BEST OF 2011: PART 2

At long last, we have arrived. Part 2 of my Best Of 2011 series, with the all important TOP TEN FILMS of the past year. I wrote in great lengths about each flick below so I wont waste anytime unveiling to you the 10 films. As always the honorable mentions first....

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2 (really wanted to get this movie in the top 10 because it will be the last one to ever have a chance and it truly was the best in the series. A wonderful franchise that made a non-fan a HUGE fan. I will truly miss Hogwarts *tear*)

Hugo, Fast Five, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Insidious, Straw Dogs, and Warrior.

10 – LA PIEL QUE HABIO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN)

A late, sneaky entry that I didn’t expect or see coming, The Skin I Live In marks our first and only foreign flick that made my list this year (last year’s Swedish version of the Dragon Tattoo made #3). Directed by well-acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, this all-Spanish, English-subtitled tour de force dark drama made for excellent entertainment topped with terrific performances by its two leads. One the almost forgotten but still efficient actor Antonio Banderas as the “mad scientist” plastic surgeon who is using an unorthodox against male-practice synthetic skin experiment on a female patient (played by the beautiful and gorgeous Elena Anaya) that he keeps prisoner in his mansion-home. The plot is unique and quite complex and has layers upon layers of funneling secrets once revealed, piece by piece, gives way to a large scale story that is equally dark, sick as it is astonishing and eye-popping. Basically you will be sick to your stomach but not able to take your eyes off the screen. A wonderful achievement in today’s cinema.

9 – SOURCE CODE

Not a film seen on many if not ANY top critics top ten lists. Source Code was one of the biggest surprises I saw all year in the movies. It looked like another passable action flick, done Groundhog Day style with its repeated 8 minutes saga story. A war veteran, in some sort of experiment chamber being forced to relive the same 8 minutes on a train set to explode and kill everyone aboard. He must relive those 8 minutes until he figures out who is behind it and stop it before the terrorist can do further damage. Simple B-movie stuff right? That is before two things happen (well to me anyway). First, I never considered Jake Gyllenhall to have lead actor ability that he could carry a movie on his own. I was wrong, if ever someone deserves a nomination for an action role, it’s in this one. He single handedly keeps you riveted in your seats from start to the very end. Secondly, the unexpected, semi-mind rape the 2^nd act and final closing scenes of the film take you for a trip that over sold me on the film. It was smart, witty, clever, think its going to take you the conventional easy way out but put you in a bit of a rollercoaster ride before sending you off thinking, HOLY SHIT WTF just happened. If you missed this one, do yourself a favor and definitely give it a shot. You will be pleasantly surprised I would think.

8 – XMEN FIRST CLASS

Honestly, I had almost zero expectations for First Class. Which in part, always helps when a movie sweeps you off your feet and catches you by surprise. A prequel after a huge blockbuster trilogy was completed; with every cast member basically new is never something that tends to be of the high praise very often. However, First Class is exactly what its name says, by MILES and MILES away the best X men entry yet, and if I may say so, undoubtedly the next best comic book to film adaptation outside of Christopher Nolan’s two Batman films. Led by positively some of the best acting I have ever seen out of a comic book film, James MacVoy and the breakout performer of the year Michael Fassbender play the two iconic characters Professor Xavier and Magneto to resounding greatness. Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone and upcoming Hunger Games) plays the young Mystique who is still trying to figure out which side of the mutant game she is playing for. Xavier’s “we should be able to blend in” like Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief on race, or Magneto/Eric’s “we are the dominate species, take them by force” very Malcolm X more sinister/violent face on race. X men have always held a high place in comics due to its many themes on race and fitting in. A contrast well documented in the first couple films, failed miserable by part 3 and now never better in First Class. Here's to hoping more are done this way and not the Michael Bay music video way (see Transformers).

7 – DESCENDANTS

Perhaps lower than expected, this film was on many critics near top of the year choice. Let me first say I loved this movie. Clooney is terrific playing the broken, flawed individual seeking redemption and light at the end of the tunnel. He plays these characters almost too well (see Up in the Air, as one example). He definitely deserves a nomination for his role of the father force to play both mom and dad once news of his wife has fallen into a coma and may not come out. He even calls himself “the back up parent” never fully jumping in two feet in the role before. With two daughters seeking refuge in their father’s aide and he clueless where to begin, Clooney is a marvel in the role. Especially his closing scene that truly is the stuff “made for Oscars”; there shouldn’t be a dry eye in the room. Wonderful story that I enjoyed, just felt the next 6 movies did it a little better.

