My Top 10 and Bottom 5 of 2011

This year I did not get to see all the movies I wanted to towards the end. There was just no way I could catch up after only seeing 1 movie a month starting October. This school year was just rough, and on top of that working 5 days a week starting Christmas break did not help either. I did get to see the ones important to me, for the most part, and the ones I have left on my list probably were not going to reach my top 10 anyway (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Tintin, A Dangerous Method, My Week with Marilyn, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, War Horse, Carnage, Iron Lady, The Descendents, The Artist and many more).
I'm saddened that this happened, for it has not in a while. I am utterly behind, and it's depressing. But I will end up seeing these movies eventually, and there's no doubt in my mind that most of them will be good. It's kind of funny, I was the most excited for Spielberg to come back this year to the directing world, yet I didn't make any time to see his 2 movies. Life's funny.

But without further ado, my Top 10 :)

10. Fright Night

Here we go, this spot took a lot of thinking. I could have chosen a Korean revenge (Enemy at the Dead End) or a creative romantic Japanese flick (Kimi ni Todoke) or a crazy fun-to-sing-along musical (The Muppets) or the super hero film with the most impressive trailer (X-Men First Class). Why may you ask did I chose Fright Night then? The fact is, this movie pretty much summed up my favorite class this year in school. It is by far the most wonderful horror remake of this decade that strayed enough from the first, but still did little homages as well. I really liked it. I have to admit, though, X-Men was a really close 11.

9. The Help

The most pleasant movie of the year had to make my list. I really liked this movie. It was so well acted and so well done. This movie impressed me a lot because I didn't expect it to be that great. It was a nice feel good movie.

8. 50/50

I really liked this movie, and when I saw it I immediately thought it was going to be my favorite of the year, but as I let it settle in my mind, I found it not as great as the others I saw, and possibly not as fantabulous as I originally first thought it was. The more I thought about the acting overall the less I found it outstanding. Great movie though, fantastic writing.

7. Hugo

The movie about movies :). This one was so touching and beautiful to watch. That, and I needed more than 1 kids movie on my list this year, because I feel this year had better children's movies all around than adult movies (statistically speaking). So magical, so well acted, and so well done.

6. Super 8

My nostalgia got the best of me with Super 8, and I instantly fell in love with it the moment I saw the trailer for it during Iron Man 2. There was no stopping it, I knew from the start it was going to be a favorite and it did not fail to impress. Loved this movie.

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The trailer was great, the movie was even better. I still stand by Andy Serkis getting a best actor nod for his role as the monkey. He's totally brought back monster-movie acting and has made into a pure art form. He's one of the greatest actors of this age. He's been a gollum, a hobbit, a big and smaller monkey. This movie as had one of the greatest moments I've seen all year (Caesar being able to talk much?!). I LOVED IT.

4. Rango

I knew this movie was a love affair the instant I chose to watch it during every usher break earlier this year. I laugh every time, and it's definitely the best Johnny Depp movie to grace the big screen this year. Not only that, but the animation is gorgeous. I'm so glad that someone aside from Pixar and Dreamworks can make an excellent CGI movie. Nickelodeon may have marked themselves as a real competitor this year.

3. Midnight in Paris

This has got to be the best script all year. It was amazingly creative, and if it doesn't win best original screenplay, I will be mortified. I'm still ashamed I missed the first 5 or so minutes of this movie. I cry, I cry. Oh well, this will just convince me I need to buy it on blu-ray yet!

2. Midnight FM

Ah, Korean revenge thrillers. You know just how to make me swoon and sigh (and gasp!). This movie is insanely good, and I cannot stress how much you should watch it eventually. Last year it was I Saw the Devil. Oh man. I just wanna move to Korea and make movies now please. They are beyond perfect. Incredible. This would have been my favorite of the year if it wasn't for one little film...

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

OH MY GOD. The past few years I have withheld Harry Potter films from my lists, but no more shall I repress my love. Harry Potter is my favorite story of all time, and the movies are so well acted and well directed and well shot, I just cannot help myself. I saw this movie a good amount in theaters, and then I bought it on blu-ray and I have successfully cried EVERY TIME. These movies bring the books to life for me, and this one being so close to the films made me just wanna bow down to the Davids (Heyman and Yates). They brought my childhood to life, and they did it so well. I don't know how to thank them more. Behind LOTR, the Harry Potter films are definitely the best films out there. Disagree all you want, but there are 8 HP movies and all of them were good, if not great, if not excellent, if not perfect. The conclusion deserves more recognition than people are giving it. It is the greatest achievement in film. Ever.

A Little Treat: Bottom 5

5. Dream House

4. Apollo 18

3. Immortals

2. The Hangover Part II

1. Red Riding Hood

Fright Night: Gay Vibes vs. 3D remakes

VS

Up front I'm going to say I really like both of these movie, but in extremely different ways. The 80's Fright Night was undeniably gay and very much enjoyable to watch with a group of people, while the current Fright Night remake was exciting as well as fun and a tad bit self aware.

Last week I watched the 80's Fright Night because I wanted to see the remake, and also because it was mentioned once or twice in my Horror film class. I cannot say it was scary at all, but it was super enjoyable. I love the sexy music that played every time the vampire would stalk a young male, I loved the mom's line regarding the neighbor "with my luck, he'll be gay," and I loved the absurd thought process of the teenagers. The special affects were cool, and the death of Evil Ed was really great. The original has everything going for it, except terror.

And though there are quite a lot of thing that separate the original from the remake, terror may be the biggest one. I would say, Fright Night the remake had a little bit more tension to it. The opening scene was very good to establish that.

I also enjoyed the film's self awareness of the original. It wasn't too distracting, and it gave the movie a little something special for me. I enjoyed Collin Farrell as the new vamp eating the old vamp (Chris Sarandon) for dinner. I thought it was funny how they constantly poked fun at the name Jerry for a vampire. But above it all, I loved it when Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) screamed "I'm feeling a little homo right now!" Total kickback to the homosexual awesomeness in the original one.

[spoiler alert] But there's also something else special about the remake. While the original run amok with homosexual not-so-secret undertones, the new one deals with the difficulties of high school. This time around Ed wasn't popular and had just lost his best friend Charley (or Brewster) to a hot and sexy popular girlfriend (who also turned out to be sweet and kind). Though I would complain that the death of Ed wasn't as devastatingly long as the original's, it had a lot more depth and back story as to why it was so sad. Also (it may be a stretch) but by creating Charley as the killer of his old friend, it was a metaphor for him leaving behind his confused adolescence. [/spoiler alert]

Other little things that made this remake stand out was David Tennant as the vampire hunter (who also had a nice back story), and the 3D surprisingly enough. I would say see it before it leaves theaters, because I fear that will be soon what with all the horror films like Shark Night 3D coming out and hogging the horror spotlight (for better or for worse).

In the end, I love both movies the same, but very differently.

Fright Night (1985): 4/5

Fright Night (2011): 4/5