As always I watched a lot of movies in 2011. By my reckoning this site covered about 40% of the wide releases from the calendar year (and if I’m honest of the top 100 in box-office terms there might be only another 5 or 6 that I will bother chasing up).
This meant the usual mix of dross and lazy commercial pap with some worthwhile stuff peppered in between, and the occasional gem that reminds you why you bother watching new movies in the first place.
But truly Great movies were exceptionally thin on the ground last year, to my mind Winter’s Bone was the only film that immediately declared itself as an instant classic where 2010 had Kick-Ass, Inception, Toy Story 3, Scott Pilgrim and Avatar as realistic possibilities to remain discussed in decades to come.
This year I have segmented the Best of Film into two segments, the Top 10 of course, and another 10 that were all definitely worth checking out.
Top 10
Winter’s Bone – Performance of the year by Jennifer Lawrence as a young woman fending for herself and family in a harsh environment filled with drug makers and dealers. She followed this up by getting painted blue as a mutant in X Men. Kooky.- Rango – Made by the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ guy, starring the ’21 Jump Street’ guy as a lost lizard in the desert. It’s a comedy. And it’s good? Actually really good!
- Stakeland – Real honest to goodness, depressing as hell horror. An almost great film let down by one tiny moment of ‘look at me’ sell-out-ism. As Maxwell Smart might say “Missed it by that much”.
- The Fighter – A true story drama set in the world of boxing, though this is more a human drama than a boxing flick.
- Warrior – This year’s The Fighter is… The Fighter? In any case Warrior is just as good if not better. The less consumer friendly MMA might see it jipped at awards time, but Nolte has never been better.
- Troll Hunter – This Norwegian mock-doco has quirky written all over it, but triumphs by playing the ridiculous set up all the way down the line – and is better for it.
- Drive – This year’s little art film that could. Take a pretty boy and an arthouse director, add cheesy 80s tunes and some ultra-violence, and watch the critics fawn. Very good though.
- True Grit – The Coen Brothers take on ye olde Wild West, indecipherable dialogue and all, making a bona fide talent of Hailee Stansfield in the process and showing that they can do just about anything they damn well please. Well.
- Rec 2 – Not sure it it was 2011 but that’s when I saw it and it’s too good not to acknowledge. Takes the pretty good first film and builds in elements that JUST SHOULD NOT WORK. Then makes them work. Also features two or three of the best scares of the year, and some intense imagery.
- Super 8 – This decade’s Goonies with a sci-fi twist. Elle Fanning manages the ‘acting debut’ of the year in what should be a kid’s hand held camera backyard flick.
Worthwhile
Another ten worth your DVD rental coinage.
- Source Code – I wasn’t a big rap for Moon (even though critics love it) but really liked this. Jake Gyllenhaal takes on terrorists and scientific probability in an entertaining as hell action sci-fi zinger.
- Limitless – Similar to Source Code, a pretty guy in a normal setting with a sci-fi theme. In this case the housewive’s champion Bradley Cooper finds a drug that unlocks the full potential of his brain, and he decides to play with his new powers a little…
- Unstoppable – Predictable, unbelievable, slightly ridiculous, and entertaining as hell. Tony Scott manipulates by goodwill and powers of common sense every time and I love it.
- Captain America – My unexpected ‘actually good’ film of the year, as in “Can you believe Captain America is actually good?” It is, what’s more astonishing is that my pet whipping boy Hugo Weaving is in it. (And God willing Hayley Atwell will find more roles soon… google/images folks.)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Good, but not as good as widely thought, and came across as a very predictable set up for what I hope is a more action packed sequel.
- Thor – Instantly forgettable yet inexplicably entertaining. I just hope with the next one they make a choice, in the world of the Gods, or Earth; you can’t have it both ways.
- Despicable Me – A surprise in a year of (Rango aside) disappointment in animation. I quite liked Despicable Me, but I absolutely loved the Minions.
- Paranormal Activity 3 – Say what you like about the death of creativity – actually I did! – but this thing was as scary as anything released this year this side of Rec 2, and the oscillating camera device was genius.
