| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| GHcool |
Posted - 01/01/2012 : 19:43:44
Its New Years Day, which means its time to publish our favorite films of the previous year. Here are mine:
1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: What a beautiful film and what an amazing performance by Thomas Horn, a "Jeopardy" winner who has never acted in anything and carries every scene in this film. Its a pretty neat trick especially when Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow and others give excellent performances as well.
2. Midnight in Paris ("Thirtysomething visits the twentysomethings." - Clay): Woody Allen's best film in at least a decade. Never a dull moment or a moment in which a wide smile left my face.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ("Volde-mort." - demonic): The equal of Lord of the Rings and Batman in terms of production value, this is a fitting conclusion to the most profitable film series of all time. The performances are wonderful as usual (I especially like Ralph Fiennes's Voldemort).
4. The Muppets ("Felt fantastic." - BiggerBoat): This is my guilty pleasure. I grew up with the Muppets and had the pleasure of watching this movie with my 8 year old sister, who had never heard of the Muppets. It also has the distinction of being the funniest movie of the year.
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ("Girl with Dragon Tat-two." - demonic): I never read the books or saw the Swedish film. I am told the Swedish film is better. Regardless, this is an incredibly entertaining film with very effective performances by Rooney Mara and the rest of the cast.
Other films I appreciated include Carnage, The Descendants, Kung Fu Panda 2, Mission Impossible, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Rango, The Tree of Life, War Horse, and Young Adult.
I have not yet seen Bridesmaids, 50/50, The Help, J Edgar, The Ides of March, Mission Impossible, A Separation, or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or We Bought a Zoo. I expect at least one or two of those will make my list. |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| rabid kazook |
Posted - 01/04/2012 : 19:01:51
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Ha! Haven't seen six of your eight yet... but I've a feeling "Your Highness" might be an acquired taste. 
"Hobo" was very good - accurately extreme 80s, but not a very pleasant watch.
"Hanna" got on my nerves, comic book origin or not. Too much "style" no substance whatsoever, and I couldn't stand any of the characters, most of all the unbearably badly written British family.
dem, I recommend to you the #3 on the list Korean thriller drama Children... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTgHFgbjAp0)
and also Yellow Sea which is late 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0WRm5mmFzw). No subtitles in teasers so not to take of teh experience.
Actually I think Danny McBride is 'the' acquired taste, but when you get into him...whoa.
Lot of jokes in YH I didn't like, but it's one of those unique stuff I tell ya. Lines like thin don't happen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTfVTxvchi8
There's plenty of violence in Hobo but you know I think it's the same size of effort here that Tarantino made for Kill Bill. The music in it was coool-
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| rabid kazook |
Posted - 01/04/2012 : 18:22:25
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
Are you sure about that? I like to think I'm well up to speed on comic books and yet this is the first I've ever heard of such a book (also a few quick Google searches returned nothing to suggest as such, unless you count the cast appearing at the New York Comic Con).
I didn't find him emo at all- I thought he was more laid back and well, just so cool (as further evidence, a girl in my office physically swoons just talking about the scene in the lift where he puts his arm across the girl to protect her).
[/quote]
Yeah my mistake, I must've heard that about Hanna appearing at Comic Con or something.
But it really looks like it was masterminded as a comicbook/g. novel. So weird it wasn't.
THe scene in the elevetor - well that's still in the gentlemen-like type of behavior. And the time he spends on spit-shining, vacuuming the cars is at least suspicious.
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| demonic |
Posted - 01/04/2012 : 02:31:04
quote:
Originally posted by rabid kazook
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/89365875.png/
So far it's a more mainstream list, but I'm missing Cannes and the indie circuit so it's nowhere near final list.
I should defend Hanna a bit here. It's based on a comicbook, and the nonsensical takes on the action are more a plus for me.
Credit to Joe Wright who made such a 'delicious' 180 from Atonment and Pride and Prejudice.
But no one really beats Hobo filmmakers, pedal to the metal of level building on a another level of fun building on another level of it....
I'm on the edge of liking Drive. It's sublimely stylized, and wonderfully produced with lot of nifty details, but I wish Gosling was more of a badass - he was just kind of too emo.
And I think I prefer Enter the Void of the pseudo-existential recaps of human quintessence (I Melt with You too?) to Tree of Life. Do I think noise is more artful than philharmonia then. Could be.
