TOP FILMS of 2011---Plus OSCAR WEEKEND!!!!!

Just in time for OSCAR Weekend, here are my FAVORITE FILMS of 2011!!!!!!!!!

1. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
2. THE HEDGEHOGE
3. CRAZY STUPID LOVE
4. THE DESCENDANTS
5. THE HELP
6. UNDERTOW
7. BRIDESMAIDS
8. MONEYBALL
9. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
10. WAR HORSE

11. MELANCHOLIA
12. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
13. THE SEPARATION
14. JANE EYRE
15. ANONYMOUS
16. SLEEPING BEAUTY
17. THE WHISTLE BLOWER
18. RISE OF PLANET OF THE APES
19. GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
20. WARRIOR

PLUS--HIPSTERS, WEEKEND, MARTHA MARY MAY MARLENE, ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN, and TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY.


ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TOP DOCUMENTARIES COULD BE FIT INTO THE TOP 20 ABOVE--THEY ALL RATED B+ or better--
HOT COFFEE, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON, TOPP TWINS; UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS, LAST MOUNTAIN, PROJECT NIM, BUCK, PAGE ONE; INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES, TABLOID.

VERY PLEASANT SURPRISES----
THE BIG YEAR, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4, ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN, HAPPY HAPPY, CAPTAIN AMERICA, A BETTER LIFE, PAUL

LOVABLE GUILTY PLEASURES----
HUGO, CEDAR RAPIDS, GREEN HORNET, HORRIBLE BOSSES, DETECTIVE DEE AND THE PHANTOM FLAME, RIO, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, NO STRINGS ATTACHED

WEIRD, KINKY AND THOUGHT PROVOKING----
THE SKIN I LIVE IN, SLEEPING BEAUTY, THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE, RANGO, THE FUTURE

BEST EMOTIONAL PUNCHES AND/OR SURPRISES (A PERSONAL FAVORITE CATEGORY)----
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, THE HELP, UNDERTOW, THE HEDGEHOG, WEEKEND, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON, THE SKIN I LIVE IN, BUCK, and, for it's incredibly emotional final scene, WARRIOR.

It's not bad, but the MOST OVERRATED FILM THIS YEAR for me is THE ARTIST. There is a reason why silent films died out in the early 1930's--slow moving, belabored plotting, actors who mug their way through a scene, tiresome, predictable musical scores, etc. And this is the front-runner for many OSCARs this year!?! I've seen dozens of silents over the years, but this one isn't that unique.


WORST of the YEAR---BEASTLY, HOW DO YOU KNOW, RUM DAIRY, ELECTRA LUXX and my most despicable film---COWBOYS AND ALIENS.




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Ready or not, here comes OSCAR--SUNDAY 26 February, 5pm PST.
Here are the main Best Picture nominees, in my order of preference.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Descendants
The Help
Moneyball
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
Hugo
The Artist
The Tree of Life

THE ARTIST seems to be the favorite (see my above comments) but I would love for anything else to win this one--even THE TREE OF LIFE was certainly more challenging and ambitious.

Best Actor seems to come down to a close race between Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and George Clooney (Decendants). I loved Clooney, but Dujardin may ride the Artist crest. I don't feel too bad, because I've loved him in many French films that not many in the US have seen--two films in the OSS-117 series--funny spoofs of 007 films, and recently in A CLINK OF ICE--he's a disturbed writer with mental block, and a cancerous tumor (in human form) who follows him everywhere. He's been great in the past. I'd also love to see the understated Demian Bichir win for the little-seen A BETTER LIFE about a struggling illegal trying to raise his son gang-free, and Gary Oldman and Brad Pit are worthy too, for TINKER TAILOR and MONEYBALL respectively.

Viola Davis seemed to have a lock on Best Actress for THE HELP this summer, but then THE IRON LADY opened, and we now know that Meryl Streep has given just about the BEST performance of her entire and spectacular career!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, IRON LADY is not a very satisfying film, and Davis may have her edge back. Either one is fine with me.
Rooney Mara and Michelle Williams (Dragon Tattoo and Week w/Marilyn, respectively) are both fine, and young and will have other shots. Glenn Close (ALBERT NOBBS) has never won despite 6 nominations. Unfortunately, her film is rather subtle, and she is out preformed by Janet McTeer in a similar supporting role in the same film.

The two Supporting acting categories seems like locks. For the Actors, Kenneth Branagh (MY WEEK W/MARILYN), Jonah Hill (MONEYBALL), Nick Nolte (WARRIOR) and Max Von Sydow (EXTREMELY LOUD...) are all worthy nominees, but you have likable Christopher Plummer from THE SOUND OF MUSIC--oops, I mean BEGINNERS, as the big likely (and over due) winner here. The women have Berenice Bejo (THE ARTIST), Jessica Chastain (who's been in a remarkable 5 films this year alone) for THE HELP, Melissa McCarthy (BRIDESMAIDS) and Janet McTeer (ALBERT NOBBS--see above comments) and they are all quite good. But from it's opening in August, Octavia Spencer has been winning all the awards for her great comic performance in THE HELP.

Since THE ARTIST seems the front runner, Michel Hazanavicius seems sure of the director's nod, but the other nominees also did a very creative job this year: Woody Alen (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS), Terrance Malik (THE TREE OF LIFE), Alexander Payne (THE DESCENDANTS) and Martin Scorsese (HUGO).

I'd love to see Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo win Best original screenplay for BRIDESMAIDS, and also Asghar Farhadi for A SEPARATION, or even Woody Allen for MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, but odds have THE ARTIST winning, for the 2 dozen subtitles put up on the screen for us to read. REALLY?

Best adapted screenplay is a mystery to me. I'd pick Alexander Payne et al for THE DESCENDANTS, but HUGO, MONEYBALL and TINKER TAILOR etc seem also strong. Even IDES OF MARCH (George Clooney) has a shot here.

I loved the Original score for WARHORSE (and TINTIN) (John Williams) and HUGO (Howard Shore)--but both have won several times. THE ARTIST score has been a source of controversy, since a great section of it (towards the ending) is actually lifted from Alfred Hitchcock's film VERTIGO by Bernard Hermann, and I think the rest is dribble. It will probably win nonetheless.

The technical awards will likely be scooped up by the popular HUGO. Only a couple nominated documentaries have screened in Seattle--same for the short subjects, none of which I've seen.

I've only seen 2 of the nominated best foreign language films. A SEPARATION is excellent (see recent blog for review) and would be my guess for the winner, but the Academy seems to love films about the Holocaust, and IN DARKNESS (from Poland) may win that vote, even though 80% of it is filmed in near total darkness. I could not see who was speaking to who, or what was being done in almost all the underground scenes. Add to that an aggressive hand held camera, and I really DISLIKED this film a lot, even though it's heart may have been in the right place. Based on a true story, it tells of hundreds of Jews who survive the war by being hidden and fed by Poles in a small town in the underground sewer system.

If nothing else, you get to ogle the fabulous and/or tacky gowns that are worn down the red carpet. The best part of the Oscar show for me this year may be on Monday, when Joan Rivers and her crew praise or rip to shreds some of the best/worst fashions of the Oscars on FASHION POLICE. Check your local TV listings.