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The Best of 2012 . . . thus far
The 15 Best Pictures of 2011
Reviews
The Descendants (2011)
Best Picture of 2011
The Descendants is my personal favorite film of that year because of its intricacies of emotion, humor, entertainment, characters, setting, and, most importantly, realism. Alexander Payne has officially become one of my favorite filmmakers with this work, which was preceded by his other notable works, About Schmit and Sideways. The dialogue in this film is so true and moving that it easily rivals the works of Quentin Tarantino. I also want to give credit to the best ensemble cast of year, including George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, the newcomer, Shailene Woodley, etc. By the way, Clooney and Woodley deserve the Oscars in their respective categories; this is the best of Clooney's performances.
The story follows three different sub-plots: the permanent coma and inevitable and fast-approaching death of the wife of Matt King (Clooney) and dealing with his immediate and extended family with how to tell them and move on with life after the tragedy, the selling of the last virgin piece of Hawaiian land owned by the King family since the 1860s (hence the title: The Descendants) and of which Matt is the sole trustee, and, of course, the discovery and confrontation of the guy who was sleeping with Matt's wife. The stories go along so very seamlessly and logically that it keeps the audience absolutely enthralled until the very end.
The film deals with a gravely sensitive issue: crappy parents, but, in this case, crappy moms. I'm not talking about the ones who don't provide for their children or give them enough attention; I'm talking about the ones who are quite simply bad people that are self-centered and hurt the people around them in some way all the time. As the film confirms, the children of these moms don't find out how crappy they are until they are like adults; observe the relationship between Alex (Woodley) and her mom and then observe the relationship between, or rather the perception of, that mom with the younger sister Scotty. A lot of people automatically stereotype teenagers and tend to write off their views and opinions because they suspect them of being drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniacs as a result of personal experience. However, even if one might be a drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniac, a teenager can be right and can even have a good sense of judging whether their parent is a genuinely bad person or not. Alex is definitely one of those.
Aside from the crappy mom, Matt is a very good dad and, on top of that, a good person. He is an easily sympathetic and lovable protagonist, but he is seriously sad. As one of the smaller characters simply stated about Matt's situation: "it really blows," before Matt replies: "I know." Matt's problems are uniquely sh***y. Not only does he have to deal with telling all his family and friends that his wife is going to die, but he also has to deal with the process of selling what seems to be his last connection to his ancestors and Hawaii itself and to deal with some a**hole who saw his wife without his knowing about it. Matt's weakness is that he tends to go on cruise-control and eventually ends up being unaware of his situation and problems. This movie shows his revelation of those things.
I love this movie because it is truly the most realistic piece of the year. It has the full range of effective and inspiring story-telling, acting, cinematography, and true "vision up the butt so just go with it" directorial and screen-writing ability from Alexander Payne and his co-writers, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Also, not to forget, the brilliant creator of the story and author of the novel, Kaui Hart Hemmings. I know this name only matters if Kaui reads this, which Kaui probably won't, but you never know. Also . . . this film will win the Golden Globe, but I am a little doubtful that it will the votes of the conservative members of the Academy . . . I mean it's competing with a Scorsese flick, a Spielberg epic, and a silent and black and white movie that is actually pretty good. Nevertheless, I know that The Descendants deserves to be dubbed as Best Picture of 2011 and it happens one of my personal favorite films of all time.
I highly recommend that you most definitely see this film.
War Horse (2011)
The Epic, Most Emotional Film of the Year
What War Horse aimed to do is something that many films try to do every year: make you cry. Few films ever make the majority of the audience cry, and most films just fail miserably. But, War Horse not only happens to be one of those few films this year; it is one of the few films this century that has ever made the entire audience shed a tear. I personally believe that anyone who doesn't cry during this film is either comatose or cold-hearted. Spielberg has made a film as epic as Star Wars with the same emotional power as Titanic or, dare I say, Marly & Me (I mean, if you ever went to a screening of that film, you would see every single woman balling their eyes out at the end). Furthermore, the film has some pretty inspirational pieces to it.
Richard Curtis is the screenwriter for this lovely film. This is definitely surprising occurrence since Curtis is primarily known for his Romantic Comedies, such as Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Mostly excellent films by the way, but there are no war/drama pictures in his resume. Most filmmakers who branch out of their typical genres usually fail, but we are fortunate enough to see one of them who didn't.
As you may have already discovered, this film is centered around a horse. But it not only that, because we follow the horse and observe its surrounding plots. We experience a boy and his family, who raised the horse. Then, the Great War begins and Joey, the first name given to the horse, is sold to an officer in the British calvary. And not to give anything away, but Joey is given a couple more names by the end of the film.
The film explores the topics of bravery and cowardice, as do all war films. However, I believe this film does have some original insights that I think many of you would find interesting or even inspiring.
