CINEMA MOVIES 2011

Decided to rank the films that I saw in the Cinema in 2011, from the worst to the best, and add some comments, so here we go...

Sucker Punch
I like Zack Synder’s pervious efforts, I like his music video approach and I like his obsession with slow motion. I pre-booked me and the wife expensive tickets for the BFI IMAX, then the terrible word of mouth started and due to my company doing the ’Art Of’ book there were free tickets being waved in my face. Already this had become a bit of a downer, yet I was defiant and determined to put others opinions and my financial folly out of mind and give Zack a chance. But this film is really odd.
Despite its amazing fantasy sequences with war and dragons and giant samurai and robots and guns, the film wasn’t for me. By that I mean this film is not pitched at geeky thirtysomething males, it’s a film of empowerment for 12 year old girls who get to have their revenge on the films that their brothers are into. See what I mean, really odd. Yes, they’re all sexy-ish and yes, they dress (in my wife’s words) like they are on show for men and yes, they enter imaginary worlds that boys would think up. But all of this supposed male appeal is off set by the story and how these ladies interact in these sequences.
Baby Doll in reality is put into an asylum where she is raped by various staff members, she uses these terrible encounters to distract her attackers in a desperate attempt to get objects that will facilitate her escape. Pretty dark subject matter for a film aimed at 12 year old girls, so instead of showing these scenes the asylum is transformed into a show girls dressing room and rape is presented as Baby Doll performing an erotic dance. Again, having the girl from Lemony Snicket gyrating and panting for the pleasure of various grotesque men is hardly acceptable for young female audiences and thus we are safely transported away to the various fantasy sequences. I found it hard to enjoy the ‘sexy costumes’ when you’re being lumped into the same camp as the hideous voyeurs who are raping/watching Baby Doll. And routing for the women to triumph in the trenches of a world war is problematic when you know the truth that lies underneath the illusion. 12 year old girls hopefully would be blind to all this and maybe really enjoy all the girl power, MTV music video action and dress up?
From a purely visual perspective the four escapist fantasy scenes are stunning, the face off against three huge samurai on the giant IMAX screen is highly recommended. The world war section manages some splendid choreography and the dragon didn’t disappoint either. Yet, unlike Kill Bill, Baby Doll functions merely as a puppet, her face remains a mask of pouting defiance. There is none of The Brides knowing looks, acknowledgements of respect for her opponent, understanding of the game they are playing, humour or anger or rage or pity or annoyance, or frustration or anything really. Pretty scenes, but ultimately pretty soulless endeavours.
Kicking these moments off is a very elderly Scott Glenn who gets the lion’s share of Sucker Punch’s truly awful dialogue, delivering mission briefings and cringe worthy empowerment slogans in various silly outfits. There a plenty of times when my mind started trying to shuffle the films elements around in order for it all to make more sense and this character just stands out like a sore thumb. Why are these women taking orders from a man exactly, who the hell is he (God, Granddad, Pimp, Charlie) and why didn’t they use the helpful madam Dr Vera Gorski character for these scenes?
Then there is the impact cutting out a bunch of the movie, to presumable make it 12A, has upon the flow. At times the editing is very jarring, but also makes certain moments unnecessarily confusing. For example, at the start Baby Doll tries to protect her little sister from getting abused by their evil step-father. She fires a gun at him and then the sister is shown all lifeless and we see Baby Doll get some blood on her fingers. Its clear later on that Baby Doll has accidentally shot her, but as they couldn’t show that it ended up looking more like she’d got there too late and the step-father had raped her to death. For me the cut made for a far more harrowing segment than was intended, but that may just be me…
The music is great, some of the tracks sung by the main actress perhaps suggesting that there would have been some enjoyable musical numbers befitting the show girl fantasy - maybe this will become clear on the Blu-Ray release. Either way I couldn’t really fault the soundtrack.
It ends in a similar way to the first Matrix film with a call to arms, but again the film’s voice is completely female and a final reminder that its not talking to me. If anything it’s the opposite reaction I had to the Matrix, I’m the enemy in this instance, I’m quite literally The Man. I’ve gone on a bit, probably more than the film deserves, and no doubt I’ve set myself up for a fall/fool, but its such a strange mess of a movie that I had to exorcise it from my mind or at least try and bring some logic to it. It certainly wasn’t the film that was sold to me and I’m not convinced it will be embraced by its target audience either, who ever they really are.
Odd/5

