My Top 10 Movies of 2011

2011 has been a fairly good movie year. In the early months of 2011, the movies I saw were mostly from 2010-- a happily self-imposed prerequisite before watching the Golden Globes and the Oscars. But the following months after the awards season came the parade of Hollywood blockbuster movies, courtesy of my gig as a PinoyExchange.com movie reviewer of newly released movies that began in February. These commercial movies mostly make up my 2011 movie year, and although some of them did not provide me a soul-satisfying, mind-blowing experience, they are nonetheless very good movies worth watching the second, or third time around.

So, here's my Top 10 Movies of 2011, in no preferential order:

1. Super 8

2. The Adventures of Tintin

3. X-Men: First Class

4. Crazy, Stupid, Love.

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

6. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (local indie)

7. One Day (the movie that made me cry in 2011)

8. 50/50

9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

10. Thelma (local indie)

And in case you also want to know...

My Top 5 movies that I saw this year, but not released in 2011:

1. 127 Hours (2010)

2. Trust (2010)

3. Easy A (2010)

4. Rabbit Hole (2010)

5. Howl (2010)

My Top 5 Worst Movies of 2011

1. Like Crazy 

2. No Strings Attached

3. Mga Anino sa Tanghaling Tapat (local indie)

4. Paul

5. Drive

Soundtrack of the Year

1. Breaking Dawn

2011 movies now stacked up near the player for early 2012 movie-watching (YEY!!!):


1. Tree of Life
2. Melancholia
3. Martha Marcy May Marlene
4. Carnage
5. Moneyball
6. We Need to Talk About Kevin




What's yours? :)




So many interesting 2011 movies that I haven't seen yet. Just patiently waiting for clear dibidi copies. Hahaha...

All in all, 2011 has been an entertaining movie year. But without the 2010 nominated films, it would have been a so-so movie year for me. 

Well..HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's wishing us a plethora of soul-satisfying and intense cinematic experience in 2012!

One Day (2011)

Emma (Anne Hathaway) has always been in love with Dexter (Jim Sturgess). But because he told her, "We can just be friends," that one day in Scotland, in July 15th 1988, after graduation, they did become close platonic best friends for a long time, with the smart and sort of geeky Emma still harboring feelings for her commitment-phobe womanizing and booze-guzzling best friend.

In One Day, based on the bestselling novel by David Nichols, who also penned the movie's screenplay, and directed by Lone Scherfig (An Education), we follow the two in a span of 20 years as they lead their own lives, sometimes together and sometimes not--the life events in the following years are shown to us on the anniversary of their friendship, July 15th.

Putting off watching this drama-love story for fear that it's going to be Nicholas Sparks-ish, I was pleasantly relieved that it's not. Never mind Hathaway's awful accent that skips between Scottish, British and American Princess Diary, the characters are richly developed. They are imperfect, real people, flawed and vulnerable, misguided and lonely. The characters are not even movie-star attractive; Emma portrayed as homely and nerdy without looking like the stereotypical homely and nerdy, and Dexter, fairly attractive but not handsome, is a wild, lost soul and not portrayed as the generic playboy. Both earn our sympathy and compassion for their errors and choices.

A character-driven plot, One Day has an engaging screenplay, with breathtaking locations that set the mood of the story's theme: love and loss. And accompanied by the  heart-wrenching and soaring film score that conveys the two characters' real feelings for each other, we become all the more sad. But there is not one time when we are frustrated by the many years wasted on missed opportunities, wrong decisions, pretentiousness and cowardice that prevented them from being romantically together; instead, we understand why, and it is heartbreaking.

I cried in the culmination of the story. 

One Day is not a fairy tale love story nor is it your generic best-friends-in-love romantic drama, but it's a  painful portrayal of true love muddied by the many complexities, uncertainties, and failures in life.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Perfect Sense (2011)

Imagine an apocalyptic scenario when one by one you lose your human senses. First, you lose your sense of smell, then your sense of taste...eventually losing all five of your senses. Just when you have fallen in love with someone.

