Award Show Winners

It’s time boys and girls to see who you picked for the winners of this Award show. I have to say thank you for all of you that voted this year, I actually received a lot more votes than last year which made me pretty happy. Like always to avoid long list of nominees again I will only put the nominees that got votes and then the winner. I’ll also give my little thoughts on the winner or winners (since there were A LOT of ties this year) so onward to the votes

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE

WINNERS:

1) The Adventures of Tintin

2) Puss in Boots

Gnomeo and Juliet

Rio

Kung Fu Panda 2

Rango

Thoughts: I only three animated movies this year and two of them are actually the winners and only choosing one as the best is pretty hard. I’m glad however that Tintin and Puss in Boots got the wins.

BEST HORROR MOVIE

WINNER: Insidious

Paranormal Activity 3

Fright Night

Scream 4

Final Destination 5

The Thing

I Saw the Devil

Thoughts: I really liked Insidious and out of all the movies on this list I would have picked Insidious, PA3 and I Saw the Devil (although it never got a wide release). Insidious actually had me nervous and gave me chills while watching it.

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

WINNER: X-Men First Class

Thor

Priest

Captain America The First Avenger

Thoughts: X-Men: First Class can be said to be one of the biggest surprises of this year and I’m one of those that believe that. First Class was a great comic book movie and one of the best performances of the year by Michael Fassbender.

BEST FIGHT

WINNERS:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Wizards vs Voldmorts army

2) Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Apes vs Humans

3) Fast Five: Dom (Vin Diesel) vs Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Harry vs Voldemort

Colombiana: Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) vs Marco (Jordi Molla)

Drive: Driver (Ryan Gosling) vs Hitman (Elevator Fight)

Warrior: Tommy (Tom Hardy) vs Mad Dog

Season of the Witch: Monastery Fight

Priest: Priest (Paul Bettany) vs Black Hat (Karl Urban)

X-Men: First Class: X-Men vs The Hellfire Club

Immortals: Gods vs Titans

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Sherlock Holmes vs Assassin

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Sherlock Holmes vs James Moriarty

Thoughts:  This year was a good year for movies but also a good year for fights and as you can see from the winners it was pretty hard to pick just one. The Harry Potter good vs evil fight was one that they have been building up for a while now and it delivered everything we expected. Another fight that delivered the good was The Rock vs Vin Diesel in Fast Five, a pretty brutal fight scene that had a lot of people cheering and on their seats. Of course the last was humans vs apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The takeover on San Fransisco was a great experience to see and some of the best moments of the year for me.

BEST VILLAIN

WINNER: Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Tom Hiddleston as Loki – Thor

Jason Flemying as Azazel – X-Men: First Class

William Fitchner as The Accountant – Drive Angry 3D

Terence Stamp as Thompson – The Adjustment Bureau

Cate Blanchett as Marissa – Hanna

Ghostface – Scream 4

Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose – Drive

The Creature – The Thing

Karl Urban as Black Hat – Priest

Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw – X-Men: First Class

Jared Harris as Professor James Moriarty – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull – Captatin America: The First Avenger

Thoughts: The One That Shall Not Be Named will most likely go down as one of most popular or best villains in movie and book history. While I liked Fiennes performance as Voldemort I actually liked Hiddleston’s Loki in Thor and Fitchner’s The Accountant in Drive Angry.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WINNERS:

1) Kat Dennings as Darcy – Thor

2) Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hayden Panettiere as Kirby – Scream 4

Courteney Cox as Gale – Scream 4

Marion Cotillard as Dr. Leonora Orantes – Contagion

Robin Wright as Erika Berger – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Thoughts: I have to say the supporting actress roles this year were scattered everywhere and I actually like Dennings performance as the comic relief Darcy in Thor and was probably the best one this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WINNERS:

1) David Tennant as Peter Vincent – Fright Night

2) Jamie Foxx as MF Jones – Horrible Bosses

3) Jude Law as Dr. John Watson – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

4) Stellan Skarsgard as Martin Vanger – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stephen Dorff as Stavros – Immortals

Nick Krause as Sid – The Descendants

Simon Pegg as Benji – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Jay Chou as Kato – The Green Hornet

Timothy Olyphant as Henri – I Am Number Four

Ramon Rodriguez as LT. William Martinez – Battle LA

Sung Kang as Han – Fast Five

Nick Nolte as Paddy Conlon – Warrior

Thoughts: Usually it’s the women giving great performance but at least for me it seems that the men bought their A game for the supporting roles. I agree with the winners but I also feel that Nick Nolte gave a great performance in Warrior and of course The Rock in Fast Five.

 

BEST ACTRESS

WINNERS:

1) Shailene Woodley as Alexandra King – The Descendants

2) Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

3) Noomi Rapace as Madam Simza Heron – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter – Captain America: The First Avenger:

Michelle Rodriguez as Tech Sergeant Elena Santos – Battle LA

Rose Bryne as Renai Lambert – Insidious

Saoirse Ronan as Hanna – Hanna

Neve Campbell as Sidney – Scream 4

Jennifer Lawrence as Raven/Mystique – X-Men: First Class

Elle Fanning as Alice – Super 8

Bailee Madison as Sally – Don’t be Afraid of the Dark

Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark – The Help

Thoughts: Woodley surprised me in her role in The Descendants (as did the movie as a whole) and Mara surpassed my expectations as Lisbeth Salander in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The other performances that surprised me was actually Bailee Madison in Don’t be Afraid of the Dark. Although the supporting roles were a bit off but the staring roles shined this year, great job ladies.

BEST ACTOR

WINNERS:

1) Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr – X-Men: First Class

2) Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Jason Sudeikis as Kurt – Horrible Bosses

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America – Captain America: The First Avenger

Alex Pettyfer as John/Number 4 – I Am Number Four

Aaron Eckhart as Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz – Battle LA

Matthew McConaughey as Mick Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer

Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert – Insidious

David Arquette as Dewey – Scream 4

Andy Serkis as Caesar – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Chris Hemsworth as Thor – Thor

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Matt Damon as Mitch Emhoff – Contagion

Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede – Contagion

Ryan Gosling as Driver – Drive

Thoughts: The women bought their A-game but so did the men this year and Fassbender was the man leading the charge with performances in X-Men and other films like Shame and A Dangerous Method. However, Fassbender wasn’t along in the comic book great performance, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth gave great performances as Captain America and Thor. BUT, I thought Andy Serkis gave the best performance this year as the ape leader Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes even though you never see his face.

BEST DIRECTOR

WINNERS:

1) David Yates – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

2) David Fincher – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Steven Soderbergh – Contagion

Gavin O’Connor – Warrior

Jonathan Liebesman – Battle LA

Kevin Smith – Red State

Brad Furman – The Lincoln Lawyer

James Wan – Insidious

Wes Craven – Scream 4

Justin Lin – Fast Five

Matthew Vaughn – X-Men: First Class

Guy Ritchie – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Brad Bird – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Takashi Miike – 13 Assassins

Thoughts: David Yates closed the Harry Potter series in a great way and David Fincher bought us a pretty damn good remake of an already great movie. I also liked what Brad Bird, Matthew Vaughn and Justin Lin did in their movies and Takashi Miike beautiful and bloody direction in 13 Assassins.

So there are your winners that you chose. What do you think? Do you agree with what other fellow movie goers voted on? Let me know down in the comments.

MY Best Movies of 2011

Side Note: Also remember to vote for “Award Show” http://wp.me/pxCnJ-3Y

So it’s that time a year when I stress over finding the best movies of the year. Other years actually haven’t been that tough but this year was a good year for movies and great movies at that. So this list was very hard to put together and I’m pretty sure I’m going to look at this list in a week or so and think it might not be right BUT this is the list and I’m going to stick to it, so here it is. Like always I’m going to start to list the Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mentions:

Bunraku

Drive Angry 3D

Battle: LA

Bellflower

Saving Private Perez

50/50

Moneyball

Ides of March

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Hanna

Thor

Contagion

Real Steel

Paranormal Activity 3

Hugo

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The Adjustment Bureau

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark

Fright Night

Immortals

The Adventures of Tintin

 

Now for the big list, My Best Movies of the year (PLEASE DO REMEMBER THIS IS MY LIST, I’M NO EXPERT just a regular movie goer)

 

15. Horrible Bosses: Horrible Bosses was my best comedy of the year, the movie had me laughing or giggling the whole time.

14.Puss in Boots: Puss in Boots was my favorite animated movie this year (although I did only see three animated movies this year). I love the character and a origin story for one of the lesser character in Shrek was probably not on everybody’s mind but the movie turned out great. Also, unlike the animated movies of today Puss in Boot didn’t rely on cheesy pop references but the adventure element.

13. Insidious: Horror movies nowadays take a lot to actually scare me but this one actually gave me the chills. I love a haunted house story and this had a new twist that usually isn’t in movies nowadays.

12. Super 8: The movie had a lot of speculations around it because everyone wanted to know what the secret was that J.J Abrams had put together this time. To be honest I didn’t really care for the secret, it was the story of the main characters who were all kids that interested me. The secret of the film does crossover to the kids and from that point it was nice crossover.

11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: The end of an era and a long successful film series came to end this year and it did not fail. The film gave fans the ending that we have been waiting to see and the fight between good and evil that we’ve been promised.

10. The Descendants: I had my doubts about this movie, mainly because I figured it wasn’t going to be good or boring. However, hearing all good buzz around it I decided to give it a chance and was surprised at how good it was. The movie has a element of lose and how you deal with it and it felt realistic to me and not just seeing George Clooney playing a character.

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: It’s no secret I like the Swedish version of the film and when I heard they were making a remake I was very hesitant to see it. The David Fincher and Daniel Craig entered the project but then Rooney Mara was cast as the iconic role of Lisbeth Salander and became hesitant again. However, Fincher and Mara did a great job of putting together a descent remake and Mara did pretty good job as Lisbeth.

8. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: Although Mission Impossible III was my favorite of the series Ghost Protocol was a damn good follow up and addition to the series. Also seeing Brad Bird, an animated movie director, did an amazing job putting a MI movie together and if they make another movie I would actually like if he came back.

7. Warrior: MMA is rising sport and although some people thought this was just a MMA movie it really wasn’t, their wasn’t really any MMA fighting until the last half hour of the movie. Warrior is down to the bone a movie about family and has incredible performance by rising stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton but also by Nick Nolte. Truly one of the best movies of the year.

6. Attack the Block: Although it didn’t get a wide released like many of these other movies it still was a damn good movie. A true low budget horror/action/comedy movie with a great young cast including, at least in my eyes a star in the making, John Boyega. Highly recommend you watch this one.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger: Yes the final build up to The Avengers was not only a good period comic book movie but a great movie to make my top five movies. Chris Evans did a great job playing Steve Rogers aka Captain America as a regular guy who all he wants to do is defend his country. The movie also had probably the best love arc in a comic book movie that I can remember with Steve and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

4. X-Men: First Class: That’s right two comic book movies in my top five and both Marvel. In all seriousness, I am a huge X-Men fan and First Class just like Cap was a great period comic book movie. Even though the film was about the first team of X-Men, the film was really about the relationship between Charles Xavier aka Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magento and Fassbender who plays Erik gives the best performance in the movie and probably one of the best of the year.

3. Drive: Some people will probably disagree with Drive being on the list and so high up but I really enjoyed it. The movie stars Ryan Gosling who along side Fassbender had a great year. Gosling plays a man named Driver (seriously) who is a wheel man and when a job goes wrong he tries to fix it when people are trying to kill him. Now the trailer was a bit misleading promising a more action thriller but trailers job is to kinda lie but none the less the movie was more of a slow burner and art film.

2. Fast Five: Surprised? So am I, the Fast and Furious series is a pretty good series (Yes I’m one of few who like Tokyo Drift) and although the last one was only okay they really did a great job of picking it up. Fast Five gave us everything we loved from the series; fast cars, attractive women, witty dialogue and some great chase sequences. Add in The Rock and you got yourself a blockbuster.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: I loved this movie, it was a reboot of a popular series that most of us know of and made us forget about Tim Burton’s movie. The film made actually hate humans to some point and made us root for the Apes and for the main character who was complete CG and the made who did the motion capture for him was none other than Andy Serkis (Gollum from The Lord of the Rings). Serkis made me care for a character was wasn’t human at all and quickly went from experiment to leader.

 

 

Movies I have let to see:

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Young Adult

The Artist

Midnight in Paris

Shame

Hesher

The Lincoln Lawyer

Limitless

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Trollhunter

The Help

Worst/Disappointing Movies of 2011

I’ve gotten better over the years to avoid crappy movies and this year I did pretty good. However, we do always fail and this year was no different. Now the reason I put disappointing on the title is because although this were the bad movies I saw this year they did have their moments that didn’t make them THAT bad. So all these movies should be considered disappointments of the year rather than worst movies of the year.

1. Scream 4: Might because I felt the last Scream wasn’t that good but this one didn’t really pick up the series for me. The new concept of the killer recording his killings was okay but if you’re movie is meant to be a mystery to try to find out who the killer was, try to hide the identity a little better. I actually figured out who the killer was before that person was revealed.
2. Sucker Punch: Sucker Punch might have had some potential of being really good and have a following. Beautiful women kicking ass and great visuals all done by the mind of Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead), BUT the all that you need to still have a good story. The story was there but need more execution and if they had put as much thought in the story like they did with the action sequences then the movie might have been good.
3. Conan the Barbarian: How can a movie with a great teaser poster (having your main character in a field of skulls) be soo BAD. Conan is really a remake like many people think but I’m starting to think that maybe we won’t get a good Conan movie. The movie really felt like a straight to DVD movie relied too much on the name than what was happening on screen.
4. Green Lantern: I’m not one of those bandwagon haters for GL but the movie wasn’t as bad as a lot of people said. Was it good? Well not really but really not the worse movie on 2011. I felt like I was watching a animated movie at the very beginning and the complete CGI and awful looking villain did not help.
5. The Three Musketeers: Yet another adaptation of the great novel by Alexandre Dumas and yet another not so good adaptation of the novel. Musketeers was directed by Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson and to be honest the movie felt like a Anderson movie. Trying to modernize classics is a crap shot and most of the time they don’t really work and this one was no exception. The films only real standout moments are the swords fight which unfortunately are not that many.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: I was not a fan of the last movie and my hopes for this one were not really high or really there for the matter. However, I still went to go see the movie and it was better than the last one but that isn’t really saying much. Pirates 4 had one good moment in the middle of the movie for about 8 minutes (the mermaid scene) and from there the movie kinda just stayed at a below average level. The other only good thing I liked was the scene that had Depp and Rush’s characters of Jack Sparrow and Barbossa.

So there’s my list of the disappointments of the year. What do you think? Agree/Disagree? Let me know what you’re worst or disappointing movies of the year were.