Palooza Presents "The 99 Films of 2011"

[Buzzman]

Thought the end joke/laughter part of Source Code was brilliant. In the minority, but I liked the movie alot more than Inception which people seem to compare it to.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

29. Win Win
Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Melanie Lynskey, Burt Young

Director -
Thomas McCarthy
Writer(s) -
Thomas McCarthy
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 94%
Metacritic Score - 75/100
Viewed - HBO
Again, another underrated Paul Giamatti movie is on the list. This is one more focused, rewarding, heartfelt, genuine and appealing than Barney's Version. Giamatti plays a struggling lawyer and coach of the local wrestling team. In an effort to help support his family, he takes guardianship of an elderly man and an odd chain of events leaves the man's grandson with Giamatti and his wife, played by Amy Ryan. The kid's mom is a selfish bitch and he's an excellent wrestler. Giamatti along with his friends and family, embrace and support the boy's talent. Paul Giamatti's Mike is much like most of his characters - he's an everyman who is trying to make ends meet, keep everyone happy and keep himself and his integrity in tact. Mike is flawed, but all of his faults are made up for by his supporting wife. Amy Ryan plays as the film's moral center, exceeding most "wife conventions" we see in films based mostly around men. Amy Ryan's character is Mike's conscious and partner in crime. The love between them is genuine and it adds a to your support for them. Bobby Cannavale steals every scene he is in as Giamatti's hyper, overzealous friend. The chemistry between Giamatti and Cannavale is amazing, the two genuinely seem like the best of friends; Giamatti is the only one who can talk any sense into Cannavale and Cannavale presents the truth to Giamatti no matter what. Writer/Director Thomas McCarthy has yet another indie darling on his hands here, but unlike The Station Agent or The Visitor, this movie was overlooked by those in any form of power, leaving Win Win with no type of awards love. This is not just your run of the mill family indie dramedy, it's got heart and some balls, too.
Grade - B+

[Palooza]

Source Code is good, but not Inception good.

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

28. Rampart
Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Cynthia Nixon, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Ned Beatty, Robin Wright, Ice Cube, Brie Larson

Director -
Oren Moverman
Writer(s) -
James Ellroy, Oren Moverman
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 76%
Metacritic Score - 70/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
Dave Brown is somebody that everyone should hate. Cops, crooks, politicians, women, journalists, bums, black people, whatever, they should all hate Dave Brown. He is a piece of shit, narcissistic, crooked cop who does whatever he wants to uphold his version of the law. They don't call him "Date Rape" Dave for nothing. This is all on paper, mind you. Then they decided to cast Woody Harrelson, who is one of the few people in Hollywood who can pull of charismatic psychopath with ease. This role is perfectly suited for Woody and he doesn't disappoint. I hated Dave Brown, but I wasn't mad at him. He kept doing these awful things and I was on his side, which is a really hard thing to portray with such a realistically shot movie like this. Oren Moverman is the guy behind Harrelson's Oscar nominated role in The Messenger from a few years back. This film has the same gritty, personal feel to it like The Messenger and you can tell this is the style that will follow Moverman throughout his career. The script is co-written by Moverman with the king of L.A. cops and crime, James Ellroy, the mind behind the source material for L.A. Confidential. It has all the cop elements of an Ellroy story with Moverman's style and Woody Harrelson's phenomenal acting. The pacing and editing in general can be annoying at some points, it jumps around a lot and makes the viewer make conclusions on their own, which is a problem for most movie-goers, but not for me. I definitely could have used more Robin Wright/Ben Foster, too and less Cynthia Nixon/Anne Heche/Sigourney Weaver. I would definitely say this is not the type of movie most people wanna see, it shows the evil side of the law with no genuine repercussions in a disgusting, gritty manner.
Grade - B+

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

27. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Clemence Posey, Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Warwick Davis, Domhall Gleeson, Evanna Lynch, Kelly Macdonald, Jason Issacs, Tom Felton, Helen McCrory, Ciaran Hinds, Jim Broadbent, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman, Matthew Lewis, Devon Murray, Jessie Cave, Afshan Azad, Bonnie Wright

