Though 2010 was the best year for movie releases in my lifetime with the likes of movies like The Town, Inception, Shutter Island, Blue Valentine, 127 Hours, Black Swan, and The King’s Speech, it still liked that one killer comedy (although Date Night was an entertaining movie). I have also heard very good things about Get Him to the Greek, but I still have not seen it. 2011, on the other hand, has had some fantastic comedies, including The Hangover Part 2 (sure, it was the first movie all over again, but it was still laugh-out-loud hilarious, so who cares), Hall Pass, Horrible Bosses, and the more sentimental Crazy, Stupid, Love. which was just as endearing as it was funny. But, without a doubt, the funniest movie of the year was Bridesmaids.
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Category Archives: Genre
Moneyball (2011)
Moneyball is the true story of Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane. In 2001, the Athletics advanced to the Major League Baseball American League Division Championship Game, where their opening day payroll of $33,000,000 was facing the New York Yankees and their opening day payroll of $109,000,000 in an elimination game for the right to advance to the conference championship. Instead, the Athletics lose the game and the series. It is a foregone conclusion that the team will lose its three marquee players, who are free to sign wherever they want, to bigger market cities because the team doesn’t have the money to sign the players to the massive contracts they have demanded with great statistical seasons.
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The Descendants (2011)
With some of his performances, George Clooney has been known for hitting the ball out of the ballpark. A two-time Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Performance (2007’s Michael Clayton, 2009’s Up In The Air), Clooney is poised for his third nomination with 2011’s The Descendants. Successful as both a supporting actor (Academy Award Winner – 2005’s Syriana) as for as work behind the camera (Academy Award Nominee for Best Director – 2005’s Good Night and Good Luck), Clooney is at his best when the movie revolves around his performance as a leading man. This is precisely what happens in this movie. Continue reading The Descendants (2011)
Rabbit Hole (2010)
Had it received a release date in any other year, Rabbit Hole would have made my Top 10 Movie of the Year list. But as I’ve stated many times in my reviews, 2010 was, without question, the best year for movies in my lifetime. Rabbit Hole is a very well-acted, directed, heavy-hitting drama about the grieving process and the obstacles we must overcome to recover from the unexpected loss of a child. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain) earned her third Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award Nomination (she won the award in 2003 for her role as Virginia Wolfe in The Hours) for her role as Becca, a grieving mother who struggles to comes to terms with her life after her four-year-old son is struck and killed by a car after running into the street while chasing the family dog.
Melancholia (2011)
After being thoroughly disappointed by Terrence Malick’s tone poem The Tree of Life, I was hesitant to watch Melancholia after watching its similar artistic trailer and hearing comparisons between the two movies. However, unlike The Tree of Life, which I went to see thinking would be a good movie, I decided to view Melancholia because some were calling it the best performance of Kirsten Dunst’s (Spiderman, The Virgin Suicides) career. While Dunst was deserving of the praise, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience of Melancholia.