Wednesday
Aug312011
List-Mania: Goodbye Summer 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 11:22AM Before we move on to our new and hopefully joyous Fall Movie Season (which begins September 13th here at TFE) let's look back briefly on the season that was... the movies that opened from May to August. How do we look back? With lists of course.
Three Best Uses of 3D
- Glee: The 3D Concert Movie - Heather Morris's boobs. ("Brittany S. Pierce" has long since surpassed "Coach Sylvester" as Glee's comedic MVP. If only the Emmys had noticed for their season 2 specific nominations).
- Transformers Dark of the Moon - the top of that building cracking and tipping over... and that time that Shia Labeouf almost fell to his death.
- Every Movie That Opted Not To Use It.
Ten Performances That Made the Summer
- Vera Farmiga and Dagmara Dominczyk all sisterly sensual with palpable chemistry in Higher Ground [INTERVIEW]
- Andy Serkis continues to elevate mo-cap into a new acting artform in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
- Viola Davis helps The Help overcome its limitations.
- "I also have an announcement!" and that's this: Kristen Wiig is awesome in Bridesmaids.
- Michael Fassbender moves metal and hearts in X-Men: First Class.
- Powerfully moving father/son relations were the story in both Beginners and The Tree of Life courtesay of fine direction and the efforts of Ewan McGregor & Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Brad Pitt & Hunter McCracken (The Tree of Life).
Three Movies I'm Relieved I Didn't Have To See
- The Smurfs (22% RT rating), Zookeeper (12% RT rating), and The Change-Up (22% RT rating).
Most Terrible Twosome I Did See
- Green Lantern (27% RT rating), and Cars 2 (37% RT rating).
Eight Movies I Feel Weirdest About Missing and I'll Get To ½ of Them Eventually...Or Sooner
- One Day, The Whistleblower, The Future, The Devil's Double, Winnie the Pooh, Horrible Bosses, Trollhunter and The Beaver
Two Quickest Memory Fades
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and that's the actual truth and not meant as a diss on franchises which overstay their welcome. I'm using a spreadsheet of all screenings for this list and barely remember any single exciting moment from either picture... though the mermaid attack in On Stranger Tides lingers the most from these two pictures.
Delicious Looking Edibles
- Minnie's pies in The Help (well, excluding the one with a co-starring role)
- All "Cake Baby" items from Bridesmaids
- Ryan Gosling "Seriously? It's like your photoshopped."
Great Moments in Movies That Didn't Totally Work For Me Otherwise
- Super 8's best moment comes very early as the crew of child filmmakers prep for a big train station scene in their zombie epic only to be gobsmacked by Elle Fanning's prodigious screen presence; they almost don't notice that train hurtling towards them, such is the power of actressing. [reviewed]
- X-Men First Class has several fine moments -- almost all of them involving Magneto -- so why didn't the movie work for me? In retrospect I mostly blame the actual first class of dull, less then fully embodied mutant students. [full review]
- Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) comic fish-out-of-water arrogance in the diner amused. [reviewed]
Movie I Didn't See ...Except That I Did
- The Hangover Part 2 - I accidentally saw the first one again during the summer, and based on reviews and internet commentary that means that I did see Part 2 provided I can imagine it taking place in Bangkok which, as it turns out, I can. Saved myself $13!
Ten Best Animals (Ranked)
This list is dedicated to the narrating cat in The Future which I really am going to see soon. What's up with my procrastination?!?
- Nim (chimpanzee) Project NIM
- Cesar (chimpanzee) Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Arthur (dog) Beginners
- dinosaurs (dinosaurs) The Tree of Life
- Flora (elephant) One Lucky Elephant
- Maurice (orangutan) in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Bridal Party Shower Favors (puppies) in Bridesmaids
- Buck (gorilla) in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Willie Nelson (dog) in Our Idiot Brother
- Nagini (snake) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2
Ten Best Movies (Chronologically Speaking)
- MAY: Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, Tuesday After Christmas, The Tree of Life;
- JUNE: Beginners (review) a dark dark movie month it would've been without this moving film;
- JULY: Project NIM (which opened just one month too early to capitalize on what an amazing double feature it makes with Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- thoughts on the movie), Captain America: The First Avenger (review) and Crazy, Stupid, Love (thoughts on the movie).
- AUGUST: Rise of the Planet of the Apes and either The Help (review) or Higher Ground... both of which have their problems as films but make up for it with plentiful actressing.
ONE MORE LIST...
and that's yours in the comments. Name your 3 or more favorite anything from Summer 2011. GO!
tagged 3-D, Beginners, Bridesmaids, List-Mania, Planet of the Apes, Year in Review, yummy, zoology
3-D, Beginners, Bridesmaids, List-Mania, Planet of the Apes, Year in Review, yummy, zoology
Reader Comments (26)
I was going to say you were forgetting "THE LINCOLN LAWYER" but then I realized it was released in March. Really surprised me, that one! Good call on "BRIDEMAIDS" !! I would LOVE to see Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer go head-to-head at Oscar time! :-)
Oh wow, glad you liked Tuesday After Christmas. I was worried that nobody saw/remembered that movie.