Director -
David Yates
Writer(s) -
Steve Kloves
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 96%
Metacritic Score - 87/100
Viewed - In theaters
I don't really need to explain this. The Harry Potter movies are really good and every young adult novel series will look up to these movies until the end of time. This movie had a lot to live up to, the end of such a long series always has high expectations and this did not disappoint. In the world of sequels for the sake of sequels, this franchise had the benefit of some of the most popular source material that was always intended to tell a long narrative. I cannot commend everyone involved in this enough for their impressive work making the end of something great feel so much more than just the end. They've taken something that could definitely wind up being ridiculous or anti-climatic or repetitious and they make it feel like home. You've followed these characters as they grew up and now they've finally matured into what they were supposed to become and it's amazing. If you're a fan or have kids who are, go see this. If you're not, stop being so stubborn, these are some good movies. Also, Emma Watson is one of the most beautiful women on the planet. I love her.
Grade - B+

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

26. Margin Call
Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Penn Badgley, Mary McDonnell

Director -
JC Chandor
Writer(s) -
JC Chandor
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 89%
Metacritic Score - 76/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
Margin Call benefits from a great script and the actors performances. The plot is much more confined, which gives you a catastrophic uneasiness, even though if you're not a dumbass, you should already know what happens. It's not so much about the financial crisis as it is about how the short period of time with people who helped create it try to combat what they've done. In essence, everyone is a villain; there are just some you can sympathize with better than others and some you understand the ruthlessness that helped build and will now destroy what was created. Zachary Quinto steps out of the shadow of Spock and Sylar and does a really surprising job of carrying the film at it's core. After the company fires Quinto's boss and mentor (Stanley Tucci), he passes along a flash drive of something he needs finished. Quinto stays up all night and figures out something awful is about to happen and so we follow him and his buddy (Penn Badgley) as they go up the food chain to their boss (Paul Bettany) to his boss (Kevin Spacey) o his boss (Simon Baker) to the CEO (Jeremy Irons). The irony that is sprinkled throughout is that the further up the food chain you go, the less they know about the details and more they are concerned with saving themselves. Irons does what he does best, oozing evil and terrifying the shit out of me. Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci are the easiest to relate to and sympathize with aside from Quinto. Paul Bettany's character is a smart, selfish, but loyal guy who seems to be working his way down the path that got the ones making the decisions where they are. If none of this would have happened for another decade, Bettany's character would be on crisis control with Irons, not Baker, who is seemingly the most incompetent of the group. Demi Moore is pretty useless and annoying until the end, where she, SPOILER ALERT, is cast as a scapegoat.
Grade - B+

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

25. Super 8
Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Gabriel Basso, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Richard T. Jones, David Gallagher

Director -
J.J. Abrams
Writer(s) -
J.J. Abrams
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 82%
Metacritic Score - 72/100
Viewed - In theaters
Aside from Lost and Mission:Impossible 3, I can't say I'm too much of a J.J. Abrams fan. I wasn't a die hard Lost fan, but I also did not want to kill myself after it all ended. However, when I began to hear about this movie, I got pretty excited. Nobody is wrong when they tell you this has a Goonies feel to it, which was probably my favorite movie growing up. The movie is an homage to adventure movies like that plus Spielberg's early alien movies all the while showcasing the young ambitions of future filmmakers. All the correct portions of that formula exists - the young protagonists, forbidden love, distant family members, evil military personnel and aliens. Abrams does a good job of introducing these characters, entertaining you with them so to keep your patience for the "catastrophic event" that unleashes the film's main plot. When the train crash does finally happen, I was blown away. It was unbelievably well done. Even though I knew nothing would happen to these kids during this, only in the aftermath, I was concerned for all of their safety. As much as I hate child actors and their inability to pull off any real emotion, I was pleasantly surprised. The fat kid was annoying, but he was perfect in his role as the "director" of the movie and even though he said "mint" too many times, I enjoyed his comic relief. Joel Courtney could have easily fell on his face playing Joe, the main kid, but he didn't and that role definitely would have killed the movie if he didn't pull it off. I'm just going to say this - I can't believe Elle Fanning is only 14 years old; she is adorable. When the time comes, I want to see her and Chloe Moretz make out. Friday Night Lights' Coach Taylor is competent in his role, but he isn't asked to do much. When it comes down it it, this is about the kids and they do a fantastic job leading the way to an adventure that I did not expect to be so awesome.
Grade - B+

