Best of 2011

2011, as a whole, wasn't a great year. With 27 sequels, who could blame it? Certainly Hollywood needs some fixing, but I still think it has some life left in it. Why? Because these movies rose from the dark and gave me laughs, cheers and smiles. Here they are, my best of 2011

10. Real Steel

As I said in my review, this is Shawn Levy’s big breakaway from comedies into more serious territory. Nice guy Hugh Jackman delivers a fine performance as not-so-nice-guy Charlie Kenton. The boxing robot effects are great, a nice blend of practical effects and motion capture. For a much derided film, it builds its premise up fairly well.

9. The Green Hornet

It’s not the sturdiest of superhero movies, but it’s plenty better than another “Green” superhero (who would’ve guessed?). A film that pays respect to its predecessors in radio, comics and television while also working for a modern audience, Michel Gondry’s first major mainstream film swiftly mixes comedy and action. It’s got to be given props for coming up with some pretty outlandish set pieces – most done practically (such as the opening club explosion). It’s clear that Seth Rogen did his homework on all things Green Hornet, from the look of the Black Beauty to a small nod to the original Kato, Bruce Lee. The only nitpick I would have with it is that barely any of the characters are remotely likable. Also, I have never seen a worse candidate for an IMAX 3D film. I saw this in 3D, and I saw nothing that would be worthy of an IMAX 3D release. Absolutely nothing. If you saw it in IMAX, you have no soul.

8. Super 8

Ever since Iron Man 2, we were waiting on Super 8. J.J. Abrams’ first original film as director gets a lot of praise for being a great proponent of do-it-yourself filmmaking. The performances from the children are fantastic, not to mention Kyle Chandler. Where this film gets a lot of hate is the “half-hearted and uneven” depiction of the alien monster with unsympathetic goals. Personally, I’m a fan of Abrams’ films. I think he’s an interesting filmmaker to keep an eye on. The action and suspense were thrilling, especially the train crash sequence which was amazing. It seemed like much of the effects were done for real; for instance, the tipping bus. In the production design, Abrams masterfully recreates a Spielbergian town that looks truly authentic as though it had never been touched by modern times. In all, Super 8 is quality entertainment. It also shines a large and positive light on filmmaking, which I was very impressed with.

7. The Muppets

I know I’m gonna get a lot of flak for putting it so low on the list, but as I said in my review, I did enjoy the film. I just still could not get past the disappearing Muppets and the disappointing Amy Adams. Still, the songs were wildly enjoyable and the film’s bouncy bubbly enthusiasm will leave audiences of any age smiling. Jason Segal has done the impossible: bring the Muppets back from the brink and give them a film where they are again the stars.

6. Thor

For a superhero’s first depiction in film, Thor does leave some things to be desired that serves the purposes of linking to The Avengers but hopefully a sequel (if it can just stick to a director) will expand on the vast universe surrounding Asgard set up in this film. Chris Hemsworth shines as Thor, going from selfish to selfless perhaps a bit too quickly but believably. Although Natalie Portman is enjoyable in the film, her role isn’t particularly demanding. Everybody gives a lot of crap to the very pretty Kat Dennings and her comedy chops, but she wasn’t in the film enough to bug me. Anthony Hopkins is an inspired choice for Odin, but borderlines on over-the-top on some line deliveries. Who knows? Maybe Odin needs to be over-the-top. By far, the funniest Stan Lee cameo yet; I’m sure I was laughing louder than anyone else in the theater when he showed up. The sets are very well done, thanks to master production designer Bo Welch (who has a particular touch in his work). Kenneth Branagh does a fine job of directing, but has a much hated fascination with Dutch angles that many will be happy to see gone in Thor 2.

5. X-Men: First Class

One might think that because of the rushed production schedule that this film would be a studio controlled mess. On the contrary, this film appears to have been made by Fox throwing money at Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn and saying, “Money is no object. We trust you.” The cast -- in particular James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender -- is outstanding. Kevin Bacon plays a killer villain as eternally youthful Sebastian Shaw. The best part of the film is of course its pitch-perfect cameo of Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman (who, with this film, breaks Christopher Reeve’s previous record of most times playing a superhero). The period is used well to the film’s advantage but more recognizable songs would’ve been more appreciated.

