The Viewer's Commentary

A lot of people will say that 2011 was a dull year for film. Unlike previous years, there haven’t been very many huge Oscar-worthy films this year that I, personally can think of. Though The King’s Speech saw its wide release in 2011 (and I even saw it in theatres this past year), it was ultimately a film from 2010 and had, by this year’s Oscars, already won several Oscars and other accolades in the year prior, so it was no longer a contender for this spot.

Of course, 2011 had its share of noteworthy films, such as Moneyball and The Tree of  Life, both fo which I still have yet to see but hear fantastic things about. And there’s Hugo, which is a wonderful family film from Martin Scorsese and my top pick for the year. But 2011 was largely a year of recycling. Sequels aplenty, some great, some good, and some completely awful, with plenty of expected and unexpected revivals of old franchises, many of which were completely unnecessary and, yes, unwanted.  (Yes, I’m thinking of The Smurfs.)

2011 also saw the end of a few eras in film history, as well. The final Harry Potter released this year to high critical acclaim. For the time being, we’ve also gotten what is intended to be the final film in the Transformers trilogy (until Michael Bay decides he wants to have more money and toss in Jason Statham, who has been rumored to be taking over the lead human role for quite a while now). And we also saw Pixar release their first widely derided film ever in the admittedly-watchable-but-ultimately-thoroughly-mediocre Cars 2.

I went to the theaters plenty of times this year. Most of the films I did see were quite good, if at least enjoyable. A couple were quite bad. But there were still plenty of notable films that were released throughout the year that I didn’t see, neither in theatres nor in my own home. Before I tell you what were my least and most favorite of the year, I thought I’d go through the daunting task of a quick rundown of each notable film released in 2011 that I, for one reason or another, for better or for worse, did not see in theatres or get around to watching on home release.

The films below were released within the time span of January through April of 2011. This season is often where many independent films and studios dump films that are experimental in nature, knowingly bad in quality, or are just expected to perform very poorly during the busy summer and fall seasons. Sometimes a few Oscar-bait films trickle in if the fall season prior is too crowded, as well. This season of film is also increasingly where studios attempt to get the summer blockbuster season started, as with this year’s Scream 4, Fast Five, and Prom.

Country Strong (January 7) – Starring Gwyneth Paltrow as a fake country singer struggling to revive her dying career and real country singer Tim McGraw as her husband and manager, the film struck me as an amalgamation of personification of all the country divas and alcoholics thrown together into a tale of triumph. It’s not the worst premise for a film, I guess, but nothing, not even Paltrow’s singing, which sounded much stronger elsewhere, could convince me to see this film.

The Dilemma (January 14) – Notable if only for the fact that the film was directed by the once-reliable director Ron Howard and co-produced with his Arrested Development co-creator Brian Grazer, this film about one friend (co-producer Vince Vaughn) dealing with how to tell the other friend (Kevin James) that his wife (Winona Ryder) was cheating on him with another man (Channing Tatum) while they work on their presentation together simply didn’t make a blip on my radar and has seemingly vanished into non-existence in the public consciousness as well.

No Strings Attached (January 21) – The first but not the last film of 2011 about a couple (Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher) who aren’t actually a couple who decide to have unpassionate-but-unknowingly-passionate casual sex with each other just seemed to have too stupid a premise for me to care about. Notable only for the fact that 2011 saw Black Swan co-stars Portman and Mila Kunis starred in two films with similar premises, the other being the Justin Timberlake-co-starring Friends with Benefits, which, oddly enough, was also the name of the screenplay No Strings Attached was adapted from!

The Roommate (February 4) – I live near and spent a good portion of 2011 on a large university campus, not going to school, but to a church I went to during school and continued to go to throughout the majority of the year. As such, this film’s poster was plastered all over the campus and I was continually reminded of this Single White Female pseudo-remake’s existence. And I still didn’t really care to see it.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (February 11) – Look, I’m sure Justin’s a nice guy. I’m sure he’s got some talent that I’m just not seeing. At least, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And while this documentary about this young pop star was relatively well received, I cannot say that I felt the slightest bit inclined to believe that the kid deserved a biographical documentary of this magnitude. I mean, sure, the studio got money, but how long before the inevitable sequel, detailing the star’s troubles with drugs, alcohol, and paternity tests makes this documentary look like nothing more than publicity for a troubled youth waiting to gain his independence and “come into his own”?

