Top 5 Films Of The Year

Hey Everyone! It's the end of the year which means that its time to look back at what movies were the best of the best! It was a year of extremes with some really awful movies (I'm looking at you Jack and Jill) and some really good ones! Now remember this list is my personal opinion not an objective list like at Rotten Tomatoes. Still I would love to hear people's opinions because the debate for the best of the best is always fun. So read on to find out what movies I thought were the best of the best!

Now for the unfortunate news, while I have seen lots of films this year there are still some films that I have not seen. I would like to mention them because they would most likely end up on my list. They are Shame and Melancholia, two films by some of my favorite directors that I cannot wait to watch some day. I would also like to include The Skin I Live In, A Separation, A Dangerous Method, and Midnight in Paris as honorable movies that I haven't seen yet.


Now for the movies that I really enjoyed and received high praise form me but didn't make my top five. My honorable mentions are: Rise Of the Planet of The Apes, Win Win, 50/50, The Muppets, The Help, Moneyball, Crazy Stupid Love, and Bridesmaids. Those are a few of my personal highlights from this year but overall I felt this was a solid year of movies. Anyways time to begin my top 5 countdown starting with...

5. Hugo

As a huge Martin Scorsese fan I had high expectations for Hugo and luckily they were met and went beyond that. Hugo is a magical journey into cinema and reminds us why we all fell in love with it in the first place. With some impressive acting from Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley, Scorsese's latest adds another classic to his long lists of impressive films. A kids movie that appeals to anyone who loves film, Hugo takes my number 5 spot for its amazing use of 3-D, its glorification of the beginning of film, and the wonderful cast comes together to make one of the best films of the year. Now to number 4...

4. The Descendants

After my grandfather died this year, I found a very special connection with Alexander Payne's The Descendants. A wonderful filme about dealing with loss of a loved one while at the same time gaining a lot of knowledge about life. George Clooney gives the best performance of his career as Matt King and takes on a deep, emotional journey on dealing with a wife in a coma, family being greedy over inherited land, and trying to reconnect with his daughters. The biggest surprise of this film though comes from Shailene Woodley who gives one of the best supporting actresses turns this year including the most emotional underwater shot I have ever seen. The film was a wonderful experience with a superb script and impeccable direction from Payne. Along with a wonderful soundtrack to back up the film, The Descendants stands out as one of the year's best. It was a tough battle between this one and number 3, but eventually I gave in and gave the number 3 spot to...

3. Drive

I did not know much about Nicolas Winding Refn before seeing this film, but I am sure glad I know about him now. This film blew me away at its direction, action, acting, script, music, and overall amazing filmmaking. This is one of those films where everything comes together to create a true cinematic experience. Ryan Gosling stands out as the Driver here and gives a powerful performance along Albert Brooks with one of the best supporting actors performances of the year. Still its the score and soundtrack and Refn's direction that take this film to the next level making it one of my favorites of the year. Number 2...

2. The Artist

What an amazing film here by Michel Hazanavicius that embodies everything I love about silent film and gives some of the best performances of the year from its cast. The whole feel of the film and story takes us back to the golden days of silent cinema. The acting by Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo are some of the best of the year along with an incredible supporting cast including John Goodman, James Cromwell, and the cutest dog on film since Beginners. The sets, costumes, and score are brilliant additions as well but Hazanavicius is the reason this movie soars with its wonderful visuals and great story. Overall I loved every single second of this film and that's why its at number 2. Now for my favorite film of the year...


1. The Tree Of Life

As one of the biggest Malick fans around I wasn't surprised that I loved this movie to death. The thing that is really amazing about this film is that even non-Malick fans should love this movie. This is what cinema is all about. You put the crap to the side so that we can go on a journey that Malick has taken us on. A brilliant and deep look into the hardest questions that every person must face in their life. Why does God let a dinosaur live but take away innocent people's lives? Why do people do bad things? What is the way to live in this world? I was blown away the first time I saw this films and continuously am when I watch it to this day. Its beautiful, emotional, deep, thought provoking, philosophical, religious, and powerful all within one film. Malick has made another masterpiece and it might just be his best yet. I adore this film. It is not only my favorite this year but one of my favorites of all time. I could've watched the universe footage for 4 hours but along with that we get a family story dealing with a lot of issues we all deal with. Its visually dominating and it is a perfect film. You might have hated it but I loved it to death. I want more Malick, especially if its going to be like this.

There we go, thats my top 5 for 2011. I believe it was a pretty good year in film, but boy does 2012 look good. So you then, and Happy New Year! Long Live Cinema! Cheers!

The Artist Movie Review

This year has had it movies about nostalgia that's for sure. Hugo took us back to the roots of cinema and reminded us why we feel in love with movies in the first place. My Week With Marilyn brought us back to the days of the 1950s and brought one of film's biggest stars with it. Even Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris featured one of my favorite writers F. Scott Fitzgerald in the story. Least to say nostalgia was in the air. Then we come to The Artist, a silent film that radiates and glorifies the days of silent cinema. Shot in black and white and done in silence, The Artist transports you back to the days of the glory days of silent film. Was this able to work though? Would director Michel Hazanavicius be able to bring silent film to life in a day and age where new silent films are hard to find? Read on to see my thoughts...

