Top 6 Favorite Films of 2011

Screw what that other guy said yesterday – I’m going to put up my TOP 6 favorite films of the year because I feel like it! Why should it be just 5? I can stretch it out to be 10 if I wanted to add in a few other titles – but I want to just put down my absolute favorites of the year – not just the movies I liked. I liked X-Men: First Class, I liked The Ides of March, I liked The Muppets, I liked Super 8 – if you feel the need to make it a full round 10 – but below are the movies that I give a solid 5 outta 5 – not an iffy 5 outta 5 – or a hesitant 5 outta 5 – or a drunk 5 outta 5 – below are my only real 5 outta 5 films of 2011.

#6. Super – what I really liked about Super was that it didn’t let down at what it was advertised as – it was a dark comedy involving topics and situations that you wondered if you should laugh at – disturbing and graphic – tragic and funny – the heart ultimately is to save himself he must save the girl – there’s something wonderful about that to me

#5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – great performances – solid effects – and a truly believable story of the scientist who sets in motion the end of the world at the hands of the apes – Andy Serkis was outstanding as Caesar blending in a mind boggling way the differences between what is ape and what is human in the performance

#4. Win-Win – Thomas McCarthy’s knack for turning what could be a depressing topic and finding the human spirit that lifting out the optimism without forcing it – this time with a displaced kid who’s looking for the home he never had and the coach/lawyer who was looking for inner strength but not knowing where to find it

#3. Source Code – what stuck with me about Source Code ever since I made it the first film I saw in the theater this year – was the optimism – science fiction tends to lean toward the loss of humanity and the hopeless struggle of it all – but with Source Code the idea of the hopeless struggle and pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat was so wonderfully conceived and executed
#2. 50/50 – a pleasant surprise – figuring I was in for a raunchy stoner comedy (thanks to Seth Rogen) but turned out to be a true comedy with some heart – laughing at the face of tragedy – no cheese – just great performances – the strength of the script – the fact that it never discounted the situation but never used it to drag the viewer down – it wasn’t just a “cancer comedy” – it was more of a true to life cancer story #1. Drive – intense, atmospheric, mesmerizing action, pitch perfect acting – Drive kept my excitement up well after I saw it – thinking about scenes – thinking about the execution – thinking about so many aspects – it’s the mark of a great film the resonance of it well after watching it – still feeling that atmosphere lost in questions and memories of it

The Ides of March [2011]

In a tight race for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States – a young political consultant learns what politics are all about.

This is an actor’s piece – filled with lots of talking and facial expressions for all the wonderful actors to display how well they can flex. Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymor Hoffman all jump in with George Clooney (who acts & directs) and make faces at each other and say stuff that makes you think they are saying important stuff – so you better pay attention.

Sorry.

I liked the movie – but you know when you want to see a movie – and you go to the theater and your phone told you the wrong time? So, you pick something else that you kind of want to see – when you have yourself hyped up for something else? Well, I went to see Moneyball and get lunch at the local brew & view – my phone said it started at 1PM – but it really started at 2PM – and I had already killed time waiting until 1PM – and I was really hungry for a burger and some waffle fries. So, I watched The Ides of March – and I could tell you everything you want to know about it – but I just can’t review it.

It’s about loyalty – and dirty politics – and how shitty life is. It’s good – really good – compelling – it felt like a 2 hour movie but it wasn’t – usually a mark that lots is happening and you are engrossed – and I was certainly grossed in. Great pacing. Good directing. Great performances. You should watch it if you like political thrillers and/or the actors involved.

It made me feel icky. It made me feel like I needed a shower. It did its job. Really good – seriously I’m not making fun of it – I’m just having a rough go of it lately – so let me have this one.

Thanks, I'll try better tomorrow - I promise... But since it's the weekend - I might not try at all... I am sorry to all you readers...

Drive [2011]

By night he’s a getaway driver – by day he’s a Hollywood stunt driver – when he gets mixed up with a girl and the mob - things get violent.

