Written by Tyrone BruinsmaDishonorable Mentions: -Abduction [Dir. John Singleton] -Alligator X [Dir. Amir Valinia] -Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked [Dir. Mike Mitchell] -Anonymous [Dir. Roland Emmerich] -Battle: Los Angeles [Dir. Jonathan Liebesman] -Bloodrayne: The Third Reich [Dir. Uwe Boll] -The Clinic [Dir. James Rabbitts] -Colombiana [Dir. Oliver Megaton] -Conan the Barbarian [Dir. Marcus Nispel] -The Darkest Hour [Dir. Chris Gorak] -Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules [Dir. David Bowers] -Dream House [Dir. Jim Sheridan] -Drive Angry [Dir. Patrick Lussier] -The Double [Dir. Michael Brandt] -The Eagle [Dir. Kevin Macdonald] -The Green Hornet [Dir. Michel Gondry] -The Hangover Part 2 [Dir. Todd Phillips] -The Help [Dir. Tate Taylor] -The Human Centipede 2 [Dir. Tom Six] -In Time [Dir. Andrew Niccol] -Just Go with It [Dir. Dennis Dugan] -Mars Needs Moms [Dir. Simon Wells] -Metal Shifters [Dir. Paul Miller] -The Moth Diaries [Dir. Mary Harron] -Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers [Dir. Curt A. Sindelar] -Perfect Sense [Dir. David Mackenzie] -Mr. Popper's Penguins [Dir. Mark Waters] -Priest [Dir. Scott Stewart] -The Resident [Dir. Antti Jokinen] -The Rite [Dir. Mikael Håfström] -Rites of Spring [Dir. Padraig Reynolds] -Sanctum [Dir. Alister Grierson] -The Smurfs [Dir. Raja Gosnell] -Soul Surfer [Dir. Sean McNamara] -Straw Dogs [Dir. Rod Lurie] -Street Kings 2: Motor City [Dir. Chris Fisher] -There Be Dragons [Dir. Roland Joffe] -The Three Musketeers [Dir. Paul W.S Anderson] -Tower Heist [Dir. Brett Ratner] -Trespass [Dir. Joel Schumacher] -Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 [Dir. Bill Condon] -Uninhabited [Dir. Bill Bennett] -Zookeeper [Dir. Frank Coraci] 10. Cowboys and Aliens [Dir. Jon Favreau] The prime example of JJ Abrams "Mystery Box" style of storytelling messing up a potential winner of a film. Between its stacked cast, skilled director and killer premise - Cowboys and Aliens should've been at least a fun blockbuster. Unfortunately, the screenwriters, marketing and narrative is based around a mystery that is not as interesting as they think it is and trips Daniel Craig's character of a personality. It looks great and Jon Favreau does a solid job directing, but it's the story that makes or break a film. 9. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Dir. Rob Marshal] After failing to be the most epic Pirates of the Caribbean film with At World’s End, Disney opted for a soft-ish reboot under a new director that fully committed to Jack Sparrow as the protagonist. This was a bad decision as Jack Sparrow’s character was always better as supporting cast material, with his lead role making him far more annoying. The plot is a classic treasure hunt story, but entirely built on coincidences to push the plot forward. Everyone just happens to be in the right place at the right time for a comedic gag or plot progression. Despite the $375 Million dollar price tag, the film looks surprisingly cheap and small in scope. I will say I did enjoy Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane’s roles, but most of the returning cast feels phoned in. The film has one pure bright spot in the mermaid set-piece being genuinely awesome, mixing horror and action to be its own great short film in this very long feeling snoozefest. If the mermaid scene were in any other decent fantasy film, it would make that work a near masterpiece. 8. The Thing [Dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.]This intended prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece The Thing would be fine as an original film but sucks as a comparison. Aside from the continuity to the first film not adding up outside of bare minimum references, it’s a film that doesn’t understand the original movie. The alien entity acts with no intelligence, body horror is replaced with cheap jump scares and the characters have no chemistry. There’s no iconic moment, attempts to recreate scenes from the original are terrible and the story is just a bland retread. While the practical effects initially used looked great, they (and the original ending) were botched by studio heads insisting on CGI for no reason and it looks terrible. And while the practical effects team made Harbinger Down four years later, that film disappointed because both those films needed a good story. 7. Green Lantern [Dir. Martin Campbell]While many people think the current slate of DC films (Zack Snyder or post-2017’s Justice League) are terrible, people forget how bad many prior DC projects like Catwoman, Jonah Hex and Green Lantern were. This Top Gun rip-off turns into a garish looking attempt at a goofy superhero space trip. Pretty much the entire cast is wasted on a bland script, the plot rarely goes into outer space (when the film looks and feels its best) and the CGI effects often look terrible. I don’t blame Ryan Reynolds or Martin Campbell or the VFX team, I blame the studio for getting this material wrong. In fact, part of me feels like the ending climax was pulled from an unused Superman script, that’s how little this feels like a Green Lantern adaptation. Bad action, bad comedy, bad writing, all the focus in the wrong places. If you think Batman V Superman, Birds of Prey, Matt Reeves’ The Batman or Wonder Woman 1984 is worse than this…I have several questions. 6. Beastly [Dir. Daniel Barnz]In an attempt to capitalize on the Twilight craze, someone decided to turn this obvious Beauty and the Beast young adult novel into a terribly cheap film. This problematic, emo-influenced modern take on Beauty and the Beast is laughably inept. Dramatic scenes feel like high school stage plays, with the film either being poorly written or over edited to hide stuff. I hated the lead character, found the story beyond preposterous and it made me unintentionally laugh with how stupid it was. They saved money to hire Neil Patrick Harris for a glorified cameo by ditching planned make up effects…hooray for creative bankruptcy. Seriously, this film is perfect for a laugh if you love “So Bad It’s Good” movies. 5. Jack and Jill [Dir. Dennis Dugan]The worst comedy of the year and one of the worst comedies of all time, Jack and Jill is just plain bad. The entire film is basically Adam Sandler playing an idiotic and obnoxious woman with a painful voice. Aside from general competence on the filmmaking side, the movie has no real story, point or comedy to speak of. Aside from Al Pacino and the Dunkaccino sequence, this film has no bright or memorable spots. Hell, it's not even bad or bizarre enough to be the worst film of 2011-it's just a forgettable and lazy comedy. 4. Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 [Dir. Paul Johansson]Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was a pulpy silly novel that was also a monument to the problematic idea of objectivism. While the story has influenced superior works like Bioshock, this cheap made-for-tv level adaptation is just terrible. Made and marketed towards conversative groups, the film strips much of the entertaining parts (anti-traditional romance, pirates, undersea cities) to instead focus on how America and the world would crumble if “visionary CEOs” stopped working. While I can imagine that being a realistic enough concept in the 1950’s when the book was published, this contemporary set film doesn't show how or why such nonsense occurs. Ever since the 1990’s, CEOs getting replaced is a common thing. It doesn’t help that NOTHING happens in the film aside from boring conversations between actors trying to make this terrible material work. The film even tries to end with a Gone with the Wind style Burning of Atlanta sequence that just comes off as silly. With such a low budget, a particular audience in mind and no attempt to be intentionally or unintentionally goofy-this movie is just boring as all hell. And they made two sequels which I’ve heard are worse, but I’m not even gonna bother looking for. 3. Hellraiser: Revelations [Dir. Víctor García]Made for about $300’000 and rushed into production so the Weinstein’s wouldn’t lose the rights to the license: Hellraiser: Revelations is the worst film of the series by a wide margin. I say that as someone who only thinks the first Hellraiser is a genuinely good film, with the sequels ranging from ok to just terrible. But Revelations is the worst thanks to its terrible production values, a story that poorly recycles the original film, no Doug Badley and its goal only being to extend IP ownership. It’s not scary or particularly shocking, feeling like one of those micro budget horror films that gets torn apart on YouTube. There’s this creepy incest idea that could’ve been something and the fact we get Pinhead early instead of a final expository vessel shows someone was trying: but it utterly fails. 