Cedar Rapids (February 11) – A presumably quirky R-rated comedy about a sheltered insurance salesman who begins to unleash his inner hedonist while on a business  trip, the script was apparently in development hell since 2009 before being made into this Ed Helms vehicle. The Office and Hangover co-star is great at playing nervous characters like this, but, as we are currently learning on season 8 of The Office, a little bit of this goes a long way. However, the film was generally well liked and may show up in one of my future reviews.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (February 18) – Um, did we need this? Seriously? The film currently holds a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and, as the second sequel to an already awful initial film, this was obviously just meant to pander to Martin Lawrence fans, of which I am not one.

I Am Number Four (February 18) – More like I Am Not Interested, am I right? Based on the novel by “Pittacus Lore” (collective pseudonym for authors James Frey and Jobie Hughes), the film is about a special alien child (Alex Pettyfer) with special powers who grows up on Earth after an evil alien race invades his homeworld and is sought after by the alien race on his new homeworld. The film has been accused of trying to cash in on the Harry Potter craze, though it looks as though the film failed to do so.

Unknown (February 18) – I like Liam Neeson, but he often stars in films that I just can’t seem to gain any interest in. I didn’t see Taken, and I didn’t see this similar-looking psychological thriller, either. It did well at the box office, but critical reception was mediocre, at best, and I ultimately decided to just save my time and money

Drive Angry 3D (February 25) – I left off Nicolas Cage’s other 2011 film, Season of the Witch simply because I didn’t even remember it existed until I started writing this list. The only reason I remember this one is because, if only briefly, I get it confused with the Ryan Gosling-starring Drive every now and then. The film’s poster, however, looks a lot like Cage’s other apparently-awful-but-still-unseen-by-me film Next. Also Bangkok Dangerous. Cage must really like doing B-movie crap between his occasionally well received stuff. Good for him, I guess, but I want more Matchstick Men Nicolas Cage.

Hall Pass (February 25) – 2011: The Year of Gratuitous Casual Sex. Here, two men (Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis) are given “hall passes” by their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) for one week to have sex with any other woman of their choice when both men begin to grow weary of their married lives. The film sounds like the infamous Farrelly Brothers (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) attempting to make a grab at a Judd Apatow-esque raunchy-but-moralizing film, but, again, it looked too stupid to bother with.

Beastly (March 4) – Here we have a studio grab at The Twilight Saga crowd via the current “it” thing, fairy tales. An adaptation of the 2007 story of the same name, itself a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, this Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, and Mary-Kate Olsen-starring film was very easy to ignore.

Take Me Home Tonight (March 4) – Films named after songs are generally bad news, and so I pretty much avoided Take Me Home Tonight like the plague. Admittedly, I don’t really know much about the plot aside from the fact that it’s set in the late 80s and stars Topher Grace as a guy who presumably has a crush on a girl and attempts to get to her with funny and then dramatic results. … Honestly, I couldn’t care less.

Mars Needs Moms (March 11) – Ah, motion capture. A medium that has great potential in the right hands but, in the wrong hands, leads to a terrible movie. Seriously, Zemeckis (co-producer) really needs to find a new hobby. That being said, the story about a kid who sasses back to his mom and ultimately realizes his mistake when she is abducted by Martians is just crazy enough to work. Too bad the adaptation of the book by Berkeley Breathed (interesting name) tanked critically and financially. Maybe one day I’ll give it a try, though…

Red Riding Hood (March 11) – Remember what I said with Beastly up there? Same thing applies here, only with the actual director of a Twilight film. Just think, in 2011 viewers were able to go see one awful modern interpretation of a fairy tale one week and go see a completely different one the next week. Red Riding Hood had a better chance of being something more substantial than Beastly, if only because it promised to be more stylized nature, but, well, yeah, it didn’t matter.

