Matt Wavish’s Best and Worst of 2011
2011 was a pretty good year in my humble opinion, we were blessed with some of the finest films to have come along in many a year, with standouts such as Drive, Black Swan and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. We had some underdogs which came out of nowhere to take charge of a mixed year, with films such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes shocking everyone in its popularity. The expected greats were there, including Potter’s final send off and an X-Men re-invention, and then our beloved horror genre was granted a great big kick up the arse with Insidious. 2011 did offer up some problem films though, with promised greats such as Final Destination 5, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Hatchet 2 failing miserably to live up to expectations. Then there were the bad films, and as usual there were plenty, with the likes of The Rig and Alice in Murderland taking centre stage.
All in all 2011 was a pretty good year, not just for horror, but for films in general, and come Oscar season there are a number of films I will be supporting and hoping they get the big win. Films such as Drive, Tinker Tailor, Tyrannosaur, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Melancholia should do well, and with a number of quality films due for release over the coming months, the Oscars and BAFTA’s will be very interesting next year.
2011 was not only full of remakes (pointless: Straw Dogs, actually very good; The Thing) but we were given so much choice in original films, with such brilliance as Troll Hunter, Drive and Black Swan showing that there are still plenty of ideas out there. The Summer big budget blockbusters made the money, but had audiences complaining at their lack of quality with films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Cars 2 not living up to expectations. The same happened this year as did last year with Inception, and it was a smart, clever and gripping film which ruled the Summer season, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. So, does this imply that the movie going public are getting bored of brainless action flicks? I mean one of the biggest films of the year, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was hardly an easy ride. I think directors should embrace this new found common love of having to use your brain at the cinema, and let’s have more Summer blockbusters like Apes, and Inception the year before.
What I am about to present to you here is my personal best and worst of what has been a hit and miss year. Granted I have gotten myself all worked up over films which have failed to deliver, but then I have been totally surprised by the brilliance of films I never thought would have been any good. Our main concern here is horror, and 2011 has been a very good year for horror, with the genre delivering some true masterpieces, films fans will look back on in years to come and say “I remember that”. Insidious is one that springs to mind, and even though now that the buzz has died off people are now coming out and saying it wasn’t all that good, there is no denying that the film created a phenomenal buzz in cinemas and gave horror the much needed boost it was hoping for from Scream 4. 2011 would appear to have been the year of the found footage horror, with far too many to mention but big releases like Troll Hunter, Paranormal Activity 3, Apollo 18, Grave Encounters and Atrocious all adding weight to horrors new best friend. The slasher continued to prove is wasn’t finished yet, with The Orphan Killer and Scream 4 taking charge, and with a number of inventive slashers scheduled for next year. However, horror in 2011 was ruled by both controversy and fun, with films like The Woman and The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence causing all sorts of trouble, and on the other end of the scale genre classics like Hobo with a Shotgun and Tucker & Dale VS Evil were making horror fun.
Anyway, less jibber jabber and let’s get down to the lists. I have for you here four lists in total, an overall best film of the year, and a best horror of the year, worst films of the year and since I have gotten myself excited so many times over something which has failed miserably, a biggest let down of the year list. Please read on, enjoy, and leave comments if you agree or don’t agree:
Best Film of the Year 2011:
1- Drive: Director, Nicolas Winding Refn (review)
Simply put, Drive is the most perfect of films with the most savage of impacts. Ryan Goslings ‘Driver’ is the ultimate anti-hero and the ultimate bad ass in a film that simply oozes brilliance from every single frame. From the fascinating, adrenalin pumped soundtrack to the ultra cool characters, the vicious, shocking violence and an incredible sense of nostalgia. Drive delivered everything, and then some, and I cannot imagine a single movie fan on the planet not finding something to like about Drive. Movie perfection, undoubtedly, utter genius, perfect, brilliant, classic, groundbreaking: no words are good enough to describe just how amazing this film is, you simply have to see it for yourself.