The BBC film Perfect Sense is a disconcerting romance set in Glasgow in the midst of a worldwide epidemic of an unknown disease that eliminates the senses, each sensory loss is preceded by an extreme emotional outburst. It's a highly tragic time for a chef (Ewan McGregor) and an epidemiologist (Eva Green) to fall in love.

In Perfect Sense, directed by David Mackenzie (Young Adam), it's not really the love story that emotionally connects to the viewers, but the extraordinary and frightening concept of losing what mankind needs not only for survival but for pleasure, presented in a raw, creative and poetic style that actually heightens our emotions and senses. We watch a world in its momentary phase of madness and chaos as the symptom of losing one's sensory begins. Intense grief suddenly seeps in, followed by losing your entire sense of smell. Intense rage, followed by losing your sense of hearing, and so on. After each loss, we fear for the worst sensory loss.

The film is also some sort of a scientific speculation in itself, imagining how people would react to losing their senses and how they will adapt to this collective tragedy. It explores the human psyche of coping and adapting, carrying our emotions throughout the sequence of events, the sadness and horror inflicting us, and sometimes the humor of it. Yes, there were moments that are absurdly funny, but quickly replaced by perplexity. 

The film's atmosphere is reminiscent of the dystopian film Never Let Me Go but much more emotional and engaging. Perfect Sense, with a clever, poetic, and inspired screenplay by Kim Fupz Aakeson, and a moving musical score, is more frightening than any other recent apocalyptic films I've seen. Its intimate, dramatic and poetic treatment will take you on a scary and melancholy journey,  but the value and beauty of life--and love-- are still resonant and profoundly felt. 

One of the best films I've seen this year. 

4.5 out of 5 stars

Demystified: Ayala Triangle Gardens' Lights and Sound Show

Recently, people are trekking to the latest place-to-be-and-post-on-Facebook event: the "Symphony of Lights and Sounds" at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. Sounds intriguing: colorful lights dancing to the music, or some sort of an Avatar-esque experience in the middle of the metropolis at night, surrounded by curtains of sparkling, blinking lights...like magic. 

So when the family decided to have dinner out, we agreed to go to Ayala so we could also check out the Symphony for a taste of entertainment and photography and not as part of the Christmas season, simply because we do not celebrate Christmas (click here if you're curious to know why).

The lights and sounds show comes to life every 30 minutes beginning 6 in the evening and  ends at 9 every day until December 30th, 2011.  When we arrived at the gardens a little before 7pm, the place was already crowded; adults and children waiting in the dark under the canopy of trees, chatting, snacking, or waiting quietly with their cameras, the soft Christmas lights illuminating their faces. A little further down the gardens, cafes and restaurants were packed with holiday shoppers, going in and out of Banapple, Amici, Wee Nam Kee, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, etc.

I was nauseous from the ride to the place, and my mother and I crossed the street to 7.eleven to buy some salty snacks, and when we came back, the show has just begun. Lights going up and down, mixed with colorful parols, changing colors, blinking to the beats of familiar Christmas jingles. Whenever the whole place lit up, a grand, generous display of lights, the crowd ooohhed and aaaahed and snapped photos.

I was bored with the show. And since I'm unaffected by the festive air, I simply thought the lights were pretty and nothing more, amusing but not spectacular, a minimally delightful sight providing zero emotional effect. 


I guess that's why it's free...it's something that is worth your few minutes if you're within the area.

Here's a sneak peek of the show: CLICK HERE.

The Logic of The Tuscani: Dissecting The Four Flavors

Supremo, Premium All-Meat, 3-Cheese Bacon and Spinach, 4-Cheese Lasagna

Haven't tried Pizza Hut's Tuscani pizza? It's basically thin, chewy, and bigger. Therefore, richer and more filling. 

December 17, 2011
Tasting my fourth Tuscani pizza: 4-Cheese Lasagna.