And I hope The Future ends up in the half of the movies you do end up seeing and soon. It's flawed but kinda fabulous too. And though I did prefer Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July certainly dodged the sophomore curse. This one is a much more ambitious film and July takes several risks and turns towards the abstract, most of which pay off beautifully.
Kristen Wiig being drunk on the aircraft in Bridesmaids; the "dad's away" sequence in Tree of Life and Caesar's "NO" in Rise of the Planet of the Apes for equal parts eye-widening WTF-ery followed almost instantaneously by nervous giggling.
1-Melissa McCarthey "Bridesmaid" (Can we get an Oscar campain going?)
2-Paw Paw "The Futur" (C'mon a cat narrating a movie...need I say MORE)
3-Jennifer Aniston "Horrible Bosses" ("Can you see my vagina?" Favorite line of the summer)
Honorable Mention: Kristen Wiig-Emma Stone-Viola Davis-Julianne Moore-Catherine Deneuve-Jessica Chastain-Maya Rudolph-Karine Viard ...(so far it's been a pretty year for Actress May it continue...)
stjeans: Oh, Jennifer Aniston was awesome in "HORRIBLE BOSSES" !!!! Finally she has a character I remember after 20 romantic comedies
Dave: Totally agree!
I am a list junkie, so I need to do two:
3 Characters that I Most Wish I Was Dating in Real Life (not in order):
1. Jacob (Crazy Stupid Love)
2. Thor (Thor)
3. Darren Criss (Glee 3D-the character, the actor-it's all good)
5 Best Movie Moments (In Order)
1. The Dinosaurs (Tree of Life)
2. Maggie Smith Commands the Statues (HP 7.2)
3. The Parent Teacher Conference (Crazy Stupid Love)
4. "I'm more like you than her" (Tree of Life)
5. "No!" (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)
6. Jacob & Hannah's Date (Crazy Stupid Love)
7. The Train (Super 8)
Ron and Hermione's kiss. It was far from fabulous, did not do justice to the epic and amazing kiss in the book, the camera angle was terrible and it was too short, but who cares, it was Ron and Hermione kissing. One thing I can cross off my bucket list.
Three favorite lead performances:
Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
Michael Fassbender - X-Men
Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Other random favorite things:
Jon Hamm in Bridesmaids
Seeing 'Trollhunter' at a packed late night screening
The McAvoy/Fassbender homoerotic goodwill tour of 2011
Oh, and three most wasted opportunities in casting (i.e. they have screen presence in spades, why did they only get three lines?):
-Oliver Platt in X-Men
-Nelsan Ellis in The Help
-All the professors who didn't get to do anything but stand there in Harry Potter.
Biggest Waste of a Great Actress:
1. Rene Russo in Thor
2. Angela Bassett in Green Lantern
3. Toni Collette in Fright Night. (I am SO SAD that United States of Tara was cancelled!)
Best Bod:
1. Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
2. Chris Evans, Captain America
3. Heather Morris, Glee 3D
Biggest Star Turns:
1. Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids. Face it people, she is the heir to Carole Lombard and all the other fabulous funny ladies from Hollywood's Golden Age
2. Chris Hemsworth, Thor. His body is sick, and he brought both the comedy and drama along with his Nordic good looks.
3. Jessica Chastain, EVERYTHING. Seriously, she is everywhere, and is almost completely unrecognizable from film to film.
Denny -- i'm so jealous I didn't think of your first list. You chose beautifully.
Rebecca -- that's so true about Potter professors. I was hoping for one big moment for each I suppose.
Ben -- "dad's away" (sniffle) gah. that movie.
StJeans and Dave -- i guess i should see this then.
Nat, you never wrote a review of Crazy Stupid Love. I was wondering what you thought of it (I see you liked it). I had a few problems with the pacing of it, and there was a twist that I felt came too late in the movie (I also never bought the whole teenage girl having a crush on Steve Carrell angle, partly because we never got a scene that showed us why she liked him), but the film had several really strong moments, and the cast does shine (one of my favorite moments is that phone call between Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore, with Steve looking at Julianne through the window of their house, and of course, any scene with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone is sizzling with chemistry).
Nathaniel - Thanks! I was also tempted to include Natalie Portman in Thor (bland but did the comedy bits well), Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter in Harry Potter and the Ever-Extended Action Sequence (not used nearly enough, but managed to make their characters feel lived-in with nearly no screentime), Cicely Tyson in The Help (so far beneath her it's ridiculous, but she still managed to bring a lump to my throat), and Patricia Clarkson in One Day (why has she not gotten more challenging work after the glorious Cairo Time?). I also toyed with Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life (such a cipher - did she even have any lines that weren't voiceovers?), but Malick movies are their own special beast so I felt bad about declaring that one a "waste".
I feel like Colin Farrell in Fright Night should be up there. He was great! I don't care what the box office says, I had fun at that movie.
Nathaniel: oh! if it's still in theatre just RUN!... (2nd funniest movie (after surprise! surprise! "Bridesmaid") I've seen this year)
Do you realize you haven't posted a grade (or even really said anything about) Crazy, Stupid, Love?
