FilmS of 2011
celluloid dreams 2011 is now behind us and it is time to have a look at the hits and misses of the year gone by. Of all the genres, it was comedy that failed to deliver very much at all in 2011. One stand out was Bridesmaids, which had its predominately female cinema audiences literally rolling in the aisles, and many coming back for a second viewing. The Hangover Part II should have been good but just rehashed ideas from the first and did not raise as many laughs. Big budget does not always make a good film and this year saw no shortage of high-priced turkeys. Honourable mentions in this category go to the feature-length music video Sucker Punch, closely followed by Transformers 3 which was epic in size but minuscule in plot. But the gong for worst action movie has to go to Green Lantern for being one of the most awful super hero adaptations ever made and a truly painful cinema experience. It was not all bad though — we got Thor, which was an enjoyable romp with witty dialogue and impressive effects. There was also the excellent re-imagining of Rise of The Planet of the Apes, the crowd-pleasing finale of Harry Potter and, right at the tail end of the year, Mission
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magazine issue #066 — Jan–Feb 2012
Impossible: Ghost Protocol which is about as exciting as an action movie can get and beats all the previous outings in the franchise. There was no shortage of quality dramas with great performances with the likes of The Ides of March and The Descendants. But it was Moneyball that outshone everything else in the drama category with its sharp script and commanding lead role from Brad Pitt. It was refreshing to see the Australian film industry coming through with some of the year’s best, with Red Dog, the family feel-good hit of the year, out-grossing the likes of Mad Max and The Man from Snowy River at the box office. There was also the brilliantly made, yet deeply disturbing, Snowtown, which portrayed the true story of the infamous grisly murders that occurred in South Australia during the 1990s. It picked up numerous well-deserved awards, including one at Cannes. Oranges & Sunshine was another worthy mention on the home front with an outstanding performance from Hugo Weaving. Movie of the year? Well, for me it has to go to the über cool Drive, starring Ryan Gosling — a unique blend of art house cinema, romance and crime drama with ample
servings of extreme violence. It divided audiences, with one disgruntled patron (in the US) attempting to sue because the movie was not enough like the Fast & Furious franchise?!? So what do we have to look forward to in 2012? Well the first two that come to mind are: The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan’s final chapter in his Batman series; and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, which has high expectations but will no doubt deliver. There is also The Avengers, which will see the grouping of Marvel’s biggest heroes in the hands of director Joss Whedon. On the sci-fi front, fans of the Aliens movies will be eagerly awaiting Ridley Scott’s Prometheus which is tipped as a prequel to Aliens (even though this has not been confirmed or denied by the makers just yet). It does appear to be another journey into deep space for Scott, with leanings toward horror if the teaser trailer is anything to go by. Other films of interest will be one for the family, with Dr Suess’s The Lorax; a demonic possession horror, in the form of The Devil Inside; and 007 gets another outing with Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as Bond and Javier Bardem as his foe. ~Mark Snelson
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