Yes, this year my Top 10 Movies of 2011 list is a Top 15 list! Click here for part one of my list, numbers fifteen through eleven. And now, onward!
10. The Guard — I just saw this film last week. It was the last addition to my list! Brendan Gleeson is riveting as a small-time Irish policeman — brash, set-in-his-ways, and someone who delights in nothing more than taking the piss out of anyone he meets — who finds himself forced to work with an American FBI agent, played by Don Cheadle, investigating drug-runners. The film is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and also dramatic and intense. It looks like it was made on a tiny budget, but I was totally taken by this fiercely original piece of work, and Mr. Gleeson’s role is without question one of the best written and acted of the year. I’ll have a full review coming soon.
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – I’m a hard-core Planet of the Apes fanatic, so I didn’t need any convincing to check out this newest attempt to reinvent the franchise. But I was stunned by how high-quality the finished film actually was. It was perfectly designed to appeal to the long-time Apes fans and the Apes newbies equally. Andy Serkis’ motion-capture performance as the young ape Caesar, the center of the story, is extraordinary, aided and abetted by some phenomenal, top-of-the-line CGI work. The action at the end of the movie is a whole heck of a lot of end-of-the-world fun, but I was long-before sold on the film by Mr. Serkis’ powerful work. Rise of the Planet of the Apes works perfectly as a stand-alone film, but I certainly hope that we’ll get to see further sequels set in this world. (Click here for my full review.)
8. Super 8 – J. J. Abrams’ homage to classic Steven Spielberg films that he directed and produced for Amblin Entertainment, throughout the eighties, cut right to the core of my movie-loving heart. The film captures the coming-of-age, kids on an adventure feeling of E.T., The Goonies, and Stand By Me in a powerful way, creating a film that feels deeply nostalgic and also timeless. The ensemble of kids are phenomenal, well-directed by Mr. Abrams, and I loved the film’s gradual build-up of mystery and suspense. And visually it is stunning, with top-notch visual effects work, costumes, sets, props, etc., that truly capture the period setting. This would be in my top five this year if only the monster story-line part of the film made a bit more sense. (For more details on what I mean by that last comment, click here for my… [continued]
J.J. Abrams’ new film, Super 8, is an unabashed love-letter to the late ’70s and early ’80s films directed by Steven Spielberg and, as such, seems like it was designed from top-to-bottom to tickle every movie-loving funny-bone in my body. I’m sure I’m not alone. Super 8 has some narrative problems that prevents it from ever reaching the heights of the great Spielberg-directed films it was designed to emulate, but that doesn’t stop it from being a rousingly entertaining film of a type that we really don’t see too much of anymore.
It’s the summer of 1979, and Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has just recently lost his mother to a terrible accident in the factory where she worked. As the school-year ends, he finds solace in the project he’s working on with his friends: filming a make-shift zombie movie on a super 8 camera. Somehow, Charles (Riley Griffiths), the boy directing and masterminding the film, has convinced a girl, Alice (Elle Fanning) to play a part in their movie. Joe is immediately smitten, but his father (Kyle Chandler) forbids him from having anything to do with her, due to a bitter feud with her father. One night, after having all snuck out to film a scene of their movie, the boys and Alice witness a terrible train derailment. Soon after, all sorts of mysterious events begin happening in their small town, and the military arrives to supervise the investigation of the train-wreck. As things escalate, the boys begin to suspect that something terrible was released when the train crashed, and the super 8 footage they shot that night might hold a vital clue.
It’s interesting that I began that description of Super 8 by writing about some of the character story-lines in the film, rather than the monster-on-the-loose sci-fi story. That’s because where Super 8 succeeds — and succeeds brilliantly — is in creating several wonderfully layered character story-lines (several of which I have only hinted at in my above summation) that engage the audience and pull at one’s heart-strings. It’s on the monster side of things where the film wobbles a bit, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
Many of Steven Spielberg’s early films were told from the point-of-view of a child or children (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is the best example), and like that film, Super 8 spends a lot of time fleshing out the characters and personalities of the different kids who form the main cast of characters. I’ve read several reviews that commented on how Mr. Abrams and his team echoed the device used in E.T. of allowing the kids to be constantly talking over one another in the film, the way real kids do. I… [continued]
My friend Ethan e-mailed me this terrific article from Salon.com, entitled “Will Future Generations Understand The Simpsons?” It’s a great piece analyzing how pop-culture references might date once-great shows like The Simpsons, Seinfeld, etc., rendering them incomprehensible only a few years later. I’m not sure I entirely agree, but it’s a really interesting read.
As regular readers of this site might recall, I read the first four books of Stephe King’s magnificent magnum opus the Dark Tower series earlier this year. I’ve taken a little break to read some other things, but I’m eager to begin book five some-time soon. I thought I only had three books left in the series but now, to my delight, it looks like I have four! That’s because Stephen King has just announced that he’s written a new Dark Tower novel, to be published next year! Very exciting news.
I have written before, many times, about Mike Mignola’s amazing comic book series Hellboy, and also about the phenomenal spin-off series B.P.R.D. So I was shocked to learn that long-time B.P.R.D. artist Guy Davis is departing the series!! Very sad news. Mr. Davis is one of the greatest comic book artists working today, and his idiosyncratic style has defined the B.P.R.D. series for almost a decade. To honor his departure, the fine folks at comicbookresources.com have assembled seven great moments from Mr. Davis’ B.P.R.D. run. Take a look.
Have you, like me, been reading about the phenomenal events every year at the Paley Center for Media, jealously wishing that you could be there? (Want an example? How about the recent Undeclared reunion panel, followed by a Freaks and Geeks reunion panel??) Well, huzza! The Center has FINALLY begun to make DVDs available of some of their panels! There are many great panels that remain unavailable, but 44 popular panels are now available on DVD. I will definitely be ordering some of these!
There’s a HUGE interview up with Kevin Smith at The Examiner that is a terrific read, if you have a chunk of time.
Have you seen the glorious new trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Spielberg-homage film, Super 8? Check it out here. That’s a terrific trailer. I am VERY intrigued and excited for this film. How fun is it to finally see that Amblin logo again??
Have you seen Conan O’Brien’s idea for a replacement for the color-coded National Alert system? It would be the Nic Cage Terror Alert System.