35. Rise of the Planet of the Apes directed by Rupert Wyatt
Similarly to Real Steel, the prequel to the Planet of the Apes movie was not something I was eagerly awaiting in 2011. However, unlike Real Steel, my opinion did start to change before the film was released, thanks mostly to an awesome trailer. Thankfully, the film itself managed to live up to that epic trailer and be pretty damn entertaining. Even with a performance from James Franco that made it clear that he didn't really believe in the project at all, Rise of the Planet of the Apes managed to be interesting, surprising, remain true to the original while not being a slave to it and leave room for some sequels (Two things: 1. What do you call a sequel to the prequel? Is there a different name for this? 2. I want to be clear here - I'm not saying that sequels to this prequel would necessarily be a good thing. In fact, I can almost guarantee they would not.) Anyway, check it out.
34. Scream 4 directed by Wes Craven
I'm a sucker for 90s nostalgia and there was a time in my life where I was obsessed with the original Scream movie. The second and third helpings of this franchise were abysmal and it was certainly time for a break, but when Scream 4 was announced, I couldn't help but be excited. Craven has stated he wants to do a new trilogy of Scream films, but I don't know if that's realistic based on the mediocre returns for this at the box office. But I liked this movie a lot more than Scream 2 and 3 - it's a shame more people didn't give it a chance. Somehow, and perhaps most impressively, Scream 4 made Hayden Panettiere seem less annoying.
33. Contagion directed by Steven Soderbergh
Like a lot of Soderbergh flicks, Contagion crams a million stars onscreen in order to deliver a web of intersecting stories designed to show the audience every angle of the big picture. Though the subject matter isn't exactly the most original of the year, it's a solid film with some really great performances. The ending is a bit limp, but honestly, it's a much scarier film than most of the horror films of the last decade, simply because it does actually seem plausible (whether or not it actually is). I really thought Matt Damon and Kate Winslet were great but, unfortunately, the parts weren't large enough to really make an impact come awards season.
32. Horrible Bosses directed by Seth Gordon
31. Bad Teacher directed by Jake Kasdan
Horrible Bosses and Bad Teacher were this year's ruthless R-rated comedies, ones that revelled in bad behavior and delivered big box offices returns. Critics may not have loved Bad Teacher as much as they loved Horrible Bosses, but I felt the opposite, thinking Cameron Diaz was surprisingly likable as the unapologetic lowlife educator and ' Bosses was just a tad too long. Either way, I laughed my way through both of them. The bad news though is that since both of these films were successful, they will extend Diaz's, as well as Jennifer Anniston's, careers, allowing them both many more opportunities to turn wretched scripts into forgettable box office bombs.
30. Paul directed by Greg Mottola
This was the year of E.T. tributes apparently and Paul, a buddy road movie featuring two Brits and a digitally produced alien, was perhaps the closest in terms of sentiment, even more so than the Spielberg-produced Super 8 (Spielberg's voice makes a cameo in Paul, by the way). It's funny, touching and thoroughly enjoyable. I wish this one wouldn't have stayed so far under everyones radar.
29. X-Men: First Class directed by Matthew Vaughn
In a year in which a lot of superhero crap was dumped onto audiences, X-Men: First Class stood out as a diamond in the rough. Though the film was rushed, made no sense in terms of comic book continuity and featured a lot of characters that casual audiences would be unfamiliar with, First Class transcended the genre and showed a true power struggle between good and evil. Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto is brilliant casting and makes future installments of this franchise reboot 10 times more anticipated than they otherwise would be. Kudos to director Matthew Vaughn for reanimating Marvel's once most promising brand.
28. Like Crazy directed by Drake Doremus
One of the darlings of last year's Sundance festival, Like Crazy, an indie flick about the obstacles of young love, felt almost like a documentary at times. It's honest and harsh, touching and yet disappointing. I really dug the personal performances of the actors in this film, but found myself wondering what we, as an audience, were supposed to take away from the film in the end. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be clear. Either way, it's always refreshing to see a new take on the classic boy meets girl tale (i.e. 500 Days of Summer from a few years back).
27. We Bought a Zoo directed by Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe's latest film, We Bought a Zoo is a story about coping with loss and the rebuilding of a family after a tragic loss. Based on a true story, the movie centers on a family that buys a floundering zoo and has to do everything they can to stop it from disappearing completely. Though it skates dangerously close to being too sentimental, the film manages to keep you interested with a simple message of hope. Maybe it's not the film that some of us would have wanted from Crowe after 7 years away from the game, but I can definitely say I liked it more than his last effort, Elizabethtown. Either way, I'm glad to have him back making films, because Hollywood needs more honest voices like his.
26. Our Idiot Brother directed by Jesse Peretz
One of the more surprising films of 2011, was Our Idiot Brother, starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer. It's the story of a true innocent, a man without judgement, who manages happiness no matter what life throws at him. His sisters, on the other hand, are miserable in their lives, despite more conventional success. The film is a comedy and is often very hilarious, but it's much more than just another empty yuck-fest. Director Jesse Peretz, coupled with a subtle, yet engaging performance from Rudd, are delivering a moralistic manifesto. But rather than be heavy-handed about it, the film remains relaxed. In other words, the message is there if you want it and if you don't, hey man, that's OK, too. Thumbs up for this one.
OK, so we've got about 25 films left - the best of the best. I'll probably break it up into 2 more posts, with 25 through 11 coming up next and then the Top 10 separated for the last post. I'll also include my favorite performances of the year with the next post, as well as some more surprises for the last one. Thanks for checking out my list thus far and I hope you'll stick with me. Remember, check out the Fake Party podcast at http://www.fakepartyshow.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment