50 Films of 2011: Conclusion

Well, it's all over.

I first started this list to get myself to watch some of the great films I have neglected to see. With the list it forced me to sit down and watch these movies - I knew I would like, if not love, most of them, but for some reason I just never found the time - or never selected these particularly films to check out.

Well, it worked. I was able to watch 50 films that I have been wanting to see, and I did it in a pretty great time frame.

Most of the films were good if not great, but I did manage to have a few less than mediocre films or stinkers.

I liked doing this so much that I have decided this is the perfect way to catch up on many films I have not seen yet. So, I think I am going to make this my new common practice. After each conclusion of a 50 list - I will go back into my list (and get suggestions) for a new 50 list. Which will allow me to catch up on so many films I have missed over the years.

So, here are some of my favorites from the films that I have watched during this original 50 list.

Top 10 Characters

(10) Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford)

Ford stars as Richard Kimble in The Fugitive. He is wrongfully accused of murdering his wife, and accidentally is allowed to escape from custody. During his time on the run he must prove his innocence by finding the man with one arm.

(9) The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall)

On this 50 list I watched both Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. Thanks to characters like Anthony Michael Hall's The Geek, Sixteen Candles blew the other out of the water. He was such a great nerd, but came off with a lot of self-esteem (even if he really didn't have any). His inclusion (along with Long Duk Dong) is one of the many reasons Sixteen Candles is far superior to Pretty in Pink.

(8) Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard)

Again, I feel that The Village takes a lot of heat for being a horrible movie. But, I feel it is just the build up that M. Night Shyamalan's films seem to take ever since Sixth Sense. One of the great performances of the film came from Howard, who portrayed Ivy. She braved the treacherous jungle to go into town and find medication for her boyfriend, all while being blind.

(7) Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)

As I said before, Gyllenhaal has never jumped off of the screen in anything that I have seen him in before. But, as the titular character in Donnie Darko he did just that. A great performance that I feel he really encompassed all around.

(6) The Bride (Uma Thurman)

Tons of great characters in the Kill Bill series, but the best character is probably the main one. Uma Thurman stars as The Bride who spends the entire length of the two films out for revenge for the murder of her fiance, her unborn baby and the attempted murder on herself.

(5) Teardrop (John Hawkes)

Hawkes stars as Teardrop, the uncle of Jennifer Lawrence's Ree in Winter's Bone. Teardrop is sort of the anti-hero's hero. He doesn't want to get involved in his niece's attempt to track down her father, but his paternal instincts end up getting the best of him.

(4) Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick)

Kendrick needs way more roles like this one as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air. For some reason since this film she has been in small roles in Twilight and Scot Pilgrim. She plays perfectly against a much more seasoned actor in George Clooney, but it was her performance that truly stood out to me.

(3) Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson)

Again, Pulp Fiction has a ton of great characters in it, but it was what Samuel L. Jackson did as Jules Winnfield in his little screen time that truly made the film and his character memorable. He is a hitman with a heart that wants out, and his dialogue (mostly with John Travolta's Vincent) that makes the character standout.

(2) Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer)

I liked Tombstone, but I didn't love it. However, Val Kilmer's portrayal as Doc Holliday made me enjoy the film even more than I would have without him. I watched a lot of Kilmer's films during this list, and he is definitely underused as an actor. He really knocked this character out of the park.

(1) Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt)/Col. Hans Landa (Cristoph Waltz)

I just watched Inglourious Basterds, but I don't think that is the reason for marking them the best. They were both so good in their roles that I couldn't really separate them. Waltz is new to me, but he was so evil and likable at the same time in this role. Where Pitt continues to impress as a Jewish-soldier from Tennessee.

Top 10 Films

(10) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

(9) The Fugitive

(8) Frozen River

(7) Walk the Line

(6) Winter's Bone

(5) Up in the Air

(4) The Social Network

(3) Inception

(2) Inglourious Basterds

(1) Pulp Fiction

4/50: Inception

There is nothing like a good mind f@#k in the morning. And that is exactly what Inception was able to do for me.

I had heard the praise. I had read the reviews, but I did my best to stay away from any possible spoilers. I still didn't think it would be as good as it was. It may have even surpassed The Dark Knight as Christopher Nolan's best film.

So, let me try and explain a little bit about what story Nolan is portraying. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are both able to move around inside other people's dreams. They are so good, in fact, that they are even - technically - thieves inside these dreams.

Cobb is a fugitive of the United States and really wants to return home to his two children. He is approached by a business man, Saito (Ken Watanabe), that promises him a safe return home if he can pull off something that is thought to be impossible - inception.

Saito wants his business rivals' son, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) to break apart the company once his father has passed away. The only way to do that is to go deep into Fischer's dreams and plant this idea so that he believes he has thought of it himself.

The way this is done is so crazy and imaginative that I won't even type about it - just go see the movie. I will only mention that the rest of Cobb and Arthur's team consists of Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao). Ariadne is the 'architect' who puts together the world inside the dreams - which again you need to see.

DiCaprio was incredible in his role as Cobb and once again I was blown away by Joseph Gordon-Levitt - he just continues to be one of the best young actors in Hollywood. It is sort of funny how in this film you end up truly rooting for the bad guys - it takes a great story and casting for that to work as well as it did.

Grade:

Tuesday's With Movies: 12/7/10

It's that time of the week again - time for Tuesday's With Movies.

Here is this week's batch:

Inception: I have heard a bunch about this movie, but have managed to still keep all the important information away so that when I finally get to watch it the film wouldn't be ruined. After The Dark Knight I was wondering what Chris Nolan would come up with next, and from what I can tell he continues to roll out the hits. I am very interested in seeing this - due to this odd arrangement Netflix made, however, I have to wait another month until it is able to come. But, I am still excited - I have waited this long, what's another month?

Shrek Forever After: I have loved the Shrek franchise since its beginning. I am sort of torn on this final installment from word of mouth, apparently it isn't as good as people were expecting. Either way, this is a definite watch for me and my family. We all enjoy Shrek and my son will really want to see this. The premise looks pretty good, so I will have to make my own judgments once I finally get to see it.



Restrepo: I have heard good things about this, but for some reason I am not too interested in seeing this and I probably won't. It's a documentary about the war and it is apparently pretty gripping and real. Either way, though, I will not be checking this one out - at least not right away.






That's really all that is coming out for films. Not a large crop.