Fright Night | Craig Gillespie, 2011

Fright Night is one of the biggest surprises of the year. I never saw the original, but based on the treatment that studios gave to remake of classic horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween, and the recent bastardization of vampires that resulted from Stephanie Meyer’s”Twilight” I did not expect much. I’ve had various opportunities to watch the original, but to be honest, the whole “vampire next door” plot line didn’t really appeal to me. In fact, I would have never even given the remake  a chance were I not in a state of obsession over “Doctor Who” and its players (or if it hadn’t been given to me as a present). But thankfully all my fears were put to rest from the first scene.

The movie starts with a view of a suburban street like any other at night. Then we cut to the interior of a house, and scan the area around the kitchen where a cute dog is seen. Then we hear a scream and see a teenager running out of a room. Some bombastic music plays during this, but its not distracting. He moves into what he imagines is the safest place in the house: his parents’s room. But even then, the first thing he sees is their lifeless bodies lying on the ground above puddles of their own blood. Scared and with the thing responsible for this close behind him, he does what any one would do during this, hide under the bed. And from then, we stay with him, until his time to go arrives.

The great thing about this scene is not what happens but how it is handled. Craig Gillespie relied on atmosphere rather than shock and gore to get a reaction out of an audience. The sight of an empty hallway, the dim lighting in the house, a dog aware that there is something happening in its house, a scream, the simple sight of two dead bodies, and a final struggle to survival with visual pomp and circumstance was far more effective than anything the music video directors that Michael Bay hires for his production company have ever done. And from that scene on, because it was so effective, the atmosphere remains, even in the lighter scenes. There is a feeling of threat all throughout that gave me chills down my spine every few minutes. Few horror movies have done that to me, and I love it when it happens.

But the credit for this not only belongs to Gillespie, who did an excellent job here, but also to his director of photography, Javier Aguirresarobe. Aguirrosarobe, who had been working in Spain ever since the 70s is no stranger to horror. In fact, his first job in an American film was in Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others, one of the best films of the last decade, and another horror film that succeeds as a horror movie because of its atmosphere. What he does in Fright Night is similar to what he does in Amenabar’s film. He opts for smooth, slow, and steady camera movements, even in the most intense scenes. The scene where Charlie is trying to help one of Jerry’s victims is a great example of this (just watch it and see what I’m talking about, I don’t want to spoil it). Any other DP, under the guidance of a lesser director would have relied on hyper kinetic visuals and wobbly camera movements to try to inject a sense of realism, but Aguirresarobe is above that. In fact, he know that vampires are the stuff of nightmares and he decides to give it more of a dreamy atmosphere. He took advantage of the softness that digital cameras provide and used some really great lighting (seriously, the lighting is amazing) to make us feel like we were witnessing what could very well be our worst nightmare. His work here will definitely be in my top 10 for best achievements in cinematography.

Of course, the work that Gillespie and Aguirresarobe did would have been nearly wasted had the cast not been as perfect as it was. Anton Yelchin, an actor that I generally find annoying, gives a surprisingly authentic performance as Charlie, the former geek with a hot girlfriend whose neighbor is a vampire but remained ignorant of the fact until after his friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is killed, even after he tried to convince Charlie of the fact. I was most surprised of how he was able to convey fear in such a manner that it never looked as if he was acting. But the best performace of the film actually belongs to Collin Farrell as Jerry. His potrayal of Jerry is so malicious, but so full of joy. Jerry enjoys seeing Charlie struggle because he knows he is superior and Farrell takes this so seriously that you can’t help but actually feel scared because no one should have this much fun killing people. The rest of the cast is also great. Imogen Poots may seem like the token hot girlfriend, but when the time comes to get dirty, she kicks ass. Toni Collette is great as the mom, but she really has nothing to do other than being sassy in a few scenes, then being the worried mom. And finally David Tennant, who also looks like he’s having so much fun elevates the character from the crappy back story that the writers give him.

And so this brings me to the couple of problems that I have with the movie. The biggest one is the script. I mean, it’s fine for what it is, but there are a few things that stuck out. The aforementioned back story given to David Tennant’s Peter Vincent comes out of nowhere and really isn’t that big a plot point during the climax. And from time to time the dialogue is so clunky that had it been delivered by lesser actors it would have been laughable.