First of all, I have been anticipating this film for several months now. The talent in front of the camera (Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks & Bryan Cranston) as well as the talent behind the camera (Nicholas Winding Refn) got me pretty psyched up for what appeared to be a hard hitting fast paced action film.

I really did not expect the film that I watched though. My presumption disparity was blown out of the theater – and though I expected something with more pep – I got an intelligent, beautiful film that’s going to linger with more far longer than what I went in expecting. I should have expected this considering Winding Refn was at the helm – as this was an essentially an extension of VALHALLA RISING – slow build ups – questions everywhere – and graphic acts of terrifying violence.

The film was all about building tension – the slow thoughtful pacing of the film – the long pauses in conversation – the low key ethereal synth music soundtrack – the static camera – was all carefully crafted and used in order to really help build up the underbelly of the film. When an act of violence would happen – it was graphic and startling – just the way it should be – it was realistic and horrifying. I gasped – LuLu Danger jumped – it was satisfying.

The acting was top notch – Ryan Gosling at times has an approach of being blank and not showing anything and it bothers me (FRACTURE) but when given a different context that bored/blank look of his has underlying issues – there’s nobody better. His lack of emotion – his lack of dialogue – just made his character endear to me more. LuLu and I walked out asking each other back and forth questions about him – agreeing there’s ton more that we’ll never know about him – and we loved it.

Carey Mulligan was sweet and complex – there was a certain level of complete perfection about how she behaved – the elevator scene will go down as one of the greatest scenes of her still very early career – she showed a maturity unlike many actresses and hit every emotional queue in such a broad spectrum like a fucking pro.

Albert Brooks is one of my favorite comedic actors of all time – but in DRIVE he terrified me. As much as Gosling kept it internal – Brooks allowed it to flow through his pores a bit more – and I got the feeling he was a man willing to do anything (there’s early Oscar talk for Brooks in this role – and I agree – I was seriously terrified of him). Bryan Cranston has a knack for acting fatherly and believable in whatever role he tackles – which he mixed with a slimy fast talker into this role – and he did it with a certain expertise.

I don’t have any complaints about the film. There is no other director that could have pulled off a film like this – the tone – the artistic styling. The acting was all exactly pitch perfection for what this film became. Maybe it needed more driving considering it was called DRIVE – but that’s not the point.


The comparisons to exploitation films are fair – with a slow building sense of tension exploding into graphic and perverse violence. I can see how this film wouldn’t speak to everyone’s tastes – as I realized how the tone of the movie was being set very early on – I worried LuLu wouldn’t like it – but I think it’s the reality of the film’s story and the compelling performances - really proved me wrong and she loved it. I did too.

P.S. LuLu and I were enthralled by Gosling’s white satin jacket the entire film – there was a certain fucking badass look to that jacket – though it was a dated look. It really reminded me of how Christina Lindberg looked in THRILLER with the eye patch and trench coat and how there’s something simplistically amazing about it. If LuLu and I ever make it to a Comic Con – I think I know what I would like for us to dress up as.

P.P.S. I'll throw my hat in there and say even though I've been incredibly picky about what I've watched this year - this is my favorite of the lot thus far in 2011.

13 Months In 6 Minutes

Today, I feel like this...

Storm Watching

Over the holiday weekend we were hit with some massive thunderstorms so I pulled some movies off the shelf and had a movie marathon - none of which do I want to write up in anything huge - so here's the quick 2-sentence hits.

Psycho [1960]
The scariest thing in this movie is the scene of the getting rid of the body - it seemed almost in real time - and that's all it takes to make you never seen again. The end with the condescending psychiatrist's speech explaining and over explaining doesn't hold up well for modern audiences.


