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

Days 5 and 6 of my Internship with the Asian Film Festival of Dallas

Total Recap: Tuesday and Wednesday July 19 and 20, 2011

Movies 06/19

Love in a Puff (re-showing)

Our Neighbor (1963)

Midnight FM: 4.5/5

Shorts Block 2

Lao Wai: 3/5

The Image Threads

Movies 06/20

Amigo (re-showing)

Home Sweet Home (1970)

Shorts Block 3

Disorder

The Drunkard: 1.5/5

Tell Me Something (1999)

Yesterday morning I was so tired, I forgot to write a review of Tuesday! Lucky for me this morning I wasn't too tired to write about both days today :)

Tuesday was a pretty slow day. I was the only volunteer in the morning, which was rather boring. Being alone and in charge isn't all that fun once you get down to it. However, not too long after people showed up that I was able to talk to. Around 4pm, I went to go watch Midnight FM, and it was really quite fabulous. You don't have to tell me twice to go watch a Korean film ever. That country really knows what's up with the film business. Especially if we're talking thrillers.Midnight FM is about a radio voice whose family is being held hostage by a crazed fan on her last night hosting her show. It's sad, it's exciting, and its twisty. I would have maybe ended it differently, or made the main character a little more nice to one of the supporting, but other than that I was really excited about this movie after the credits rolled, and the only 2 other movies that have affected me that way this year were Super 8 and of course Harry Potter!

I skipped the shorts block so I could help out some more, but after that I watched Lao Wai, which had the director in attendance. I thought the film was sweet, and for his first narrative piece it had really fabulous cinematography. I think my only issue with the movie was the protagonist male seemed a little unlikable, and I know if I found my boyfriend in the position his girl found him, there would be no second chances.

At the end of the day, I met up with a friend for late dinner :) She came up from Austin to visit family, and I was so excited she called me!

Onto Wednesday! It was a really slow day yesterday. There was never more than 15 people in a theater for the first 3 movies, so I finished Dead Until Dark and watched some Harry Potter. I was told to watch the shorts block, and I did. All of them were good except the ending documentary, which I found a little boring. The producer of one of the shorts was there, which was neat. Here is a little preview of it. It was a good one. Then I stayed to watch The Drunkard, which highly reminded me of the movie In the Mood for Love, which if you appreciated that film, this one would be for you as well. The Drunkard is based of a stream of consciousness novel that is actually the same author that wrote In the Mood for Love. The audience primarily enjoyed the film and had a lot of questions for the director afterwards.

Then sadly, tragedy struck and Alicia's car wasn't starting at her apartment. However, I came in to save the day and picked her up an took her back to the theater, so she could hang out with our 2 directors and producer at this very Texan-y bar. I ended up just drinking water :). I was too tired for anything else!

Today I am not seeing any films, because I have already seen Outrage and Golden Slumber, so I will just be hanging around until the after party at Lumi's :).