2- Black Swan: Director, Darren Aronofsky (review)
Just scraping in, but whole heartedly deserved is Aronofsky’s step up to the big time in a quality, dark tinged thriller about the pressures of ballet. Natalie Portman has never been better, and the film perfectly mixes a dark, involving thriller with strong horror elements allowing critics to compare it to Dario Argento’s masterpiece, Suspiria. Black Sawn is the ultimate dark thriller, with haunting imagery and unsettling plot twists, and with such a standout cast, there was never any doubt that the film would deliver absolute perfection.
3- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Director, Tomas Alfredson (review)
Fresh from re-inventing the vampire genre with Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson proved he was in no way a one trick pony and delivered the finest espionage thriller of the year. Bringing with him a cast of British elite, there was never any doubt that this remake of a TV series, itself based on a novel, was going to be something special. However, what Alfredson somehow managed to do was get a career best performance out of Gary Oldman in a relentless, ruthless and edge of your seat thriller that smelled and even tasted of the 1970’s
4- The Fighter: Director, David O’Russell (review)
In the Fighter director David O’Russell delivers a boxing story told a hundred times before, but here there is real, raw emotion and feelings and central characters you cannot help but become involved with. Mark Wahlberg proves he CAN act as up and coming boxer Micky Ward, and the film follows his rise to the top and his subsequent troubles with an over protective family and a fallen boxing champion brother, all the while trying to make something of his life with new found love Charlene (Amy Adams). A raw, powerful, gut punch to the senses, and possibly the finest boxing film since Rocky.
5- Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Director: Rupert Wyatt (review)
No one, and I mean no one expected this film to deliver quite the way it did. I was not interested, many people I spoke with were not interested, until the trailer came out and the world took note. Director Rupert Wyatt delivered the anti blockbuster and had movie fans talking and coming back for more. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the underdog of the Summer blockbuster season, and reigned supreme. A stunning, adrenalin fuelled and heartfelt film full of brutal honesty and deep emotions, this was the film to beat in 2011. Stunning stuff!
6- Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Director David Yates (review)
Harry Potter gets the best possible send off her could wish for in this brilliant end to a wonderful franchise. After ten years watching The Boy Wizard on screen, I will admit that it was quite emotional to say my goodbyes, but the story had to end. Director David Yates does himself proud in a brilliant, frantic, edge of your seat and highly emotional finish to one of Britain’s biggest movie and book franchises. A superb send off, but an upsetting full of real threat and big battles you begin to wonder what the Hell happened to all the family friendly stuff of the Philosopher’s Stone.
7- Monsters: Director Gareth Edwards (review) (technically this was released in 2010, but it was at the end of the year so let’s base this on the DVD & Bluray release)
The surprise early hit of the year, Gareth Edwards’ Monsters was not the full on Cloverfield like epic people were expecting, but more a true to life drama and emotional love story about two strangers stuck in an impossible situation. Using a real life married couple and stunning CGI, Edwards created a breathtaking and often poignant tale of two characters stuck in an impossible situation. Edwards’ eye for realism really shines through, and Monsters will bring about emotions about your nearest and dearest you never thought you would delve into during a film like this. Superb stuff and Edwards is most certainly a director to watch.
8- X-Men: First Class: Director, Matthew Vaughn (review)
The first three X-men films are actually very good indeed, apart from the final film, so when Matthew Vaughn proposed a sort of remake, fans were up in arms. Once X-Men: First Class arrived; fans were all of a sudden asking when Vaughn was planning the next film. X-Men: First Class, essentially a prequel to the movies which had come before, was a work of staggering brilliance, and thoughts of Christopher Nolan’s re-invention of Batman sprung to mind. This was a serious film, for serious fans and Vaughn delivered a back story good enough even to get the casual X-Men fan excited. If Vaughn directs the sequel we could be in for something very special indeed.
9- True Grit: Director, The Coen Brothers (review)
Joel and Ethan Coen do it again in a blistering film about a young girls want for revenge against the cowboys who killed her Dad. A remake, the Coen’s add their own unique touch to the film, and bring out the best in Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon.
10- NEDS: Director, Peter Mullan(review)
With NEDS and a starring role in Tyrannosaur, this was a really good year for Peter Mullan. The actor and director chose to direct here and play a small put powerful role as John MGill’s drunken Father. Neds follows John as he goes from bright lad in school to local thug and then to areas much darker. Neds is powerful, unflinching British cinema at its best.
