Review: 2011 A YEAR IN REVIEW & THE TOP TEN AND A HALF

           2011 is one of the best, and oddest film years in recent memory. On one hand, while there were numerous great films year round, none of them particularly sticks out the way something like Slumdog Millionaire, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Inception, Toy Story 3, all did in the last few years. In terms of big movies it was actually a very poor year; there was a record number of sequels, threequels, fourthquels, fifthquels and prequels; 27 in total, not including remakes. There was even an octoquel. But besides that said eighth Harry Potter Film that we waited a decade for none were memorable, and at least two were essentially a remake of the previous installment (Hangover 2 and Transformers 3).

            And yet at the same time there was a major breakthrough in independent filmmaking. For the past few years online movie watching, particularly Netflix, has brought the realization that the market for such films is huge; it is just not as big as the market for Avatar. Nevertheless Indie films can use a limited release as a form of promotion, and earn their money back, off theaters. Either on iTunes, Redbox, Netflix, DVD sales, whatever. And thus the public’s legal accessibility to such films has greatly increased.

            It has been an interesting year; and to top it off it might be the first time that a silent movie takes Best Picture, since the first Academy Awards were held. Anyways, here is our Top Ten and a half for 2011, presented in no particular order besides alphabetical:

Review: SUMMER 2011

            Labor Day weekend, movie wise this means the summer season has officially ended, even if there are still a few blockbusters to be seen. Over the weekend The Toronto Film Festival will kick up the award movie season, movies will slowly raise their IQ, with an obvious break for Halloween when they tend to plummet into the negatives. But let’s take a look at what the summer of 2011 had to offer.

 

            Overall summer is the highest grossing times for movies. It is the time the studios bring out the big guns and release their 200 million dollar + movies. It is the time of superheroes, loud explosions, and gross amounts of CGI. It is also the time in which actors and filmmakers get the most exposure, so it is not uncommon to see a capable actor like Neil Patrick Harris in a movie like The Smurfs selling his soul.

            Above all things, summer is the time of the year when money talks.

Review: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

I'm surprised Woody Allen doesn't slouch more. That head of his must weigh a ton, what with all the exhaustion and neuroses it's filled with. His newest braingasm Midnight In Paris should please everyone from the deepest Allen fans to newcomers of his style.

Woody Allen is one of my heroes for a specific reason; when he makes movies, he makes them for a reason. The reason he's made almost 50 movies is not because the studio asks him to pump them out like Stephen King novels. He makes his movies because he has vision about something. They range from wild fantasies to slapstick comedies, but they've always had the mark of a true vision. Allen is now 75, and Midnight In Paris is as true an Allen film as I've ever seen. As the phenomenal opening sequence came to a close, I realized he's still got it. He's still able to make movies people care about. Midnight In Paris is about a guy with a dream.