One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [1975]
I think this one holds up pretty well all the way around for modern audiences - the whole antiestablishment feelings people seem to always seem to carry with them from generation to generation. After this particular viewing, I was feeling that Mac brings it on himself - so even though I get the message of the overall movie - I wasn't feeling much sympathy for the anti-hero.
Lars and the Real Girl [2007]
This one is starting to pull away from the pack and it might make it into my top 10 movies - every time I watch it - I have the same reaction like I was watching it the first time. I love how the town pulls together for Lars - making Bianca real - bending just enough of their lives to pull Lars back into "reality".
Splice [2010]
It's the same old Frankenstein story but with a modern genetics twist and more sexual tension. Something about this time - made me draw a few parallels to some of Jesus Franco's creature/genetic abomination films - and wonder if he had helped inspire any bit of the story.

Blue Valentine [2010]

The story of a couple falling out of love as juxtaposed to how they fell in love.

This movie hit me like an emotional wrecking ball – it was powerful in both story and performance. It was very voyeuristic – as the narrative was unfolding more as the characters blossomed as opposed to a very clear point A to point B story. The story was told from present day where Dean and Cindy are on the rocks – and in flashbacks of how they met and fell in love.

It was both equally heartwarming and heartbreaking – very much rooted in the visceral emotional journey of the characters. The performances were incredibly gutsy – both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams felt as though they were living out their lives in sorts in front of the camera as opposed to portraying characters.
The only thing I felt the movie lacked was a middle – but the film was about how passionately and quickly people can fall in love and many years later – the slow withdrawal into falling out. It’s also a testament to the performances and direction – that since they were so intense in their portrayal – the middle part was a strong curiosity. As a viewer you are meant to question how they fell apart – and the question arises literally in the film “is this you?” – and you are meant to wonder – could this happen to anyone.

I really liked the direction of Derek Cianfrance – it wasn’t flashy or there to tell the story – it was there to present the characters – and through those characters the story was told. I watched the fluff “making of” feature on the blu-ray – which usually amounts of a bunch of press junket interviews where the actors, director and producers pat themselves on the back (and there was plenty of that) – but Cianfrance also revealed how this story had evolved by discussing the characters over a period of 6-years with both Gosling and Williams. That kind of preparation could easily make a story stale – but there’s really nothing stale about this film. It was fresh full of life – full of emotion – and it certainly seemed like a very cathartic experience for Cianfrance.
I wondered as I was watching the film – that since I found Dean to be a sympathetic character – and Cindy a bit colder (in the present day falling out of love portions) that if I watched it with my girl if she’d find Cindy to be a more sympathetic character and be able to identify more with her plight. It just feels that well-crafted emotionally that it would seem that if I took a different approach I could find either character to be equally as sympathetic.

Gosling and Williams have both become such phenomenal actors – I’m excited to see their careers continue to blossom. They are bold and daring – and fearless in their roles. Though I wonder with how bold these performances were – what more was going to make this an NC-17 film? I would like to see that original cut – if there was one – or if it was just Hollywood politics trying to label it as too strong.

If I had my way – I’d go back and make it the co-captain of my BEST OF 2010 roster along with SCOTT PILGRIM – as they were equally outstanding in their own rights - and now both seem intrical to my movie collection.

H is for...

Sometimes people are attracted to each other because of their differences. When there's a nebulous attraction between a teacher and a young teenage child--as in the superb Half Nelson--the relationship has all the makings of confused disaster. Though there are a few uncomfortable moments when it's not obvious whether Dan (Ryan Gosling) and Drey (Shareeka Epps) might cross the line, the attraction between the pair is culled less from sexual tension than desperation. Dan is an idealistic history teacher in an inner-city school. Drey is one of his brightest students. For both, drugs represent something that may help them escape their worlds. He takes drugs to dull his dissatisfaction with himself. She views drugs as a possible way to better her life, even though she knows her brother's foray into that trade landed him in jail. Bleakly filmed and well told, Half Nelson soars because of the immaculate acting by Gosling and Epps. With his impish smile, Gosling provides a character that is at once disarming, alluring, and pitiful. As the young girl who's already seen too much hardship in her life, Epps plays her part with just the right amount of hardened raw emotion. While the ambiguous ending may not please fans weaned on happy Hollywood finales, it's a fitting and believable close to a thought-provoking film. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

directed by Ryan Fleck

released 2006