World War I films are certainly scarce in number (since there is more of an appeal towards WW2 films), but WW1 films are typically abundant with emotions and true feelings. The first world war is very unique in the way that it is possible to imagine each side being just as right and just as wrong as the other. In fact, this is one of the first wars where there was a general consensus among soldiers on both sides that they had no idea what they were fighting for. There is a scene in the film where a British soldier, a German soldier, and Joey interact without any thoughts of killing one another but rather helping one another. I just want to point out something that you might not know: scenes like that actually happened. There were occasional brief truces between the two sides where the soldiers would interact with each other in a civil way. I love WW1 movies for that exact reason; in the depths of human despair and peril, there is a slight flash of an optimistic light that shines through and inspires people to help and not to kill.
As far as the awards go, War Horse should be nominated for a boatload of awards. I would personally be surprised if they won any of them (with the exception of John Williams, the composer, who will win Best Score), but they deserve to be nominated nonetheless. War Horse is truly a perfectly made film. It draws people's emotions so effectively and truly touches their hearts (Sorry for being cliché). I love this movie as should the majority of you.
I highly recommend that you most definitely see this film
Bugsy (1991)
Underrated, yes; epic, not quite.
Bugsy is a typical gangster/mob movie; it has got the wise guys, the families, the family problems, and a tragic flaw in the protagonist. It is also 2 1/2 hours long, which you should expect with any biopic anyway, but I think it can get a little tedious in some areas. First off, Warren Beatty is brilliant, and there is no question in my mind that it was anything less than perfection. His supporting cast's performances were excellent as well including those of Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, and Annette Bening. The film probably deserved all the Oscar nominations it received, but, with the exceptions of Beatty's performance and a couple technical awards, nothing deserved the Oscar. However, I do not want to give a bad impression of this film because it does deserve some approbation.
The story of Bugsy Siegel is indeed a true story. Siegel was a New York Jewish gangster, who moved out to L.A., and one thing led to another and resulted in Bugsy building the Flamingo hotel and casino in the middle of the desert. This is the man who put Las Vegas on the map. Bugsy (by the way, don't call him Bugsy to face) is very insane. Also, Kingsley's character gets to introduce Bugsy's tragic flaw: he doesn't "respect" money. This combination makes one very unique mobster that I can not compare to any other. Just wait for the scene relating to dogs and pigs; I don't want to reveal anymore because this is where Beatty shines.
Virginia Hill (Bening) is a cookie cutter actress going steady with one of Siegel's or somebody else's soldiers. Bugsy starts to look fondly on her, and thus starts the romance. There should be no surprise whatsoever since they're married in real life, but Beatty and Bening do have great chemistry on screen. Their relationship brings out a lot of fun in the film.
Again, Bugsy is a tragedy. I don't think that's spoiling it since you can learn that somewhere on the Internet, but I do want to let you know what you're getting into. It is a very interesting story with a few laughs and some irony here and there. Barry Levinson made a well-constructed film that flows very nicely and only lacks where I assume the screenplay does. I would not say it is at the caliber of Goodfellas or The Godfather Trilogy, but, all in all, it is a pretty decent movie.
I highly recommend that you definitely see it.
Hugo (2011)
Hugo is THE quintessential family film.
It is an atypical Scorsese as far as its appropriateness for all viewers, but it does not lack the quality of a typical Scorsese by any means. The story itself is fictional, but it is loosely centered around the true story of filmmaker George Melies. The story is brilliant, fun, poignant, and a little inspirational. That is thanks to its brilliant cast including spectacular performances from Kingsley, Butterfield, Moretz, and Cohen. With the exception of Kingsley's performance, they are not particularly Oscar-worthy; that's not to understate the good quality they do have, but rather to explain the lack of acting nominations this movie will receive. On the other hand, the film as a whole, in my humble opinion, is worthy of a win Best Picture at the Oscars. Even though it would be the first PG winner since 1986, I believe that its strength in quality and is traditional themes will make it able to get the conservative votes of the Academy. However, it will not win the Golden Globe Award; just wait and see.
Putting all that aside, this film was spectacularly made. It portrays the world in a mechanical perspective, revealing to us that we must be alive for some reason and that we are not just spare parts. Hugo (Butterfield) represents all people who have it rough and find their way to make their way in their world; he, like so many others, perseveres when all else seems to have failed. He holds onto the one thing left from his past to help him with his future because he doesn't know any other way. Hugo goes through what kids do not usually go through. He is forced to take care of himself and try to cope with his solitude.
Also, George Melies (Kingsley), or Papa George, is a has-been filmmaker, who quit his work of "making dreams" through film when tastes of the audience changed after the Great War. Many supposed him to have died, and he set to live the rest of his life as a "penniless merchant" at a train station in Paris. Then he meets Hugo . . .
The majority of the film takes place in the aforementioned train station where Hugo lives in the walls. The highlighted elements in the train station are the Station Inspector (Cohen), a florist, a café owner, a kiosk owner, and book shopkeeper. The miniature plots of these characters are woven seamlessly into the main plot of Hugo and Melies. Scorsese masterfully presents the stages of these plots together and leaves nothing behind.
I highly recommend that you most definitely see it.