It was by far my favorite mainstream film of the summer, in a summer when mainstream films were pretty good (i.e. Bridesmaids, The Help).
I'm dying to know what you thought.
Films That Were Better Than I Thought They Would Be:
1-Thor
2-X-Men: First Class
Films That Got WAY Too Much Love:
1-Tree Of Life
2-X-Men: First Class
3-Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
4-Bridesmaids
Films I'm Glad I Skipped:
1-The Smurfs
2-The Hangover 2
3-Pirates Of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides
Films I Wish I Skipped:
1-Transformers 3
2-Cowboys & Aliens
3-Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Biggest Letdowns:
1-Super 8
2-Tree Of Life
3-Green Lantern
4-Captain America
Glad That They Were Successful But Didn't Personally Love Them:
1-Bridesmaids
2-The Help
(it's important that both genders are represented at the cinemas. However, neither of these films wowed me. They're certainly entertaining but they feel so familiar. Also, both go on way too long.)
Best Films Of The Summer (without an ounce of competition, IMHO):
1-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
2-Crazy, Stupid, Love
Yay lists! Nate, I love these. Pretty much the best way to wrap any season, no? And your choices couldn't have been better/accurate.
You should totally see The Future. It's not amazing but it IS a great follow-up to Me & You & Everyone We Know. Plus, some great scenes and moments throughout. This moment, in particular, that I'm thinking of revolves around one of the dances and the crawling shirt. Crawling. Shirt.
Just wondering, can we get the Oscar campaign for Bridesmaids started already? Surely, the Globes will kick some extra juice in it come Dec/Jan but I'd really like to see this gem remembered for the awards by the end of the year.
I don't know if there's a specific list to follow, but I don't have many things to list anyway.
- Most memorable.
Fassbender & McAvoy in X-Men. Would have Clooney and Pitt, for instance, in the peak of their bromance dared to play them the way Fassbender and McAvoy do it in a movie like this one? Kudos to them in a time when people get back to the closet or beard (!) themselves (hi, Thor).
- Most exciting/disappointing.
Super 8. I had read it was a love letter to Spielberg, but nobody mentioned that it included the Crystal Skull Spielberg as well (that ending!!). I can forgive flawed movies, but when those flaws happen at the end, they just kill the great parts. And anyway, the group of friends with a secret reminded me most of Reiner's Stand by Me more than any other movie. (I enjoyed it highly, nonetheless)
- Most universally loved movie I don't share: Bridesmaids. Yes, it was funnier than The Hangover (better cast??), but I feel this movie has been an excuse for many people to reconcile themselves with their inner Appatows. I think the scatological scene is overwritten and overplayed by Mccarthy (btw, I don't think we'll see a character shitting on a basin getting an oscar nomination) even though the bride in her dress sitting in the middle of the street is a hell of a powerful image. The plane scene was much much better. But a few laughs don't make a great movie, imo.
- Most quickly faded in my memory: Hanna. It took me checking IMDB to remember who played the father and who else was in that movie. But maybe it happened before summer ?
- The best so far (I haven't seen many). Midnight in Paris, I love Allen and I'm a faithful fan, though I don't think I could name what is specifically what so many people love in this movie. My guess is the getting away from his usual (bitter-er than life) mysanthropy in the times we're living.
almost forgot
Biggest Surprises of the Summer:
10) Brad Pitt's fascinating and tough performance in Tree of Life
9) Thor not being a complete and epic fail. In fact, I rather enjoyed it.
8) Gosling in those stunning suits in Crazy Stupid Love! They made the movie for me.
7) The luminously gorgeous cinematography in Submarine.
6) Corey Stoll's holy-hell-who's-that performance as Hemingway in Midnight in Paris
5) Ewan's return to fully realized greatness in Beginners. Also, his two good performances last year might've been the prelude for this.
4) Rose Byrne's impeccable comic timing in Bridesmaids.
3) Discovering Jessica Chastain. Her Grace Mother role killed me in Tree of Life.
2) Life In A Day's impact. Good lord, a lot of those moments stay with you.
1) The recording of Sondheim's Company being the best theatre-going experience of the summer. I even got my musical theatre non-fan bf to love it, so bonus points.
Best Novel: I, Claudius
Best Videogame: Bastion (on Xbox Live Arcade)
Best Comic: Jeff Smith's Bone (I read nextwave sometime in May, so I count it as spring.)
OMG--- NATHANIEL!!! You must run to see Dominic Cooper in DD. He is HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. Can you imagine seeing TWO of him in the shower together? You want to see it on the big screen.
Death to Paw-paw!!!
and I like July... but paw paw wasn't even precious and twee like the complainers are saying. S/he was just LAME and uber fake/annoying.
Say something about Julianne Moore / Crazy Stupid Love please...
cinephile -- i know i should! i liked the movie a lot. I'll definitely do a big thing when it comes out on DVD but i feel like i missed the window of people talking about it. i will eventually get round to it. I liked every performance actually.