Movies 2011
It's that time of the year again and since I didn't do a top list of my favourite movies last year (apparently =S) I'm sure as hell going to do one now.
Again, I feel like I should have seen more movies this year, but there wasn't all that much that I *really* wanted to see (unlike next year, I'm looking at you Dark Knight Rises & Prometheus). Still, I've made a short list and without further a due, here they are (in no particular order).
*warning, spoilers ahead*
Super 8
Truth be told, I was slightly disappointed by this one. I remember the teasers being all mysterious, not giving anything away. Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoyed that. Movie trailers these days have a tendency to reveal too much of the film (I'll get back on this later), spoiling much of the movie experience imho.
So anyway, all I knew was that there was going to be a train crash and "something" escaping the scene. When the movie started I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it was set in 1979, it gave the movie a very nostalgic feeling. I also liked the (children's) cast, to me they were quite convincing. There was also nothing wrong with the special effects. So what didn't I like then? Well the ending reminded me way too much of E.T. Sure, the alien was a great deal more ruthless, but in the end he just wanted to "phone home". I still enjoyed most of the movie though, but yeah, the ending not so much.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Oh boy, talk about trailers that reveal too much, this one must have the top spot. It put me off a great deal, but I'm something of a fan of the old Planet of the Apes movies so I wanted to see it anyway. Truth be told, the trailer was a bit misleading in the end. I expected an action packed flick, but this wasn't really the case. Instead we have a lot of scenes with Caesar who doesn't speak until the end of movie, but still it's very entertaining to watch. I'm also happy to see that James Franco is starring in some excellent movies (the first one of course being Spider-Man but I already liked him when he starred in the tv-show Freaks & Geeks). And of course John Lithgow's presence is always a pleasure.
Black Swan
Oh Darren Aronofsky.. you dazzled me with Pi, amazed me with Requiem for a Dream and now you thoroughly entertained me (in a somewhat freaky kind of way) with Black Swan. The movie revolves around Natalie Portman, who I thought plays a very convincing ballet dancer. To see her breaking down mentally, and constantly wondering which parts of the movie are actually happening and which are not was quite enthralling.
The movie also had some stunning posters.
Source Code
Okay, now I love it when they tinker around with time in movies. Be it time travel movies like Primer or time-loop ones like Groundhog Day. Source Code belongs to the latter category. I liked how they didn't reveal in the beginning how the time loop actually worked, or what was behind it. This way you're pondering about it while our protagonist relives the same 8 minutes over and over again. There was a little bit of humor in it, some romance & action and it felt like a good complete package this way. It was also nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, which is of course another time travel movie!) in a good movie again.
X-Men: First Class
I think we can all agree that the third X-Men movie (The Last Stand) wasn't particularly good and that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty much a catastrophe. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised that Bryan Singer would be producing this one and that the director of Kick-Ass would be in the directing chair. The result was a (much needed) fresh breeze for the franchise and hopefully they'll continue on this. It was interesting to see Professor X and Magneto becoming friends but gradually growing apart throughout the movie. It was also fun to see the "first class" coming together and cope with their powers. I'm not sure if I entirely liked the villain, Sebastian Shaw, since he's quite different in the comics and cartoon and I was kinda hoping he would be more similar to that. Also I liked the relationship between Mystique (or Raven) and Charles, but the way they departed felt kind of abrupt.
So that rounds up another year of movies I guess.
I just want to add that I really wanted to see Drive this year, but for some reason or another didn't get around to it. I heard good things though, so it's definitely on my "to watch" list.
Again, I feel like I should have seen more movies this year, but there wasn't all that much that I *really* wanted to see (unlike next year, I'm looking at you Dark Knight Rises & Prometheus). Still, I've made a short list and without further a due, here they are (in no particular order).
*warning, spoilers ahead*
Super 8
Truth be told, I was slightly disappointed by this one. I remember the teasers being all mysterious, not giving anything away. Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoyed that. Movie trailers these days have a tendency to reveal too much of the film (I'll get back on this later), spoiling much of the movie experience imho.
So anyway, all I knew was that there was going to be a train crash and "something" escaping the scene. When the movie started I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it was set in 1979, it gave the movie a very nostalgic feeling. I also liked the (children's) cast, to me they were quite convincing. There was also nothing wrong with the special effects. So what didn't I like then? Well the ending reminded me way too much of E.T. Sure, the alien was a great deal more ruthless, but in the end he just wanted to "phone home". I still enjoyed most of the movie though, but yeah, the ending not so much.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Oh boy, talk about trailers that reveal too much, this one must have the top spot. It put me off a great deal, but I'm something of a fan of the old Planet of the Apes movies so I wanted to see it anyway. Truth be told, the trailer was a bit misleading in the end. I expected an action packed flick, but this wasn't really the case. Instead we have a lot of scenes with Caesar who doesn't speak until the end of movie, but still it's very entertaining to watch. I'm also happy to see that James Franco is starring in some excellent movies (the first one of course being Spider-Man but I already liked him when he starred in the tv-show Freaks & Geeks). And of course John Lithgow's presence is always a pleasure.
Black Swan
Oh Darren Aronofsky.. you dazzled me with Pi, amazed me with Requiem for a Dream and now you thoroughly entertained me (in a somewhat freaky kind of way) with Black Swan. The movie revolves around Natalie Portman, who I thought plays a very convincing ballet dancer. To see her breaking down mentally, and constantly wondering which parts of the movie are actually happening and which are not was quite enthralling.
The movie also had some stunning posters.
Source Code
Okay, now I love it when they tinker around with time in movies. Be it time travel movies like Primer or time-loop ones like Groundhog Day. Source Code belongs to the latter category. I liked how they didn't reveal in the beginning how the time loop actually worked, or what was behind it. This way you're pondering about it while our protagonist relives the same 8 minutes over and over again. There was a little bit of humor in it, some romance & action and it felt like a good complete package this way. It was also nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, which is of course another time travel movie!) in a good movie again.
X-Men: First Class
I think we can all agree that the third X-Men movie (The Last Stand) wasn't particularly good and that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty much a catastrophe. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised that Bryan Singer would be producing this one and that the director of Kick-Ass would be in the directing chair. The result was a (much needed) fresh breeze for the franchise and hopefully they'll continue on this. It was interesting to see Professor X and Magneto becoming friends but gradually growing apart throughout the movie. It was also fun to see the "first class" coming together and cope with their powers. I'm not sure if I entirely liked the villain, Sebastian Shaw, since he's quite different in the comics and cartoon and I was kinda hoping he would be more similar to that. Also I liked the relationship between Mystique (or Raven) and Charles, but the way they departed felt kind of abrupt.
So that rounds up another year of movies I guess.
I just want to add that I really wanted to see Drive this year, but for some reason or another didn't get around to it. I heard good things though, so it's definitely on my "to watch" list.