Never Let Me Go
After watched the trailer I must confess to having been a little intrigued by the potential sci-fi element of the story, but its probably fair to say I was dragged along to see this one by the wife. Bad child acting aside, it starts off rather well. The mystery of the 1970s school with its imprisoned pupils doesn't overplay the feeling that something ain't right here and mercifully for those who have also watched the trailer (if not for the kids) the 'twist' is revealed very early on.
So on we go, down a country lane where every single event from that point on is so clearly signposted your brain can happily take its hands off the wheel and rummage around in the glove box. Unfortunately the wife had started crying about 10 minutes before this point, the unrequited love and teenage angst really worked for her. Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield all do a fine job with what they have to work with and its very nicely shot. The relationships are beautifully handled and the film's retro aesthetic effectively transported me back to more innocent periods of myself that could have been sitting along side me in the empty seats. Yet, seeing every moment coming from a mile off continued to ruin the experience. The film poses the question of how different are the lives of these people from those they are donating to, aren't we all conditioned from an early age, controlled, made to work and certain to one day die? It certainly didn't need to be addressed so blatantly in the films closing piece of narration.
While the majority of the film hits you over the head, there are some rather nice moments that tickled me after the lights had come on. The school headmistress was one of the only real surprises, a switch that's important to the viewer, who by this point is craving more information about the world outside the little bubble we're confined to, while this knowledge remains insignificant to her fated guests. Ultimately very unsatisfying, lacking subtly and originality, a rather bland story adequately told.
2/5

SCRE4M
Most of this was pretty lame, none of the 'new generation' had much character and the 'clever' parts, where they follow horror movie rules and get all post modern, weren't very convincing. The last 15 minutes was enjoyable though and contain a killer line of dialogue that I couldn't help think was the reason they made this film in the first place. If the rest had been up to this level then it would in all honesty still been a pretty average film.
2/5

Hanna
I went in expecting a 'classy' version of Hit Girl (mainly due to Mark Millar bashing it on his twitter), and the initial setup lived up to it. Eric Bana is fantastic as the father/mentor torn between wanting to protect his daughter and exact his revenge. While the lead character successfully manages to portray a girl who has only been told about life beyond the forest. Her 'travelling' experience was also rather nice - the jarring jump in tone and location worked for me.
I've never been a fan of Blanchett and this movie didn't do anything to win me over, plus her 'henchman' was far from HENCH and seriously miscast. Yet Hanna spends much of the second half running away, presumably to allow time for the Chemical Brothers soundtrack to get a good airing. The Brothers Grimm imagery seemed strangely out of place, perhaps because of the Borne-Realistic-Euro-Gritty-Ness style. Tbh the feel was all over the place so straying into some full blown fantasy style possibly could have worked.
Really enjoyed the first half hour or so, but once it hit Germany this totally fell apart for me.
2/5

Drive Angry 3D
I like Nicholas Cage. There, I said it. Over the years I've built up a fondness for him and his unique style of acting. No matter how bad the film, I can trust him to turn in an entertaining performance, which often seems to belong to another film entirely. Yet, cast correctly he is simply fantastic.
No longer able to fool anybody into thinking he is a 'bad boy', this role is more Cage going through a midlife crisis. Teamed up with a young hot babe, Amber Heard, and driving a variety of classic muscle cars to a hard rock soundtrack would have been a painful watch, had this film's tongue not been firmly stuck in its cheek from the off. Having been trapped in hell, Cage returns to earth as a man out of time, at odds with the modern world around him but set to raise some hell regardless. Its a relatively dialled down performance by his usual standards, wisely going for 'cool' over 'criminally insane' letting instead the action scenes turn things up to eleven. Despite the film's preoccupation with driving, I felt the middle act car chase was rather weak and rambling. I'd much rather watch Cage punching guitar riffs out of redneck cultists and fling spent shotgun cartridges into my face than see some cars zooming all over the place. I guess I'm just not a petrol head, but no amount of stunt driving could compete with one particularly outrageous shoot out in Cage's motel room.
Stealing the show is William Fichtner's Accountant, sent out from hell to track down Cage. I wont spoil his scenes, but he manages to come off as a godlike videogame character enjoying himself during the most life threatening encounters. Thankfully Cage brought a certain weapon with him from hell that appears to have been created by Hideki Kamiya.
I've not seen a great deal of 3D last year (Tron Legacy and Toy Story 3 the most memorable), but I found it to be very well implemented here having been originally shot to make the most of the effect. It certainly added an extra point to my rating and I'd advise you catch this in the cinema to get the most out of it...too late.
3/5