11- Tyrannosaur: Director, Paddy Considine (review)
Peter Mullan takes centre stage here as the alcoholic, violent man Joseph. A chance of redemption comes in the form of charity shop worker Hannah, but each have their own dark secrets which will come to the fore in this powerful, gut wrenching, emotionally draining British masterpiece.
12- Melancholia: Director, Lars VonTrier (review)
Forever the King of controversy, Von Trier paints an unsettling and disturbing portrayal of life played by rules and expectancy. Melancholia delivers a natural disaster into proceedings to allow characters to not only speak their mind, but also reflect on their life as a whole. In true Von Trier style, the film is brave, deliberate and thought provoking.
13- I Saw the Devil: Director, Kim Jee-Woon (review)
Korean cinema at its finest, I Saw the Devil see’s the tides turned on a twisted and sadistic serial killer. After a detective’s fiancée falls victim to the brutal killer he decides to track him down and become the hunter, setting traps and baiting him so that he can punish him over and over again. Dark, twisted and with a surprising amount of comedy, this was a savage attack on the senses.
14- Troll Hunter: Director, Andre Ovredal (review)
Troll Hunter came out after a wave of hype and expectation that it more than lived up to. Taking in gorgeous Norwegian landscapes and informative folklore, the film delivered on every level. Exciting, fun, scary, thrilling, funny and believable, Troll Hunter re-invented the found footage genre, and gave us one of the most interesting lead characters of the year in troll hunter Hans. Clever and inch perfect, and with creative and stunning special effects, Troll Hunter is a film not to be missed.
15- Immortals: Director, Tarsem Singh (review)
There are many out there who did not enjoy Immortals, but I got swept up in the grand scale of it all, the breathtaking effects and director Singh’s eye for out of the world visuals. I wanted to like Immortals, and boy did I enjoy it. A thrilling, breathtaking journey created by one of the most talented visionary directors around right now.
16- Enter the Void: Director, Gaspar Noe (review)
On first watch Gaspar Noe’s first film after the brilliant Irreversible took a while to sink in. If you watch the director’s cut it is three hours of mind bending visuals and hallucinogenic scenes about a drug user’s death and subsequent journey through the afterlife. Noe’s stunning use of camera trickery gave the film a unique feel, and Enter the Void takes the viewer on a journey never before seen in cinema. Highly original, whether you like it or not, you cannot deny that you will never see a film quite like this again.
17- Contagion: Director, Steven Soderbergh (review)
The virus film to end all virus films, what made Soderbergh’s bleak and horrific tale of a virus outbreak so intense was his attention to detail and human emotions. If there were a virus outbreak like this, then what happens in the film is very likely to be how we would react. Filled with exceptional performances and tear-jerking moments of sadness, Contagion is a frightening journey through tragedy and an impossible situation.
18- Source Code: Director, Duncan Jones (review)
After making his mark on the film world with the superb Moon, Jones returned to sci-fi with a twisty tale of time travel. Jake Gyllenhaal played Colter Stevens, a man given the task of re-living a particular event on a train to try and catch the bomber. Things get complicated when he falls in love, and the stage is set for a superb thriller that requires maximum attention if you are to keep up with the constant plot twists.
19- Lake Mungo: Director, Joel Anderson (review)
This Australian true story about one family’s grief over the death of their daughter was a special film indeed. Marketed as a horror, the film was much more than that. Powerful, upsetting and tragic, there were horror elements as the family begin seeing their dead child around the house, but this was more a strong, heartbreaking drama about a family in need of answers and closure.
20- Point Blank (A Bout Portant): Director, Fred Cavaye (review)
After giving us the incredible film, Anything For Her, Cavaye returned with the ultimate thrill ride as his film about a man trying to save his wife gave us nonstop action. From the second the film begins, rarely is there a moment to take a breather, one thrilling scene follows another as time runs out for a man trying to do the right thing and ends up in an impossible situation. Breathtaking stuff.
(Coming next, the Top Twenty Horrors of 2011)
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