Favourites of 2011

I have finally gotten around to thinking a little about the movies I saw last year and whilst I know I am going to take some crap for at least one of the movies on my list below,  I would ask that you don't judge it until you have seen it! and if you have seen it, well....

In no particular order, these are the 5 best films I saw last year:

The Adventures of Tintin - Spielberg returns to the kind of movies he was born to direct!  It is just a shame he also released War Horse on the same day. Tintin is what Indiana Jones 4 should have been!

The Guard - Brendan Gleeson shines in this great independent Irish film that is as funny as it is serious.  I do enjoy films that have great characters and The Guard has some of the best in recent times!

Hanna - I really enjoyed this action romp featuring a 16 year old girl trained as an assassin.  Whilst it won't be to everyone's liking, you can't argue that it certainly creates its own look and feel! Great score by the Chemical Brothers too!

Sucker Punch - Boy was there some hate for this film when it came out!  I saw the film in Imax and came out wanting... then the Blu-ray came along with the 18 minute extended cut and finally a number of things fell into place. Snyder is clearly a visual director and despite its over preachy message the film it magnificent to look at and just as good to listen to!

Winnie the Pooh - OK, so this is a bit of a cheat.  The movie came out exclusivley to Big W on Blu-ray and DVD, but it is such a great film with a very wide appeal and it is so nice to see Disney finally give the silly old bear a decent outing after the abomination that is the CGI series.  I highly recommend reliving some of your childhood by returning to the 100 Acre Woods.

Special mention: Another Earth

Best Australian Movie

The Tunnel - Made on a budget brought about by fan sponsorship and given away for FREE on the Internet, whilst The Tunnel does have a number of horror movie cliches there is certainly enough originality to keep you interested. Nice to see some local productions using new business models in an otherwise draconian industry.

Special mention: Red Dog and The Hunter

Best Documentary

Bill Cunningham: New York - Following the life of New York Times fashion pages photographer Bill Cunningham, the documentary was certainly the most  enjoyable outing I had had to a doco this year! Even better when I wasn't expecting to like it at all!

Special mention: Life Cycles and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Recent Additions...

It occurs to me that I have not updated any of my more recent acquisitions on the blog. So here is a post to rectify this! My partner got me the wonderful Guillermo Del Toro Collection from the UK for Christmas, it features a pop-up book cover (that was not very photogenic) and the films Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone.

 I have also recently bought a region free Blu-ray player allowing me to take advantage of discs from the U.S and Asia. My first region A locked purchase is Justified Season 2, which ironically is not meant to be region locked, but is anyway...

I have also kick started my Criterion collection by replacing my DVD copy of Rushmore... expect more Criterion editions over the coming months...

 I have been eyeing Toy Story in one form or another for many a month now, and finally bit the bullet with a purchase from the blu-ray forums for Toy Story and Toy Story 2 U.K editions with slip case.  I did have Toy Story 3, but have sold it and have the UK version en route.

 

and last, but by no means least I picked up Paprika and Fantastic Mr. Fox, both at a bargain price!

SOPA is bad mmmkay...

http://www.stopthewall.us/

A Cat in Paris (2010)

We often hear tales of cats that lead double lives, trawling the neighborhood on varying days and visiting one of the many places it calls home. It comes as no surprise then, that someone has decided to make a film about such a cat.

By day, Dino is a doting cat owned by Zoe, the daughter of a Parisian Police Officer who has been mute since the death of her father, but by night he is sidekick to Nico, a wanted cat burglar operating in the area. One night Dino's two world's collide when Zoe follows him to Nico's house and winds up getting involved with the mob who killed her father.

A Cat In Paris is a great little film with some marvellous animation and a classic noir tale of intrigue and mystery. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys both intelligent animated films and old 30's and 40's classic mystery tales!

The Women On The 6th Floor (2010)

 

Jean-Louis Joubert is an affluent stockbroker who owns a luxurious building in Paris that is seemingly only inhabited by his ex-country girl wife, their 2 obnoxious children (who are mostly away at boarding school) and a number of Spanish maids who live up on the 6th floor.  Jean-Louis leads a very scheduled and some may say boring life that is thrown into a slight disarray when his maid of 25 years decides she has had enough and leaves his employ. This leaves space for Maria, the newly arrived niece of one of the upstairs lodgers to fill the position. Maria is a breath of fresh air for Jean-Louis and it is through her that he will discover a whole new world that has been under (or in this case above) his nose the whole time.

The Women On The 6th Floor is a light comedy that had the potential to be more of a commentary on the 1960's exploited immigrant work force that was the result of the oppressive Franco regime of the time, yet it glosses over these issues with veritable ease, opting instead to be a simplistic representation of the dynamic character, rolled up in a crowd pleasing way.  Whilst it is entertaining enough whilst you are watching it, a little after thought will leave you dry.

Melancholia (2011)

From the offset Melancholia is going to immediately divide audiences. It is purposefully slow, often bereft of dialog and does very little by way of establishing a plot or storyline. It is a film about depression, paranoia and the end of the world and whilst it looks stunning it plays a little overly melodramatic.

 Justine and Michael are deeply in love, it is their wedding day and they should be happier than ever. They are on their way to their reception which will be a memorable event if for all the wrong reasons. Those present at the reception include Justine's sister Claire, their estranged parents Gaby and Dexter. Claire's husband John, who is the owner of the massive estate that the event is being held at, Jack, who is Justine's boss and who is attending predominately in order to get an advertising tagline from her and the wedding planner, who all but shuns Justine once things take a turn for the worst. It becomes abundantly clear over the course of the evening that this is a broken family, full of resentment, possibly some insanity and in Justine's case depression. This is possibly the first depiction on film of every bride's worst nightmare when it comes to the reception.

The second half of the film focuses its attention to Claire, now caring for Justine who has become crippled by her depression, both physically and emotionally. Claire is suffering from paranoia, this is a result of the discovery of a new planet that has been hiding behind the sun and that is now in a probable collision course with the Earth.

What the film lacks in exposition it certainly makes up for in style and performance.  All of the cast are impressive, with Kirsten Dunst throwing the full weight of her own personal bout with depression into her character, but it is the visual aspects of the film that steal the show.  Von Trier uses some amazing cinematography and some superb use of CGI to enhance his backdrops, however all if this still isn't enough to save the film from being a slow, sometimes dull and often overly melodramatic piece.

Christmas Come Early...

And with Christmas bearing down upon us with steadfast ease, more gifts to myself to help with silly season sleaze.

 Das Boot  -2 Disc Collector's Set (JBHIFI Exclusive)

 Fight Club - Digibook Blu-ray & DVD Set (JBHIFI Exclusive)

Sucker Punch - Steelbook Triple Play (JBHIFI Exclusive)

I am up on Film Central again this week so expect reviews of Melancholia and Mission Impossible 4 before next Tuesday!

More Blu's & Ghibli

In the run up to Christmas a number of retailers here have some pretty good sales going on!  So to help relieve them of stock I picked up a few bits and pieces....

Resident Evil: Afterlife JBHIFI Exclusive Steelbook

Watchmen JBHIFI Exclusive Director's Cut 2 Disc Edition

 Winnie the Pooh Big W Exclusive

 

Match Point and Moon

 Last House on the Left (US)

 Also from CD Japan the last of my Ghibli films has finally arrived.... Tales of Earthsea. I had only seen it once, and so sat down to rewatch it, and I am afraid it still doesn't really do anything for me. The picture and audio quality is mightly impressive, but I just don't find the story or characters as compelling as other Ghibli films. I am still glad to have it in the collection, but I doubt it will get much action.