4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

When I heard this film announced, I predicted doom right from the start. I assumed Fox had lost their minds and were flogging a dead horse. Never in my moviegoing years have I been happier to be proven wrong. After the double fiasco of the Oscars and Your Highness (but a great cameo in The Green Hornet), this is precisely what James Franco needed -- a performance that allowed him to be subtle -- though the unarguable star of the film is Andy Serkis who brings performance capture to new heights. Evolving a technique initially used in bringing Davy Jones to life in the productions of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Serkis performed the role of smart simian Caesar live on set. This helps to give excellent performances out of Franco and John Lithgow, whose enthusiasm is unbridled. I eagerly anticipate a sequel.

3. Drive

I enjoyed this film much more than Fast Five (not that it wasn’t good, just not as great as this film). As I said in my review, I will never underestimate Ryan Gosling as an actor ever again. He delivers a fantastic performance as the mostly silent Driver who is out for revenge after a heist gone wrong. It balances sweet scenes of the Driver driving through the sunset and the violence acts he has to incur to protect the ones he cares about. I’m not gonna say much more about it, but you can read my review and then go see for yourself. It’s a fantastic drama with action that doesn’t get over-the-top like Fast Five does.

2. Footloose

I can’t think of many critics who would have this film in their top 10 lists, much less top 3. But I’m not a critic (most of ‘em are cynical). I’m a movie buff and film optimist. This film gave me two of the greatest moviegoing experiences of the year. The first time I saw it was in July, when director Craig Brewer brought the film to town for a special sneak preview. I waited in line in front of a local DVD/Blu-Ray store at 8 AM, he came and brought donuts, recognized me BY NAME (nearly lost my $#*!) and handed out tickets. I drove over to the theater and waited across the parking lot outside of a Whole Foods Market sweating to death with only my laptop, a Mexican Coca-Cola and a small cup of Ben & Jerry’s. Finally, it came time to see the movie (before waiting in another line). Mr. Brewer came out to introduce it, told us some stories about how he was offered the movie and what the original Footloose meant to him. I saw it, I enjoyed it immensely. I thanked Mr. Brewer for the opportunity to see the movie early, got a picture with him and an autograph. Then came October 14th, when the movie was released to the general public. I didn’t have the money to go see it opening day, but I heard Craig Brewer was in town to open it up locally and I wanted to wish him good luck for the movie’s opening weekend. I went by the theater where he was, bumped into him and said good luck to him. He asked me if I was seeing the movie that night. I told him, I would love to, but I simply didn’t have the money. He says, “No problem,” and he hands me a free ticket. Cue exuberance. So I brought my laptop into the lobby, sat at a table and started writing while he’s signing posters and posing for pictures with people. After about two minutes with no one coming in, he comes over and sits down and we start chatting. Then, his phone rings. He says, “I’m sorry, I gotta take this.” He then looks at the screen and says, “Look who it is.” He shows me the screen and it says “Dennis Quaid”. Cue awesomeness. He gets to talking to him and I’m just sitting in awe. So, if it’s any correlation of the man to his film, Footloose is full of great times, well-performed drama and killer dance moves (for more specific info, please read my review).

1. The Adventures of Tintin

Steven Spielberg’s first foray in 3D makes for his most fun film in years. I’m not sure what got him on the kick of doing historical dramas and dark science-fiction pieces (with the occasional E.T. re-release and Crystal Skull thrown in), but it is so refreshing to see something so new and inventive from Spielberg. There was clearly a lot of care taken with the characters, the story and the partnership with Peter Jackson is unbeatable. See my full review.

Honorable mentions:
I hated to put these movies here, because they are very, very good, but I simply ran out of room in the top 10. By no means do these omissions mean I like them less or more than what is on the list.

Captain America: The First Avenger
The Tree of Life
30 Minutes or Less
Attack the Block
Source Code
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Drive Angry

Worst movies:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Green Lantern
The Smurfs
The Dilemma

REAL STEEL: Ready to Fight

I like Shawn Levy. Yeah, the “kid guy”. The guy who’s famous for doing movies like Big Fat Liar, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther and both Night at the Museum films. All of which I thoroughly enjoy. Of course, most people tend to forget the movies he made for adults – namely Just Married and Date Night. Levy had said in interviews that he was looking to break out of the “family comedy” stereotype that he had been stuck in, although not holding any reservations about returning to it someday. This is when Steven Spielberg started calling. Spielberg, who had agreed to move with DreamWorks to Walt Disney Pictures, was given the option to keep certain scripts with him even if it meant having to buy them out of his own pocket. One of these scripts was Real Steel.