2. Megan is Missing [Dir. Michael Goi]Released during the height of Paranormal Activity and found footage popularity, Megan is Missing was actually made in 2008 over a week for $35’000. Having sat on a shelf as something likely to be forgotten about by those involved, it was released and stands as easily one of the worst films of the sub-genre. Created by Michael Goi, an industry cinematographer who became a director-it wants to be a serious film about the dangers of online strangers for teens. Unfortunately, the film fails to capture that idea and feels more like an uneducated parent's worst paranoid fears about their teenagers. Goi was 49 when he made this and his grasp of teenager life feels incredibly detached, like many middle aged men forced to (or believing they can) write teenage girls. The film attempts to look and feel real, but feels more artificial, closer to a sleazy thriller story like Kiss the Girls or Silence of the Lambs. While Goi has gone on to shoot and direct many solid tv shows like American Horror Story, The Rookie and even the upcoming Netflix Last Airbender show, Megan is Missing is probably the worst thing he’s made. It poorly uses the found footage format with camera work and editing breaking the immersion, along with the actors not up to task. But ultimately, it’s the film’s attempt to shock the audience with teenage girls talking about sexual experiences and suffering sexual violence that backfires. The film’s dialogue and staging gives less the sense of condemnation and more fetishization. The way a teenage girl proudly talks about being sexually abused is genuinely uncomfortable, like someone was enjoying listening to it. And the ending where we see a girl abused in BDSM gear looks like it could be any generic BDSM pornography. It feels less like a warning about the dangers of the internet and more like using that as an excuse to have teenage girls sexualised and suffering for someone’s pleasure. It feels very similar to the original I Spit on Your Grave in which the titular scene of abuse is shot like pornography and the violence later to justify it. Now, I’m not going to accuse Michael Goi of getting off to the content in the film. In fact, he gave warnings when the film weirdly surged in popularity during late 2020 and early 2021. He intended the film to be warnings for adults, not made for the depicted audience. I believe he was genuinely earnest in his efforts, but they backfired in my opinion. If your goal was to make a warning about teenage exploitation but made a film that fetishized that exploitation-I feel like you screwed up. It comes off like pre-70’s propaganda fear films like Reefer Madness or Teenage Mother. And anyone who thinks Megan is Missing is somehow accurate or the most shocking film ever made needs to do more research. 1. Jerusalem Countdown [Dir. Harold Cronk]Jerusalem Countdown is a Christian film made by Christian propaganda outfit Pure Flix run by David A.R. White, based on the paranoid ramblings from crazed televangelist pastor John Hagee...pretending to be a legitimate spy film. This film really feels like what would happen if you combined The Bourne Identity and Left Behind, and made it on a shoestring budget. Despite looking at face value like a legit film, it looks cheap and fits the quality of the director's later films in the first two God's Not Dead films. Also, this film has the same cinematographer from Tommy Wiseau's The Room...so...that's not a good sign. If you're hoping this even works remotely as a spy thriller plot, it doesn't. The action is a series of poorly shot and edited sequences that don't create tension or excitement, with the terrible CGI making them worse. The story wants to emulate this global, world ending scale-but honestly feels like it was filmed in the same small town American street. Most of the scenes are just our boring idiot protagonists having information exposited to them from other boring characters, often in the same locations.
The plot itself is jibbering nonsense, birthed from John Hagee's bigoted paranoid beliefs. The plot is about Russian and Islamic terrorists working on behalf of those governments and a shadowy organization intent on using nuclear weapons on American soil to start The Rapture, which will take all the good American Christian soldiers away so Russia and Iran can invade Israel and take Jerusalem for themselves. No, I'm not kidding-that's the actual plot and the author has expressed these beliefs. So, paranoid "New World Order" garbage fueled by Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that's sometimes just spelled out for no reason, what other Christian faith film nonsense does this garbage peddle? It also has the poorly written non-believer conversion story that paranoid Christians have imagined arguments with, that come off as ridiculously silly. What's annoying is that this film has such little scope or ability to have a sense of humor that isn't not even a spectacle like Passion of the Christ or hilarious hogwash like Power of the Air. It's just a bad thriller, a bad faith film and genuinely the worst film of 2011. It's the worst film of the year because it intends to be the ramblings of a paranoid lunatic and succeeds in putting that voice on screen.