Ha! Haven't seen six of your eight yet... but I've a feeling "Your Highness" might be an acquired taste.
"Hobo" was very good - accurately extreme 80s, but not a very pleasant watch.
"Hanna" got on my nerves, comic book origin or not. Too much "style" no substance whatsoever, and I couldn't stand any of the characters, most of all the unbearably badly written British family. |
| benj clews |
Posted - 01/04/2012 : 01:40:09
quote:
Originally posted by rabid kazook
I should defend Hanna a bit here. It's based on a comicbook...
Are you sure about that? I like to think I'm well up to speed on comic books and yet this is the first I've ever heard of such a book (also a few quick Google searches returned nothing to suggest as such, unless you count the cast appearing at the New York Comic Con).
quote:
I'm on the edge of liking Drive. It's sublimely stylized, and wonderfully produced with lot of nifty details, but I wish Gosling was more of a badass - he was just kind of too emo.
I didn't find him emo at all- I thought he was more laid back and well, just so cool (as further evidence, a girl in my office physically swoons just talking about the scene in the lift where he puts his arm across the girl to protect her). That aside, what I really loved about the film was how it came off as like a really slow burn True Romance. I seriously came out of it feeling like I'd just woken from a really cool, vivid dream  |
| rabid kazook |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 17:37:20
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/89365875.png/
So far it's a more mainstream list, but I'm missing Cannes and the indie circuit so it's nowhere near final list.
I should defend Hanna a bit here. It's based on a comicbook, and the nonsensical takes on the action are more a plus for me.
Credit to Joe Wright who made such a 'delicious' 180 from Atonment and Pride and Prejudice.
But no one really beats Hobo filmmakers, pedal to the metal of level building on a another level of fun building on another level of it....
I'm on the edge of liking Drive. It's sublimely stylized, and wonderfully produced with lot of nifty details, but I wish Gosling was more of a badass - he was just kind of too emo.
And I think I prefer Enter the Void of the pseudo-existential recaps of human quintessence (I Melt with You too?) to Tree of Life. Do I think noise is more artful than philharmonia then. Could be.
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| demonic |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 02:07:31
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Worst films I saw this year (baring in mind I skipped a good deal of tat):
The Silent House
Julia's Eyes
Hanna
Rare Exports
Unstoppable.
Agreed on Unstoppable (was it just me, or did the external shots of that train just NEVER look even slightly fast or out of control?) and Hanna. But... I really enjoyed Silent House and Julia's Eyes (this in particular because of the way it depicted the central character's failing eyesight and the idea of the baddie's 'special ability'). And Rare Exports was just bonkers and so much fun- or that's what I thought anyway!
Typically for me I didn't enjoy Silent House because I thought about it too much - when you discover what's actually happening (if you can work it out in all the gloom and confusion) it makes everything that you've been watching up till that point complete nonsense. It's actually impossible, so I can't have any respect for a film that makes no sense at all in retrospect. Also it annoyed me that they'd sold the film as a "one camera/single take" concept in the trailer and of course it wasn't true at all, something the director apparently wouldn't admit. The camera it was shot on can only take 15-20 minutes of film, and you could see the black out joins as clearly as in Hitchcock's "Rope". Very shoddy.
Julia's Eyes I just thought was preposterous; a catalogue of poor character choices, not to mention bizarrely sexist -lingering on shot after shot of Bel�n Rueda's cleavage. Not a patch on The Orphanage for atmosphere or story.
Rare Exports - don't know why I didn't enjoy that one more - it was a great idea with a cool twist, but it annoyed me. Something to do with the acting and the script I think. Troll Hunter was much, much better- really good fun.
Glad you hated Unstoppable and Hanna though.
Really wanted to see Another Earth but missed it. Also very much enjoyed X-Men: First Class. Come to think of it... I managed to miss that off my list of films I saw this year. I saw 72 films, not 71.  |
| randall |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 01:25:56
quote:
Originally posted by benj clews
Troll Hunter
A big positive surprise for me. Wasn't expecting anything nearly this crafty. |
| GHcool |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 22:38:13
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Worst films I saw this year (baring in mind I skipped a good deal of tat):
Sadly, the worst film I saw all year was a film I worked on! Love, Wedding, Marriage is not the worst movie in the world (despite its 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes), but it might be one of the silliest and least mature. Mandy Moore plays a marriage counselor who finds out that her mom wants to divorce her dad. A bunch of silly scenes occur in episodic fashion as she tries and fails to get their parents back together. I won't spoil the ending. Check out the official website with a trailer and some movie clips. If you watch the movie, listen closely for my voice in a key scene. |
| benj clews |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 22:10:45
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Worst films I saw this year (baring in mind I skipped a good deal of tat):
The Silent House
Julia's Eyes
Hanna
Rare Exports
Unstoppable.
