The TV season is just about over so I thought I’d have a look back at the best shows of 2011-2012. Some things don’t line up that well because the way cable channels like FX and HBO air their shows is slightly off kilter to the networks.
Below are my thoughts, rankings and scores for the 29 shows I watched on an ongoing basis this season from worst to first. Bear in mind that my rankings are based on what I’m most excited to watch each week so they might not match up with the score I give for the quality of the show. Oh, and I’m behind on Mad Men so that’s not included in the list.
Per IMDB – On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
When I first saw Super 8 I was almost certain that it would be my #1 film for 2011, and on repeat viewings that opinion didn’t change. Then I saw Another Earth, and it’s so easily my #1 film of 2011 I feel Super 8 should be embarrassed.
If you watch the trailer before seeing the film, which I assume pretty much anyone reading this will do, please don’t let the sci-fi elements contained in the trailer turn you off from watching the film. All in all the sci-fi element within Another Earth takes up a very small part of the film. In actuality, the film is far more about the connection between Rhoda (Brit Marling) and John (William Mapother), and Rhoda’s feelings about what she did and how she can move on, than it ever is about the discovery of “another Earth”. Ultimately, the film is about being human, the choices we make, the friendships we develop, and what makes us who we are.
Both Brit Marling (who wrote and produced the film) and William Mapother give great performances, with Marling’s performance making her an actress to keep an eye on. The film was shot on a very small budget, but has such beautiful cinematography that you wouldn’t really know. There’s an abundance of wonderful imagery throughout the film and it’s accompanied by a majestic and haunting soundtrack by Fall on Your Sword. Like a lot of films in my best of 2011 list, Another Earth has a mood and feel to it that sucks you in until the very end.
Given my very strong enjoyment of Another Earth, I’m excited for Brit Marling’s next writing/starring project, The East, which tells the story of a contract worker who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its leader. The East also stars Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgård.
On the list of honours for Another Earth, it was nominated for 8 awards, and won Best Actress at Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance, and the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
Watching the trailer again sent chills down my spine. I cannot possibly put into words how brilliant I think this film is. If I try it just devolves into nonsensical stuttering with a final demand that “you have to watch it”. Well, you have to watch it.
Per IMDB – During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
I saw this film on the Upper East Side, just near Shake Shack, when I was in New York in June. It was a pretty fucking awesome day. After speaking to some friends about Super 8 and hearing their general ho hum reaction to it, I initially thought that my enjoyment of the film was due to the events surrounding my viewing of it, and that if I’d seen it back home that I might have been underwhelmed by it too. That’s not the case. I’ve watched Super 8 a couple more times since I first saw it, and it has left me impressed after every viewing.
J.J. Abrams has delivered the best Spielberg film in a long long time. It’s like watching a ’70s/’80s bunch of kid friends film, à la Stand By Me or The Goonies. That’s never a bad thing. I really enjoyed the sense of wonder that fills the film, the adventure the kids go on, and the depiction of budding first love between Joe (Joel Courtney) and Alice (Elle Fanning).
Like all films which feature children in prominent roles, they live or die by the performances, and I have to say that each and every one of the kids in Super 8 does a good job. That’s another reason why the film reminds of stuff like E.T., Stand By Me, and The Goonies. All those films, and probably more that I’m forgetting, featured children in all the major roles, and all of these films were good not only because of the story being told, but because of the great performances by the children. It’s easy to spot poor acting by children, it’s always stilted and fake, and it constantly takes you out of the film. There’s a reason the first bunch of Harry Potter films aren’t as good as the later ones, and it’s not just the ever increasing dark storylines. It’s also a prominent reason why The Phantom Menace sucks, and why I can’t even handle 10 minutes of Mary Poppins any more. Kid actors either elevate or ruin films, and the kids in Super 8 elevate it to something wonderful.
There’s an undeniable nostalgic feel to the film but, for me at least, it doesn’t come across as manufactured or manipulative, it simply makes me feel like a kid again.
Ned (Paul Rudd) lives a happy life growing organic vegetables on a farm with his hippie girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) and his dog named Willie Nelson, until an unadvised incident with marijuana at a farmer’s market lands him in jail. When he gets out of jail, he is forced to live with his sisters Liz (Emily Mortimer), Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) and Miranda (Elizabeth Banks).
Look at that cast. You add in Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, Steve Coogan, and T.J. Miller and this film basically becomes one of my wet dreams.
So again, it’s an indie comedy, something that’s right up my alley, and it features a group containing some of my favourite actors and actresses.
