Flores: Out of 40 films, these were the best and worst of 2011

In 2011, I saw nearly 40 movies in the theater and a couple more on DVD or Netflix instant play. Throughout the year there were some pleasant surprises – as well as some big bombs – in the mix of movies from 2011. Here is a recap of some of the best – and the worst – from the last year.

Best alien invasion movie

As often happens in the summertime, there are quite a few blockbuster movies that revolve around monsters. This year, aliens were the monster of choice with “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Cowboys and Aliens,” “Paul” and “Super 8.”

The best movie to make use of aliens was “Super 8,” directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie has the feel of Spielberg’s older pieces such as “E.T.,” but it has a lot more action. The movie works better than all the rest because it has more character to it. The alien is really a side storyline to a tale of kids growing up in 1979 and trying to find their way in the world. It centers around newcomer Joel Courtney, who plays Joe Lamb. Courtney plays the lead role as a kid who is into making monster movies with his friends and has plenty of empathy for even a creature that is destroying his town.

Worst alien invasion movie

Now this is a hard choice to make since there are two alien movies that are at the top of my worst movies of the year list. The first is “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” the third installment in a series about robot aliens who land on Earth. The second is “Cowboys and Aliens.” Now, I almost fell asleep during part of “Transformers,” but I really couldn’t wait for “Cowboys and Aliens” to end. When it comes down to it, “Cowboys and Aliens” was less enjoyable than “Transformers” just because Shia LaBeouf adds some laughs to the latter. Though the western-alien hybrid had some great actors in Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Sam Rockwell, director Jon Favreau tried to take it too seriously. The movie finished with loose ends all over the place.

Best unexpected movie

Every year there is a film that doesn’t get a lot of press that I see with few expectations. This year that film was “Win Win,” an independent film that did not get a wide release in theaters. It was an endearing movie, and had just the right mix of tragedy and comedy to make it work. Unlike a lot of independent films, this one left room for a little bit of hope. Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a struggling lawyer who takes on the guardianship of an elderly client to earn some extra cash. Things get complicated when the client’s grandson shows up unexpectedly at his grandfather’s house. Mike takes the boy home to stay with him and his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan.) Kyle (Alex Shaffer) is a troubled kid, but he finds something in wrestling and brings some wins to the failing team Mike coaches at the local high school.

Best romantic comedy

I haven’t been a fan of romantic comedies in the last few years and this year there were some pretty bad ones again including “No Strings Attached,” “Just Go With It” and “I Don’t Know How She Does It.” But there was one romantic comedy that stood out above the rest. The best one I saw this year has to be “Crazy Stupid Love.” When I saw the movie, I was expectina lot of Steve Carell’s usual shtick. But as Cal Weaver, he portrayed vulnerability as he tries to put his life together after his wife asks him for a divorce. Julianne Moore plays his wife, Emily, who is unsure what she really wants from their relationship, and Ryan Gosling is great as a playboy who shows Cal what he’s been missing since he married so young. The cast is rounded out with Marisa Tomei and Emma Stone. It has a good balance of funny and bittersweet moments, the key to a good romantic comedy.

Best end of an era

Though it wasn’t my favorite movie of the year, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the last installment of the “Harry Potter” franchise. The filmmakers did a disservice to fans by splitting the last book into two movies, but despite the disappointment that was “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” “Part 2” provided all the action that was anticipated. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) comes face to face with the most powerful incarnation of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) yet and there is plenty of fighting as the two battle against each other. The movie was a climatic end after the anti-climatic feel of the seventh film.

Best comic book movie

Every summer it seems there are more and more movies based on comic book heroes. I missed some of them, including “Green Lantern” and “Captain America.” But I did see two that were fun to watch and exceeded my expectations – “Thor” and “X-Men: First Class.” The edge goes to “X-Men: First Class” since it filled in the back story to the beloved characters from the original “X-Men” movie trilogy. Viewers get to learn about what made Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) turn so squarely against the human race. They get to see a time when Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) are not quite as content with showing their mutant qualities. The movie does a good job of keeping in line with the earlier films so that the actions of the characters seem reasonable. It was one of the more fun movies of the year.

Worst film of the year

I see a lot of movies, and for most of them, I can find something positive to say about them. But there are always a handful of movies that are just plain bad and that I would never recommend to anyone. This year, there are three that really stand out as the worst of 2011. “Cowboys and Aliens” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” are two movies that I would not have seen where it not for the male influences in my life. The movies were all explosions and no plot, but they weren’t the worst of the year. “Hall Pass” also deserves some recognition in this category as a comedy with very little humor. It could have been funny as a film about two guys who get a break from their marriages and struggle to seduce anyone, but it just wasn’t funny.

The worst film of the year, however, is one that was released earlier in the year and that I watched over the weekend on DVD. I’d heard mixed reviews of “Tree of Life,” but the one thing I knew about it was that it would probably be depressing. But a friend and I popped it in the DVD player over the weekend anyway. The movie turned out not to be all that depressing – mostly because there was so little connection to the characters, I didn’t really care about them.

The movie was written and directed by Terrence Malick, whose film “Badlands” is a great classic. But this latest film just veers off too much into the artsy for me. The first half of the film shows close-up shots of a family from the 1950s, with random existential whisperings. This splits with Sean Penn in the modern era, also with very little dialogue. Then the movie goes on for about 45 minutes with scenes that feel like they should be from a wildlife documentary – the movie basically condenses the creation of the world. There is even a scene of dinosaurs roaming the earth before we return to the birth of Jack in the 1950s.

The second half of the film has more dialogue, but it still has long vignettes with very little dialogue or plot. Brad Pitt stars as an overbearing father to three sons, and he is especially hard on the oldest one, Jack (Hunter McCracken.) His wife, played by Jessica Chastain, puts up with his abuse and tries to make life fun for her children despite her husband’s behavior.

The movie doesn’t really string together into a real plot, however, and its two hour-plus running time feels nearly twice as long. The ending made little sense as the grown-up Jack wanders on a beach with his family members – all looking as they did in the 1950s.

Best film of the year

For all the bad films, there are always some really good films, too. There are a few films that are at the top of my list for the year. I enjoyed “Contagion” for its no-nonsense look at how a pandemic might play out, but it wasn’t as thrilling as the filmmakers billed it to be. I also enjoyed “J. Edgar” because of the superb acting and a look at an historical figure. “50/50,” a film about a young man with cancer, was surprisingly funny and poignant. Like “Crazy Stupid Love,” it had a good mix of funny moments and bittersweet ones.

But the movie that gets my vote for best movie of the year is “Beginners.” It is a small, independent film starring Ewan McGregor as Oliver Fields. Oliver is a graphic designer who learns that his father is gay after his mother passes away. Hal (Christopher Plummer) embraces his new identity and boyfriend Andy (Goran Visnjic.) Director Mike Mills, who bases the characters on his real-life experience of finding out his father was gay, moves the movie back and forth through time and uses some interesting techniques to tell the story. After his father has died, Oliver meets Anna (Melanie Laurent,) an actress who has had as much difficulty in committing to relationships as Oliver. It is a moving portrait of love and relationships, and one of the few movies from the year that I would gladly watch again.