JOSH MILLER’S TOP 15 OF 2011

Nice to see my man Croneneberg represented. And I agree about Viggo. He'd better get recognized come Oscars season.

Not really a fan of the numbers super-imposed over the posters.  Some of them are so obscured you might as well not have even bothered.

And hey, another dig at the ending of Return of the King.  Timely.

I can't agree with putting Potter at #1.  I thought the film relied too heavily on the audience bringing in their own anticipation of the big moments in the book instead of building up to them on its own.  Mrs. Weasley's big moment seemed tossed in as an afterthought, seemingly saying, "Hey, remember how cool this was in the book?" and letting us supply the emotion and context.  I don't even think I'd rank this in the top ten for the year.

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Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

I can't agree with putting Potter at #1.  I thought the film relied too heavily on the audience bringing in their own anticipation of the big moments in the book instead of building up to them on its own.  Mrs. Weasley's big moment seemed tossed in as an afterthought, seemingly saying, "Hey, remember how cool this was in the book?" and letting us supply the emotion and context.  I don't even think I'd rank this in the top ten for the year.

I agree. Deathly Hallows 2 was unnecessarily rushed, which is odd, because long-time fans would have happily seen the climax of the books fleshed out to include as many moments as possible, treated as the high points that they are rather than a checklist of events.

Yeah, for having two films in which to tell the story, it sure felt like they still left an awful lot out.

That's basically all the movies from #4 onwards.

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Originally Posted by Whiteboy Jones 

 

 

That's basically all the movies from #4 onwards.

Splitting the final book into two films implies that they're going to flesh things out. Instead, the final film is the shortest of the entire series, and it feels it.
 

No, it doesn't.  The final third of the book is turned into a movie that's 130 minutes long (which is, y'know, only eight minutes shorter than the whole of Order of the Phoenix).  What exactly were you looking for?  "They didn't show Trelawney dropping orbs!  Epic fail!"

Hallows 2 is pretty perfectly paced.

Rango is fantastic.

Yeah, came in here to see the same thing. Were it not for Pooh, it would easily be my favorite animated film of the year. There's just something... *hypnotic* about it, even when it's being exciting or funny.

Once again, though, these lists always remind just how much I haven't seen and need to.

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Originally Posted by Chris Spider 

Yeah, came in here to see the same thing. Were it not for Pooh, it would easily be my favorite animated film of the year. There's just something... *hypnotic* about it, even when it's being exciting or funny.

 

The new POOH movie was shockingly good! It was definitely on my larger 2011 list that was whittled down to this Top 15.

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Originally Posted by The Dark Shape 

Hallows 2 is pretty perfectly paced.

So's an empty car with a brick on the accelerator.  Yes, the film moves, but it never makes you feel anything.  It wants us to be all sad and melancholy because we know it's the last film, not because any of that's been invested in what we're watching.

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Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

The new POOH movie was shockingly good! It was definitely on my larger 2011 list that was whittled down to this Top 15.

Ah, I see. Was stuff like Ghost Protocol, Captain America or Thor there as well (since I don't think I know your feelings on those)?

No. Though I also enjoyed all three of those films quite a bit.

My other biggest contenders, along with POOH, that bounced in and out (and ultimately off) my list were X-MEN, JANE EYRE, TREE OF LIFE, BRIDESMAIDS and believe it or not, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN.

Nice work Joshua, always like reading your thoughts.

No! Bad Josh!

Good list! And Dangerous Method hasn't opened here yet so an extra eff you.

I've never seen a Harry Potter movie, though. But will be checking out Rango all soon-like.

As someone who's only read the books once (and I definitely did not retain many "important" details from them), this criticism feels spot on to me. The film seems to be telling us to feel a certain way, but doesn't do a very good job of actually getting us there on its own.

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Originally Posted by Phil 

I've never seen a Harry Potter movie, though. But will be checking out Rango all soon-like.

Curious why you've stayed so completely away. Would've thought your own curiosity would have caused you to check out at least one of them during the past ten years. I mean, I ended up seeing TWILIGHT eventually.

I appreciated MELANCHOLIA as an intellectual exercise but as an emotional one it utterly failed me. 

Muppets and Apes may actually claim my personal top spots this year, though I am very much looking forward to YOUNG ADULT.

Melancholia, there's another one I never got around to seeing. Enjoyed Muppets but I never completely connected with it for whatever reason. Apes is the shit.

APES is indeed the shit. I had so many conversations with friends and fam back home over the holidays about it. If nothing else it was the biggest upset of the year. That's generally been the context of the conversations. Not everyone was salivating over it as "great" but everyone said they were surprised by it.

You can't watch that film and not want to cookie Rocket. Fact.