Beyond that it’s simply a funny and somewhat touching story about a likeable good-natured guy with three messed up, self-absorbed sisters, who he’s able to positively affect when he stays with them against their wishes. Not much more to it than that.
I Saw The Devil is the gold standard of revenge flicks. There’s nothing that compares to this film. Nothing. The only film which comes close is Oldboy.
One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes the victim of serial killer Kyung-chul (Min-Sik Choi) and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee), a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.
I really don’t want to say too much to spoil the film for anyone who might be reading this. There aren’t any real twists or surprises, but I think it’s better to go in only knowing that you’re watching another brilliant South Korean revenge flick, and let the events hit you like a battering ram. Filled with fantastic acting, great fight sequences and a shit ton of blood and gore. A great thriller/drama that’s also one of the most breathtakingly beautiful films I’ve seen a long time. It’s that fucking good.
I’ve been compiling my best of list from my Flickchart and it has led to a bit of a problem. See, the way Flickchart determines the release date for a film is when it gets it’s first public showing. A lot of the time this would be fine, but for the indie fare which pretty much always debuts at a festival and then takes a while to find a distributor, this can mean that Flickchart can be off by a year or two. I’ve now realised that two films which saw a limited release this year, but which Flickchart has as being released in 2010, were excluded from my draft list of best films for 2011. Happythankyoumoreplease is one of those films, the other is the next spot up in my rankings. This has lead to a 4a and 4b, not to indicate a tie, but rather as a means to include films on this list which deserve to be included.
Happythankyoumoreplease tells the story of a six New Yorkers who juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler (Josh Radnor, who also wrote and directed the film) is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends – Annie (Malin Akerman), whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie (Pablo Schreiber) and Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan), a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi (Kate Mara), a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye.
Ever since How I Met Your Mother came on the air in 2005 I’ve been impressed by Josh Radnor. He always comes across as a likeable guy even in his more douchey moments on the show. It was with that in mind that I was interested to see what he was like as both a writer and director. Turns out he’s good.
The film is for all intents and purposes a coming of age tale for people in their late twenties/early thirties, set in New York, and accompanied by an indie soundtrack. In other words, this is exactly the type of film that I love. You add in Radnor, Akerman, and the wonderful Tony Hale, and it’s plain as day that I would rank this high.
I often try and explain why I like a certain film to friends or family and more often than not I end up saying it has a “certain feel” to it. That’s typically my way of saying I enjoyed how it looked and sounded, and the mood it put me in both when I was watching it and after it had finished. Happythankyoumoreplease is another film that has an unquantifiable “feel” to it that will appeal to you if you’re a fan of indie dramas.
After watching Happythankyoumoreplease and Martha Marcy May Marlene, I was over the moon to learn that Radnor’s next writing/directing/starring project, Liberal Arts, also stars Elizabeth Olsen and is due to debut at Sundance this year. I can’t wait to see what he does as a follow-up.
It’s hard to put into words why I like Cedar Rapids so much. It’s a pretty quiet, understated, indie comedy featuring comedic juggernauts Ed Helms and John C. Reilly.
The film tells the story of Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), an insurance salesman who goes to a convention in Cedar Rapids in place of the office star (Thomas Lennon) after he dies. There he meets fellow salesmen/women Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche).
In essence I guess the film is a fish out of water story, but a description of that nature doesn’t really seem to do the film justice.
Cedar Rapids is interspersed with these quiet romantic moments between Tim and Joan, and for me they are the highlight of the film. That’s not to say the rest of it isn’t wonderful, I just found these scenes to be a distinct change of pace for a comedy. The highlight is the pool scene with Tim, Dean and Joan. There’s a moment in there which is shot in such a beautiful way I find myself waiting for it every time I watch the film.
Not much more to say other than watch this film. It’s all kinds of awesome.
OK, first thing’s first, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s by far my favourite actor. I mean it isn’t even close. Second, Seth Rogen is perhaps my second favourite comedic actor behind Will Ferrell. With that in mind it’s pretty clear that I was always going to like 50/50. You add in the cute and wonderful Anna Kendrick, plus Bryce Dallas Howard playing a mean-spirited bitch, and it all adds up to a wonderful film.
The film tells the story of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who’s diagnosed with cancer, how he attempts to cope with this diagnosis, and his struggle to overcome the disease with the help of his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) and his trainee therapist (Anna Kendrick).