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Written by Tyrone BruinsmaHonorable Mentions: -Absentia [Dir. Mike Flanagan] -Apollo 18 [Dir. Gonzalo López-Gallego] -The Artist [Dir. Michel Hazanavicius] -Burning Palms [Dir. Christopher Landon] -Captain America: The First Avenger [Dir. Joe Johnston] -Children Who Chase Lost Voices [Dir. Makoto Shinkai] -Detention [Dir. Joseph Kahn] -The Eye of the Storm [Dir. Fred Schepisi] -Fast 5 [Dir. Justin Lin] -Final Destination 5 [Dir. Steven Quale] -Friends with Benefits [Dir. Will Gluck] -Fright Night [Dir. Craig Gillespie] -Grave Encounters [Dir. The Vicious Brothers] -The Guard [Dir. John Michael McDonagh] -Hanna [Dir. Joe Wright] -Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Part 2 [Dir. David Yates] -The Human Centipede 2 [Dir. Tom Six] -I am Number Four [Dir. D.J. Caruso] -The Ides of March [Dir. George Clooney] -Immortals [Dir. Tarsem Singh] -In Time [Dir. Andrew Niccol] -Insidious [Dir. James Wan] -Killer Joe [Dir. William Friedkin] -The Lady [Dir. Luc Besson] -Limitless [Dir. Neil Burger] -The Lincoln Lawyer [Dir. Brad Foreman] -The Lost Bladesman [Dir. Alan Mak and Felix Chong] -Margaret (Director’s Cut) [Dir. Kenneth Lonergan] -The Mechanic [Dir. Simon West] -Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol [Dir. Brad Bird] -Moneyball [Dir. Bennett Miller] -Puss in Boots [Dir. Chris Miller] -Quick [Dir. Jo Beom-goo] -Rango [Dir. Gore Verbinski] -Real Steel [Dir. Shawn Levy] -Red Riding Hood [Dir. Catherine Hardwicke] -Red State [Dir. Kevin Smith] -Return [Dir. Liza Johnson] -Sector 7 [Dir. Kim Ji-hoon] -Shark Night 3D [Dir. David R. Ellis] -Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows [Dir. Guy Ritchie] -The Skin I Live In [Dir. Pedro Almodóvar] -Snowtown [Dir. Justin Kurzel] -Thor [Dir. Kenneth Branagh] -Transformers: Dark of the Moon [Dir. Michael Bay] -Unknown [Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra] -We Need to Talk About Kevin [Dir. Lynne Ramsay] -YellowBrickRoad [Dir. Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton] -Young Adult [Dir. Jason Reitman] 20. Hobo with a Shotgun [Dir. Jason Eisener]Adapted from the fake trailer of the same name featured in 2007’s Grindhouse, Hobo with a Shotgun is perfect z-grade schlock. A loving tribute to cheap genre trash of the 80’s like Surf Nazis Must Die, but with a modern quality and self-awareness. This ultra-violent vigilante tale with the late and great Rutger Hauer as the titular Hobo is well made, lovingly performed by the cast and exactly the best version of what it sounds like. It’s not high art, but maybe it is in its own unique way. 19. The Tunnel [Dir. Carlo Ledesma]One of the rare Aussie found footage horror film, The Tunnel combines government distrust, dynamic characters, mystery and a creature feature smartly into one. Spending a lot of time covering context, characters and potential conspiracy before delving into the genuine horror-it's a rare found footage horror that feels more in-tune with a documentary than home movie. Scary, well made and authentic feeling-it's a great horror experience. 18. The Reef [Dir. Andrew Traucki]Another great Aussie horror film, The Reef feels like a more engaging version of Open Water and the director's prior film Black Water. Following a group of travelers in a capsized boat who elect to swim through shark patrolled waters to safety in the open ocean. It's a film that manages to be scary, tense and effective and uses real footage of great white sharks to be extra scary. 17. Source Code [Dir. Duncan Jones]After directing the smart and effective sci-fi story Moon, Duncan Jones got to prove himself in making a mid-budget high concept thriller. Source Code basically operates like a smaller scale version of Edge of Tomorrow in the premise being a soldier (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) using a technology to relive a tragic event to find the culprit. Source Code takes this premise and explores all the possibilities within to make an incredibly effective thriller. it is an absolute must-see. 16. X-Men: First Class [Dir. Matthew Vaughn]I’m gonna say that this is the best X-Men film (that holds up) that actually has X-Men in the name. Ditching the prior 4 films for a Cold War set prequel under Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn, First Class is like a superhero Bond film. It has the right balance of humor, action and drama-providing some incredibly memorable sequences and sexy characters. Unfortunately, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix spoiled the potential of this cast: with only Logan and Deadpool being unconditionally good installments after. First Class rocks and is still worth watching. 