6 – SHAME

The other late, sneaky entry in my top10, Shame is definitely not the norm type of movie to say the least. For one, it got slapped with the forbidden NC-17 rating no movie ever wants. Secondly, it plays out more as a documentary chronicling the life of a sex addict who cant go even hours without getting off on either sex, porn, web cam, prostitution, or even in the bathroom stale of his job. Played fantastically by Michael Fassbender (Magneto in Xmen), he basically lives a lavish lifestyle most men would find envious. A successful businessman, Casanova with almost every woman he crosses paths with, the addict is right away difficult to feel sorry for. However, like is the case of any addiction, the more you feed it only more so it grows harder and harder to rectify. True addiction lies within the belly of the beast, and Fassbender’s dark, tumultuous past rears its ugly head when his equally disturbed sister (played superbly by Drive’s Carey Mulligan) pays him a visit and throws his entire world upside down. They both clearly share something dark that occurred in their growing up that never made either of them quite the same and left them the characters we are given in this gripping tale. Only when we finally witness the addict reach true rock bottom of his addiction, a scene that will surely come off gross by some, do we see the “shame” he finally accepts his lifestyle has granted him. With all addictions there comes a price to pay for continuing to allow it to suck the life out of you. No matter how glamorous or enamored we may be of his character, Shame never allows you to fully want his problem. The final moment, which parallels with the opening on a subway train, we see two different people of the same character. The final one, a broken man who may have finally come to terms with what he is, and the expression of Shame is written all over his face.

5 – IDES OF MARCH

If there’s a single movie this year that is solely lifted to a higher degree just from its performance-driven cast, it’s without any doubt the Ides of March. Directed by George Clooney who continues to portray a talent behind the lens as well as in front, he plays the politician running to win the Ohio state primary in hopes of becoming the next President of the United States. Like every great candidate you’re only as good as your campaign manager and people running the shenanigans behind it. This is where the always-entertaining Ryan Gosling enters in, as well as his mentor/friend Philip Seymour Hoffman, a favorite of mine in just about anything he acts in. When Gosling gets a call from the competition to meet, played by Paul Giamatti, is where the drama kicksoff. Like a sadistic game of chess, dominos begin to fall as one mistake in judgment turns into betrayal, (and a great speech regarding loyalty spoken by Hoffman) following a secret behind a staff’s death that could unhinge the entire race for the President’s seat. Watching everything unfold behind the driver’s seat in all of this, Gosling slowly turns the page from good to evil in the ugly game of politics that as Giamatti explains to him in one great scene “get out while you can, find another career, don’t become cynical and jaded. Just like me.” As the deadly game of politics is no doubt like, this thriller suffocates its audience and never lets go until its final image. Looking forward to future Clooney directed films such as this would be an understatement.

4 – CRAZY STUPID LOVE

Crazy Stupid Love was as shocking to me as any of the next 3 flicks not that it was a good movie, but that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Masquerading as a typical girly chick-flick, the movie is by leaps and bounds far from the “typical.” For starters, I love how it never takes itself seriously. Like when Steve Carrell’s character takes an emotional fall in front of many parents and teachers outside of a school and it begins to rain. He murmurs “what a cliché’”, this film knows exactly what its mimicking. The all popular line “what are you, photo shopped” moment between Gosling and Emma Stone is equally taking shots of your typical chick-flick mannerisms, but Crazy Stupid Love is what romantic comedies used to be good at. Making you laugh, and making you cry. Sleepless in Seattle is the epic masterpiece of the perfect “ro-co” and it’s been since 1993 when that came out. Slowly since then we’ve gotten these awfully forced excuses for rocos like “she’s not that into you” or “she’s all that” that have made the money at the box office thus get more similar crappy ones to recycle it and do it again and again. Crazy Stupid Love is carried with its swash-buckling-Romeo played by a smooth criminal Ryan Gosling, you wonder if he even had to act in the role he played it so well and reserved. The dynamic between him and Steve Carrel was hands down perhaps the best on screen chemistry between two actors all year, possibly only second to Brad Pitt and Johan Hill in Moneyball. Terrific film, even if you’re not into all that “soulmate/love” crap as I admitedly am not, the movie ceases to please at any moment. They don’t make them like this anymore....here’s to hoping they do!

