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

Super 8!

Super 8 -- 4.5/5

** Just to warn everyone, I will have some majors spoilers in this post, so my recommendation would be just to go see the movie before you read this :D**

There are hundreds of great and fabulous reviews of Super 8 as of now, so why should I just repeat what everyone's saying? Either way, here's a recap: Super 8 is totally a love letter from JJ to Spielberg that is a mesh of ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cloverfield, The Goonies...I can go on and on. However, aside from the super long list of similar films, this movie is probably one of the only original (not sequel, not comic book, not famous and fabulous book series) movies of this summer. That being said, I strongly feel like the two movies that most closely parallel ET direction and plot-wise, while having a similar monster design as Clover-

field.

The paralleling of ET is probably the reason why I totally love this movie. From the amount of times I've seen ET, I know the movie back and forth and I can quote the whole movie probably on request. I'm sure this also applies to Mr. JJ Abrams, because there are a few shots in Super 8

that are pretty much exactly like ET. Remember the scene where our faithful alien E.T. escapes the evil bad-guys with their flashlights (which the bad guys in Super 8 have some flashy flashlights as well!)? Well, there's a shot of the town in Super 8 that was almost a carbon-copy of the shot. The endings are also similar in that the kids and parents watch the

space ship go away into oblivion. Fabulous.

There are also countless plot points that are super similar. There is a missing parent, the leading young male has a crush on the super tall blonde chick (small, but could be a parallel :D), the gang of kids who work together against the bad guys in the end, the alien in Super 8 builds something out of junk so he can get home...ahahaha that one made me laugh the most I think.

Michael Giacchino's score for Super 8 also sounds extremely similar to John William's for ET. I wish I had a great example on me, but there's one little theme the begins with the same chord progression as one in ET. I have an exert of the Super 8 score (something that was hard to find), but I also have the exact example from the ET score that I spoke about previously (it's at about the minute mark, I wish I had an example of the Super 8 one I was talking about, and I hope this is the right theme I was thinking of...).

Well, aside from all those ET parallels, the alien looks a little too much like the one from Cloverfield. I even have an example picture!

And that about sums it up! If you read this without seeing it, just go see it. It's just...the best summer movie thus far, barely better than X-Men.

10 Summer Movies

I decided to compile a list of films that I am totally stoked to see this upcoming Summer 2011. I will state a few reasons why I'm excited for these films, but in general, compared to last summer there are a lot more I am going to go out and see.

(The list is in order of desire, and I'm only counting movies from May 6-August 26)

1. Super 8 - this film is one I have been excited to see for about a year. Ever since that wonderful super secret trailer was attached to Iron Man 2 I have been following this movie. There is no movie I can compare to my thrill. JJ Abrams has promised me many things with this movie, above all the nostalgia of my childhood with Steven Spielberg's ET (which, if you don't know, is my 2nd favorite movie of all time). I love alien movies. I love the aloofness of this film, and how I know almost close to nothing about it, but I've been following it for over a year come this weekend. In other words, this movie has the most potential to disappoint me greatly, but I strongly feel it won't. (June 10)

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.2 - uhm, duh. If you read my last blog post, you'd know that there is nothing that beats HP in my eyes. Actually, if you know me at all you'd know Harry Potter revolves around my life like nothing else. It's pretty much the air I breathe. I think about the book series at least once a week, and my room can be seen as a shrine to my love for it (I have a book shelf dedicated to the series, 3 posters, and assorted other things that express my love for the series litter my room). This movie is a close 2nd to Super 8, and the reason is because I'm almost a little scared for it all to end. (July 15)

3. X-Men: First Class - Yeah, make fun of me all you want and tell me how much the X-men series has tanked. I'll agree with you. But come on, have you not seen this trailer??! Yeah, not only that but James McAvoy's voice is sexy on its own. Add Rose Byrne, who I've fallen in love with since Adam, and new comer Jennifer Lawrence and you have a match. I desperately want to see this movie, and living proof of this was today after someone read their script I immediately said "this makes me even more excited for summer movies, specifically X-men." The trailer, oh man, it's just so good. (June 3)

4. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - I've been wanting to see this movie for a little over a year now. However, MGM's bankruptcy prevented that. After constant waiting, finally there is a release date and hopefully it sticks. Insidious gives me hope for a new turn over of scary movies. Hopefully this trend stays, and we start to see more interesting and inventive horror films produced and made in America. I can only cross my fingers. (August 26)

5. Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides - Again, make fun of me. But Johnny Depp is one foxy guy and I love every single Pirates movie. I have a lot of weaknesses within films, and one is big-time blockbuster movies. For the past 2 summers, however, I have been unimpressed. I want something fun, exciting, and entertaining enough for me to munch away at my popcorn, eyes glued to the screen. The Pirates movies do this for me. I also am partial to the fun exchange of dialogue. The characters are strong, they're entertaining, and the movies keep me on my toes. Perfect summer movie. (May 20)

6. Winnie the Pooh - awh, I'm so excited for this movie :) I love Winnie and all his friends. As far as animated movies go, this one is up on my high list for the year. It's nostalgia all the way, but it's classic and maybe I'll even dig up my old Winnie stuffed animal :p. Plus, the fact that it's hand-drawn 2D animation just makes it almost more appealing than all the CGI and 3D animated movies coming out (sorry Pixar). July 15th is going to be a busy weekend.

7. The Hangover Part II -- Jeez, there's a lot of sequels, prequels, reboots, you name it this summer...but that's okay with me. this is pretty much the highest comedy on my list of summer movies I'm excited to see. I loved the first one, so that already makes it on my list of movies I need to see. It also doesn't hurt that this one takes place in Asia (hello, awesome). And supposedly Justin Bartha has a more important role in this one (as I cross my fingers). Love him. I'm a little worried about this movie, though. Maybe all this hype will kill it. The reason the first movie did so well was because no one saw it coming. It was hilarious, and unexpected. This movie can end up being a big time flop for me, but that doesn't mean I'm any less excited for it. (May 26)

8. 30 Minutes or Less - As an awesome friend of mine said already, what is not to want about this film. Director of Zombieland, Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, and on top of all that it has Dilshad Vadsaria who is of Greek fame (my favorite TV show of all time). The trailer's solid, the cast and crew are solid, is there any reason not to want to see this film?? Probably not. (August 12)

9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - One name: Tom Felton. You've captured me, won me over, I'm already in line. Honestly, I don't need to know any more about this film than that. However, I do know a little bit more. There are some other strong cast members such as James Franco, Andy Serkis (Gollum....duh)and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire). The CGI monkey also looks great. My only protest is that this movie will most likely end in sadness, seeing as this is the prequel to The Planet of the Apes, and we all know how THAT starts. (August 5)

10. Cowboys & Aliens - This spot was hard for me, actually. There was a lot of potential for another movie to fill the number 10 spot, but Cowboys & Aliens creeped up above all those others. So why? Well, it's the alien part, I'm not going to lie. But the actor line-up also helped it as well. Paul Dano, whom I love, is on the cast list as well as big names like Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde. Also, it's the director of Iron Man, so I can do that. A couple of the writers are also behind the script of the new Star Trek movie. Super! (July 29)

Other Movies Worth Noting:

Thor (May 6)

Bridesmaids (May 13)
Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 27)
The Troll Hunter (June 10 limited)

Green Lantern (June 17)

The Art of Getting By (June 17 limited)

Cars 2 (June 24)

Bad Teacher (June 24)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (July 15 limited)

Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22)

Friends with Benefits (July 22)

Crazy Stupid Love (July 22)

Our Wonderful Brother (August 26)
Apollo 18 (August 26)

EDIT: I will cross out the movies as I watch them