The other is more forgivable because it was expected from a 3D movie from a big studio. I watched this movie in 2D at home, and even then the greatness of the cinematography came through. But if there were a few complaint to be had about it is the things that are supposed to fly at you in 3D. If they wanted to have gimmicky 3D, fine they should have been constant and they should have been important things, not just CG blood or a bucket of paint breaking a glass door or something. Those moments were distracting. But like I said, I’m willing to forgive the filmmakers because it was expected.

Elsewhere, the film also excells. The sound design is amazing and adds a great deal to what goes on the screen, the sets built agains the backdrop of the Nevada desert add to the creepiness of the story. And I loved how all the crature effects were not entirely CG. They used practical makeup effects with a bit of help from computer generated images to great effect.

Fright Night may have its flaws, but thankfully just about everyone elevates the movie so that it is not defined by them. Yes, it may have been made to cash in the recent nostalgia trends and the success of Twilight but the care given to it by the director makes it stand out from the pack. It is not only the best of the horror remakes that have come out in the last few years (decade, maybe?), or the best popcorn movie of 2011, but it is one of the absolute best movies of the year.

The Descendants | Alexander Payne, 2011

The Descendants is one of those movies that makes me question the importance of critics. Since its debut at the Telluride Film Festival for the most part it has gotten nothing but praise. Is American cinema in such a sorry state that such a bland film with no directorial identity is being praised as one of the best American films in years? Yes, American films are not the best they could possibly be, but really?

The Descendants is the story of Matt King (George Clooney) a successful lawyer that lives in Hawaii and has plenty of money as his family owns big chunks of land throughout  the state. But as good a lawyer he is, he wasn’t the best husband or the best father, and he now has to deal with that because his wife is in a comma and she’s not going to make it through. And that’s not all: he also has to deal with the possible sale of his family’s land to a company that wants to make a resort and with the fact that his wife was cheating on him and was going to ask for a divorce before she had the accident. And so now, Matt and his daughters, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), and Alexandra’s friend Sid (Nick Craus) set out to tell his wife’s family about her inevitable death, but also to find her lover.

The main problem with The Descendants lies within the script. With this being Payne’s first truly emotional movie, we are asked that we at least feel for what the characters are going through. We are supposed to care about Matt’s eventual loss, we are supposed to care about him having to man up and take care of his daughters, we are supposed to feel for him when he finds out that his wife was cheating on him, and yet I didn’t. Everything happens so fast, the characters are not well developed and so for me they were just a random group of people going through some difficult times. And when there are some truly emotional moments, like Judy Greer’s speech toward the end, the writers just rush them, and they actually feel as if they were played for laughs, when they really shouldn’t be. And the whole subplot involving the land and the cousins just felt like an afterthought and unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

Payne’s direction is also to blame here. Like I said, it’s his first movie to be emotion-based, but he handled it the same way that he did Sideways and Election, meaning he kept us at arm’s length, as if we are just spectators that aren’t supposed to get involved. The aforementioned Judy Greer scene, and the scene where Matt tells his oldest daughter that they are going to pull the plug on her mom are the only moments where I felt some emotion, but then we move on to something else, he doesn’t give us time to soak in these moments. With the exception of a few moments, it felt as if the film had no directorial identity, as if any random director could have made it. 

But that doesn’t mean his work is completely wasted. There were a couple of moments (when he’s running to his wife’s friends house and when he’s spying on his wife’s lover) where he used his signature quirks and they worked. And also, he got great performances out of the entire cast, and that’s nothing to scoff at. Clooney gives his absolutely best performance. He doesn’t play his usual ladies man, but a father with flaws, and he does it perfectly. Because of him I almost gave a damn about the scene where he said goodbye to his wife. Shailene Woodley, Robert Forster, and Matthew Lillard also give good performances that work despite the lack of effort in the writer’s part. But if there was one supporting performance from this film that should be getting awards attention it should be Judy Greer. She only has a couple of scenes, but she shows skills that I never knew she had.

The Descendants is an alright film mostly thanks to the performances and some emotional moments that stem from the story. But the writers and Alexander Payne’s direction don’t do much to make it go beyond that. If someone other than Payne might have directed it, someone who can handle emotion well, it would have been a much better movie. As it stands, this may be the most overrated film of 2011.

Herein lie my final Oscar predictions. For the Best Picture, Best Director, and Acting categories I’ve added some alternates. The rest, well, we’ll just see what happens.