3 – 50/50

The most emotionally driven film of 2011 goes to no surprise the amazing 50/50. A simple story about a young adult who faces a 50/50 chance at beating cancer, and the emotional roller coaster that news sends him on. As a guy who admits to finding it difficult to ever cry in movies (I’ve only done so in maybe 2-3 movies), 50/50 made it real hard not to swallow those tears before they reached my eyes. I’ve always been a fan of films that I can find any sort of resemblence to either my life or something I can relate to. I found it awfully hard not to notice for example how similar I act toward my own father in the way Joseph Gorden Levitt acts towards his mother (played flawlessly by Angelica Houston). Several scenes and exchanges only made me notice, perhaps what I already knew, how much of a dick I am towards him. She smothers him to the point he is annoyed, irritated and ignores her calls for help. My father has always been more of a mother than a father in that regard. So personally the film may hit closer to home for me, however that doesn’t mean it’s not an exceptional piece of filmmaking. The chemistry by the two best friends in JGL and the never-been-funnier Seth Rogen surprised even me, due to how little I find Seth Rogen to be comical. He plays the perfect opposite to JGL. Like all best friends however, they may not always see eye to eye and want to rip their heads off, in the end their love and care is undeniable and remain as close as family. By the film’s end when we find out if he’s going to survive cancer or not before taking surgery, the chill-scenes and near-tears begin to follow hard so if you’re the faint of heart, be well prepared. It’s a strong heartfelt movie about love, family, survival and the all important “never give up” motto.

2 – DRIVE

There are several different ways I can describe the satisfaction I had of watching Drive. By far, the most fun I had watching a movie all year. The most artistic film of 2011, and perhaps ever for a quote/unquote “action movie.” Those are just a couple. What really made DRIVE such a special movie to watch starts and ends with Ryan Gosling. Of the 3 films he roared through this year (all 3 in my TOP 5), none were more gripping and used wide-range of acting than his role here only known in the movie as the “driver.” DRIVE is two different movies with one underling theme throughout. The first half we’re basically being introduced to the driver’s lifestyle and personality, which for some may be non-existent due to how few lines he utters in the film. However true that may be, it’s only due to the fact we know little to nothing about the mysterious stunt driver by day, getaway driver by night. No one knows where he came from and remains a mystery to the very end. What slowly transpires in that first half of the movie is a slow romance between the driver and his next-door neighbor, whose husband is locked up and soon to be released. For the first time, we see the driver show any sign of emotion to anyone else he comes across and is genuinely enamored by her (played elegantly by Carey Mulligan). What slowly becomes apparent through minor clues in the first half is the harrowing monster locked deep inside of this quiet, kind-looking driver that’s unleashed by the 2^nd half of the film when a robbery goes terribly wrong. None more daunting than the now infamous elevator scene that truly shows just how great an actor Gosling is, without using a single word. The film’s soundtrack equally deserves a lot of praise because it plays almost as big a role as the actors. Setting the 80s style, dark-noir tone, the poppish nightclub radio sound goes perfectly well to the dark atmosphere DRIVE is set to. The underlining theme behind much of the story that truly caught my attention was the fact this driver is equivalent to a modern-day superhero. If ever there was such a thing. His cape is his scorpion jacket that we never see him without, once he’s in driver-mode. The protection for his Lois Lane damsel in distress (the neighbor) capped off by the epic song that plays in the final moment “A Real Hero” that truly echoes the driver to a tee. This movie was my clear cut #1 until I recently saw the next film and completely caught me off guard. I had a hard time debating which one was better, DRIVE is such a dynamic, explosive dark picture, the type of movies I tend to love when done THIS WELL. And its well deserving of being a best movie of the year, I just couldn’t put it ahead of the next one.

