RENN BROWN’S TOP 15 OF 2011

I think it is now official that CHUD considers 13 ASSASSINS the #12 Best Film of 2011.

Renn, love you for having the guts to list Warrior as your #1 for 2011. I was getting dissapointed for not seeing it on your list-and then low and behold it takes the top spot. As a result I will be reading you more often, sir.

Fuck yeah The Guard belongs on one of these lists. Nice work Renn, although your write-up maybe makes it seem a little more full of charming Irish whimsy and a little less full of black Irish humour than it is. Right from the opening scene there's a streak of deliciously dark hilariousness to it.

Good job on the whole shebang though, I'll see the bejebus out of the ones I missed (or which haven't been released here yet - living in the future ain't all it's cracked up to be sometimes).

(p.s. It's not "the UFC world", it's "the MMA world". Might want to edit before all the other pedantic fucks turn up.)

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

I think it is now official that CHUD considers 13 ASSASSINS the #12 Best Film of 2011.

If y'all weren't such vicious racists it would rank even higher.

Winky face.

Bellflower. So glad to see that on here, Renn. What a ball of anger and ferocity that is, some apocalyptic fever dream borne of a broken heart. I would be curious to see how it plays now that I'm in a much better place than when I first saw it. Definitely the kind of movie that can enhance whatever dark depression you bring into it.

I feel bad for completely forgetting about Warrior this year. Yeah, why did no one talk about that one?

Ah, Chris Auer. Chair of the film & television department at my alma mater . Legendary for his backhanded compliments.

That's awesome.

I was wondering what the story was behind that.

He made a similarly backhanded comment about my thesis film (as he read it out for a sound nomination) in front of a theater of 1,000 people my senior year at our school's film awards.

Scademies!  I won one of those, despite never actually being a student there.  As for Auer, thankfully never met the guy, but have heard many a horror story.

If it makes you feel better Renn, my senior year of high school I wrote and directed a play. First person to do so in the 50 year history of the school. Which, you know, I thought was a pretty bitchin' achievement for a teenager. My school's theater teacher, who was also the 9th grade English teacher, never gave me any feedback on it other than handing me the play's program after our first performance, in which he'd corrected several grammatical errors he'd found in the said program (in red pen). It was deliciously spiteful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmd19 

Renn, love you for having the guts to list Warrior as your #1 for 2011. I was getting dissapointed for not seeing it on your list-and then low and behold it takes the top spot. As a result I will be reading you more often, sir.

I would have went as high as Renn on Warrior, which broke my heart and made me cheer, had it not been for Kevin Dunn. Goddamn that Kevin Dunn, making everything worse. The cutaways to him celebrating were wince-inducing. The film's formula, but oh, what borderline flawless formula it is.

Glad to also see some love for Bellflower, which wins my title of movie I saw the most in 2011 - I must have watched it a good ten times now.

Also, yes, Detention. I've heard some whispers this might go straight-to-DVD. That sorta makes sense, given the marketing challenge the film faces - I've seen a couple of promo posters, and they do a shit job of conveying anything about the movie. I do hope that doesn't happen, however, since everyone deserves this freakout. The most genuinely unpredictable American movie of the year - I didn't know what was going to happen on a minute-by-minute basis, and I'm still not sure I understand it, even though it's a linear story with its own internal logic.

To those who are skeptical don't let "from the director of Torque" and "Starring Dane Cook" put you off. Though there is a dumb, referential "Torque" joke, and Cook is a terrible actor, they perfectly fit within the atmosphere of the film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Happenin 

Bellflower. So glad to see that on here, Renn. What a ball of anger and ferocity that is, some apocalyptic fever dream borne of a broken heart. I would be curious to see how it plays now that I'm in a much better place than when I first saw it. Definitely the kind of movie that can enhance whatever dark depression you bring into it.

I was engaged and got married about a month after I saw it. Last time I had a broken heart was more than four years ago. It still worked for me. It only takes once. Fuck 500 Days of Summer, this is what young infatuation and devastating heart break really feels like. 

Renn, I think there's a slight typo with your last line on Bellflower btw. Something about good sound and a dark room (I think the and is missing). Solid list.

Hell, yes Warrior at Number 1!  Glad to see that movie getting some love.  In a perfect world it would even be thrown a few Oscar nominations.

Man, as a card-carrying member of the CHUD Torque Defense Force I have a hard-on for Detention the likes of which you wouldn't believe.

There was a scene in THE BEAVER that really would have made it a remarkable film. A way more interesting film than the one we ended up with. I'm sure it would have made some lists. In the script, there were traces of a bodyhorror movie. Remember the scene in which Gibson dares a co-worker to pull the beaver off his hand? Originally, the co-worker tried way harder and put all his weight into it, with Gibson not resisting a bit, but it just wouldn't come off. Same for the scene in which Gibson punches himself. He tries to get it off by force, ending up crying. The script never gave a strict answer whether he was just imagining it or if the Beaver was actually alive. All those best parts were left out of the final movie. And I don't know why, because it was still too weird to ever get a broader appeal.

 

Can't say much more, but Detention isn't set for DTV. There will be some opportunity to support it.

That said, I know Sony doesn't realize what it has with this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

 

To those who are skeptical don't let "from the director of Torque" and "Starring Dane Cook" put you off.

"From the director of Torque" will NEVER be a put off in these parts!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renn Brown 

Can't say much more, but Detention isn't set for DTV. There will be some opportunity to support it.

That said, I know Sony doesn't realize what it has with this one.

Can't say I blame them. Relieved to know there are theatrical plans for the film.