The Artist stars Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, a silent film superstar at the peak of his career, who bumps into Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) whose destinies seemed to be intertwined. Soon "talkies" are introduced to Hollywood and as Peppy starts to rise, George begins to slowly fall apart losing his money, stardom, and even his wife. Peppy soon becomes the biggest starlet of the big screen and must find a way before  George's career is over or something even worse happens.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Movie Review

Movies goers should know the name David Fincher as a go to for one of the smartest, innovative, and creative minds behind the camera in this day and age of cinema. He started his career with the underwhelming Alien 3 but since then has created some of the best movies of all time. His impressive credits include Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, and The Social Network. Now we have The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo the start to the Millennium Trilogy from the acclaimed series from Stieg Larsson. The trailer for this movie set up high expectations for this film and promised a dark, gritty "feel bad" movie. Not only that, it promised the return of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to score the film. Needless to say, I was excited and expecting another instant classic from Fincher. Would Fincher be able to meet his expectations? Will this be a great start to the rest of the trilogy? Read on to find out...

The film follows Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) who has been recently charged with libel sa his reputation crumbles. Surprisingly he is hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to solve the unsolved case of the murder of Henrik's great-niece Harriet. The film also follows Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), an asocial surveillance agent for a security company, who must deal with a sadistic guardian before getting hired by Blomkvist as a research assistant to help him solve the case. As Blomkvist and Salander get closer to getting answers, the higher the threats and risks the search becomes as they uncover a deep and immense corruption beyond their imagination.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows Movie Review

Some movies I stumble upon, I didn't ever mean to see them but I actually end up watching them at the theater anyway. Sometimes it's cause my Mom wants to see a movie so I go with her. While this may sound bad it actually introduced me to some really good and fun films like Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one) and The Incredibles (before I knew how good Pixar was). Sometimes I go to theater expecting one film and I end up seeing another, which is how I saw Kung-Fu Panda 2 which was surprisingly good. This time I was going to the theater to see Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol and ended up being late so I had to se Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows to pass the time. I had slept through the first one but the scenes that I was awake for I found somewhat entertaining so I thought I would give the second one a chance.

This Guy Ritchie flick stars a few years after the first film as Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return to replay their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. As the film begins, Watson is a newlywed which Holmes is resist to. Unfortunately, a new villain is on the block in the form of Professor James Moriarty who is bent on creating world chaos and war. As Professor Moriarty's plans grow bigger and more dangerous, Holmes and Watson must stop Watson's honeymoon early to find out the Professor's plans stop him before he can become successful. 

HUGO Review

Every once in a while a movie will come out that reminds me why I love movies. Nolan has done that recently with The Dark Knight and Inception, both film were able to take me away to a different world and amaze me with every frame. Jurassic Park is one because it is one of the earliest film I ever saw when my Dad left me in front of the TV. Lastly, There Will Be Blood showed me that when you combine the best acting, script, and visuals together you create a truly remarkable cinematic experience. Now I have Hugo to look at for inspiration. In one film, I was amazed at the advancement of film technology, laughed like the child I used to be, and cried at the pure brilliance of the beginning of cinema. Martin Scorsese is a film school's filmmaker and uses his knowledge of film history to the fullest in his last cinematic masterpiece. I haven't written a review in a while but this movie was so inspiring that I had to write about it and express my feelings about it. So read on if you want to read my love letter to Scorsese's love letter of cinema.

Hugo takes place in the 1930s at a Paris train station. The film follows protagonist Hugo Cabret, a young boy who lives in the train station fixing the clocks and trying to collect gears and tools for a strange mechanism called a automaton. He soon gets in trouble with toy shop owner George who steals his late father's notebook. Hugo then meets Isabelle, the god daughter of George who helps him get back the notebook as they form a friendship. Hugo must now find a way to complete his father's automaton and learn about the strange secrets the robot holds. Hugo stars Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, and Ben Kingsley.

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol Review

I have never seen any of the other Mission Impossible films to tell the truth. I was never even that interested in seeing this one but was I was interested in was seeing the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises (which was epic!). Fortunately for me, I was able to sit in on one of the most enjoyable movie theater experiences of the year. Ghost Protocol was more than I had ever expected it to be. Brad Bird has once again shown just how good of a director he can be and made a smooth and impressive transition from animated to live action cinema. Read on to see my review of Ghost Protocol…

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol finds the IMF team in Russia where after busting Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out of prison, the team (Simon Pegg, Paula Patton) must stop an international terrorist, “Cobalt”, from gathering Russian nuclear launch codes. While on the mission, they are incorrectly accused for a bombing on the Kremlin by “Cobalt”. The President officially shuts down IMF but the IMF Secretary allows Ethan Hunt and his team to escape, along with a new member (Jeremy Renner), to take out “Cobalt” before he is able to start global nuclear war.