You know when you mention a movie you saw recently and the person you’re talking to says “Oh you saw it in the theater? Really? I haven’t been to a movie in the theater since…” ? Yeah, that happens to me a lot. My dad is a huge movie buff, we’ve been going to them as a family my whole life, I’m never going to stop going to them, and people need to STOP COMMENTING ON IT. 🙂 Heh.
I saw 35 movies [in the theater] in 2011 which is exactly my average over the past 12 years, which means it’s not as many as I wanted to see, but still a fair amount considering what the last year of life has entailed time-commitment wise.
I’ve been thinking about it and thinking about and it turns out my very favorite movie in 2011 was The Guard. I know I said in that review it was probably top 5 or 2 but yeah. I was wrong.
Here’s the list of my favorites with links to Snip reviews and very brief commentary. [Although be warned, a bunch of them got reviewed in the same Snip post so they’re quite succinct. Heh.]
1. The Guard – black humor, yet heartfelt.
2. Tree of Life – throw out that 30-minute visual creation OH HAI dinosaurs in the middle and this would have been #1. The family stuff was super compelling.
3. Red State – Kevin Smith’s masterpiece.
4. The King’s Speech – technically a 2010 movie for many people I’m sure. Quite lovely.
5. Beginners – the previews were so twee, I was leery of it. It was so sweet and really touching.
6. Midnight in Paris – really a movie about the joy of movies and art and connections. quite good.
7. Take Shelter – paranoia. discomfort. anxiety. but good movie making. [email me if you need the password for that review. it’s the same pword that was formerly used to leave comments on Snip.]
8. Haunters – one of the most original movies you could ever possibly see. Spooky but sometimes sooooo funny.
9. True Grit – another one others saw in 2010. Really great. Gritty in the best possible way.
10. Somewhere – a slow (SLOW) but lovely exploration of how celebrity steals away one’s real life.
Unfortunately movies can be a little harder to choose than books and I also saw some real doozies in 2011. The WORST movies I saw were Hanna (the dialogue was horrible, the plot had so many holes), The Green Hornet in 3D (overdone, dumb–heh, sounds like I didn’t quite dislike it as much in my original review as in my memory. I guess it got worse with time!), Bridesmaids (I HATE THAT MOVIE. I’m SO SICK of people talking about how it’s finally the movie that shows how girls are. NO IT IS NOT) and The Company Men a ridiculous movie that misread its possible audience in such a huge way.
Biggest tearjerker: Buck
Most nostalgia creating: Super 8
Cleverest dialogue: Young Adult
Most ridiculous scenario: Cowboys & Aliens
Best house lived in by main character: The Mechanic
Made me feel most voyeuristic and icky: Blue Valentine
Felt most like 89 movies I’d seen before: The Fighter
Made me super mad: Black Swan
Movie I really liked that no one else in the world saw: Somewhere
Possibly the best EVER use of 3D with some of the world’s most annoying voiceovers: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best action movie: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Best song sung by lead actor: Martha Marcy May Marlene
Also best introduction of a new actor: Martha Marcy May Marlene
And that’s it for 2011. I have my first two flicks of 2012 lined up for today and tomorrow (VERY LATE for me, last year I saw 7 movies in the first 7 days of January) and I can’t wait to see them!