It was pretty much a given that Gordon-Levitt and Kendrick would give good performances, Angelica Huston was good too as the overemotional and annoying mother that Adam just wanted to avoid, but I was impressed by Seth Rogen. He hasn’t played that many semi-serious roles so far in his career, except in Observe and Report and Funny People, but it’s always a treat when he does. He has the ability to be funny and serious at the same time, if that makes sense, and in 50/50 that ability is put to good use because he comes across like a best friend would do in that situation. Trying to lighten up his friend and make him feel like it’s not all bad. I also loved how Kyle fired into Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) after he caught her out and told Adam.
It was also pretty cool to have Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer in the film.
Ultimately, I think the film did a wonderful job showing what someone might go through if they were diagnosed with cancer. The world doesn’t end, they still have friends, they still have family, they still laugh, and there are people in their lives who will try and make it OK.
And spoiler alert, I absolutely loved loved loved the ending because I truly didn’t think that Adam and Katherine would end up together just because of the whole doctor/patient relationship thing.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is bone-chilling and terrifying. It’s the most “psychological” psychological thriller I’ve ever seen. And quality-wise, it’s probably the #1 film I saw this year. I just can’t bring myself to put it any higher than #7 because it doesn’t have the enjoyability and replay value that the other films on my list do.
The film tells the story of Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), a girl who has been in a cult led by the charismatic and dangerous Patrick (John Hawkes) for two years, who manages to escape and return to her sister (Sarah Paulson) but is unable to assimilate back into society.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is not something I’ll probably ever watch again. It’s very heavy material and it left me with a real sense of dread. I don’t particularly like feeling like that after I watch a film. That being said, it’s absolutely brilliant. I can completely believe this is how people who escape from cults feel upon their return to “normal” society. The disconnect that Martha feels from her sister, unable to tell her what took place, increasingly unable to tell if what she’s experiencing is real or a dream, the all encompassing paranoia that Patrick is going to find her. It’s all portrayed with such realism that you simply can’t watch this film without having that paranoia creep up on you until you’re just waiting for something bad to happen. That’s the world that Martha lives in, and Sean Durkin (the writer and director) makes you feel like it’s happening to you.
As you would expect, the performances are outstanding, with the vast majority of praise to go to Elizabeth Olsen in her first ever role (outside of a 1994 Olsen twins made for TV movie). She gives a very understated performance, and those big expressive eyes really make you wonder what’s going on inside her head. You feel like you could break her like an eggshell if you do the slightest thing wrong. The other major roles belong to John Hawkes and Sarah Paulson, and both are equally adept in their performances. It seems that Hawkes is now the go-to guy for scary intimidating roles, what with this and last year’s Winter’s Bone. It almost seems strange to think of him as the likeable Dustin Powers from Eastbound & Down or Sol Star from Deadwood.
The marketing department should also be credited with creating some truly excellent poster.
If there’s any justice in Hollywood, Elizabeth Olsen should win the Oscar. I can’t recommend this film enough.
I remember being excited about Everything Must Go before I left for NYC in June this year because I liked the idea of Will Ferrell once again playing a more understated character. I thought he was really good in Stranger Than Fiction, and was looking forward to him once again delivering a more low key comedic performance.
You can probably imagine by delight when I stumbled upon the Brooklyn Heights Cinema on Henry Street and discovered they were playing Everything Must Go. I came back later that afternoon and headed into their small, but air conditioned, theater to watch the film.
The film tells the story of Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell), a guy who loses his job due to a drinking problem and subsequently has his wife leave him. Nick decides to hold a yard sale to sell all his belongings in an attempt to start over and have some sort of catharsis.
It’s kind of hard to put into words why I like Everything Must Go so much. There aren’t any real laugh out loud moments, Nick doesn’t reconcile with his wife, and he doesn’t find a new love interest. The film is pretty simple actually, but it has a feel to it that all good films do. Something you can’t really quantify or explain, but something that leaves you feeling uplifted and comforted.
I recognise that some of my fondness for Everything Must Go is almost certainly because I saw it whilst on vacation in NYC, arguably my favourite place in the entire world, but the film is well made and actually quite impressive to look at. My memory of the film is that a good deal of it is shot in the magic hour, so it’s no wonder there are a bunch of beautiful shots.
On the actor/actress side of things, the film also stars Rebecca Hall and Michael Peña, and they both do as good a job as you would expect. Christopher Jordan Wallace plays the kid who helps out Ferrell’s character and he also gives a good performance.
I will say that the trailer makes the film look a lot lighter than it actually is. That’s not to say it’s especially dark or brooding, but it’s not as light and fluffy as you might be led to believe.
I don't blame the people for the fact that so many movies are bad. I think there's a corrupt, perverted, lazy and sloppy attitude that's pervasive in the movie business. The whole entertainment business is kind of crumbling around us.
