2011 Year in Review

It seems like I say this every year, and I will probably repeat this next year, but 2011 was an insanely good year for all thing entertainment. There were a ton of great films (that I am still catching up on), too many great games, and I even discovered some wonderful new music, mind you some were not originally released this year but I discovered them through other means which were. Now that isn’t to say that everything was great, in fact there was some truly awful films released this year. In fact this was actually a big year for me, I actually was able to declare both my new reigning “favourite film of all time” and also my new worst film I have ever seen, both of which I will get into a bit later.

This year I have decided to post a year in review for the first time, though I do always declare my top 10 films and games through other fields, I decided to expand and present a more expanded look into my best and worst of the past year. For the most part I will keep the reading to a minimum and limit most of my declarations to simple lists, and a small accompanying picture. So below I present the best and worst of my film watching from 2011, as well as some of the best experiences I had in gaming and music. Of course calling the following the “best” and “worst” will be in a top 5 format, and is based purely on my own personal opinions. I must also note that I only include what I watched/played/listened to prior to January 1st 1012...

Top 5 Best Albums of 2011

1-Bastion Original Soundtrack



2-Drive Original Soundtrack



3-Metallica & Lou Reed -"LuLu"



4-Lauri- "New World"



5-Trivium- "In Waves"





Top 5 Best Games of 2011

1-The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim



2-Bastion



3-Dues Ex Human Revolution



4-Dead Space 2



5-Portal 2






Top 3 Best from the Tele in 2011

1-Breaking Bad



2-The Walking Dead



3-Dexter






Top 5 Best Films of 2011

1-Hugo



2- The Artist



3-Drive



4-I Saw the Devil



5-The Ides of March



5-Midnight in Paris





Top 5 Worst Films of 2011

1-Transformers 3



2-Transformers 3 (...it deserves a mention twice)



3-Fast Five



4-Scre4m



5-The Green Hornet





Top 5 Favourite Blu-rays of 2011

1-Taxi Driver (Sony Pictures)


2-The Great Dictator (Criterion)



3-Secret Sunshine (Criterion)



4-The Lion King Platinum Edition (Disney)



5-Citizen Kane Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Warner)




Most Wanted Blu-ray That Didn’t Come Out in 2011

-Titanic


I absolutely love this film, and always have. It eventually recieved a very nice DVD collectors edition, but that just doesn't cut it anymore. Titanic is one of the films I have been wanting the most on Blu-ray since the format released. 2012 seems to be the year that may finally happen. Its the 100th anniversary of the ships tragic sinking, and the film is getting a 3D theatrical re-release. So clearly a nice Special edition should follow, right? I just hope they do it right the first time, don't they dare pull any single disc bare bones release, with a special edition to follow months later. Otherwise...I guess I would be buying it twice...



Best Foreign Language Film of 2011

-I Saw the Devil (South Korea)


Read my full review here


Best Director:

-Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Yeah I know, big shock here. Scorsese took a simple children's story, and crafted into something wonderful, essentially a PSA telling the world that Film preservation, and appreciation of its history is very important. Scorsese like many of you reading this is a big geek, and I love the man so it. Very few are as passionate at what they do than him, and this film shows that. Scorsese also found a way to make the 3D technology, which has been both overused, and under-developed, work brilliantly. I am not a 3D fan usually, but is more films used 3D as a companion to a film and not just an unnecessary gimmick that takes people throwing things at the screen just to remind the audience that their ticket was $5 more for a reason. Perhaps there may be a place for 3D after all?




Best Acting

-Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Drive)

I used to love Malcolm in the Middle, I watched it all the time. The reason? Hal. He made that show, and provided some of the most hysterical moments on Television in the early 2000's. As time passed I kinda forgot about Bryan Cranston, he would pop up in the odd film and would typically received a modest reaction like "Hey, its Hal!"

Fast forward to late 2011, after a couple years of curiosity I decided to watch Breaking Bad. I have never been hooked on a show so fast in my life, I burned through all four seasons in a matter of weeks and suddenly Cranston shines in a whole new light. A complete departure from the hapless father of three boys, Cranston delivered one of the most unforgettable performances I have ever seen throughout those four seasons (especially Season 4). Then I watched Drive. He was only in a supporting role, but constantly battled for show stealing status from co-supporting star Albert Brooks. In 2011 I also watched Cranston make small appearances in The Lincoln Lawyer, and Contagion.



My Favorite Song of 2011

-Setting Sail, Coming Home (Bastion Original Soundtrack)- Darren Kobb

Its a beautiful song that combines two of the main themes into one amazing song, and it captures the atmosphere of Bastion perfectly. Take a listen!


The New Worst Film Ever!

Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon

Not even a slight over exaggeration, I absolutely loath every ounce of this piece of trash that try's to pass as entertainment. When Transformers was released in 2007 I liked it, it did have Michael Bays terrible stamp on it, but it was not the worst. Revenge of the Fallen followed it up in 2009, and was awful. It seemed that the success of the first movie allowed Bay to fully stretch his imagination, which it a bad idea. But again, as bad as it was, it was still just a whatever movie, watched it once, it didn't kill me. I moved on. Finally last summer he went too far with Dark of the Moon. From the absolutely atrocious teaser trailer that exploits one of mankind greatest achievements, I knew we were in for a disaster. And a disaster it was, from the opening moments I hated what was on screen, and as the minutes (which felt like hours) ticked away I grew increasingly bored, frustrated, and angry at what I was watching. I hate action when its overdone, nothing is more boring then 3 hours of constant explosions, slow motion action sequences, pointless base diving, explosions, shoot outs, car chases, and what-the-fuck-else-ever. Action should be used as a means to compliment a story, and when used at the right time can really add a lot to a movie. I guess when something is as terrible as this it doesn't have anything to compliment. The entire cast, which includes some people I really like, were all at there absolute worst. The only thing Bay does worse than action is comedy, he is the worst at really hair pullingly bad one liners.

Transformers 3 was so bad that we didn't even finish, I was fed up and we left with about 40 minutes left. I will never see those 40 minutes if it takes every ounce of my power to avoid it. I have seen a lot of bad movies, even the first two Twilight movies, but nothing is worse than Dark of the Moon. In fact I would rather watch an entire Twilight marathon, followed multiple viewings of Norbit, all while eating glass and drinking piss before ever watching Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon again.



My New Favorite Film Ever!

Hugo

My feeling for Hugo can be easily summed up in just a few short sentences. I have spend many weeks now gushing about this film, and its all in good reason. It may be a bold statement to say this is my favorite film of all time, but I stand by it 100%. Hugo left an enormous impact on me, one I've not felt for 16 years. It may not be the best to many people, but it sure is to me. Scorsese found crafted an absolutely beautiful film, and delivers a wonderfully poignant message about the importance of Film preservation, and the history of the craft he adores so much.


-Jeff Wildman