Hugo should lead the pack with about 12 nominations as it is, for my money, the best Hollywood production of the year. It might get more if the actor’s branch decides to embrace Ben Kingsley’s performance. It should be f0llowed closely by The Artist with about 11 nominations. The other front runners, The Descendants and The Help, should get five and six respectively, which is nothing to scoff at.

I’ve omitted the Short, Docmentary, and Foreign Film categories because I don’t know enough about the films in contention. And you may notice that in a few categories I’ve listed some that have nearly no shot at getting in, yet I decided to leave them in because I just love those so much.

Anyways, here are my predictions:

Best Picture

The Artist

The Descendants

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

War Horse

Alternate: The Tree of Life

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Alternate: David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Actor

George Clooney, The Descendants

Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Alternate: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marylin

Alternate: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marylin

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Nick Nolte, Warrior

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Alternate: Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Alternate: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

Moneyball

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Original Screenplay

The Artist

Bridesmaids

50/50

Midnight in Paris

Win Win

Best Art Direction

The Artist

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2

Hugo

Jane Eyre

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Cinematography

The Artist

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Tree of Life

War Horse

Best Costume Design

Anonymous

The Artist

The Help

Hugo

Jane Eyre

Best Editing

The Artist

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Moneyball

War Horse

Best Makeup

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2

Hugo

The Iron Lady

Best Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, John Williams

The Artist, Ludovic Bource

Hugo, Howard Shore

Hanna, The Chemical Brothers

War Horse, John Williams

Best Original Song

Lay Your Head Down from Albert Nobbs

Life’s a Happy Song from The Muppets

The Living Proof from The Help

Man or Muppet from The Muppets

So Long from Winnie the Pooh

Best Sound Editing

Cars 2

Hugo

Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol

Rango

Super 8

Best Sound Mixing

The Artist

Hugo

Rango

Super 8

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Best Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2

Hugo

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Tree of Life

Best Animated Feature

The Adventures of Tintin

Chico & Rita

Puss in Boots

Rango

Winnie the Pooh

Like Crazy | Drake Doremus, 2011

Warning: Spoilers

I’ll go straight down to it: I absolutely hated Like Crazy and for my money it is the worst movie of the year. It doesn’t start out that way. Up until the last 30 minutes it is purely a terribly-written movie filled with stupid characters doing stupid things, all in the name of love. Why else would a silly young girl living on the U.S. with a student VISA outstay it? Well, that comes back to bite her in the ass, and she proceeds to do more stupid things, such as believing that she can make a long-distance relationship work. Ok, fine this is a love story and love conquers all. Then at the 60 minute mark there really is nowhere else to go as they get married so she can get her green card, and there really is nowhere else to go despite the fact that since she outstay her visa she was banned from the U.S. So what do you do during the last 30 minutes, something so despicable that I don’t even want to mention it. Those 30 minutes detroy an already-terrible movie and made it the worst I’ve seen this year.

Puss in Boots | Chriss Miller, 2011

The character of Puss in Boots as voiced by Antonio Banderas was the highlight of Shrek 2 and pushed it to be better than its predecessor. Finally, after years of being talked about, the character finally got his own movie, and it is everything I expected it to be.

Puss in Boots is pure entertainment for the masses. It doesn’t aim high, and it mostly hits its target. But the thing is, I expected a bit more. Sure, the animation is gorgeous (Guillermo Del Toro is an executive producer, and his influence shows in the set designs), Banderas seems to be having a lot of fun, and it has one of the best side characters of the year (the cat that says “ooooo”), but the story is not quite where I wish it would have been. It’s better than the last two Shrek movies, but it’s not like the bar was really high. As it is, it’s fine entertainment for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Weekend | Andrew Haigh, 2011

Andrew Haigh’s Weekend is perfectly summarized by this tweet by actress Melanie Lynskey: “‘Weekend’ is moving, sexy, & really important without being Really Important. Am madly, madly in love with Cullen & New’s performances.” So now, let’s analyze this tweet.

“Weekend is moving…”

Very true. Little by little we learn things about two of our main characters and we see them get along so well despite their emotional differences that I couldn’t help but wanting them to be together, and for once I was hoping for a Hollywood ending. But it ended the way it had to, and it’s just heartbreaking. And it was shot in such an intimate way that helped us get in touch with the  characters’s feelings without resorting to cheap emotional shots.

