Saturday, January 29, 2011

Movies I want to see in 2011

 2011 looks like a somewhat promising year for movies, not only for sequels, but for original movies too (I know that sounds kind of ridiculous but just read the blog). Obviously I can't afford to get to the cinema to see all of these, but I'll probably catch them on DVD or when they hit the internet (legally) or something like that.  Some of these I will stop at nothing to see, some of these i might see, some of these I might end up seeing but hating. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!






Those are pretty much all I can get posters for. The other ones are:

REAL STEEL
ARTHUR REMAKE
THE MUPPETS
HUGO CABRET
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Feel free to comment!


Saturday, January 22, 2011

My Favourite Films of 2010

I know I am kind of a latecomer on this, but here are my favourite films of 2010. I know I haven't seen a lot of great movies of 2010. I haven't seen The Social Network, Blue Valentine, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, or any of those really critically praised ones, but these are my personal favourites. I've also seen quite the amount of bad movies in 2010, and that blog will be coming out soon. Feel free to share your thoughts on the list! Thank you

#10 Date Night


Yeah yeah, I know that this didn't get spectacular reviews but I liked this movie. I love Steve Carell and Tina Fey and they have spectacular chemistry with one another and they seem believable as a married couple. This movie is hilarious and I think the action-comedy in this is how they should have done the action comedy in movies like Killers and Knight and Day. I honestly was apprehensive about seeing this movie because I feared that Steve and Tina would be misused in a romantic comedy-style film but thankfully it was not a romantic comedy. Nothing more to say except that it was one of the best comedies of the year and one of the best comedies I've seen in quite a while.

#9 Easy A

Girl standing in front of a green chalkboard, labels are pointing at her and she is holding up a page which explain how this is the story of how she ruined her reputation.

Teen movies are getting a bad rep nowadays, and for good reason. They are nothing like the John Hughes movies of the long-long ago time, they just glamorize teen problems and paint teens often in the most horrible light possible. Easy A, however, is not one of those movies. It takes a girl who was enjoying her anonymity and thrusts her into a world of gossip when she inadvertently starts a rumour that turns her into the town slut. It's a timely comedic tale about owning your reputation and having a bit of fun with it as opposed to being ashamed with it, as well as a tale on the evils of gossip. If Easy A had different writers or a different cast, it definitely would have sucked, but thankfully it didn't. All of the cast members are wonderful, including our charming lead Emma Stone and a scene-stealing turn by both Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as her parents. Nothing more to say but if Easy A was made in the 1980's, it could have easily been mistaken for a John Hughes movie and held its own against the likes of The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

#8 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I


I personally think this is the best Harry Potter film to date and I'm sick of people complaining how it's "slower" compared to the other films. In fact, the person I went to see it with wouldn't stop complaining about it. I know its buildup to the epic finale but it is still wonderful and based on easily the best book. I've already written a review of this and it explains all the major plot points and why I adore this so much. The series is easily at its darkest here and if you really pay attention you can see some great World War 2 parallels that made the book so wonderful. The acting is also at its best here, especially from Emma Watson's Hermione. The visuals and fight scenes are wonderful and the movie is just beautifully shot all together, especially the scene where they are running away from Death Eaters in the forest and when Ron opens the horcrux locket. Nothing more to say except that this is the best one to date and I will do whatever I can to see the second part in theatres.

#7 The A-Team

The actors Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley from the movie The A-Team

Screw all who hate this movie, I adore it. I never really watched the show but I was excited to see this because my dad had told me often of how epic it was. I saw it with my dad and my brothers on Father's Day this year and we all enjoyed it. Those of you who have read my review of this know that there was only two other females in the theatre and neither of them were looking like they enjoyed themselves. However, this was a tremendously fun movie that I would have no qualms about seeing again. It is filled with exhilarating action sequences and actually some decent acting. I'm not writing another review on the movie, so I don't really have much else to say except that this should have gotten better critic reviews. It's definitely not the best movies in the world but I just loved it.

#6 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

A pink-haired girl named Ramona, standing back to back with a man in a red t-shirt, Scott Pilgrim. Behind them pictures of her seven evil exes.