Real Steel is based on a short story written by famed writer Richard Matheson. Matheson is famous for writing novels and short stories that inspired films like The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Box, (the screenplay for) The Night Stalker, Somewhere in Time, The Young Warriors and I Am Legend. He also wrote for television – Star Trek’s “The Enemy Within” and The Twilight Zone’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (the famous William Shatner episode that was remade with John Lithgow in George Miller’s segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie), “Little Girl Lost” (famously parodied in one of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror featuring a CGI Homer) and “Steel” starring Lee Marvin. “Steel” was a futuristic boxing story about a former human boxer named Steel Kelly who lives in a world where human boxing has been outlawed for being too violent and the human boxers have been replaced by fighting machines. He trains his own fighting robot, Battling Maxo, who breaks down right before a fight. Not wanting to lose his chance at winning, Kelly disguises himself as the humanoid machine and despite putting up a valiant effort loses to the machine opponent and is nearly killed. As with typical Twilight Zone episodes, it ends on a mysterious and somewhat uncharacteristically hopeful tone.


Spielberg had been involved with Matheson once before by bringing his short story Duel to life as a TV movie starring Dennis Weaver. Matheson had also co-wrote Jaws 3D, a second sequel to Spielberg’s classic thriller. He clearly knew that Matheson had a great story with “Steel” but was more interested in the setting and the story point of having robots fighting each other (something already seen in the Transformers trilogy, executive produced by Spielberg). Spielberg wanted a director who could also tell a human story within this action-packed sports drama. Calling Levy, he explained that he enjoyed his films because they were commercial and big-hearted which was precisely what he wanted for this project. Levy, excited to work with Spielberg, immediately signed on. This is Levy’s first Disney film (through Touchstone Pictures) and Spielberg’s second (after executive-producing the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit; he’s directing the upcoming War Horse).


The film begins with Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a down and out former fighter, who is clearly in over his head with debt. Nevertheless, he continues to engage in fighting exhibitions where his 2000-pound boxing robots are consistently decimated. After one of these devastating fights, Charlie is informed that he has been given his long-lost 11-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo), to take with him on fights. At first, they vehemently do not like each other. But after encountering a smaller sparring robot named Atom, father and son begin bonding through training their new champion.


I think this is clearly Shawn Levy’s best movie to date, even beating out my previous favorite, Night at the Museum. Now, my other movie-loving friends would argue that Levy is a terrible, evil director who is as bad as Brett Ratner (for more see: The Hollywood Saloon's Saloon Shot: Rat-Branded). I believe the guy isn’t bad. I’ve watched his “Life After Film School” and he’s pretty fun and knowledgeable about the making of his films and advice he’d give to others. But with Real Steel, there is one mistake that could have been made a lot better if he had paid attention to another Disney film that is highly beloved to me. 1969’s The Love Bug.


Song: "The Love Bug Theme" by George Burns


Both Real Steel’s Charlie Kenton and The Love Bug’s Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) are down-on-their luck athletes who aren’t very likable at the beginning of their stories. They both stumble upon a piece of machinery that seems to have a life of its own. Here’s what Real Steel doesn’t have that The Love Bug has: actual mechanical sentience. Herbie the Love Bug is a character within the movie and is given ample screen time to justify it (he can skip across lakes, leak oil on villains, open his own doors, drive himself, etc.). Atom, the main robot in Real Steel, is only hinted at having sentience in one scene. This is never fully explained or brought up in detail for the rest of the film. Granted, this might have been part of a subplot that got removed from the film, but that’s a lame excuse even for me to give and I’m a pretty optimistic guy.


Another nitpick I have with this movie is the overly abundant product placement, but it’s not entirely Real Steel’s fault. It’s been happening more and more in the past 20 years. It draws your eye away from the story, from what’s important though I realize full well that where the studio’s money ends, the sponsors’ money begins. But Real Steel picks the oddest product placements ever. Of course, you see product brand names like Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Cadillac and Dr. Pepper (which makes perfect sense since they’re not going anywhere. They will exist past 2020 and beyond). But you’re telling me, that in 2020, there’s gonna be a “Bing Arena”? BING? What’s next? “Tumblr Stadium”? “eBay Theatre”? “Ask.com Library”? Pick a product that is timeless so when people watch it in 40 years, they’ll know what everything shown in the movie is!


I think Real Steel exceeds the expectations of people walking in expecting, “a stupid Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots rip-off of Transformers”. It’s just a sweet yet action-packed boxing drama that just happens to have robots hitting each other. Hugh Jackman, as usual, plays a fantastic character and as you see him fighting on screen, you just want to be up there with him cheering him on.