This is the internet. I have a blog. I am, therefore, legally obligated to write at least one ‘Top Ten’ list to close out 2011 and kick off the new year. As has become my custom, I’ll do this by running down my thoughts on the crop of films we were treated/subjected to over the previous 12 months.
In total this year I saw exactly 50 films in theatres. Of those 50, however, very few stood out as being truly significant; so few, in fact, that I had difficulty even finding ten films I felt deserved to be on the list. It wasn’t just a bad year for quality films, it was also a bad year for blockbuster summer films. While the overall box office did improve slightly from the admittedly dismal summer last year, those numbers are deceiving since the average ticket price has increased and this year featured even more 3D films with their inflated ticket prices. Overall, that means that fewer people bothered to leave their homes to go to the theatre, and who could blame them? The vast majority of the offerings were cash-grab sequels and uninspired, cheaply made comedies and knock-offs. Even the films that did well financially won’t leave any lasting impression.
That’s not to say there weren’t any films worth seeing this past year; it just means you had to sort through more dreck to get to them. Speaking of dreck, it’s time I quit rambling and moved onto the lists themselves.
The Ten Best Films of 2011
10: Winnie the Pooh
The best thing about this film is that the creators made no attempt to “update” Pooh. It’s a simple story, incredibly true to the spirit of the character, and features beautiful animation. It was tragically overlooked by many in favour of flashier, inferior animated films, but this film deserves to be seen, whether you have children, are a fan of the characters, or just a fan of animation in general.
9: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
While the third entry is still the high point of the series, this is still one of the year’s best action films. Fantastic stunts, some great chases and fights, strong character work, and a plot that is twisty without crossing over into ridiculousness, villain notwithstanding. First time live action director Brad Bird brings his animation sensibilities with him, but the film is better for it.
8: Young Adult
Marketed as a typical, vaguely indie comedy, this is actually an intriguing look at mental illness. Phenomenal work by Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt paired with a tight, entertaining script make this one of the year’s best, if bleakest, comedies.
7: Super 8
One of the more critically debated films of the year, I absolutely loved it. Some charged that it was too sweet, that the ending didn’t pay off enough, and that the story itself was thin, and they aren’t exactly wrong. But for me, at least, none of that mattered. It was exactly what I wanted it to be: homage to the old Amblin films of the 80s. It had the look, pacing, tone, and, yes, weak ending and overall too-sweet feel of those films. Add in the fact that one of the main plots was about kids making a movie and I’m willing to forgive a lot. Your mileage may vary, but I really enjoyed this film.
6: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Fincher has created a very strong version of this story. It is simultaneously better and worse than its Swedish language counterpart. His version is flashier and slightly tamer, with an entirely different sense of pacing. Regardless, this is a very enjoyable film worth seeing and supporting.
5: Drive
A bit of an oddball, this is the story of a nameless getaway driver done in the style of an ‘80s action film, without the high speed pacing. Instead, you have a fascinating, slow paced character study punctuated by moments of extreme violence. It may push the patience of some, but it’s more than worth the effort.
4: The Muppets
This was a very nearly perfect Muppet film. Like
Winnie the Pooh, it didn’t make any effort to update the characters. Though it works on multiple levels, it never stoops to cheap innuendoes to keep the adults interested. It is full of music, humour, and big set pieces, exactly what a Muppet movie should be.
3: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
After a slew of terrible
Planet of the Apes movies, I had no expectations going into this one and was greeted by a hugely pleasant surprise. This film is very well written and directed, has great action and character work, incredible visual effects, and was just plain fun. The best action film of the year, and one of the best films overall.
2: Bridesmaids
In a year filled with mediocre, rehashed comedies,
Bridesmaids was one of the few bright spots. Not at all the “chick flick” it might appear to be at first glance, it is fresh, hilarious, and full of great actresses, this was easily the standout of the year. It was a little longer than it needed to be, but it more than makes up for that flaw.
1: 50/50
And, finally, my pick for the best film of the year:
50/50. Heartfelt, funny, well directed, and centered on a great performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this is a fantastic film. The blunt, harsh nature of some of the language and the matter-of-fact presentation of terminal illness may make this uncomfortable for some, but this is absolutely worth watching and the best of the year.
The Five Worst Films of 2011
5: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
While it’s better than its predecessor,
Revenge of the Fallen,
Dark of the Moon is still far from anything that could be called a “good” film. The plot serves solely to move from one action scene to the next, said action scenes are often so frenetic that it is impossible to actually comprehend what is going on, and it again runs far, far too long. It does, fortunately, tone down the juvenile humour and racism that marred the second instalment, but that still doesn’t redeem the dreck we were presented with.
4: Sherlock Homes: A Game Of Shadows
This film was a mess. The plot was paper-thin and predictable throughout, the action scenes it tried to rest upon were dull, and it was devoid of any mystery. What really sank it, however, were the rampant tonal shifts. It lurched from action to comedy to drama and back again without ever settling into a cohesive whole. If you want to see a new interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, do yourself a favour and check out the excellent BBC series
Sherlock instead.
