roestel Movie Examiner: Drive. You're thrown into the front seat of a getaway car with Ryan Gosling, the police scanner's crackling about the heist he's been hired to drive for, as well as the make and model of the car he's driving. The scene is cool, clever, and painfully restrained. Any other car movie would put the pedal to the floor during an opening heist sequence, and if it were anyone else driving the car, I might have encouraged it. Coolest first five minutes in film in 2011.
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Continue to Part 2 of the Examiner.com's Year in Film Review....
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