Top Ten Movies To Look For In 2011: Follow Up

6. Breaking Dawn, Part 1

I was impressed with this movie. It dealt with the Swan/Cullen nuptials (and honeymoon) with just the right balance of seriousness and levity. When Bella becomes pregnant with a half-vampire child (which is not supposed to be possible), the ensuing horror is taken as far as possible while retaining a PG-13 rating. Taylor Lautner remains the best actor of the bunch, and the potentially problematic “imprinting” sub-plot with the character of Jacob is handled as well as it could be. The film ends with a striking visual: the new vampire Bella, awakening from death with red eyes. I look forward to the next and final installment.

7. In Time (formerly titled Now)

This is a sci-fi piece with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried that promised to be really good or really bad . . . and fortunately, it’s the former. I expected it to draw heavily on predecessors like Logan’s Run, but there’s also a lot of Bonnie and Clyde to it, which I enjoyed. There are things which strain credibility—like the fact that the technology which allows people to swap time never fails—but the film is so much fun that you don’t mind. Seyfried and Timberlake are a likable, believable couple (even if the makeoutus interruptus gets a little silly). Cillian Murphy’s underpaid but driven timekeeper makes an unexpectedly sympathetic antagonist. In Time is also has some breathtakingly topical moments, in these days of Occupy Wall Street. The ending leaves things open for a sequel, and I’d be in favor of that.

8. 50/50 (formerly titled Live With It)

Part of what got my attention about this movie—aside from the fact that it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt—was the fact that it’s inspired by the true story of a friend of Seth Rogen’s who survived cancer. Unfortunately, the trailer and marketing made it look like a “two pals use the fact that one of them has cancer to pick up girls” sex comedy. The story does address the love life of the main character, Adam, but there’s a lot more to it than that. At it’s best, it’s a poignant and believable look what it’s like to be face a life-threatening illness at a young age. The scene where Adam finally has a meltdown the night before surgery is truly amazing. The female characters—Adam’s mother, girlfriend, and therapist—leave something to be desired, which is a shame, since they’re all played by amazing actresses, but then, Adam and his best friend (played by Rogen) are not what I would call well-rounded characters. All in all, though, 50/50 is well worth checking out.

9. Winnie the Pooh

This movie was positively adorable. It starts out with the residents of the Hundred-Acre Wood trying to help Eeyore finds his tail, and turns into a plot to rescue Christopher Robin from a trouble-making monster called a Backson. (The audience knows, however, that the Backson is just the product of the overactive imagination of Owl, as voiced by Craig Ferguson.) The characterization is spot-on, the hand drawn-animation is beautiful (characters interact at times with storybook letters and pages), and the musical numbers are charming. This is a refreshingly wholesome film that offers entertainment for the whole family.

10. Marvel vs. DC

I ended up seeing both Captain America and Thor, last summer’s two lead-ins to this year’s Avengers. Even though neither of them were exactly unpredictable, as superhero movies go, I enjoyed them both. If anything, I enjoyed Thor a little more because the title protagonist was more flawed and therefore changed more throughout the story. Thor has the classic flaw of hubris, while the worst thing you can say about Steve Rogers (alter ego of Captain America), is that he doesn’t always know his limits. I have to confess to not getting around to Green Lantern at all—but then, neither did the biggest Green Lantern fan I know. Vertigo’s summer offering did poorly with fans and critics.

So, there you have it: a mixed bag, but with more good than bad. The movies I’m interested in this year are predictably geeky: The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers will provide a much tougher competition between DC and Marvel this year, but there’s also The Hunger Games, The Cabin in the Woods, Brave, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. If two Joss Whedon movies weren’t enough, there’s also his take on Much Ado About Nothing, which was filmed in twelve days, in secret,with an all-star cast.. Finally, anyone worried that they might go into Daniel Radcliffe withdrawal after eight Harry Potter movies can catch him in The Woman in Black, a period horror film out in February.

Feel free to comment with your take on my Ten From 2011, your own favorites from last year, or what you’re looking forward to this yea

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