alisa's 2011 Film Favorites

If I went with Tracy's categories then I'd pretty much be duplicating her list save for a couple of things.  So here's a bit of a different list:



Movie I bought the day it went on sale on DVD/Blu-ray: HANNA.  I couldn't wait to watch it again and enjoyed it as much the second time as I did the first.  Super 8 was a close second for this as were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2.  I'm so tight with my money that I rarely buy a movie the day it comes out.  Usually I'll wait a bit and it'll go down in price.  If you wait a year you may even spot it in the $5 bin at Walmart.  It's not often I buy something so that I can have it in my possession on the Tuesday it arrives in stores.  I did with Hanna.  I almost did with Super 8 (I was a week late with that one.)  I was lucky that with HP7.2 it was on sale on black Friday at Best Buy.  Now I'm waiting for them to release a super Blu-ray collection of the HP movies.  I know they have it bundled but I want a special one with a cuddly Dobby toy inside.

Movie I most wanted to live myself: Midnight in Paris.  Corey Stoll was AH-MAZING as Papa.  And honestly, who wouldn't want to sit in a Paris cafe and listen to Dali go on and on about a rhinoceros.  I can't decide, though, if I'd want to be with the actual artists of the time or the actors playing those artists.  Shameful as it may be...I think I'd much prefer to be with the actors Woody chose.








Movie I least want to live in myself but still loved: Drive.  It had quite an impact on me when I saw it.  Sadly I saw it alone and had no one to discuss it with.  I immediately got online when I got home and wanted to see what other people were saying.  I loved it but I felt wrong about loving it.  Turns out not everyone loved it but it didn't have an effect on my loving it.  I feel like I'm talking in a bit of a roundabout way.  It's violent and upsetting but incredibly well done and Gosling was as talented as usual. 

Movie that most reminded me of why I love going to the movies: Super 8.  I do have to say that Hugo was a very close second.  It was beautiful to watch and should only be watched on a large screen.  But Super 8 was more emotional for me.  It brought me back to seeing ET in the movie theater when I was a little kid.  In fact it reminded me of seeing most of Spielberg's movies in the theaters.  I guess that's what JJ was going for and it worked.

Movie that I love for solely personal reasons and was actually a good movie: 50/50.  I have a few movies that I've loved for personal reasons but they weren't necessarily good movies.  50/50 was a good movie.  The subject matter hit close to home and helped me deal with some stuff.  That's pretty cool.  Aren't most movies supposed to evoke emotions?  It was so well made, acted, etc. and I appreciated how they approached a touchy subject matter.  I'm sure there are other movies I felt emotionally attached too as well but 50/50 was a standout.






Movie that most brought back my childhood: The Muppets.  Oh how I loved The Muppets.  It was simple and perfect and fun and sweet.  It was exactly what a movie about getting the Muppets back together should have been.  It harkened back to Muppet movies of the past but still felt right for this time.  It had fun cameos and a solid leading (human) cast. This is one that I'll buy the day it goes on sale.








Movie that I saw the most times in the theater (and loved it the same each and every time): Bridesmaids.  Seriously.  I could watch that scene where Wiig drives her car back and forth trying to get Chris O'Dowd's attention over and over and over again.  In fact the next time I'm feeling a bit blue I may skip right to that scene.  It puts a smile on my face and makes me giggle.  I hope they don't do a sequel to it.  They don't need to.  It didn't work with Hangover 2.  But they probably will.  My only hope is that everyone comes back and Wiig gets to script it again with writing partner Annie Mumolo.  It could have been the female Hangover and I know people refer to it that way but it wasn't.  Oh and I saw Harry Potter parts 1 and 2 twice each.  I saw Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows two times too and that was fun.






Movie in two parts that I'm desperate to watch back-to-back: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 and part 2.  I'm convinced that part 1 will rise to the occasion when partnered directly with the second half.  I won't know until I do it and I don't know when I will be able to sit down and spend over 4 hours with the final installments of Harry Potter.  But when I do I will let you know.  I'm in the minority because I didn't dislike part 1 at all.  It's a hard one to put on screen because it's slow going and mostly just the three kids on the run.







Movie that I'm beyond proud that I followed from beginning to end: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  I haven't posted about it yet but I will tomorrow.  It was so very great.  The acting was insanely good.  The look and feel of it just SCREAMED cold war.  It was smart and restrained and genius.  I'm sorry it didn't get a wide release yet and people aren't putting it on their best of lists.  The acting in it was astounding.