When I bit into the pizza, I was shocked and momentarily confused. I was sure I was eating a pizza. Yes, I was using a fork because it was piping hot! But I might as well be eating a plate of lasagna. 

My heart sank. I was craving pizza, not lasagna. 

And I felt foolish for ordering a lasagna-flavored pizza.

The Tuscani 4 Cheese Lasagna flavor was perfectly lasagna, deliciously lasagna...with four cheeses: Parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella and cream cheese. Still, it's 100% lasagna. And it had an odd effect: Your eyes land on a familiar triangular piece and your brain signals "pizza." Then your taste buds, once they chew on the pizza, send a message to the brain, "Lasagna! Lasagna!" It's a disorienting, unpleasant feeling. I love lasagna, don't get me wrong, but I wanted pizza that night. I mean, if I wanted lasagna, there's one on the menu. Why order pizza when you specifically wanted to eat lasagna? 

And so I forked the lasagna pizza down to its chewy crumbs, and I was immediately full. One heavy slice already felt like a single order of lasagna. Anyway, despite the fullness, there was a horrible triangular-shaped hollowness in my brain wanting to be filled; like a missing piece of a puzzle-dinner.  The pizza, of course. And so I grabbed a slice of my free classic bacon and pepperoni pan pizza, courtesy of my Palm Card; thick-crust, tomato sauce, chewy mozzarella cheese, topped with pepperoni and bacon, and instantly I was in pizza heaven. "Now, this is pizza!"

So if you are craving pizza, the traditional pizza, don't grab a lasagna-flavored pizza...unless you want a slice of lasagna in your hands. 

4-Cheese Lasagna Tuscani. Tastes like, surprise, surprise! lasagna.

Rating:

Tuscani 4-Cheese Lasagna: 5/5 for hitting that perfect lasagna taste; 0/5 for the pizza experience.

Two more Tuscani flavors to go, but I'm stopping on my fourth Tuscani flavor and will revert to Supremo, the ultimate pizza experience.  (If I want gourmet BBQ chicken or roast-beef, it doesn't have to be in the form of pizza.) The next time I'm in the mood for pizza, I'll go for  Supremo Tuscani, the traditional Italian pizza, but richer and fuller, with nine toppings of beef, black olives with garlic and olive oil roasted bell peppers, Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, onions, parmesan, pepperoni, and smoked ham, on a bed of premium tomato sauce. Now that's what I call the perfect pizza. Or I can go for my second favorite, the Premium All-Meat, which also offers full pizza experience, with lots of bacon, beef, Italian sausage, pepperoni, salami, and smoked ham on a layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and premium tomato sauce.

I won't even bother going back to the 3-Cheese Bacon and Spinach flavor, a popular choice and beauty queen Shamcey Supsup's favorite (read my pizza day with Ms. Supsup):  gourmet pizza, with spinach, bacon with bechamel sauce, layered with three different cheeses - parmesan, cheddar, and mozzarella. The first bite is an explosion of three distinct cheeses...melting in your mouth all at the same time. It's exquisite, like cheese heaven, but it's still not pizza for me. Again, the unpleasant emptiness, yearning for the full pizza experience.

1) Supremo 2) Premium All-Meat 3) 3-Cheese Bacon and Spinach, in order of my preference.

So the Tuscani line delivered its promise: each flavor perfectly tastes like its title, and they are all fresh, hot, rich, thin and chewy, and big and filling. 

It's just up to you now what you want to eat out of your hand.


Now, on to my one-week zero-carb diet.

Pizza photographs: mine.

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol (2011)

A glimpse of the teaser scene, when Tom Cruise is scaling Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is probably enough to convince you that it's going to be this year's most jaw-dropping action scene. And with two-time Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner included in the picture, fans of the movie franchise, as well as action/espionage movie enthusiasts, won't have any reason not to see Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol-- enhanced in an IMAX theater, and actually partially filmed using IMAX cameras.

