2011 IN REVIEW PART THREE: THE DISAPPOINTMENTS, THE OVER-RATED AND THE FILMS I HATED!

And now it is time!!

Yes, dear readers, I have arrived at my annual tradition of giving one last, pounding kick to the films that let me down during the past year. If there is a constant theme, it just may be that these are a collection of films that never went the extra mile, never exited any sense of sanctuary to create movie experiences that would be truly unique and unforgettable. Nope. These were the time wasters, the impersonal and the poorly conceived and executed. The gloves are off and I'm ready to rumble!!!!!

As always, these are solely my opinions and not designed to offend anyone's personal tastes. Full reviews for all of the following films are on this site so let me know if you'd like to read one in its entirety.

THE DISAPPOINTMENTS

“CONTAGION” Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Ever since his spectacularly horrible creative stumble with “Ocean’s Twelve,” a film I hated so much that I felt it was the very worst film of 2004, Steven Soderbergh has never really regained his cinematic feet in my eyes. “Contagion,” the well reviewed global thriller about a terrifying pandemic, was not a bad film and it even had its good points. What I appreciated most about the film was that is was essentially a 1970s styled disaster film played to an exceedingly more intelligent and even scientific degree. The problem was that Soderbergh was all too aware of that quality and that level of self-congratulatory smugness upended the film as a whole leaving me with something that was extremely underwhelming, uninvolving and sadly unemotional, especially considering the subject matter. Also, a major problem I had with this film was that it suffered from Soderbergh’s reliance and (again) self-congratulatory adoration upon an “all-star cast” which was more than a little distracting. Despite strong performances by everyone, Marion Cottilard and Jude Law’s roles were completely superfluous and honestly, was it really necessary that Gwyneth Paltrow was cast as Matt Damon’s wife, as opposed to an unknown actress, when she dies within the very first few minutes of the film?

“COWBOYS AND ALIENS” Directed by Jon Favreau
The title? Outstanding!! The first trailer? Also outstanding!! One of the most anticipated films of the year became one of the year’s biggest disappointments by a long shot and it was just so sad as the potential was there to create something truly special. Again, it is not a bad film and it does have its good points from the performances, special effects, period set design and overall visual sheen. But if you are going to bother to title your film with a moniker as out of the box as this one, then I feel that the filmmakers were obligated to create a film that lived up to that title. Unfortunately, after some opening razzle dazzle, “Cowboys and Aliens” settled into the exact same, tired, predictable summer movie rhythms that we have all seen for the last 15-20 years.

THE OVER-RATED

“DRIVE” Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
I liked this movie. I really did. But I have to also tell you that I have barely given the film even one thought ever since I saw it this past September. In fact, the only time I have really thought about this movie has been during the previous month when film critics were listing their favorite films of the year and “Drive” found its place upon one Top Ten list after another. Now, to each their own when it comes to opinions of course. First of all, there was nothing Oscar worthy about Albert Brooks’ performance as a ruthless gangster. Sorry, but the novelty of playing against type is not enough to receive an award. Secondly, I found “Drive” to be too in love with its own visual aesthetics that it even crossed the line of good taste. The film contains not one but two sequences of graphic violence so extreme that it felt obvious that Refn cared more about how a woman’s head, splattered by a shotgun blast, would look against the décor of a shabby motel room than actual storytelling. And finally, this dark thriller about a reticent Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for all manner of crooks and thieves (very well played by Ryan Gosling) was nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing more than an homage to the archetypal characters and situations from films by Sergio Leone, Walter Hill and mostly, film noirs from the 1980s, complete with a pulsating electronic music score. Now this would be all well and good if Refn bothered to insert any personality or even humanity into the proceedings. Something that would make the film stand on its own cinematic feet. I said it last fall and I’ll say it again at this time: If Director Michael Mann had never made a film, then “Drive” would not exist. Period.

“MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE” Directed by Sean Durkin
In my recent posting that compiled my initial reactions to the Oscar nominations, I remarked that I was saddened that Elizabeth Olsen was not nominated for Best Actress with her intense and layered debut performance in this rustic psychological thriller about a young woman’s; attempts to regain her psyche after escaping a cult. But, unfortunately, I exited this film feeling that for all of the hand-wringing, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” was an exercise in self-congratulatory ambiguity and not much more, therefore making the end result feel almost pointless.

“WIN WIN” Directed by Tom McCarthy
This film is also not a bad one by any means but for my sensibilities, I felt this film was not nearly as funny, perceptive, insightful, or as honest as it, and many, many critics, thought that it was. Paul Giamatti stars as Mike Flaherty, a struggling New Jersey attorney who grows so financially desperate that he becomes the legal guardian for a wealthy, yet Alzheimer’s disease ridden client solely to pocket a monthly fee of $1500. When the client’s troubled, runaway grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) arrives in town, Mike takes the boy in to live with him and his own family. When Mike discovers that Kyle is in fact a star wrestler, Mike utilizes his athletic skills to transform the perpetually losing team he coaches into all-star winners. “Win Win” is a cultural commentary about the financial strains faced by the middle class plus also existing as a wider examination of modern day morals and ethics. What disappointed me was that this provocative storyline was told with a surprising lack of ambition and fearlessness. The most questionable aspects of Paul Giamatti’s character are simply waved away because it seemed as if McCarthy was too focused on getting the audience to like him, always a bad move. And worst of all, the final act and film’s resolution just wrapped everything up much, much to tidily and unconvincingly.

And now, dear readers, here they are…

THE FILMS I HATED IN 2011

“THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU” Directed by George Nolfi
Sometimes movies are just stupid. There’s no reason to become wrathful against them. There’s no reason to allow a film like that to ruin your day. It was a decent idea executed poorly. “The Adjustment Bureau” is that kind of movie. Now, this one really did have a strong idea at its core, not a surprise as this was an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. Unfortunately, “Blade Runner” it ain’t!! Matt Damon shares excellent chemistry with Emily Blunt in this existential thriller that is about nothing less than the battle for free will against pre-determined destiny as Damon attempts to outsmart the Brooks Brothers suit and fedora wearing “watchers” who oversee and control the personal destinies of every living being for “The Chairman.” Sadly, the film came off as more than a little ridiculous as the story’s rules seemed to change at will, nothing really made any collective sense and the “watchers” themselves, beings who proudly state that they have influenced every human decision known since the beginning of time, make one foolish error after error, one of which was simply oversleeping. It was difficult to feel any storytelling tension and urgency when the antagonists are nothing more than overworked, understaffed members of middle management. But hey, at least it tried. Too bad it failed.

“BAD TEACHER” Directed by Jake Kasdan
The more I think about this movie, the more I hated it and I realize that my original “two star’ review may have been more than a little generous. I think it was after seeing the terrific “Young Adult,” that whatever feelings I had about this movie began to sour even more. Frankly, don’t waste my time with a so-called edgy comedy proclaiming that it is going to be about an extremely unlikable character when it doesn’t and never intended, to have the guts to follow through with the concept. Cameron Diaz stars as a surly and unmotivated middle school teacher and you know, that’s pretty much the movie right there. Unfortunately, Jake Kasdan, who should know better as he has made several much better, funnier films, has created an increasingly lazy, trite and safe comedy when it should have been dangerous, risky and unafraid to alienate some viewers. Not every comedy needs to slide down the middle of mass appeal. It should be unafraid to break some rules and take some creative risks. Dirty words, the suggestion of nasty sex and loud flatulent jokes, in and of themselves are just not enough and that is entirely what this film had.

“CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE” Directed by Glenn Ficara and John Requa
I have to take out the big clubs for this one. I would have just placed this film into my “Over-Rated” category if I had liked the film more but I’m sorry, and without any intended disrespect to those of you who did love this film, I truly thought that this latest entry in the struggling romantic comedy genre missed the mark by a wide mile. Steve Carell (who gave the film's best and most touching performance) and Julianne Moore portray a couple on the verge of divorce. Their teenage son is helplessly in love with the family babysitter who happens to be nursing a secret crush on Carell. Ryan Gosling plays a smooth operator at the neighborhood bar who takes the distraught Carell under his wing for a course in male self-improvement and Emma Stone also appears as a law student traveling through her own romantic disappointments and eventually shacks up with Gosling, forcing him to re-evaluate his own romantic thoughts and desires. So far, so good but the problem was that the film offered complex emotional situations and let them all squander in horribly contrived sitcom situations and resolutions. Please do not even try to defend the sad sequence involving a nude photo of the babysitter combined with her parent’s disdain for Carell’s character—the stupidity, inherent in the film’s title, was at a peak during this point. Furthermore, dear readers, was there ever any realistic and viable reason for Gosling and Carell to become friends other than to satisfy a late film plot point? Marissa Tomei was utterly wasted in an ill-conceived role as well. Even the teen romance between the son and the babysitter felt so false and concluded with a completely unrealistic and unromantic wish fulfillment fantasy that bordered on an adult male driven fantasy. Every time the film seemed to veer towards a moment of truth, like in a school hallway scene between Carell and Moore or even the film’s best sequence, a night long courtship between Gosling and Stone, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” always found a way to take the easy way out when it needed to be funnier and more emotionally honest and aching. Just because a modern day romantic comedy walks a taste on the side of being a tad more realistic than the garbage that is usually released, it does not make it a great film. And “Crazy, Stupid, Love” wasn’t even a good film.

“THE GREEN HORNET” Directed by Michel Gondry
Oh boy…the limitations of Seth Rogen became abundantly clear with this terrible comic book film which was (again!) conceived and performed without one stitch of creative ingenuity and risk. It is a one-joke movie, which I will explain so as to save you the trouble of seeing this film and wasting your time: sidekick Kato is the brains and brawn of the two man team. That’s it. Nothing more to see here. So, let’s just move along, shall we?

“THE HELP” Directed by Tate Taylor
I have to take out even bigger clubs to go against this film, one of 2011’s blockbusters and now Oscar nominated piece. Dear readers, I have to politely yet vehemently disagree with all of you who were deeply affected by "The Help" when I say that for me and my sensibilities, this was by far one of the worst films I saw in 2011. Aside from some basic and poorly executed storytelling and narrative issues I hated that “The Help” was yet another story about the African-American experience as seen through Caucasian eyes. Mostly I don't think the film, which is set in the south at the dawn of the Civil Rights era, was ANYWHERE near as daring, provocative, courageous, or as fearlessly UNCOMFORTABLE as it had to be. The maids were all noble, silent sufferers waiting for someone, anyone to give them an outlet for their voices and experiences to be heard. Most of the white characters were cartoon racists designed to appeal to the contempt of any good natured person who happened to be watching the movie. Throughout and sadly, there were no three dimensional human beings anywhere in sight. Everyone was a type and did not exist beyond that type and for a film of this nature and subject matter, that is condescending as well as an embarrassment. The overall messages of the film were no deeper than “racism is bad” and “not all white people are racists” and essentially everything all boiled down to a disastrously cartoonish crowd pleaser of a toilet joke. It disturbed me that a film that spent most of its time speaking of courage was one that was so fearful of its topic, so aware of the imaginary white audience that it was painfully, desperately trying to not offend that it profoundly suffered from a complete lack of honesty. “The Help” did not work for me at all. And in fact, I find it cringe worthy that it has received so many Oscar nominations but it shouldn’t be a surprise as this is the awards show that anointed “Driving Miss Daisy” as the Best Picture of 1989, the very same year they all but ignored Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing.” I realize that I am in the minority as far as the response to “The Help” is concerned but that's how I felt about it and I make no apologies for it.