3: New Year’s Eve
The trailer shows pretty blatantly the quality level of this film, so I don’t have a whole lot to add. As
Newsday’s Rafer Guzman says “[this] is a perfect example of why the adjective “Hollywood” is so often used as a pejorative.” It is excess for the sake of excess, without any attempt at substance, intelligence, or heart. It relies purely on the audience having affection for characters the actors have portrayed previously as they sleepwalk their way through broad tropes, hoping that something will make enough of a connection with the viewers’ history that they will mistake their own memory for the film actually conjuring emotion.
2: Green Lantern
This film relies very heavily on CG, which makes it the terrible CG on display here even more unforgivable. Add to that stilted dialogue, a terrible performance by Blake Lively, and a plot that is as impenetrable to newcomers as it is bland and you have a film with no reason whatsoever to be seen.
1: The Hangover Part II
The very definition of a lazy sequel, the plot, pacing, and character work is identical to the first. What’s changed is that all moments of humour have been replaced with “shocking” moments, meaning that the only laughter from most of the audience will be the uncomfortable, I-can’t-believe-I-have-to-see-this kind. This is a mean spirited, pointless cash grab without an ounce of merit.
So that’s the end of the two important lists. As usual, I have two additional lists, which I include mainly so I can call out some films that weren’t good/bad enough to be included above. The first is “Most Surprising” which is films that, for one reason or another, I had low expectations for but which turned out to be quite good.
The Most Surprising Films of 2011
Hanna
Advertised as an action film, this one looked like another film made cheaply thanks to European tax incentives in the vein of
Taken and
Unknown. Instead it is a stellar character drama with unique locations, inventive action sequences, and a great score. Definitely one to see.
X-Men: First Class
X-Men: The Last Stand was a really bad film.
Wolverine was flat out terrible. After having been burned twice in a row, it’s not surprising that many were wary of this newest entry in the franchise. Fortunately for fans, those fears turned out to be unfounded. This is an exciting, rewarding film that more than lives up to the promise of its source material.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
As I said above, I had no expectations for this one. The previous films had been varying degrees of terrible, and I wasn’t sure if the concept would still work. Could modern audiences accept a serious film that dealt with talking monkeys taking over the world? It seemed like a stretch.
Rise pulled it off admirably, however, and was one of the best films of the year.
Midnight In Paris
What’s surprising about this film isn’t so much the quality, though Woody Allen has been somewhat hit and miss in his recent ventures, but the general reaction to it. It received strong reviews upon release, but seems to have been all but forgotten since then. Maybe it doesn’t deserve mention among the best of the year (I didn’t even include it on my “Best” list), but it still seems strange that it has dropped off the map so completely.
Finally, the “Most Disappointing” list. These films should have been better, and I really wanted them to be. As it stands, they range from weak to downright terrible.
The Most Disappointing Films of 2011
The Hangover Part II
I think I’ve already covered this one. I was a fan of the original, though I don’t think it deserved quite as much praise as it got, but this second bite at the apple is absolutely terrible.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
The original
Pirates of the Caribbean had its problems, but was an incredibly enjoyable film. Its next two sequels faltered somewhat, but I would still put them firmly in the “Quality” column, despite their muddy nature.
On Stranger Tides is a huge misstep. The filmmakers chose to emphasize the weakest aspects of the previous films, glue it to a plot that crawls along at a snail’s pace, and noticeably cut back the budget. The result is a pale imitation of what the series once was.
Cowboys & Aliens
The concept sounds terrible. How could you possibly come up with a compelling film when the sides were so mismatched and incongruous? The
Cowboys & Aliens panel at the 2010 Comic-con managed to convince me that it could be done. The presentation reel was fast paced, exciting, and seemed to indicate that the film would take its silly concept seriously. It gave me hope that they would be able to pull it off. They didn’t.
Sucker Punch
This could have been great. I’d even argue that it came close to being great in its final execution. Unfortunately, Snyder is never able to fully realize what he set out to do. Crafted as a female empowerment piece and a commentary on the exploitative male gaze,
Sucker Punch can never quite reach those levels. Instead it inadvertently becomes exploitative itself. It tries desperately to be a little smarter than it is, and its failures only serve to accentuate the rest of its flaws. It has some great ideas and some great set pieces, but it just doesn’t quite come together.
Cars 2
Though the original
Cars was easily the weakest of the Pixar films, its huge merchandising revenues and special place as Pixar director John Lasseter’s baby all but guaranteed a sequel. What we got was Pixar’s first critical failure. A boring, tedious mess, focused much too heavily on the formerly secondary character of Mater. He was fine in small doses in the original, but as the center of attention he quickly becomes incredibly grating, unless you happen to be a huge fan of Larry the Cable Guy and his redneck shtick. For the rest of us,
Cars 2 is the epitome of disappointment.
And that’s it for this year. Hopefully next year brings with it a stronger crop of films. In the meantime, I’ll be writing about film again in about a month, when the Oscar nominations are announced. Until then.
Sleep well,
DTE