Super-spy Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise, who did all of the stunts in this movie) returns to the big screen after five years, in Ghost Protocol, this time working equally with a team, alongside Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), and Paula Patton (Precious). In this fourth installment, Hunt's agency, the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), is disavowed-- blamed for the bombing of The Kremlin in Moscow (The U.S. counterpart of the White House), the U.S. president initiating the black operation "ghost protocol." With no back-up, stripped off their gadgets, and no support from the U.S. government, the four-person rogue team works hand in hand, making do with what they have, to clear the agency's name and chase the villain in a seemingly impossible mission to save the world. 

Ghost Protocol, directed by Brad Bird (his first time to helm a live-action movie after captivating the world with his Oscar-winning brilliant animation films The Incredibles and Ratatouille), is a whirlwind fast-paced action flick intended to tense your muscles, keep you at the edge of your seat, and leave you breathless...and also laughing from time to time. The first scene is instantly a Brad Bird trademark: humorous, light, and entertaining-- a prelude to the rest of the movie's mood and feel.  Simon Pegg's appearance alone in the opening scene, as the tech savvy agent, already spells out comedy. 

If you haven't seen, or can barely recall, the first three Mission Impossible movies, this is probably the most action-packed... and the most light and playful. And with the movie writers ridding us of serious and complex mysteries in the plot, Ghost Protocol is almost like the live-action counterpart of the The Incredibles--  an enjoyable popcorn movie. Not much thinking is required here; apparently, the movie only wants you to experience the adventure of a team of highly skilled agents with no time to lose, trying to catch a villain with a cliche-ish evil agenda. So if you're looking for a mentally stimulating, or a challenging unpredictable mystery plot, then you're not going to find it in here-- because Ghost Protocol is only about fun, action, and entertainment-- and it fairly succeeded in its intention. It's engaging, tensing, and oftentimes funny, with seamless special effects, beautifully choreographed one-on-one fight scenes, and delightfully impressive displays of modern technology. 

The team has good chemistry. Renner adds spice to the movie without outshining Cruise; Pegg is an effective comic relief; Patton, though, as the female lead, lacks personality and is too teary eyed, but is fairly in sync with the dynamics of the team.

As the last Hollywood blockbuster movie you will see in the cinemas this year, Ghost Protocol is a fitting year-ender for movie buffs out to be solely entertained and de-stressed in the holiday season. If you want to be taken from the heart of Moscow to Dubai, to India, in a breakneck-speed ride of spy action, suspense, and comedy in a light story, then seeing Ghost Protocol is a mission that you must choose to accept.  

3.5/5

Philippine theatrical release: December 16th 2011

My PinoyExchange post

The Ides of March (2011)

The political drama The Ides of March will dazzle you with its impressive cast ensemble: the wunderkid Ryan Gosling with George Clooney, flanked on either side by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, and Marisa Tomei. And with an intriguing plot that promises an exciting twist, you can sense an Oscar buzz-- even from the thrilling trailer alone.

Adapted from the Beau Willimon play Farragut North, and directed and co-written by Clooney, The Ides of March is about Stephen Meyers (Gosling), a young ideological hotshot junior campaign manager for Democratic presidential candidate Morris (Clooney).  In the heat of the Ohio presidential primary, Meyers is suddenly caught up in a political entanglement and becomes an unwitting pawn and a reluctant player in the dirty game of politics. Would he survive? Or shoot himself in the head?

The movie opens with Gosling (who is noticeably cute here), the poster boy of young incredible talent, giving campaign speech on Morris' irreligious sentiments. And from then on, we watch with bated breath whether Clooney can pull off a political drama without boring or shortchanging us. 

The Ides of March provides sparks of interest, building little bits and pieces of tension and excitement in the midst of mundane happenings and mundane dialogue. It feels like we are forever waiting for an explosion, or an extraordinary event. It's revealing small tricks and surprises here and there, yet you're still waiting for other tricks up its sleeve. But there is none. Like, that's it? Wasn't that just the...er...appetizer to the main course? Alas, the main course never arrives.