The Fighter
Its worth getting Bale's performance out of the way first, its a great piece of acting crying out for attention. By all accounts the real life Dicky was also a larger than life character so this wouldn't ordinarily be a problem. However, the film is also populated with colourful locals, in a similar way to Gone Baby Gone, to try and bring a smack of authenticity. Either that or they've been very skilled at hiring character actors to play the extended friends and family roles. After all its meant to convey a documentary feel, in a similar way to The Wrestler. And I'd say that these elements do work, though not as convincingly as in either of those films. Melissa Leo puts in a wonderful turn as the controlling mother and Amy Adams holds her own as the controlling girlfriend, fearless in the face of Micky‘s many sisters.
Then you have Mark Wahlberg, who I loved in Boogie Nights and The Happening, but never manages to transcend his A List celebrity persona. He just breaks the illusion for me, which is a shame as he's not bad in this at all and physically spot on for the part.
The story isn’t so much about boxing as a family with some serious issues, the pressures they put upon each other and ultimately tells a sweet tale of self realisation and redemption between the occasional physical and emotionally brutal beatings in and out of the ring. An average piece of drama elevated by some wonderful performances and subtle changes in the balance of influence between them. Dicky acknowledging the pressure he’s always felt at being his younger brother’s hero is poignant, tragic and wonderfully executed by Bale.
3/5

Captain America
Having heard a lot of the action takes place in low light conditions I opted for the 2D experience fearing the sunglasses effect would make things a little too murky - the possibility of ducking Cap's shield just wasn't worth the risk, though I confess to still flinching at one particular moment and wishing it'd been 3D if only for that shot.
I went in expecting Jingoism: The Movie, after all the main character is the American flag and is America's captain steering the good ship America through the dangerous seas of Nazi occupied Europe. No wait, he's in the Army not the Navy. Leading the American charge through the forests of Hydra occupied Europe...but with the help of some foreign types he's saved along the way. And yes that's pretty much the backdrop, but thankfully all that doesn't occur until much later in the film allowing first for a great origin story to draw you in.
As underdogs go the freakishly small Steve Rogers with a big heart and intelligence to match is wonderful. I was routing for him to find a way to live out his dream of fighting on the front line, and this was cleverly continued, even after he gets pumped up by Ironman's dad, when forced to merely sell War Bonds while prancing around in a silly (yet familiar) outfit. Not only did this allow for the oldschool image of Captain America to get a look in, but gave a credible origin for the costume too. Once he succeeds in selling his image, not just to the folks back home but the battle weary soldiers, I felt pretty chuffed for him. Here was Captain America!
Now a super soldier, with an invincible shield, super healing powers and a band of brothers packing laser rifles - Steve has tipped entirely too far in the other direction and begins to suffers a similar fate to the character of Superman. This was made worse by the Hydra enemy soldiers being completely useless (as well as having a ridiculous salute) and Red Skull having his empire smashed in a brief montage. I almost felt sorry for the guy. I know he's meant to be worse than Hitler and all, but you never really get to see him being proper evil apart from killing some Nazis which we can all get behind, right?
The romantic subplot started off weird (mainly due to circus show proportions) and never managed to convince me and there wasn't even an epic showdown calling back Steve's ability to take a beating with Red Skull seemingly transported into a forthcoming movie (soon followed by Steve doing the same). I just found it all so very unsatisfying after such a promising first half. Iron Man is GREAT because it is its own movie, even with the cross over stuff, so its a shame the First Avenger had to come along last.
3/5

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Gorillas pushing the bus while the Orangutans swung along underneath the bridge managed to be pretty thrilling, and who doesn't love a monkey riding a horse. Yeah, being able to spot the 'leader' ape from a helicopter amongst all that apeness was silly, but the rest of it worked for me. Bad monkey was a bit Gremlins The New Batch tho...which I also kind of dug on.
3.5/5

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Remake)
I saw the Swedish original on BluRay earlier in the year and thought: I somehow managed to avoid knowing anything about this film other than it's based on a trilogy of books and the writer snuffed it soon after finishing them. The TV Drama feel and subtle tone put me completely of guard, when the shit hit the fan it was pretty effective and kept me riveted through out. A really enjoyable Sunday evening murder mystery like what TV should be doing but can't. After watching Fincher's remake at the cinema my original feelings stand and was happy that the remake managed to improve on the original with a far better ending and some nice additional touches. The Bond-style credit sequence didn't work for me, but the soundtrack, as with The Social Network, was fantastic. Looking forward to more of these if Fincher continues to direct them.
4/5

