Top Ten Films of 2011

Here's my traditional top ten films of the previous year list.    

Honorable Mentions: Source Code, The Muppets, We Need To Talk About Kevin, and The Future.

10. Jeff Who Lives At Home
 9. The Adjustment Bureau
 8. Moneyball
 7. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
 6. Another Earth
 5. Beginners
 4. Midnight In Paris
 3. The Descendants
 2. Win, Win
 1. The Artist

Artist and Models (1955)

To my surprise, this is my first introduction to the comedy duo of Martin and Lewis.  They made 17 films together and I've not seen any of them.   How can that be?  I'll certainly have to check out more of their silly antics because I did enjoy this wacky farce.  Their formula is obvious: Jerry Lewis
bumbles around making goofy faces and talking like a crazy child-man while the handsome Dean Martin woos women with his crooner straight-man style.  The gags are more vaudeville numbers than plot driving devices but that's what helped make these guys huge stars.  For me it's Shirley MacLaine that shines the most, as the model in the Bat Lady suit who wants Jerry to marry her.  Director Frank Tashlin keeps the pace moving and adds just a hint of adult innuendo.  The big question: is this film still funny after all these years?  Some of it is still fresh but most of it feels forced and a little stale.  That's not the film's fault, really, it's all the situation comedies and films I've seen since that borrowed from oldies like these.  My favorite scene is watching Jerry Lewis to up and down various flights of stairs to relay a message to Dean.  It's really a classic moment for a classic dumb comedy.  Grade: B

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Irvin Allen really never topped himself after this grand spectacle.  The King of Disaster films did something no producer had ever done before and which now you see quite a lot: he convinced two studios to co-produce a film.  In fact this dual theme comes up a lot.  The film is a melding of two novels,  The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson and a story featuring two heroes staring two of the biggest leading men in film history, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen (and it has two directors too).  For such a thin plot, watch a bunch of characters try to survive a skyscraper fire, it's still an entertaining film.  The all-star cast is an obvious gimmick to sell tickets, but they all deliver decent performances for what they have to work with, which is mostly staring at flames and looking scared.  What's most impressive is that at 165 minutes I never once found myself bored or impatient for it to end.  It still holds up as escapist fare if a little bit of a time capsule too.  Grade: B+

Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

Five brothers from a family of poor Italian farmers move to the city to find work with their mother in tow.  While each brother has a story line it's Rocco and Simon's love triangle with a prostitute named Nadia that consumes most of the film.   Directed by Luchino Visconti with stark realism, I found this film to be brutal and yet satisfying.  Not once does Visconti turn a blind eye to the collapse of this once tight family.  I can see why so many claim this to be a masterpiece.  It really is a powerful film, if a bit depressing.  Grade: A-

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

If Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had too many endings, this first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's prequel has too many beginnings.  But that's really the only fault I can find in this spectacular fun adventure fantasy.  Director Peter Jackson at times equals his creative force from his first trilogy and really does deliver a worthy add-on.  Sure some of the action sequences remind me of a video game but I'm not bothered by it because they're so well done.  We don't really need to see Frodo at the beginning either but it wasn't awful seeing him.  Is it too long?  Yeah, a little, but I can forgive Peter Jackson for giving us those extra minutes.   Really as the first of a new trilogy it's a wonderful journey and should be watched by any who enjoyed the Lord of the Rings.  Grade: A-.

A note on 48fps:  I was fortunate enough to see this in its intended frame rate of 48fps.   I've read a lot of negative reviews on this but I see it as the future of cinema, especially with 3D.  The clarity of the image is remarkable; and, yes, at times almost too perfect but that's only because my eye isn't used to it yet.  I remember when I watched something on my 1080p TV for the first time and I was amazed.   Now I'm so accustom to my TV I can't remember it looking so good.   People are afraid of new improvements.   Someday soon people will just see 48fps as the norm.   Especially for 3D which needs the high frame rate because without it the image blurs too much. 

Revenge (Season 1)

Let's be blunt.  This is not A-Class quality entertainment.  This night time soap opera is about as B- Class as television shows come, but that's not a bad thing.   If you're looking for a really fun guilty pleasure with twist and turns and over-the-top bad people saying over-the-top bad things then this show is for you.  Modeled loosely from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, it follows a young woman named Amanda Clark setting out to revenge the ruin of her family.   It has it all.  Love triangles, secrets identities, rich people acting like rich people and even a big conspiracy to heighten the absurd entertainment value of an addictive story.  I love seeing Madelaine Stowe in this show too, only someone of her caliber could say such vile things and still make us sympathize with her.  Emily Vancamp is also quite good as Amanda, playing a specterum of emotions that make us want to see her succeed without hurting herself.   I don't know what the producers of this show have planned for season 2 but I'm hooked.  Grade: B+     

Top Ten Christmas Specials

Online I keep running into these best Christmas films list only see TV specials mixed in with feature films.   That is just wrong.   So here's a list of my top ten best Christmas TV specials. 

10. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - This is my favorite use of Disney's classic characters and it just so happens to be Christmas themed.    

9.  Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) - The Rankin/Bass production that continues the story of Frosty with Jack Frost mixed in as a villain. 

8. A Garfield Christmas (1987) - I'm a Garfield fan so this was always one of my favorites.

7. Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) - The bizzaro version of Scrooge as only the comic geniuses of Blackadder could pull off.  Hilarious. 

6. Rudolph the Reindeer (1964) - This first Rankin/Bass production will always stand out as a classic of the holidays.  It's also a great stop-motion animated gem.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) - Some might say this should be higher and while it is a terrific film, for me it's the soundtrack that stands out the most. 

4. A Christmas Carol (1984) - George C. Scott is amazing in this and in my opinion this is the best adaption of Dicken's book to date.

3. A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story (1991) - This is one of my favorites because it always made me laugh.  Just the look of Bill the Cat is enough to make me crack up.

2. Frosty the Snow Man (1969) - When I think of Frosty I think of this animated classic first.  I get the chills thinking about the end. 

1. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1966) - For me this is the best, a celebration of comedy, heart and the Christmas spirit.