The Ides of March is a one-dimensional story with--let me borrow a critic's phrase-- "soap-operatic twists." It's cliche-ish, masked by elegant shots and critically acclaimed performers. The actors were perfect, and Gosling is superb. There are two satisfying scenes in the film, though: Hoffman's speech on trust and loyalty, and Gosling's eyes in the kitchen scene with Clooney, his eyes speaking a thousand words and repressing conflicting and unpredictable emotions, which have more depth than the entire film itself.

2.5/5 stars

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Blisterin' Barnacles! 

In the mood for an animated cinematic masterpiece? For an ultimate adventure experience? Then let us thank Steven Spielberg for bringing to life the beloved 1940's Hergé serial comics in motion-capture 3D animation: The Adventures of Tintin.

The famous young redhead sleuth/journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot) and his fox terrier partner, Snowy, are enjoying a day in a European flea market when Tintin falls in love with a model ship of the legendary double-deck, 50-gun, three-masted Unicorn, and he promptly purchases it. Immediately, he is surrounded by threats. And thus begins the fast-paced, whirlwind adventure of Tintin and Snowy, as they are swept away in a centuries-old mystery and legend, with the company of the perpetually drunk Captain Haddock (the brilliant motion-capture master Andy Serkis [LOTR's Gollum and Caesar of The Rise of the Planet of the Apes]), assisted by incompetent inspectors, the Thompson twins (the British tandem of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg), and chased by the shady Sakharine (Daniel Craig).

Only Spielberg can pull off something like this, to absorb us in a thrilling, action-packed adventure in a visually dazzling world. Produced by Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson and written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, the movie is a cinematic delight, an awesome 3D experience. Despite its modern treatment of motion-capture 3D, the atmosphere of the movie is still charmingly old-fashioned because of the period setting, bringing back good ol' times of simple-structured childhood stories of mystery and adventure, treasure hunts, pirates, and faraway lands.

The Adventures of Tintin, based on three of the original comic books: The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941); The Secret of the Unicorn (1943); and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944), is oftentimes hilarious, charming, a delightfully escapist adventure. And with the 3D experience, it will transport you into its world-- as if you're suddenly on board the Karaboudjan, in the heat of the Sahara desert, and in the mystical fictional Moroccan town of Bagghar, and of course, in charming Old Europe.

Highly recommended for loyal Tintin fans and animation junkies-- and, of course, for adults and kids who have an unquenchable thirst for adventure. Spielberg did it again. Definitely one of the best movies of 2011 that even 3D haters would enjoy in 3D... and only in 3D. An absolute must-see!

5 out of 5 stars

Still showing in Philippine theaters.

WATCH THE TRAILER

What's Your Number? (2011)

What's Your Number? showcases Captain America Chris Evans' nakedness. No. Actually, it's a rom-com starring 35-year-old Anna Faris as Ally Darling, a blond dimwit who, after having read in a magazine that an average woman has only slept with 10.5 men in her lifetime, goes berserk. Especially when the same article says that if the number goes beyond 20 and she hasn't met her soulmate yet, she is doomed to eternal singlehood. Ally's number is already 19.

Shamed and determined that the 20th guy she's going to sleep with should be The One but promptly and drunkenly sleeps with someone not obviously The One, she then backpedals and hunts down past lovers, in hopes that she should have already met him. Assisted by her barely clad Calvin Klein-like model next-door neighbor, Colin (Chris Evans), a womanizer and incessant eater, Ally reunites with her oddball ex-lovers with predictable results, while we patiently wait for her to predictably hook up with Colin and realize that her soul mate is right under her nose all along.

What's Your Number?, based on Karyn Bosnak's book 20 Times a Lady, is a screwball comedy that elicits a few snorts and chortles. It's a senseless plot that aims to charm and tries too hard to be cutesy and adorable and funny through the Ally character, and makes use of Chris Evans as its marketing strategy. There are moments of laughter indeed, but this is a movie to watch in a rather awfully boring day or if you need a break between emotionally draining films. But it's a must-see if you have a serious crush on Evans and if you think Faris is always adorable and funny.