- The Guard – Every year has one, a quirky comedy featuring guys who don’t do comedy in decidedly non-comedic situations. The Matador. In Bruges etc. This one has Brendan Gleeson as a curmudgeonly cop investigating a series of drug related murders. Funny stuff.
- Fright Night – Remake of the year. No surprise then that it is a remake of a film that was good in the first place, faithful to the original, and far enough removed so that it warranted a remake in the first place.
Can you really see Drive being fawned over in 2022? Or Source Code? Unstoppable? Maybe 2011 will go down as a pretty good year with no standouts and an awful lot of crap.
‘Interesting’ Stuff
Before I get to the crap though (can’t wait can you?), here are my thoughts on another 10 films that are neither great nor god-awful, yet warrant some explanation as to why I found them suitable for neither category. (Alphabetical order)
Attack the Block: Hardly the masterpiece the salivating critical masses seem to have declared. A decent low budget dubbos version of Critters and Gremlins boasts a few good moments, nothing more.
Black Swan: I remain positive that in a decade Black Swan will only be known as the film in which Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman got it orrrrnnnn. The last third of this film was the funniest of the year – though that was definitely NOT the intent.
Cars 2: Kids will continue to love it and rewatch it – and it will sell a hell of a lot of merchandise, but this unnecessary sequel will go down as Pixar’s first genuine flub.
Due Date: So similar to The Hangover that I thought it was a rip off. Then I found out that the same director was responsible. THEN I saw…
(The Hangover 2: Wow if Due Date was the fraternal twin. I gotya Identical Twin right here!)
Enter the Void: I got news for you, this is neither ground breaking nor that shocking. Takeshi Miike has been making the opening sequences for a decade before this guy ripped him off, and bad porn and terrible po-faced pretension are always in ample supply.
Green Hornet / Green Lantern: Because it has been deemed mandatory that we must attend a certain number of bland super-hero films each year apparently.
Paul: The saddest film of the year for me, only because Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were behind this mediocrity.
Priest / The Warrior’s Way: Neither great, but proof that B movies don’t need to be great to be at least fun.
Red State: Kevin Smith has stopped believing what movie critics have said and started only listening to himself and his fans. You know, people who found Cop Out awesome stuff… The dullest, unscariest horror movie of the year.
Super: James Gunn has made the only film this year that I can neither recommend nor condemn, still I manage to do both in equal measure when I discuss it. Watch it and decide for yourself.
And we cannot forget the worst of the year, the stuff that should entitle us to a refund. The stuff that should see directors, stars and producers drummed out of the industry. The stuff that should warrant a 5 minute highlights clip at the Academy Awards after being prefaced with “And we’re sorry for…”
Only none of this ever happens, and mongs like you and me are the ones who keep rocking up and suffering in silence.
Worst Films of 2011
Skyline: Sure it was released in 2010 but I had the good fortune of missing its 2 week cinema run, and the awesome misfortune to pick it up from the DVD rack. Hands down the worst wide release from the last couple years – at least that I had to sit through.
Sucker Punch: The prettiest looking, noisiest and teen friendly mess of the year.
Sleeping Beauty: Followed by the most pretentious and equally pointless. Both star Emily Browning. Well done Em?
Real Steel: Words can’t describe how much I hated this film. But I’ll try.
Predictable.
Saccharine.
Loathsome.
Calculated.
Unnecessarily hyped.
Shithouse.
The Ward: John Carpenter follows up his nearly two decade streak of mediocrity with something still more reason for him to quit while he’s behind.
Your Highness: That’s your 15 minutes Danny McBride. Please?
Shark Night: I said it then and I’ll say it again; sharks have a bad enough rep without being associated with films like this.
Bad Teacher: And this made scads of money how? I feel we need to look into this.
Red Riding Hood: Another high grosser that shows us teenagers need more guidance and protection, from themselves, and perhaps less pocket money.
Drive Angry / Season of the Witch: Just another year of ill fitting wigs and undeserved paydays for Nic Cage.