I'm actually quite surprised that I didn't put this higher on the list. I went and saw this with a good friend of mine for his birthday and we had it narrowed down to this, Vampires Suck, or The Other Guys, and I'm so glad we picked this. Scott Pilgrim is very much a movie reflective of the technocracy and the idle generation of young adults that exist today. I loved the visual style of this movie and Scott Pilgrim remains my favourite Michael Cera movie to date. I have no idea why this didn't do better at the box office and I desperately want to purchase  this on DVD. Again, I'm not writing a review so if you want to know more about the movie see it for yourself. Nothing more to say but that Scott Pilgrim is actually one of the best movies I have seen in maybe the last five years, not just 2010

#5 The King's Speech



This is simply a brilliant film and it is worthy of being the last film I saw in theatres in 2010. Masterfully directed, wonderfully acted and based on a captivating true story, I know this may shock some that I put movies ahead of this that aren't quite as artsy or oscar-bait as this. This is definitely one of the most well-acted movies of the year and that is definitely sure to pay off come awards time. Colin Firth is definitely the man to beat this year for Best Actor, and I have a feeling he will be taking home the Oscar on the awards night. That, along with strong supporting performances from Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, and Guy Pearce make The King's Speech one of the best movies of the year.

#4 True Grit



Out of all the four Oscar bait movies I saw, True Grit was my second favourite. It's characters are fairly simplistic, but that style actually works for this type of movie and the actors own it entirely. True Grit is essentially the same style of dry tongue-in-cheek that is Coen Brothers, and it doesn't really have a happy or a sad ending, just an ending. The actors are all wonderful, and why Hailey Steinfeld is up for Supporting Actress is beyond me, seeing as she is the main character and the main protagonist (I guess Best Actress is for big girls or something). Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin were all fantastic, even if Matt Damon may have been slightly miscast or if Josh Brolin had been slightly underused. Needless to say, it's better than The King's Speech and I'm so glad that it got wide release. It's also one of the best-written and best-acted movies of the year.

#3 How To Train Your Dragon



Easily the best animated film this year and it would win Best Animated Feature if Toy Story 3 had never been made. I loved that this was not part of a franchise or a sequel/remake/reboot. It was an adaptation of a children's book that was fairly unknown until now. HTTYD is a great animated film because it has some great likeable characters, a great story, great humour, a great atmosphere, and some genuine gripping drama. This is easily Dreamworks' best animated film and one of my personal all-time favourite films. I won't give anything away, so this shpiel won't be much longer. The animation is also beautiful, but I don't know how it was in 3D because I didn't see it in 3D. Needless to say, HTTYD is my favourite animated film of this year.

#2 Kick-Ass

The foreground features the superhero Kick-Ass in his green and yellow costume. Against a black background the words KICK-ASS are written in yellow block capitals.

I know this has been said 550 bajillion times before, but Kick Ass really did...well...kick ass! I find that people are quite divided on this movie, they either love it or hate it, and I personally love it. I know there's a ton of controversy over Hit Girl perpetuating incredible violence and saying words like c*nt and f*ck and whatnot, but I really didn't pay attention to that because I didn't care and they were all words I had heard before. Besides the controversy, Kick-Ass may be considered morally reprehensible but to me that was part of the enjoyment of it all. It's not a pensive artsy film but its still good and has many good things about it, like the score, the videography, and the acting. I normally hate Nicolas Cage, but I actually liked him and his Adam West impersonation, and I actually felt sorry when he (spoilers) dies at the end (end of spoilers). Needless to say, Kick-Ass has a good story, good acting, great videography, a great soundtrack, and is just a great movie.

and my number one favourite film of 2010 is...................................









#1 Inception

A man in a suit with a gun in his right hand is flanked by five other individuals in the middle of a street which, behind them, is folded upwards. Leonardo DiCaprio's name and those of other cast members are shown above the words "YOUR MIND IS THE SCENE OF THE CRIME". The title of the film "INCEPTION", film credits, and theatrical and IMAX release dates are shown at the bottom.

Every single thing that I could say has already been said by other people, so I'll keep this short. This movie is well-acted, it pushes the boundaries of imagination (like a Christopher Nolan movie often does) and throws a lot of story at you which makes it of the utmost importance that you pay attention. Inception is in my opinion the best movie of the year and it is sure to be appreciated come awards time.

And those are my personal favourite films of 2010! Look out for the Worst list coming sometime in the next couple weeks. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks!

Stephanie