ANOMALY //>

Movies of 2011

The BEST

 10 // Toast
This will no doubt fly by a lot of peoples radars, which is a shame because it's a great little feel good drama. Helena Bonham Carter always adds a little something "extra" to films she's in, i loved her in this.

09 // We Need To Talk About Kevin
Kevin is one fucked up kid, and this movie will no doubt leave feeling ill afterwards. Tilda Swinton was amazing in this, probably one of the best performances of the year.

08 // Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2
A fitting, if slightly short end to a mostly entertaining series. What really sells this finale is the emotional aspect of the story, which much like the book, is quite powerful.

07 // The Woman
Definitely not a film for everyone, but if you can handle the graphic nature of the story, you're in for an intense and dark movie experience.

06 // Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I love that Andy Serkis is causing an uproar in the film industry by bringing up the debate over whether motion cpature is a legitmate form of acting. His work in The Lord of the Rings and King Kong was fantastic, but he really hit his peak this year with 'Apes', he brought a lot of genuine heart to his character, Ceasar. A surprisingly moving film. 

05 // X-Men: First Class
I've loved all the X-men films, but the franchise did need a bit of an adrenaline shot after ther rushed 'X-Men: The Last Stand'. 'First Class' gave the franchise the life it needed. We haven't had a X-Men film this strong since the brilliant X-Men 2 almost a decade ago. 

04 // Black Swan
I know this came out in the U.S. in late 2010, but the rest of the world got it early 2011. It's a dark mind bending experience into madness with Natalie Portman giving the performance of her career. You literally watch a girl lose her mind for 2 hours, you almost feel tired by the end of it all.

03 // 50/50
The mixture of serious drama and comedy was done so perfectly, you'll find yourself laughing and crying at the same time. Joseph Gordon Levitt proves he's still one of the best young actors in Hollywood, Seth Rogen is hilarious, Anna Jendrick is as charming as always, and Angelica Huston was fantastic but sadly underused. I had this film stuck in my head for days afterwards, i loved it.

02 // Jane Eyre
I'm unfamiliar with the book and the previous film adaptations, so i'm not sure how this stands up against them. As a stand alone film though, i thought it was beautifully shot and the chemistry on screen between Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender felt very natural and genuine. It was very romantic, i even cried like a baby in the end *turns red*.

01 // Bridesmaids
It's not common for me to pick a comedy as my #1 film of the year, but this is one of those rare moments. Not only was this my favourite movie of the year, but it's also one of the funniest movies i have ever seen in my life. I haven't laughed this hard non-stop over a movie in a long time. The film doesn't just bring the laughs though, it also addresses some relatable depressing moments in peoples lives, especially around the main character, played brillianty by Kristen Wiig.

Honorable Mentions:
The Help
Wasted On The Young
Martha Marcey May Marlene
Thor

 

 

 

The WORST 

Cowboys & Aliens
Is it just me, or has Steven Spielberg been attaching his name as a producer to some SHOCKING work over the last few years? First the last 2 Transformers movies, and now this mess? You'd think cowboys shooting lasers at aliens would send your imagination wild, but this ended up being a massive bore.

Sucker Punch
Visually it's fantastic, and the soundtrack is great too, the rest however is the biggest clusterfuck mess of ideas i've ever seen. Nothing flows, nothing makes sense, nothing feels like a complete film. The sexy, yet cardboard thin characters didn't help either.

Tree of Life
Congrats to anybody who can sit through this over blown, boring as hell, pretentious mess of a movie. Shots of buildings, people whispering endlessly, and footage from "the best of National Geographic" is all you'll get from this load of self indulgent garbage.

Green Lantern
There were some great comic book films this year, Green Lantern wasn't one of them. Who's idea was it to cast Ryan Rynold's as a serious superhero? the guy cannot do drama, he constantly look like he's trying not to laugh, he has that face in ALL his films. And don't even start me on the mess that was his costume.......glowing green eyes, pouty lip glossed lips, perfect hair, practically naked body suit, he looked like a gay Mardi Gras float character. Awful.