[dell71]

I'm probably alone on an island here, but I hated Source Code. So repetitive and boring because I honestly figured out who the killer was on his first or second trip back to the train. It was the only person that actually made sense. The rest of the movie I was just waiting on the hero to catch on. Then the end of the movie broke all of its own rules just to be romantic so I was too through with it by then. To me, it was a slightly better version of the awful Vantage Point. (Just my $0.02)

[Buzzman]

Did you not like Star Trek reboot?

[dell71]

Did you not like Star Trek reboot?

Liked it, not loved it.

[Palooza]

Liked it, not loved it.

Same thing. I saw it once, I remember thinking it was good but I don't really remember much from the actual movie.

[Palooza]

Front page has been updated. Perhaps more to come.. perhaps not. We'll see...

[Houston]

Harry Potter had what? 7 or 8 back to back movies without a single one that was even close to being bad. That's an amazing accomplishment in itself, even without getting into the specifics. Definitely never been before on that level.

I thought Super 8 did a great job building suspense and fear with the characters in the scenes. Besides the train crash, the bus scene is another instance that comes to mind.

P.S.-Elle>Dakota.

[Palooza]

Harry Potter had what? 7 or 8 back to back movies without a single one that was even close to being bad. That's an amazing accomplishment in itself, even without getting into the specifics. Definitely never been before on that level.

Harry Potter series has had some fantastic consistency with each of their movies, especially since they have such an eclectic array of directors.

I thought Super 8 did a great job building suspense and fear with the characters in the scenes. Besides the train crash, the bus scene is another instance that comes to mind.

Agreed. Totally forgot about the awesome bus scene toward the end. "Bad guys" getting what they deserve via aliens. So righteous.

P.S.-Elle>Dakota.

Definitely. 110%.

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

24. Contagion
Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, John Hawkes, Bryan Cranston, Demetri Martin, Elliot Gould

Director -
Steven Soderberg
Writer(s) -
Scott Z. Burns
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 84%
Metacritic Score - 70/100
Viewed - In theaters
Just like in 2000's Traffic, Steven Soderberg has taken a basic premise - then drugs, now a deadly virus - and put it together in a well-balanced ensemble, creating another Hollywood success for himself. I say Hollywood success instead of simply "success" because of Soderberg's strange indie kick he went on with Bubble and The Girlfriend Experience, to name a couple... Some people say this movie is like Outbreak. I'd agree with them, except I'd be more specific - This movie is like Outbreak, but good. Very good. The ensemble revolves around four central storylines - A wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes back from a business trip sick and he husband (Matt Damon) rushes her to the hospital where she soon dies * barely a spoiler alert and if I could have an aside for one second - there was nothing more rewarding than watching Gwyneth Paltrow die * other people being mysteriously dying too all over the world; the CDC director (Laurence Fishburne) and the rest of his staff are unaware of the gravity of the situation and so Fishburne's Dr. Cheever hires Dr. Erin Meers (Kate Winslet) to investigate the virus in America; WHO employee Dr. Orantes (Marion Cotillard) starts tracking the virus, tracing Beth (Paltrow)'s steps; A conspiracy journalist (Jude Law) who perpetuates the public's overwhelming panic. I already addressed the Paltrow situation, so let's move on to bigger and better things - Jude Law has the most interesting and compelling story, Marion Cotillard is an amazing human being and she can do no wrong, but what fucked me up the most was Kate Winslet's story line. I may have cried. .. You know what you're getting from a Soderberg directed movie in terms of style. I, for one, am a huge supporter of Soderberg and will probably see his ultra-gay new movie "Magic Mike" just to see sweaty guys, what? I mean Soderberg's style, man! This is one of, if not, the best 'end of the world' movies.
Grade - B+