1 – MONEYBALL

After being able to describe my enjoyment for DRIVE in many ways, I can use one sentence to describe Moneyball. By leaps and bounds the best feel-good movie of 2011. You will not leave the theater, or living room, with a better feeling in your heart than after seeing Moneyball. For a movie that has everything to do with baseball, at the sametime it has nothing to do with baseball. You could insert any sport into the story, even women’s water polo. And I truly feel you could have gotten the same heart-warming result in the end. Which is why I have been telling all my friends, girls too, despite your distain for sports or just baseball-hatred, you will absolutely fall in love with Moneyball. It is THAT GREAT!!! Brad Pitt deserves every actor of the year award for his portrayal of Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, who put his reputation and baseball tradition on the line to try a most unorthodox way of crunching numbers to obtain stats that would lead to wins for his team. With the help of a Stanford-alumni economist played terrifically by Jonah Hill (who until this movie I never knew had broader acting chops outside of comedy), the two build an uncanny friendship while molding this most unusual method of “moneyball.” A term used to describe how much of baseball’s small market teams are forced to use a small payroll to compete against the big market juggernauts like New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. How many different sports movies can you say you watch and feel like, okay they’ve done EVERYTHING up to this point, nothing is fresh or original? Moneyball is definitely the most freshest and original sports movie to come out in perhaps the last 5 years or more. Based on a popular novel that I been told reads more like a boring statistician book than a gripping story. The film takes liberties to add human and emotional depth to an otherwise “boring” read and it truly is one occasion you can say the film did it right, if not better. IF there is ONE, only ONE movie I would recommend to anyone to watch out of 2011, it is Moneyball. You will not leave disappointed, nor with a dry eye by the film’s wonderful moving closing moment with Brad Pitt driving in his SUV.

YEARBOOK IN FILM: 2011

Greetings and salutations friends, foes, from all kinds of area codes. It is that time of the year again at long last. To those chosen few that love and care to come back year after year and read my infamous TOP10 lists. I still have to say thank you kindly for keeping up and sending me your love/hate throughout. As always, i welcome criticism in any form, good or bad, to hear what your thoughts on the subject may be. This year I wanted to carry over more than just a measly "list" so i brought back what I did once in 2009 and made a sort of "yearbook" year in review Best Of moments/scenes from 2011. Hope you enjoy, the TOP10 will be out later in the week. Without further adu, drum roll please.....

Best Opening Scene: Shame. Subway Scene opens the film to no dialogue spoken with Michael Fassbender’s sex addict Casanova sharing eye-sex with a female across from him. The musical score during the scene elevates the mood perfectly as we see this man and woman fantasizing to the point of near orgasm before her face overcomes with “shame.” As she walks off, we notice she has a wedding ring. Beautiful piece of directing, using only facial expressions and eye movement for words with a great musical backdrop to set the tone of the film. Fantastic opening. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afYwRO3aJYw

Best Closing Scene: Insidious. (SPOILER ALERT) DO NOT READ further unless you want to know this ending. The horror movie genre has taken a hard toll for the worse over the last decade or more. Insidious, despite those who may feel otherwise, was a pleasant surprise and worthy of a true “creep show.” The ending was the icing on the cake. As the husband who saves his son from the demonic creature and returns back to the real world, all seems happy as can be. Until the psychic old lady takes his picture revealing his dark past came through with him. He shockingly murders her in an unforeseen rage. The wife walks into the room, picks up the photo only to turn around and stare blanking into the camera as she hears the voice of her husband, and the movie cuts off. BRAVO.

Best Soundtrack: DRIVE. This was not even close. One of the longest rotations in my mp3 player all year was this soundtrack. 3 epic songs in particular that everyone should download (Nightfall, Under Your Spell, and the epic A Real Hero). The musical score wasn’t bad either, but the 3 80s style, neo-noir pop songs were essential to the films success and atmospheric tone. Here's the link to the closing song i must have played well close to 100 times this year, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8

Most Adrenaline Pumping Action Sequence: The opening AND closing to FAST FIVE. Both scenes could be argued to be the best in all 5 films combined. The ridiculousness was threw the roof, however it certainly was breathtaking watching a car heist gone wrong off a moving train. Only to cap it off with an even more ridiculous chase scene by two cars pulling a bank sized safe down the street and highway. THIS was what HDTVs were made for watching.