Puss In Boots
I was dragged to the premier, the Shrek character never really won me over and I found many of the characters in his films to be on the annoying side. I'd also viewed this movie as a cash grab by the studio, put it in the same bracket as those Disney straight to DVD sequels of Aladdin and the like...even though I confess to have never watched them so for all I know they could be stunning examples of the genre.
However, the opening scene is so wonderfully crafted that I completely bought into Puss as the main character and the tone is set for what turned out to be a genuinely great animated adventure. Of course the fairytale nature is present, this time Jack and the Beanstalk gets worked into the narrative, but doesn't swamp or upstage the central story. It successfully inflates to epic proportions during chase scenes and moments of magical wonder, but manages to scale back to effectively convey the more intimate moments between its stripped down cast. There are only 5 main players here and thankfully none of them are annoying!
Antonio's voice acting is superb and the animation of Puss is flawless. I understand the relevance of casting Salma Hayek as his love interest Kitty Softpaws, but she didn't bring as much of a spark to proceedings as I'd have like considering their history together. Still, a convincing leading ladycat that doesn't steal the spotlight is probably what was called for so a minor criticism. Zach Galifianakis is almost unrecognisable voicing the youthful sounding Humpty Dumpty, normally you can sort of see the actors behind the animations but not so for me here, he does play a beardless giant egg though to be fair...
I watched the 3D version, I know there are some haters for this gimmicky format, its implemented incredibly well really adding to some of the action sequences and giving the film a generally enjoyable level of depth. Close ups of Puss you almost want to stroke his ears and whiskers...and I'm a dog person! The cinematography is often beautiful, with western-style sunset silhouettes and for a 3D movie the colours remained vibrant and bright (unlike my experience with the latest Toy Story).
With some surprisingly adult humour, which I wont spoil, I was literally laughing out loud from start to finish - something I've not done at the cinema for quite some time. Seems Dreamworks are able to layer their animations with the feeling of their central creatures perfectly. While it doesn't have the emotional weight and heart of How To Train Your Dragon, Puss In Boots has all the playful energy of a cat trying to catch a beam of light being shined on the floor...which is always captivating to watch!
4/5

The Kings Speech
My first trip to the cinema in 2011 and the place was packed with grannies. Not being a royalist myself and lacking the most basic general knowledge regarding the lineage of the monarchy I found their nattering a rather insightful accompaniment to the story. However, at its heart this film is more to do with friendship, one man’s battle with disability and overcoming the trappings of the past. The historical frame work is fitted around these themes wonderfully, with the final speech drawing all the strings together for a triumphant conclusion. Firth and Rush have great chemistry, the royal/subject teacher/pupil relationship quickly broken down to allow a friendship to evolve.
Firth manages to create a deeply human character bursting with emotion, which made a nice change from the usually repressed figures found in these period dramas. The repression is presented in the form of his stutter and was thoroughly convincing and effectively frustrating to watch. The microphone echoing every tick and stammer, almost painfully at times as we see the embarrassment and disappointment on the faces of the assembled crowd, effectively hammers home the obstacle he faces. I especially enjoyed the more subtle story of Rush’s character. His longing to play the role of a King on stage lived out through Firth, yet the ‘audience’ gathered outside the palace remain beyond him as he cranes his neck to see their adulation.
With an interesting use of wallpaper and the clever application of fog it was visually appealing without getting in the way of the character performances. Funny and often emotional I must say me and the grannies really enjoyed this one.
4/5

Thor 3D
This comes in just behind Iron Man (ooh err) in the massive-movie-link-up-adventure-extravaganza-cross-over-tie-in that Marvel have been up to lately, better know as the ones with a bit part by a coloured man only shown after the credits when everybody has fucked off. I decided to set my militant feelings of black rage aside, as this is all about the Vikings being space aliens and myths actually being science and after all Stringer Bell is in it as the hardest character to ever grace the silver screen (even though he is basically a doorman). The regal Asgard, with its rainbow road was stunningly realised and a wonderful contrast to the boring dustbowl town we see on Earth. The Thor actor manages to play idiot and heroic warrior well and, while he doesn't seem to learn to convincing a lesson from his time spent with humanity, he had me routing for his redemption throughout. Good fun and far better than I was expecting from Kenneth Branagh.
4/5

CINEMA FILM OF 2011

Drive
For me it pushed buttons that High Planes Drifter, Scarface and Taxi Driver pushed back in the day while also carving out its own identity. Ron Pearlman is in it for fucksake...worth the price of admission right there! So many wonderful moments in this film, it really is a masterpiece of visual storytelling. But my favourite bit has to be when Driver puts on the stuntman face mask and goes after Nino, he looks through the window and I was thinking he would go in and kill him right there and then with anonymity (despite still wearing that signature jacket). What he sees inside is such a brilliantly captured moment as Nino is falling backwards in hysterics, no doubt at his own joke, while, presumably his woman, turns away in bored disgust. I just thought that bit was perfect. Then you realise that of course Driver isn't wearing the mask to remain anonymous, he has stunt work to do! The two of them on the beach, those giant rubbery faces...loved Ron Perlman in this. The "you're not very good at this" line in particular! Yeah, at times its a bit heavy handed with its symbolism (the oasis at the end of the dry river for example) and the Scorpion and Frog line was a little cliché, but this film felt like it belongs in the company of other greats like Taxi Driver and Scarface. Its not often you feel like you've just watched an instant classic, its this year's Wrestler for me.
5/5