Limitless (March 18) – Know why I didn’t see this movie? Because I thought it would suck. I don’t know why, but perhaps it was because it starred Bradley Cooper, a completely likable actor who nonetheless struck me as Matthew McConaughey 2.0, and I really do not like Matthew McConaughey. However, this film about a miracle drug that enhances your mind and body but makes you horribly dependent on it is apparently quite decent and is currently sitting on my Netflix queue at this moment.

The Lincoln Lawyer (March 18) – How funny it is that seemingly vapid, “mimbo” stars like Matthew McConaughey and his successor would both have favorably reviewed films on the same day? If I were to write off Limitless based solely on its star’s proximity in my mind to McConaughey, what can I be expected to do but write off a courtroom drama starring the original model? Apparently I need to do some rethinking.

Win Win (March 18) – Touching stories about sports and adult-child relationships are hit-or-miss in quality, even in the hallowed independent film world (see my review of Hesher for an example of a failed indie attempt). Throw in the presence of Paul Giamatti, a reliable but increasingly cliche choice for a starring actor, and you have a film that will probably be good, but ultimately isn’t a priority. Not a film I’d see in theatres, I fully intended to rent this several times throughout the year, stubbornly waiting for the Blu-Ray copy to show up at Blockbuster, which ultimately didn’t. And so it didn’t end up coming home with me. Yes, I am an idiot. I will watch this, though!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (March 25) – Plenty of kids films go on to be transcendent classics. I didn’t know that the original film was popular enough to warrant a sequel, but here we have it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if this results in another one some time in the near future, but, though I like a good kid-centered film every now and then, as with the first and second, don’t expect me to put this on my top priorities.

Sucker Punch (March 25) – A passion project for Zack Snyder, director of the underrated Watchmen and upcoming Superman: Man of Steel, it has widely been considered one of the worst films of 2011, even as early on as March, the film’s reputation has only resulted in the up-and-coming director’s reputation as a promising new force in filmmaking being tarnished, some would say permanently. An orgy of special effects, schoolboy fantasies about girls in schoolgirl costumes fighting monsters and Nazis, and dark imagery, most people just didn’t seem to get it. The visuals looks spectacular in the trailers, I’d say, which makes me feel guilty, as I am somewhat shocked at how morbidly more inclined I am to see it now than I was when it was still the promising film everyone had hoped it would be, and yet I felt guilty for ever having an interest once it came out to rent.

Hobo with a Shotgun (March 25) – Just look at that title. Intentionally created to resemble a grindhouse Z-grade film and, in fact, initially debuting as a trailer in the Robert Rodriguez-Quentin Tarantino duet Grindhouse between the two directors’ more full-length films, the film can pretty much be summed up by its title: a hobo vigilante goes on a crime-fighting spree with his shotgun. The film got a limited release in Canada and was also released just days later on April 1 in America via various on-demand video services. I really need to look into this film.

Hop (April 1) – Russell Brand isn’t my most favorite of actors. In fact, I find him somewhat repugnant. Putting his voice into an admittedly very cute CG-animated, drumming and jellybean-pooping rabbit helps a bit, I guess, but nothing could convince me to shell out the money to go see this film in theatres. Looking at the credits, David Hasselhoff and Hugh Hefner show up in cameos as themselves, so that hopefully gives you about the impression I got regarding this film.

Insidious (April 1) – A boy falls into a mysterious coma and becomes a vessel for ghosts, much to his parents’ (Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne) dismay. Sounds like a rather standard horror film, but not only is Insidious the most profitable film of 2011 from a perspective of cost vs. gross, the film has actually achieved actual critical accolades. While I was doing my Scary Movie Month thing a while back, this film was definitely on my radar, but other things got in the way, and I never got around to this or several other films before I got burned out on horror.

Super (April 1) – Much like Kick-Ass before it, Super (not to be confused with Super 8) was a realistic look at superheroes in a realistic society and just how insane the sort of people would have to be should they actually choose this lifestyle. Unlike Kick-Ass, this Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page-starring film about two nutcases who go vigilante on society looks to lack the sincerity and optimism of the previous film, with the red band previews for Super showing Wilson’s character taking a metal pipe to some rude line cutters, completely unabashed… so to speak. Mean-spirited comedy isn’t really my cup of tea, but the absurd nature of the film and its oddball take on a beloved genre has me interested… somewhat.