Biggest Tearjerker Moment: Last scene of Moneyball. THIS IS NOT A SPOILER due to the fact the last scene gives away nothing to the film. After returning from a job interview that would pay him the largest GM salary in baseball, and still unsure of his decision, we watch Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane character driving in his SUV listening to the song his daughter made for him earlier in the movie. We watch his eyes swell up with tears as the lyrics play and the film then reveals through words on the screen the decision he made. Wonderful moment.

(a distant second, but deserves noting is the ending to Real Steel. Cheesy, corny flick but it did have a resounding end chill-moment that was enough to win me over slightly)

Most Overhyped/Let Down Movie: Hangover 2. And we all saw this one coming a mile away. It didn’t help the fact the filmmakers made the exact same story as the first but in another country. Awful

Most Unexpected Surprise Movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. There were actually SEVERAL choices equally deserving of this (Source Code for one). But I had to put Apes due to how certain I was a James Franco led prequel to a tiring old franchise would be awful. It certainly was anything but that. That’s why we watch.

Favorite Scene All Year: Elevator moment in DRIVE. SPOILER ALERT if you havent seen the film. It wasn't enough after watching this scene, that it took a good 2-3 minutes to pull my jaw back up off the floor. The entire moment was a perfect example of exactly what made Drive so different than any other movie I saw this year. It sold itself like an action movie, but had more "artistic" showmanship than any action movie would ever try to attempt. The scene in the elevator shows you all of that in one moment, followed by a shocking display of anger and gruesome violence. With the director's use of lighting going from light to dark back to light again, Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and another man are all that stand in the elevator. Gosling, in a move similar to that of a lion protecting his cub, moves her ever so slightly behind him, turns around and the two share their first on screen kiss. The light dims to give off a feeling as if the moment were "frozen in time", which many first kisses often have that affect when true emotion is involved. Gosling pulls away, light returns to normal, and he just begins to wail on the man in the elevator to the point of bashing his skull to a bloody pulp that there is no more head to bash on the elevator floor. Doors open, his love walks out scared out of her mind as to what transpired, Gosling's face is full of a rage and love at the sametime. If there is ever an expression that can display both its in that moment as the doors open. Its a gruesome scene that showed just how artistic Drive was even while parading as an action movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_wlyIHRJT4

Best Assembled Cast: Ides of March. Riveting political thriller from director George Clooney wasn't just enough. He went ahead and got an all-star team of A-list performers who all brought the best in each performance, including Clooney himself. Gosling, Paul Giametti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Marisa Tomei. Even the lesser knowns that many people will pick up from several movies/shows who always act so well, Jeffrey Wright (Shaft, Source Code), Gregory Itzin (shady President Logan of 24), and Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood, The Wrestler). Excellent cast helped propel this immensely intriguing story to life. Probably none better a watch than Gosling's dark turn from good, honest politician into the evil web of lies, deceit and betrayal we all know politicians to be. Marvel for the eyes.

Best Performance of the Year (actor): Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling. Pitt had the best single acting job of the year for Moneyball. Absolutely slaughtered that role of Billy Beane GM of the Oakland As. But Gosling had THREE movies this year and was a knockout in every single of one of them (all 3 made it inside my top5 of the year). I’ve been calling Gosling the next Leonardo Dicaprio all year. His level of character development and depth is unmatched right now.

Best Performance of the Year (actress): Rooney Mara (Dragon Tattoo). I seriously doubted anybody out of Hollywood would be able to top the Swedish actress that played Lisabeth in the original Dragon Tattoo. Rooney Mara completely obliterated the role. A roller coaster performance to say the least. Her role alone made the 160-minute watch worthwhile. A sparkplug for future roles to come for sure.

Breakout Performer of the Year: Michael Fassbender. I wasn’t going to finish this list without talking about my new favorite actor that came out of 2011. First noticed this actor in the heavy-casted Tarintino WW2 epic Inglorious Basterds as the American who disguised as the German in the infamous basement bar scene. His role as the iconic Magneto in X men First Class was something I had not expected out of a comic book driven film. Followed up by arguably one of the best performances of the year in Shame as a crazed, dark sex addict. This guy will have an Oscar before the next 5 years are through, guarantee it.