Agreed on Unstoppable (was it just me, or did the external shots of that train just NEVER look even slightly fast or out of control?) and Hanna. But... I really enjoyed Silent House and Julia's Eyes (this in particular because of the way it depicted the central character's failing eyesight and the idea of the baddie's 'special ability'). And Rare Exports was just bonkers and so much fun- or that's what I thought anyway! |
| benj clews |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 22:05:26
Not been to the cinema as much as I'd've liked in 2011 (which may explain the large proportion of crowd pleaser films I'm about to list), but I'd have to say (in alphabetical order)...
Another Earth
Bridesmaids
Captain America
Fast Five
Limitless
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Source Code
Troll Hunter
X-Men: First Class
And as my absolute favourite of the year...
Drive
And my personal stinker of the year...
The Wicker Tree
Yet to see...
The Artist
The Guard
Hugo
Tinker Tonker, Spinker Sponker |
| randall |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 11:59:27
My faves this year, in alpha order:
ANOTHER EARTH
BEING ELMO
BUCK
BRIDESMAIDS
THE GUARD
HARRY POTTER
THE HELP
HOW TO DIE IN OREGON
HUGO
MARGIN CALL
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
RANGO
TAKE SHELTER
THE TREE OF LIFE
Have not yet seen ARTIST, DESCENDENTS, DRIVE, MELANCHOLIA, SEPARATION, or WAR HORSE...some of those might have made the list too. |
| Sean |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 08:23:35
Got a sneaking suspicion I saw 0 films at the cinema this year, so I guess I'll have to leave this topic for a few months until I've caught up on them all on DVD.  |
| demonic |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 03:58:08
Difficult one this year... I saw a lot, and a lot of brilliant foreign films and documentaries which generally have pushed the mainstream fare down the list, so apologies if this selection looks a little bit, well, artsy-fartsy...
As usual there's a proportion of 2010 films in there (and as usual my list is films I saw in the cinema this year, not films released in 2011).
As a side note I saw half a dozen re-releases this year too, including two of my favourite films - Les Diaboliques and The Passion of Joan of Arc. Both would top any list of any year, so for the sake of the other films I watched I've excluded reissues.
1. A Separation
Easily the most gripping, fascinating, brilliantly written and expertly acted drama I saw in the cinema this year in any language. A real eye-opener about Iranian culture and a small miracle that it even managed to get made at all. Should be winning the Oscars in a couple of months by a mile. If it doesn't that would only further add ammunition to my argument that the academy voters appear to know fuck all about foreign film, especially judging from their winners of the past couple of years.
2. Of Gods and Men
Further evidence, given this absolute gem didn't even get a nomination in the (admittedly very strong) category last year. Superb ensemble cast retelling a harrowing story with several moments that made me gasp, cry, wonder. A beautiful film about brotherhood, faith, humanity and resistance in the face of impossible choices.
3. Blue Valentine
Two of the very best acting performances of the year courtesy of Michelle Williams (justly nominated best actress) and Ryan Gosling (bizarrely snubbed best actor) in a painfully truthful account of a relationship falling to pieces carefully intercut with the beginning of the relationship. Full of the real gritty stuff of relationships that Hollywood would never dare to tell - people are imperfect, things can and do go wrong, it's always ugly when it does. Exceptional.
4. Take Shelter
The other two best performances of the year - another couple - this time Michael Shannon (always brilliant) and Jessica Chastain (where did she come from?? She's now one of the very best actresses working and she's popping up everywhere) in a very smart and disturbing small-scale drama about a man losing his mind in the face of a potential apocalypse. It's never less than gripping thanks to Shannon's central performance - you never really know where the film is going to take you, and when you end up in the locked underground shelter it's palm sweating stuff.