“…sexy…”

Oh, yes, this movie is definitely sexy. First off, it helps that you have two great-looking leads. Add to that sexy lighting. But what truly makes it sexy is the chemistry between the two leads and the dialogue exchanges between them prior to the sex scenes. With these in between these scenes feel earned and don’t feel like random strangers having sex. The only time they had that kind of sex we don’t see it at all, and yet when they talk about it it feels right, because we’ve come to know them a bit.

“…& really important without being Really important.”

The difference between the lower case and the upper case is where it’s at. Weekend is important in that it’s a great advancement in gay cinema because it plays just like any other romance even though it touches on how the subject is still taboo for some and they talk about rights and what not. But yet, it doesn’t feel like they are shoving those themes in your face like with Brokeback Mountain, Milk, or other recent movies on the subject. It feels natural, like any conversation anyone anywhere could have.

“Am madly, madly in love with Cullen & New’s performances.”

And this, is most definitely true. As great as Haigh’s direction and script are, these two are the glue that hold the movie together. Their great chemistry and talent is what kept me glued to the screen and what keeps going around in my head. If it wasn’t for the Ryan Gosling double whopper this year, the two would be at the top of my best actor list.

Weekend is a great great great movie. It could end up being taking over The Tree of Life as my favorite movie of the year.

The Golden Globe nominations will be announced tomorrow so I thought I’d throw a few predictions out there. Not much to comment about other than The Artist should be the most nominated.

Here are my predictions:

Best Picture- Drama

The Descendants

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help

Hugo

War Horse

Best Picture- Musical/Comedy

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Midnight in Paris

The Muppets

Best Director

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Steven Spielberg, War Horse

Best Actor- Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Ryan Gosling, Drive

Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress-Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actor- Musical/Comedy

Robert Downey, Jr. , Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love

Ewan McGregor, Beginners

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Actress- Musical/Comedy

Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher

Jodie Foster, Carnage

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marylin

Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Patton Oswald, Young Adult

Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Screenplay

The Artist

Bridesmaids

The Descendants

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

Best Original Song

“Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets

“Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Nobbs

“The Living Proof” from The Help

“Hello Hello” from Gnomeo & Juliette

“Masterpiece” from W.E.

Best Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin

The Artist

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

War Horse

Best Animated Feature

The Adventures of Tintin

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

Winnie the Pooh

I haven’t had much motivation to write long-form reviews in a while, so to get my groove back I thought I’d do something that most member of The Corrierino (see sidebar for link) and list the five to ten best and worst films I’ve seen in the past month. There won’t be write-ups or anything, just a list.

This month I didn’t watch many films since it is the end of semester at school, and anyone that has gone to college knows how chaotic those times get.

Best First Time Viewings:

1. In the Bedroom

2. Hugo

3. The Witches

4. The Black Stallion

5. The Muppets

6. Crazy, Stupid, Love

Best Re-watches

1. Sleepy Hollow

2. Another Year

3. Attack the Block

4. Winnie the Pooh

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2

The Worst

1. Water for Elephants

2. The Dark Crystal

Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Michael Bay, 2011

I still stand by my original thought that 2007′s Transformers is one of the top 100 movies of the last decade. I know you’ll probably say “watch more movies,” but I honestly believe it to be true. It was everything that I could have hoped for in a movie about giant alien robots hitting each other that’s based on a line of toys. It had great special effects, great action (that highway chase action scene is one of the best), fun human side characters, a coherent but extremely plot, Michael Bay, the perfect director to bring this to the screen, and Steven Spielberg as an executive producer. And, well, it delivered. However, as we all know, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a huge piece of shit because it went on for two and a half hours with absolutely no plot and was filled with annoying and infantile humor. So my expectations could not have been lowered for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I even chose to skip it in theaters. It may have been the extremely low expectations, or something, but I actually enjoyed this quite a bit.

In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is out of college and living with his hot girlfried (Rose Huntington-Whiteley). But the thing is, he can’t find a job. He has saved the world twice and even got a medal from Obama, but he can’t find a job. Meanwhile, the autobots are in a mission in Chernobyl where they find a piece of a missing ship from Cybertron that was supposed to help the Autobots win the war. And so, they discover that the space race of the 60s was just a ploy there to get to the moon and investigate a crash that happened there before. In that ship were the remains of the transformers, including those of Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), as well as the tools necessary to build a bridge between worlds. As expected, the Decepticons want to get their hands on this, and explosions ensue.