15. Contagion [Dir. Steven Soderbergh]The weirdly prophetic film by Steven Soderbergh combines his multi-story threads from Traffic with a more natural version of 1995's Outbreak. The film captures humanity, paranoia, panic and desperation in some of the best filmmaking and performances brought to screen. A great film when it came out, scary and foreshadowing with the 20/20 hindsight of 2020. Great actors, a solid script and a great filmmaker combine to make a great film. 14. Margin Call [Dir. J. C. Chandor]A retelling of the 2008 financial collapse, Margin Call follows a fictious company and employees 24 hours out from that economic disaster. The film has an amazing screenplay, granting one of the best casts you could ask for at the time some truly amazing dialogue. The iconic boardroom scene where Jeremy Irons dominates the screen is just incredibly. While not a massive or epic, not full of anything other than numbers and dialogue-it's just as exciting as any blockbuster action movie. Chandor's filmography is more than interesting with All is Lost, A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier and that upcoming Kraven film being a showcase for his skills. 13. Kung Fu Panda 2 [Dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson]While the original Kung Fu Panda was a great film, I believe its sequel is superior. On a visual, narrative, action and emotional standpoint-I think it surpasses the seemingly impossible to follow up original. The returning cast all do great work with Jack Black and Angelina Jolie given more to do, while Gary Oldman plays an amazingly complex villain. It also has the most emotional moment of any Dreamworks film as far as I'm concerned. Everything you loved before is back and even better. 12. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [Dir. Thomas Alfredson]From the director of Let the Right One In comes a great spy movie based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name. If you’re only familiar with the spy genre from Mission Impossible and James Bond, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will feel alien. It’s a colder, bleaker and sometimes nastier film than the usual adventure stories we’re given. Focused on inter-agency bureaucracy, personal grudges and failures as opposed to action, the film is riveting. Gary Oldman leads one of the best “all British men” casts in recent years and I can’t recommend it enough. 11. Martha Marcy May Marlene [Dir. Sean Durkin]Before people fell in love with her as Wanda in the MCU, Elizabeth Olsen gained deserved acclaim for this dark drama about a girl recovering from having spent years in a cult. While this film is inspired by real life cults, it's not a film about the politics of its fictious cult. Instead, it's a film about the psychological effects of what living in a cult does to a human being-with Olsen's magnetic performance holding us through. It's not overtly violent or disturbing, but it is a harrowing watching from an emotional point of view. Absolutely worth seeking out. 10. The Adventures of Tintin [Dir. Steven Spielberg] This animated, motion-capture action film is easily one of Spielberg’s most underappreciated films. The animated world lets Spielberg create one of the best directed films in the format, the script is efficient and clever, the score is great, the old-school feel is delightfully welcome and I absolutely love the cast. I look forward to when Spielberg and Peter Jackson team up again to make the sequel because this is seriously more of what we need in cinemas. 9. Tyrannosaur [Dir. Paddy Considine]The feature directorial debut of Paddy Considine, having previously written the kitchen sink thriller Dead Man's Shoes and Tyrannosaur's short film version 'Dog Altogether'-gives us an incredible drama. Built in the mold of a classic British-Kitchen-Sink film about terrible people, this movie gives us an atrocious lead played by Peter Mullan who is extremely human, but thoroughly unlikable from scene one. The journey he and Olivia Colman go through in this film is nothing short of heartbreaking and unnerving. It's a must see if you crave actor driven movies. 8. This Is Not A Film [Dir. Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb]This is Not a Film is probably the closest example to 3rd Cinema you can see today. 1st Cinema is for financial gain, 2nd Cinema is for artistic expression, whilst 3rd Cinema is an act of political rebellion. The director of this film Jafar Panahi was imprisoned and banned from filmmaking for decades by the state of Iran for intending on making a film about riots in the country. While global pressure ensured Jafar was secluded to merely house arrest-the ban stayed. So, this film-despite largely being just a man mulling around his apartment and talking to the camera or phone calls...is an act of political defiance. To the degree it was smuggled out of Iran to the Cannes Film Festival in a flash drive...in a cake. This film follows director Jafar Panahi's prior directorial history of films that examine politics and the reason we make cinema in the first place. His films like The Mirror, The Circle and Offside are all masterclasses in their own right - This is Not a Film is the most blatant concept of political examination and examining the question of cinema itself. It's not an epic film, or spectacular - but it is incredibly revealing and powerful for its existence. Seek this out. 7. The Tree of Life [Dir. Terrence Malick] In his modern return to cinema, Terrence Malick has certainly made some unique and visionary works. Arguably his best film is The Tree of Life, an art house drama about life, death, nature v.s nurture and so much more. It’s easily one of the most gorgeous looking films of the 21st Century thanks to its unique execution and beautiful cinematography. The cast is very effective in the drama that plays out, with Jessica Chastain being the show stealer. I’d also recommend his more recent film A Hidden Life. The Tree of Life might be seen as pretentious by many, but it’s one of the most emotionally and artistically vital pieces of cinema from 2011. 6. Attack the Block [Dir Joe Cornish]This darkly comedic sci-fi horror film about aliens invading a lower-class British housing block is one of the best examples of genre filmmaking as cultural commentary. Authentic to its environment, wonderful performed and directed, often hilarious and all without losing a pure sense of fear. The truly alien monsters have a terrifying presence, with the brutal damage they leave keeping the audience on edge. The stellar cast is lead by future Hollywood king John Boyega, but the theme of economic disparagement is what makes the film stick with you long after the thrills. If you love this film, I recommend Joe Cornish’s directorial follow up-The Kid Who Would Be King. 5. Kill List [Dir. Ben Wheatley]Kill List is basically what happens if you mix British kitchen sink realism with a subversive and politically charged horror thriller. Initially about 2 ex-soldiers working as blue-collar hitmen, it slowly turns into a darker, nastier, more surreal experience. Clearly inspired by the likes of The Wicker Man, the film seems to very much be a commentary on 21st Century Western military service, family structure, classicism and cultural delusion. All the while, it’s still a well-acted, wonderfully made, chilling and eventually nightmarish horror film I guarantee you won’t forget. 4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Dir. David Fincher]I’m sorry fans of the original Millennium Film Trilogy, but David Fincher’s remake of the classic crime story is the superior adaptation. Fincher remains one of our best living directors and his creeping, oozing, dark aesthetic brought to this inherently disturbed story is one of the best remakes in modern history. Every single cast member is flawless in their commitment to the story and characters, the visual storytelling is beyond perfect and it makes some worthwhile changes to improve the story in my opinion. This is why if you’re going to hire someone to adapt such an iconic story, you better make it one of the best in the business. Honestly, I feel this film has gone unappreciated in recent years: go re-watch it. 3. Sucker Punch (Extended Cut) [Dir. Zack Snyder]I think Sucker Punch is Snyder’s most artistically important film. Dismissed and ridiculed as a mess upon its initial release, Sucker Punch is a visually striking, thematically rich story that should be praised for the pure bold choices it makes. A story that interrogates the purpose of storytelling, male gaze, female objectification and fetishization, multiple schools of feminism and leaving it more open ended than similar films might. It honestly works closer to Fight Club as self satirisation, which is why I feel many weren't able to fully process the intent. Snyder has always been an ambitious director with authorial intent as the driving force behind a story, and I feel he deserves more respect for that. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen it-I highly recommend returning to it and yes, the extended cut is superior. The talented cast Snyder collects is up to the task, it’s one of his most visually unique films and while I wish it was able to commit to a darker or more violent world-I think the darkness and action works. 2. Melancholia [Dir. Lars Von Trier]Ok, up front disclaimer: Lars Von Trier is not a good person. Promoting Melancholia at the Cannes film festival, he said he "understood Hitler" in some dumb attempt at humor and rightfully got ripped apart for it. Saying you "understand Hitler" is a bad joke whether you're an edge lord teenager on 4Chan or an acclaimed director. He's also thrown temper tantrums for not winning awards, behaved inappropriately with female cast members and when fellow Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn apologized for Lars' statement, Lars thanked him by trying to have sex with Refn's wife. Classy. Yeah, he has depression and is a deeply talented filmmaker: but I also have depression and that's no excuse for behaving like this. Anyway, putting the director aside somewhat: Melancholia is a very special film. Is it the best made or perfectly constructed film of 2011? No, but it is a very important artistic piece. It's probably the best cinematic exploration of depression. A film that embodies the depression of its main characters and author: giving the audience the closest sensation to the mental disease that hurts so many. Time has no consistency, with it being unimportant and more meaningful than anything else. Kirsten Dunst gives her best performance as a person I can so easily relate to and it feels relieving to see a film and character that are genuine to the experience. The film's narrative about a failing wedding suddenly turning into an end of the world scenario with a planet about to collide with Earth is the perfect way to explore such a difficult state. The handheld camera work fits the film's emotional state as nothing is at ease, the editing captures the intangible nature of time and while some dialogue can feel very "angry teenager diary"-it is very truthful to the experience. I know there's people who don't know what depression is like, think it's just "being sad" or deny its existence at all, but Melancholia is something to be seen. If you have depression, the film will make you feel understood. And if you want to know how people feel with this mental prison: it's something to watch and understand. It's not a perfect film, but it's one of the most important artistic expressions ever put to film. Further viewing: Melancholia: Depression on Film - YouTube 1. Drive [Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn]Drive is not only the best film of 2011, not only one of the best films of the 21st Century, but probably deserves a spot in the best 100 films of all time. Drive is not Fast and Furious, not an action film or some junky B-Movie. Drive is a neo noir thriller with the bones of an art house drama with one of the most revelatory stories ever put to screen.
The story of a driver whose only skills are driving and causing pain trying to be a good person is more emotional than one might think. Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Michelle Williams, Albert Brooks, Oscar Issaac and Ron Perlman are all fantastic here. It's a story about a man whose nature is to be violent and cause damage collides with his desire to be a hero. The use of the Scorpion jacket and later the classic "Scorpion and the Frog" story make that abundantly clear. Details like the framing of its cinematography, use of music, small dialogue exchanges and that amazing elevator scene all contribute to this darkly tragic story. Its closest comparison would be Michael Mann's Thief from 1981: a slick, violent, but emotionally driven noir thriller about flawed men. Drive is near transcendent in its storytelling and filmmaking execution. And while it's not an action film per say, its car chase scenes and brutal combat moments are immensely well done. I genuinely think Drive is the example of a perfect film. It's a film that's been influential to me, a work that I think holds so much artistic value and is Refn's most accessible work. It shouldn't be hard to understand why I think it is the best film of 2011. |
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