“ONE DAY” Directed by Lone Scherfig
How do you turn a great book into a terrible movie? Look no further than this monumental failure, which is such a shame as it could have been a love story for the ages. Based upon the wonderful, beautiful novel by David Nicholls, Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess star as Emma and Dexter, whose relationship is chronicled over the course of 20 years as snapshot moments entirely presented to us as the events which occur on July 15th. The framework could have allowed all of us to chart the trajectories and inherent fragilities within our own lives, loves and friendships through the prism of Emma and Dexter. Unfortunately, Scherfig’s presentation and execution was lifeless, emotionless and therefore, pointless. By not digging deeply into the themes of the novel, most notably how friendship grow, change and the difficulties of maintaining them as we age, all we received were essentially the “greatest hits” of the story yet without any meaning attached to them. Hathaway looks to be on the verge of tears in almost every scene but moist eyes alone cannot convey deep sadness with life’s disappointments. Sturgess seems to solely be acting by hairstyle, signaling to us the passage of time not through an actual performance but by how much gray has been applied to his temples. Crucially, Scherfig also made a classic error of telegraphing a late film and seismic plot twist in the film’s very first scene! The failure of “One Day” was not a case of the movie on the screen not matching the movie in my head as I read the novel. The failure of “One Day” stemmed completely in the fact that there was no passion, no urgency, no intimacy, no understanding of the euphoria and ache that accompanies love and the deepest bonds we share with our nearest and dearest.

“OUR IDOT BROTHER” Directed by Jesse Peretz
The less said about this film the better. The superficial, shallow story of a perpetually stoned, family black-sheep (played by Paul Rudd) being shuffled around from one insufferably narcissistic sister to another, never delved past its concept even on iota into a deeper understanding of tenuous family relationships. Ultimately, this clichéd, painfully obvious sitcom of a movie wasted the entire talents of the terrific cast and nearly two hours of my precious time that I will never get back.

and now….the WORST FILM of 2011…

“SUCKER PUNCH” Directed by Zack Snyder
I gave this film a rating of one half of one star and looking back, I am surprised that I even gave this film that high of a rating. This CGI nightmare of a movie was a repugnant experience that did nothing more but shower unending contempt over any potential audience and dunked that same audience over and over into Director Zack Snyder’s wet dream fantasies of imprisoned, abused scantily clad babes with big guns blasting apart all manner of creature warriors in a synthetic dream world. And worst of all, he actually wants us to believe that this is a film about female empowerment! The disingenuousness of the film was bad enough but it also had absolutely no conviction in the world it was trying to set up in the first place. Look, if Zack Snyder wants to air his prurient fantasies, that’s his creative prerogative but at least have the bravery to go all the way and make that loud, nasty film instead of this one, which is akin to him covertly peek at a nudie magazine in a public place. It’s a dirty film that has no courage to be dirty. Beyond that, the visual aesthetics of the film are flat-out ugly and a reminder that CGI needs to be utilized as a creative tool, not as the means to an end. The action sequences are endless, the performances are wretched especially Emily Browning as the horrifically named “Babydoll,” who carries less dramatic heft than a sex blow up doll—which I gather is how Snyder wanted it anyway.

Look, when I posted my original review, several of you actually defended the film by offering me all manner of subtext and meaning that apparently Snyder revealed after the release and some cash that it earned. The problem is that Snyder can say ANYTHING he wants after the fact, and try to make himself and the film brainier than it actually is. But, here’s the bottom line as I see it…Snyder was angry that his excellent adaptation of “Watchmen” (2009) was not well received at the box office or critically and he purposefully made a terrible movie as a result. This was not some sly and intended rebuke against the brainlessness of Hollywood nor was it some sort of psycho-analytical exercise of audience members secret sexual desires. Because in that universe, everyone from the Hollywood suits to the people that did see the film are all idiots in his mind and “Sucker Punch” was him having one over on us all. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the movie that is remotely intelligent enough to be so cunning. Let’s be real, Zack Snyder is no Stanley Kubrick!

“Sucker Punch” was just Zack Snyder lost in a bad mood brought on by a lack of acceptance to his perceived creative genius and utilizing millions upon millions of dollars to jizz on celluloid. That’s it.

Ah....I feel so much better now!

Stay tuned for my TOP TEN FAVORITE FILMS of 2011!!!