The first thing that stands out is the fact that the plot is once again coherent and they don’t try to pretend it’s some else than just robots hitting each other. Also, the villain, is much more menacing than in the other features, which gave the movie a much-needed darker tone. For the first time we get to see the consequences that the fight between the Autobots and the Decepticons have in the real world. We get to see people getting killed on purpose, and we even get to see that people are actually helping the Decepticons, which I did not expect at all.

Another thing that makes this an improvement over the previous movie is that the action scenes are much clearer, the clearest in Bay’s career, actually. This movie was shot in 3D, which means that to get a good 3D effect Bay had to hold his camera steady during the action, which is something that he has never done. As a result we get to finally see how great he actually is at shooting and staging action scenes. Those last 50 minutes would have been a headache had Bay shot them the way he usually does. But since he didn’t, that whole 50 minute segment is one of my favorite scenes of the year. I do wish I had gotten to see it in 3D. I bet it was quite something.

And the third thing that made me renew my faith in the franchise is that the humor is kept to a minimum and only towards the beginning of the movie. Sam’s parents only have a cameo, thank goodness. And weirdly enough, the rest of the comedic relief (the two little annoying robots, Ken Jeong, John Turturro, and Alan Tudyk) actually do things that are relevant to the plot. The only actor that’s there for the sole purpose of comedy relief if John Malkovich as Sam’s boss. It’s a very small role, but I actually felt bad for him.

Everything else is good, as expected. The returning cast (LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Turturro, etc) do their best with the thinly written characters. Alan Tudyk and Frances McDormand are actually good additions to the cast and get to do some pretty fun stuff. Huntington-Whiteley just has to stand there and be pretty, so she succeeds. She should stick to her day job, though. Production-wise, the movie is as top-notch as we have come to expect from Bay. Like I said, the effects are great, as are the sound design and the sound mix. This also may have the best cinematography in any of Bay’s movies.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is not as good as the first Transformers, mainly because I didn’t have the same memorable theatrical experience. But it is an entertaining, brainless action movie that is good to kill a Saturday afternoon.

Captain America: The First Avenger | Joe Johnston, 2011

I know that you really shouldn’t expect much action out of a superhero origin story. Time is needed to develop the character, set his motivations, etc. But there is always that one action scene in the end, and it has to be mind blowing. Batman Begins did it right. Iron Man did it right. But none of the other superhero movies have, and Captain America: The First Avenger is one of those. Just like Thor, although it is slightly better in just about every aspect, it feels like a two-hour preview for The Avengers.

The problem is the script. I’m not familiar with the comics so I don’t know how they handle the origin of the character, but the whole “I want to join the army because I hate bullies” is such a weak motivation. Later, for the big finale they try to give him extra motivation by killing off a character that is dear to him. That would have been fine, but their relationship was so underdeveloped that I honestly did not care.

The villain, here is also not menacing at all. I mean, you have Hugo Weaving playing a guy with a red skull and yet he manages to not be scary at all, then clearly there is something wrong in the foundation. And finally, the action is so disappointing. I mean, the big action scene is a montage, for pete’s sake! And the final scene manages to be as pedestrian as ever, and it is not helped by the fact that you already know how it is going to end.

But like I said, it is better than Thor in just about every aspect. The story and plot details are corny, and Joe Johnston embraces it and has fun with them and doesn’t take things too seriously. Just about every cast member is enjoyable, with Chris Evans being so charming, Hayley Atwell actually does stuff and is not a bumbling, helpless woman, and Stanley Tucci is awesome. Had there been more Tucci, the movie would have been much better.

But still, it was such a disappointment.

Tabloid | Errol Morris, 2011

Tabloid tells one of the most unbelievable and fascinating stories that I have seen in a while, and the fact that it is a true story made it so much more enjoyable. This tells the story of Joyce McKinney, a former Wyoming beauty queen. I don’t want to say much more since I feel that going into it without knowing anything works best. All you need to know is that it involves a beauty queen, S&M, and Mormon missionaries and their crazy theories.

As far as the craft goes, it is as great as you can expect from Morris. There are great and passionate interviews intercut with interesting footage or news clippings and fun visuals that illustrate the story perfectly (sure Standard Operating Procedure wasn’t fun, but you get what I mean).