5. The Tree of Life
No secret that I think Malick is a genius - and his work stands as a clear marking point for me between going to the cinema to watch movies and going to the cinema to watch films. By no means perfect or as instantly enjoyable for me as The New World (an all time favourite), but as always, what Malick shows us is never less than immaculately considered and hauntingly beautiful. Here his focus shifts from the power of nature to the experiences of childhood, and evokes universal experiences with quiet personal imagery. I was unexpectedly moved and in the face of some public bafflement and frustration I'm still pleased that the Palme D'Or success brought a large audience, some to see his work for the first time. I think it will continue to grow in stature as the years go by - Malick is years ahead of his time.
6. Senna
I don't really remember knowing much about Ayrton Senna other than his name and his fame, but I clearly remember when he died because my Dad was a big F1 fan. This excellent documentary filled in all the gaps for me and did it with considerable style. It's quite incredible to think there's not a single "talking head" in the whole film, so rich and extensive is the footage available - some of which was newly discovered. The footage from behind the scenes are particularly fascinating, and as the fatal day edges closer the tension builds horribly; quite a feat given the outcome is clear. A must see, even if you have no interest in Formula 1 - it could make you a fan.
7. Monsters
A real gem, and one I had very little expectation or knowledge of before I caught it. Following on from the success of District 9 it was inevitable that alien lifeforms on earth would evoke a certain messy, action oriented documentary feel; Monsters is that film's quieter dramatic cousin, interested more in the relationship between a photographer and his bosses daughter trying to cross the infected zone of Mexico into the US than the "monsters" of the title. Surprisingly beautiful and impressively paced and structured for optimum tension the low-budget isn't reflected in the talent on display, or the effects for that matter, as the creatures when we finally see them are... well... out of this world.
8. Black Swan
A film that feels so distinctly 2010 in every way it seems strange to include it here, but I did indeed see it when it was released in January. Some of the impact has diminished now, but I was astonished by Natalie Portman's performance and really was excited by what is in essence a melodrama and a horror film dressed up as a ballet drama. The fragmentation of Nina's mind is utterly terrifying, and the climactic dance sequences thrillingly shot, as is the whole film - for example Portman's return to her dressing room following her performance as the black swan (wonderful make up) is first-class screenwriting and directing. The fragile prudish Nina expertly set up from the start has turned into a formidable primal creature who looks eight feet tall - but we only see the back of her head and the reactions of the people she passes on the stairs. An over the top treat.
9. Melancholia
The director that audiences and critics alike love to hate - Lars von Trier may be a buffoon, but he's a director often without equal. The sense of dread and foreboding that hangs over this film, one made specifically to reflect something of the experience of crippling depression, is palpable and incredibly powerful. Dunst gives an astonishingly brave and sympathetic performance as the new bride faced with the worst family imaginable in the first section and the end of the world in the second. Not an easy watch by any means, but that's what Von Trier is there for - to show us things about ourselves and our world that most film makers choose not to talk about. It left me stunned and troubled for long after I'd left the cinema - not something I can say of many other films by other directors.
10. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Filling this last spot was particularly difficult as I could have been one of many, but I've plumped for this one because it was the smartest blockbuster of the year with the best British cast imaginable of a brilliant story. There's a very good chance Oldman will finally win the Oscar he's been deserving for a very long time thanks to his turn as George Smiley. I'm looking forward to watching this again soon - another reason it made my top 10.
Notables:
Ones that could have made the list, and nearly did -
Another Year
Biutiful
Catfish
True Grit
Animal Kingdom
Armadillo
Incendies
Le Quattro Volte
In a Better World
Project Nim
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Drive
Margaret
All worth watching, if you haven't.
Worst films I saw this year (baring in mind I skipped a good deal of tat):
The Silent House
Julia's Eyes
Hanna
Rare Exports
Unstoppable.
Add another 40 or so films and that was my 2011. Got some catching up to do this month having not managed to catch MI4, Girl with the Dragon Remake, Puss in Boots and a few others yet. Particularly looking forward to the UK releases of The Artist, Shame, The Muppets, War Horse, Coriolanus and The Descendants - roll on 2012. No, not that 2012...
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| demonic |
Posted - 01/02/2012 : 00:42:57
Going to think about this and get back to you! Saw the most films I've ever seen in the cinema this year so plenty of choices.  |
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