2.5/5

The Help (2011)

In this century when racism starts to feel sooo old and primitive, we are reeled back in time during the 1960's civil rights movement in The Help, based on Kathryn Stocket's novel of the same title.

Skeeter (Emma Stone), an independent 23-year-old aspiring writer, lives in Jackson, Mississippi, in a Desperate Housewives-like setting, where white families each have their own black maid.


Skeeter is different. Not only is she still single and refuses to conform with her shallow and pretty young suburban mom friends, but she is also sympathetic to the plight of the discriminated black maids. Fueled by the unexplained disappearance of her own beloved black nanny, she risks imprisonment by secretly recording the black maids testimonies and experiences in the hands of their white masters, and writing a book about it.

What could have been a touching, courageous, and inspiring movie, The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, is lacking and shallow. With such a sensitive and immensely profound subject such as racial discrimination, it does not emotionally connect. Sometimes you feel a tiny spark of emotion, but it immediately dissipates and do not blossom into a gripping experience. Emma Stone is unfitting for the role, her eyes devoid of depth in emotionally laden scenes. The treatment may be light and comedic, still this painful period in history should still be palpable, the fear and compassion for the discriminated group of people should rise to the surface and hit you. Nothing.

Redhead Bryce Dallas Howard, a talent to watch out for.

Oscar-winner Viola Davis, as one of the the helps, delivers a stunning performance despite the surprisingly trite screenplay. But because of the almost dry screenplay, you only see Viola Davis as an admirable actress and not as her character Aibileen, a woman with a broken spirit. A waste of incredible talent. Another engaging and credible performer is Bryce Dallas Howard (who played vampire Victoria in the Twilight movie franchise and Rachael in 50/50) as the "godless" Hilly, the leader of the suburban pack. A talent to watch out for.

The Help, in its entirety, is a disappointment, a self-aware movie that you will finish dry-eyed and unsmiling. Yes, it can hold your attention towards the end, but it's not soul-satisfying.

2 out of 5.


Trailer

50/50 (2011)

Death and humor. Cancer and wit. 50/50 beautifully and effortlessly blends two completely opposite experiences into a moving drama-comedy that will put a lump in your throat and induce belly laughter.

Adam (Joseph Gordon Levitt), a sort of uptight radio journalist, is suddenly diagnosed with spinal cancer at the age of 27. With 50/50 chances of survival, we watch how Adam copes as he faces his uncertain future, and how the cancer affects his best friend (Seth Rogen), his longtime girlfriend Rachael, a fake person played credibly by Bryce Dallas Howard, and his mother (Angelica Huston), and his futile and frustrating therapy sessions with a 24-year-old medical doctor (Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick).

Inspired by the true story of comedy writer Will Reiser (a friend of Rogen's), 50/50 is intelligently written by Reiser himself and effectively performed by its talented cast, portraying a sensitive subject matter such as cancer and death with care, compassion and inoffensive humor.

A good movie does not spell out its story; rather, it should naturally unfold before your eyes. In 50/50, directed by Jonathan Levine, you don't see things in plain view, you notice them beyond the surface. You feel the emotions behind moments of silence, you catch real feelings behind masks and pretenses, and you understand what is said between the lines. You feel whether a touch is awkward or fake or genuine. This subtle and indirect approach to an emotionally stirring story always hits you stronger than straightforward expressions, and 50/50 did a very good job of it.

Gordon-Levitt carries his role with depth and naturalness, earning your sympathy despite his character's detachment towards his smothering and worried mother. Rogen, on the other hand, delivers much of the film's comedy. Give Seth Rogen witty lines, and it always works a hundred percent. In this film, not only will he crack you up, he will also break your heart.

50/50 will give you scene after scene of unexpected laughter and tear-inducing moments. This will go down as one of the most memorable and heart-rending tales of love, friendship, and the very real and scary prospect of losing someone.

4.5/5 stars

Trailer