top seven films of ele7en
i love comics and i love comic book movies…i’m not sure that there has been a comic book movie that i’ve missed in the last ten year. rarely are they great enough to make my tops lists, but they are rarely bad enough to not purchase on dvd. they are fun and for the most part extremely reflective of the comics they are trying to duplicate. first class was one of my favorites. amazing acting by both james mcavoy and michael fassbender and great cameos by some of our more well-known mutants (wolverine’s one line was by far the best!).
six | the king’s speech
colin firth and geoffrey rush were definitely deserving of their oscar nominations. i always say that great art makes you care about something that you normally wouldn’t. the king’s speech did that for me. brilliant acting and story stirred in me deep emotion and care for a man with a speech impediment. the final speech has you on the edge of your seat not because of its power or the implication for the country, but because you have grown to love this man and want to see him succeed.
five | super 8
its hard for me to not like anything that jj abrams is involved in. he made me care about a movie franchise that i never had any interest in (star trek) and owned my life for five years (lost). then you couple that with stephen spielberg’s ability to tap into the psyche of children and bring out the mystery and wonder that surrounds them and then wrap that in a fun tale and you have a great combination. super fun and great cinematography. my generation can’t help but be harkened back to the days of goonies with this one.
four | in the name of the father
i heard once that the reason daniel day-lewis isn’t in very many movies is because he doesn’t want to waste his time with crappy films. he said he only chooses the best. that is why there are large gaps in his imdb timeline (five years between the boxer and gangs of new york?!). i’ve seen almost all of his films and just finally saw this one last month (thanks netfilx!). an amazing true tale of Gerry Conlon, the man along with some of his family and friends, who was falsely convicted of a string of bombings in belfast. day-lewis’ commanding performance earned him an academy award nomination. great, historical story of a country that i’ve grown to love.
three | the descendants
maybe its because i am about to be a father. maybe its because i empathize easily. maybe it was just that moving of a performance by clooney. whatever it was, i found myself crying throughout this film. a man facing the death of his wife and then discovering her secret faced with the prospect of raising his two daughters on his own. the movie is layered, but not cluttered. clooney’s performance dominates the skyline of this film. the way he deals with the collision of emotions is both real and riveting…you feel like you are peering into someone’s life through a peephole. even with clooney’s dominating performance, nick krause, who plays the friend of clooney’s oldest daughter, manages to steal some scenes. it is a riveting movie where i found myself wondering, “would i deal with this same scenario with the same grace and courage?”
two | 127 hours
i wonder where this would rank if i 1) didn’t see it on a 5 inch screen on the back of an airplane seat and 2) if i didn’t watch “the scene” through the fingers covering my eyes. danny boyle’s masterful directing and colorful imagery are engulfing. he takes an already profound true story and turn it into a work of art. james franco does his best to set his sarcastic demeanor aside, but it still bleeds through in a compelling way as he deals with the immanent reality that is closing in around him.
one | the fighter
did you know that christian bale is british? nope, me neither. that really has nothing to do with the movie other than to indicate how amazing his american accent is…so maybe it does have to do with the movie, because he absolutely dominates this movie. it is one of my favorite performances in a long time. his skinny, drug-addicted body is remarkably different than his bulky batman physique. although i love creepy, dark, disturbing tales, stories of redemption will always win out for me. this is a beautiful story of forgiveness, the disfunction of family, and redemption. walberg is great and bale steals the show, but if a collection of people could win an oscar, then walberg’s quirky sisters would surely take one home. the cinematography is brilliant as well. the fight scenes looked exactly like the fights i remembered watching when i was young. overall, this movie has everything that i love.
what were your favorite movies of the year? do you agree with mine? what would you add?
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