Seriously, you should go out and look this up. It doesn’t cover the most important subject, but it’s kind of great.

Beginners | Mike Mills, 2011

Beginners was sold as an indie comedy in the vein of Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, (500) Days of Summer, etc. The highlight was on the quirky moments of narration, the moments that the hipsters could identify with, etc. But the thing is, the movie is much more than that. Yes, there are those kinds of moments, but there is a heart, a level of emotion that is not easily found in these kinds of movies.

I honestly don’t know how to gather my thoughts on this one, even a few  days after watching it. I just loved the story, how Mike Mills tells it in such a personal and identifiable way, the performances, and Ewan McGregor’s sweaters. It’s simply one of the best movies of the year.

Thor | Kenneth Branagh, 2011

From the moment I saw the first still from Thor, I had an uneasy feeling about it. Anthony Hopkins (who is not the greatest sign of quality these days) had long hair, and an eye patch, wearing something that looked like a cheap Halloween costume. Behind him were Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, wearing similarly ugly costumes. Even then, I kept an open mind because you can’t judge a motion picture based on a production still. Then the trailers came out, showcasing the weak visual effects, and Hemsworth hammy performance. Still, I kept an open mind. Then the reviews came in and praised it. I still wasn’t convinced, so I skipped it and waited for the home release. And now I can say that I’m glad I only spent 25 cents on getting it from the library, because my initial feelings toward it were actually true.

Kenneth Branagh is a good director, especially when working on Shakespeare material. But his over-the-top Shakespearean tendencies do not mix at all with the shallow, and, well, shitty script. His affinity for dutch angles, the over-the-top performances he gets from his actors, and the artificial look of Aasgard only heighten the unintentionally hilarious script.

As for the performances, like I said, they are over-the-top, but they could have worked, but they were mostly awful.Chris Hemsworth has the looks of a god, and acts accordingly, but it still felt like he was just a child wearing a Halloween costume. Tom Hiddleston as Locki tries his darnedest, but it goes above than what the character needs. Natalie Portman is reduced to playing the fawning damsel in distress. And well, pretty much everyone is awful. The only actor I liked was Idris Elba, as his interpretation was actually kind of perfect, but he only has like five lines.

Thor was a huge disappointment.

X-Men: First Class | Matthew Vaughn, 2011

After hitting bottom with Wolverine, the only way the franchise could have gone was up. They started in the right path by getting Bryan Singer involved, a capable, if bland, director, and then by getting a good cast. In the end, X-Men: First Class ended up being the second-best movie of the franchise, and is a masterpiece when compared to Wolverine. But it still barely manages to be good.

The problem is that the script and the direction don’t quite reach their full potential. The story is interesting, but overall the movie is just exposition with a set piece in the end. And Matthew Vaugh does nothing interesting visually to make the movie rise above the script. He pretty much just pointed and shot the scene. But then again, maybe that’s just what the franchise needed, a basic movie that would please just about everyone.

The one thing that does make the movie worth watching is the cast. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy (as Magneto and Professor X) have amazing chemistry together and give the movie much needed credibility. The others, like Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Nicolas Hoult, etc are also aces. January Jones is shit though.

X-Men: First Class is a nice reboot of sorts, so let’s hope that the follow-ups are better.

Out of Sight | Steven Soderbergh, 1998

Steven Soderbergh is someone that I admire mostly because of what he has tried to do with the medium. But as a filmmaker, he’s mostly left me underwhelmed. Of the movies of his that I’ve seen, I’ve only truly liked the Oceans trilogy. Well, that changed after watching his 1998 feature Out of Sight.

I loved this movie because it takes the dated and often ridiculed story line of the criminal trying to get clean by scoring on one last job, and injects it with new life. The script is sharp and filled with witty dialogue and fun characters. The editing makes every scene run smoothly. The cinematography makes just about every frame feel warm and sexy, even the scenes in the snow. And speaking of sexy, George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez (in her best performance), make sparks fly. And there’s also oustanding work from Albert Brooks, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, and Don Cheadle.

Out of sight is a fun, sexy, and thrilling movie that I hope to revisit many more times.

