heywood on 6/1/2012 at 01:13

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I managed to watch a lot of movies this past year (for me) due to lots of travel.

My favorite was probably Source Code. It wasn't quite as good as Moon, and the ending was a bit too sugar coated, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next thing from Duncan Jones.

The surprise of the year for me was Project Nim. The non-fiction story was hard to screw up I guess, but I was happy to see it wasn't overly dramaticized or editorialized.

Another pleasant surprise was MI4 on IMAX. The action scenes are over done (of course) and I still like the original MI the best, but this edition has a better story than the last two.

I was really looking forward to Senna, and it was great to see all the old footage, but I didn't feel like it was a balanced account of the man. So although it was memorable, I can't really recommend it to anyone but F1 fans.

Another memorable film which nobody has heard of is The Paper Soldier (Бумажный солдат, or Bumazhnyy Soldat on IMDB). This film is actually a couple years old but just became available here in 2011. I got it because it was billed as the Russian version of The Right Stuff and because I'm a fan of Чулпа́н Хама́това (a famous Russian actress) from a couple of quirky German films she did. It was nothing at all like The Right Stuff and the climax was a little bizzarre, but it was still a very good movie. I only got maybe half of the cultural references, so will have to tackle it again.

There were several films in the "meh" category that helped keep me entertained on long flights but I probably wouldn't bother to watch again, including Limitless, Cedar Rapids, The Company Men, Paul, and Contagion.

Probably the biggest disappoinment was Melancholia. It's the first Lars von Trier film I've seen and it may be my last. The opening was an overdone bit of cinematographic masturbation. The shakey cam is passé. The background rumble of impending doom was cheesy. The "psychic" connection between Justine and the planet was cheesy and unnecessary. The first act was an over the top mockery of wedding ritual filled with charicatures of dysfunctional people, irrelevant bits that seem like character development but lead nowhere, and at times Justine seems less like a depressed adult going through a breakdown and more like a vehicle for von Trier's own Coprolaliac fantasies. Fortunately, the second act was better, more of a character study of the two sisters and their contrasting personalities. Though there were still clumsy bits right to the end, e.g. John's suicide which is out of character. If not for the great acting and occasional eye candy visuals, I would not have made it through the film.

Two other disappointing films were The Adjustment Bureau and Hangover 2. I had hopes for The Adjustment Bureau because it was based on a PKD story and Matt Damon usually chooses good roles. But it ended up just being a bunch of chase scenes loosely held together by a sci-fi back story that never really developed and led to a contrived ending. Hangover 2 rehashed too much from the first film and the humor wasn't fresh anymore. Also, Zach Galifianakis lost most of his charm and turned into an annoying bastard in the sequel.

Finally, the ones I wish I hadn't watched are The Lincoln Lawyer and Real Steel. The Lincoln Lawyer had a ludicrous pulp fiction story, more shaky cam (when will this shit fucking die?), uncomfortable close-ups, and actors practically spitting their dialouge into each other's faces. But Matthew McConaughey was solid - watch only if you have a crush on him. I'm surely the wrong person to rate Real Steel, but the "boy and his anthromorphic pet robot" story that would most appeal to the target audience doesn't start until halfway through the film and good luck getting kids to stay with it that long.

Yet to see but probably will at some point: Super 8, Drive

Scots Taffer on 6/1/2012 at 10:13

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Yeah, Von Trier is one that I've mostly avoided - I tried to watch the evil talking fox and genital mutilation christmas special but couldn't do it. Gotta admit, the B&W slo-mo of stunt balls slapping against thighs as a kid plummets to his death definitely didn't enamour me to his work.



This is on my list but is hard to get a hold of.

heywood on 6/1/2012 at 22:30

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I've been debating whether to watch Dogville, but I probably will eventually. I'm still wondering whether he's really talented, or whether people are just attracted to his work because they like having their comfort zone pushed. Since he toned down the shock value when making Melancholia, I thought maybe his talent would shine through, but I wasn't that impressed. He does seem to get a lot out of the actors, but I think maybe he should stick to directing and let somebody else write the screenplay.



I'm not sure it's out on DVD yet. I was fortunate to catch it in London in August.

Thirith on 6/1/2012 at 22:46

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It's a 2010 film (I think), but we just watched Four Lions, and man, I've seen few films that are as funny but then the laughter gets stuck in your throat. Ouch.

Tocky on 9/1/2012 at 02:38

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I've only seen three films I liked this year, True Grit which was true to the original but grittier, The Thing prequel which was not as good as the first (not very first but Carpenter one) but I'm so grateful it didn't suck I give it high marks, and Insidious. Of these I liked insidious best. It did much that has been done before but in a different and more effective way. I've never jumped so much at a horror before. The ending was telegraphed but there were so many odd bits which led to it like the Tiptoe Through the Tulips demon incongruity that I loved it. This one is underrated.