Image via Movie Muse

Arthur (April 8) – I have no affection for this Dudley Moore franchise, but that’s only because I had only seen a portion of the original film when I was a very young child, if I’m even remembering it correctly. Given my aforementioned distaste for Russell Brand, you can guess my reaction to this modern day revival of the beloved English film franchise starring said actor. Yes, a resounding “Meh.” Given its poor reception, I doubt I’ll be seeing it any time soon.

Soul Surfer (April 8) – Inspirational films often wind up having the antithetical reaction in me and turn me into a cynic. I’m even more so inclined to cynicism when confronted with inspirational sports films that ever so gently borrow from real life events enough to say they are based on them. Soul Surfer of course was one of these films, though audiences seemed to like it more than critics, though their urging for me to watch it, mostly from other Christians telling me how inspirational it is that the girl clung to her Christian faith even after she lost her arm in a shark attack, has led to me having a sort of mini-backlash against the film. I’ll get to it eventually, though.

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family (April 22) – I hate Tyler Perry. Not necessarily the man himself, but the man as a director is awful. I say this all despite the fact that the most I’ve seen of any of his films was a very large chunk of Diary of a Mad Black Woman on TBS, back when I had cable. The man is a male Oprah, only less skilled at what he does. I do not understand audiences’ reaction to his films. Whenever I try to give anything he does a try, there is an automatic repulsive reaction to it in me. Cliche after tired cliche after familiar cliche, flavored with a thick layer of  slapstick and cheese. I’ll admit to not getting it, but I’ll also admit to not wanting to endure much more of him to figure it out, either.

Water for Elephants (April 22) – I’m not the target audience for this, I know. I’m more than willing to give a good romance film its due, even in spite of its stars. This film’s are Twilight star Robert Pattinson and the 21st century’s Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, coupled together in a move that the studio execs probably thought was the smartest casting decision that would be released all year. I will likely watch this some time in the future, likely at my mom’s behest, but, until then, I feel zero guilt in having not seen this filmed romance novel that is more notable for the abuse of an elephant by her handlers prior to the actual filming than it was for being good.

Fast Five (April 29) – Talk about a surprise. I didn’t care for the first two films in the Fast and the Furious series, skipped the divisive third film, Tokyo Drift, and mostly just balked at the stupid title of the fourth film, Fast & Furious, which sounded like an attempt to make a hipper remake of the first film by simply dropping articles from the title than it did the fourth film in that series. You would forgive me for thinking the same thing about Fast Five, directed by the latter two films’ director Justin Lin. Apparently what I missed out on, however, was a skillfully crafted action film that critics and audiences actually agreed was “totally awesome.” I really should have seen it on the big screen, but I’ll have to settle for Blu-Ray now, I guess. … I don’t have to watch the last two, first, do I?

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (April 29) – The first film in this series looked loud, ugly, and obnoxious. The second film? Same thing, bigger cast (albeit with Hayden Panettiere replacing Anne Hathaway in the lead role). I can’t say that anything about this sequel to a film I presumed had been forgotten made me want to watch it, and its 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes vindicates my feelings. It’s as if the filmmakers still think that Shrek‘s irreverent fairy tale sensibilities are the most groundbreaking thing ever, and even that series seemingly learned to move on this year with the well-received spin-off, Puss in Boots.

Prom (April 29) – Disney really is aiming to keep the older teen market these days. The previews for this film looked like they were trying to sell it to older kids with more discerning tastes in artistic mediums, but for those who look for them, there were signs that this film was going to be terrible. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these young stars turns out a career-defining performance sometime soon, but the trailers for this film looked like a more grown-up, high budget version of a Disney Channel Original Movie trying to ape a John Hughes film. Also, the trailers used that awful Katy Perry song, “Firework.” That was a big negative.

Part 2: May – September, 2011 >> 

Part 3: October – December, 2011 >>

(List and release dates compiled via Wikipedia, “2011 in Film,” which, while not the most reliable source, was the easiest way to compile this list.)