In Music
It is easier to show discretion with music, after all a song takes but a few minutes to sit though as opposed to hours, and musicians tend to show a great deal more consistency and care than your average Hollywood actor, shall we say Adam Sandler? I don’t think anyone on this list would sleep at night if they released the musical equivalent of Jack and Jill, regardless of how much they got paid.
So these are the albums I handed over my hard earned for this year:
- Mark Seymour & the Undertow Titanic
- Roots Manuva 4everevolution
- Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
- People under the Stairs Highlighter
- Common The Dreamer, the Believer
- Ron Peno & Superstitions Future Universe
- Jebediah Kosziusko
- underground Lovers Wonderful Things
- Ugly Duckling Moving at Breakneck Speed
- Lamb 5
- The Roots undun
Album of the Year
A tough choice, everyone above managed a solid album at least, but has a previous release of better quality.
The Roots ‘undun’ is a superb concept album with the expected lyrical mastery by (the underrated) Black Thought and exceptional instrumentation from the tightest band in hip-hop – it’s just that at 8 tracks totalling under 30 minutes it’s more a teaser than a classic Roots release.
I am still coming to terms with Common’s newest. It’s definitely better than anything since ‘Be’, but I am not sure that I swallow the new ‘hard edged’ Common. It does boast a lot of good tracks though.
People under the Stairs, Ugly Duckling and Jebediah released excellent new albums that reminded me of their best but couldn’t top it, and Lamb had a comeback album that will hopefully lead to something more cohesive.
I ended up plumping for Mark Seymour and the Undertow because it was so unexpected. Seymour has always had an ear for an ‘around the kitchen table’ lyric, but the production of his tunes has rarely been so rich and warm. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I know too much about you’ and ‘Little Bridges’ are both standouts on a consistently excellent dud-free album.
Even rarer for me is that this is an album that can be played at BBQ’s, with the wife and kid lurking, even for the old man without fear of ‘turn that shit off’, as well as being great pumping in the car on long drives.
Encouragement Award
I also literally just discovered Killer Mike’s ‘Pl3dge’, that I had previously ignored because ‘I pledge allegiance to the grind’ sucked so very hard a few years ago. But on first listen Pl3dge is light years beyond that double album dross and ‘Burn’, ‘Everything’ and ‘Ready Set Go’ are three standouts on an album that can only grow on me with repeated listens.
Pl3dge could end up my album of the year, but for now it must settle for my Encouragement Award. I hope Killer Mike ain’t too pissed, he seems an angry type.
Song of the Year
This is how good the ‘race’ is for song of the year. I pondered for a while and could only come up with one song that I felt was a standout – and it was only a remix. In fact the same bloody remix that I mentioned 12 months ago, the Hot Chip remix of Let the Spirit!
But rather than junk the category I’ll list two very good songs as a tie. Listen to them both and I’m sure you might like one of them.
Ugly Duckling
Ugly Duckling – Sprint: Sure it hugs the UD formula, but it does it so well that you can’t not like it.
Andy, Dizzy and Einstein might not constantly push musical boundaries, but within their niche they sure make a lot of good stuff.
People under the Stairs
People under the Stairs – Uprock Boogie: The repetitive siren and walking bassline underpin the usual lyrical excellence.
PUTS have been churning out album after album at an enviable clip in recent years, and if anything they are gradually finding the right mix between being the funniest group in hip-hop and frankly the best group in hip-hop right now.
Speaking of comedy, check out Cookie’s Theme, both tracks are on 2011’s excellent Highlighter album.
While neither on the albums in which they appeared scaled the previous career heights of O.S.T. (PUTS) or Journey to Anywhere (UD), these were both great songs by artists with a track record of quality.
2012 sees much to look forward to, The Avengers film gives superheros the litmus test – can they all get along? – The Muppets strike back, and for some reason John Carter has my spidey-senses tingling in a good way. Plus I am sure there will be a bunch of sequels and cash in crap to provide excellent value for money…
In music I wait for another great 30 minutes (and fingers crossed a tour) from The Hives, Outkast are forever rumouring, never releasing, and David Gray must be due again soon.
Until then. I mean now.
OGR