Bridesmaids | Paul Feig, 2011

If there is one thing that Judd Apatow will be remembered for, it will be for being one of the greatest producers of comedies. During the last decade he has produced some of the most memorable comedies in years, and maybe even of all time. This is because the movies he produces do not get hung up in trying to make you laugh will silly jokes. Sure, they are a very important part of them, but underneath them all is a very human story that just about everyone can relate to. This, of course, would not be possible if he wasn’t great at discovering new talent.

With his cult TV show, “Freaks and Geeks”, he gave a career to two of today’s most notorious actors: James Franco and Jason Segel. With Anchorman he gave us one of the most hilarious and irreverent comedies of all time. With his directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he turned Steve Carrell into a leading man. These are just some of the good things he’s done for comedy. Sure, he’s had his missteps (Funny People, Drillbit Taylor, Year One, and he killed David Gordon Green’s genius), but there’s no denying his gift for finding comedic talent. With his latest production, Bridesmaids, he has proven that Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig is one of the funniest and smartest comedians out there, and that she is also an amazing writer.

In Bridesmaids Wiig plays Annie, a woman that is almost at the end of her wit. Her dream of owning a bakery crashed with the recession and lost all her money, she lives with some extremely odd British roommates, and doesn’t have a man in her life, except for a fuck buddy. Her only meaningful relationship is with her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph), who has been spending a lot of time out of town with her boyfriend.

Things only get worse once Lillian gets engaged, and is asked to be her maid of honor. Not only does she now have the added pressure of doing her duties in that role, but she also has to deal with the other members of the bridal party: Rita (Wendy McLendon-Covey), a woman who’s life has turned sour living in a house with her three young sons; Becca (Ellie Kemper) and odd but sweet young woman; Megan (Melissa McCarthy), who is outspoken and crude, and, worst of all Helen (Rose Byrne), who is rich, beautfufl, and wanted to be the Maid of Honor. The movie then is about Annie balancing her life with her MoH responsibilities, as well as a possible relationship with a sweet cop (Chris O’Dowd).

Pretty much every element of this movie makes it as great as it is, but what makes it such a success may very well be the foundation of it all. Annie Mumolo’s and Wiig’s script, much like almost every Apatow production, succeeds not only because of its comedy, but it has a really human story underneath it all. This is a comedy about a woman on the verge of a breakdown that is doing everything possible to keep the only relationship that’s ever worked for her, even when it is beginning to fade away for natural reasons. Mumolo and Wiig take this story and by injecting it some crude, but hilarious comedy make it so much more relatable and much more memorable. This definitely has one of the best scripts of the year.

Also worth noting is Paul Feig’s direction. It may not seem like much since it’s not stylish or anything, but he does something that not many comedy directors do: he makes the comedy feel organic. When funny dialogue is spoken, he doesn’t put an emphasis on it, as if to tell us “hey, did you hear that? It’s supposed to be funny.” Rather, he lets the actors do the work and lets them deliver it naturally, and therefore it makes the character seem more believable. And during the physical comedy parts, he also doesn’t go over the top. He again, he stages it in an outrageous, and still somewhat realistic way. Just look at the scene where they are trying on the bridesmaids dresses. That scene could have been really bad with feces and vomit going everywhere, etc. But he only chose to show some vomit and handle it with some hand-held camera work, and besides that, he let the actors do the work.

And this brings me to what brings it all together and wraps it up beautifully: the acting. This movie, could have had a brilliant scrip and a great director, but without great comedic actors, this movie would have failed. Leading the pack is Kristen Wiig. From her work on SNL, we know that she can play a quirky and distracted woman who says the worst things. There is some of that here, but this role is more liker what she did on Drew Barrymore’s Whip It! Not only does she get to do what she does best (be funny) but she also brings emotional heft, a soul to her character that makes us identify with her.

Kristen Wiig may be best in show, but the rest of the cast is also amazing. Rose Byrne is great at being the mean bitch. Wendy McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper play off each other really well, and give a unique life to their characters. Maya Rudolph is charming, although she doesn’t have much to do. Chris O’Dowd is charming as well. But the best of the supporting cast is easily Melissa McCarthy. She just brings the comedy to another level with her commitment to the material. But she also has an emotional scene towards the ends, and she hits it out of the park as well. I hope she is considered for an Oscar, because she totally deserves to at least be nominated.

So, yeah, I loved Bridesmaids. It may have its flaws, but I certainly don’t feel like looking for them. It may be too early to say it, but the movie is kind of a comedic masterpiece.