It's that time of year again, folks! It'll be November in a matter of minutes, and I'm starting to realize I haven't been keeping up on new movies this year. That's partially because I don't have time to see movies in the summer and because I'm poor, but it's also because I haven't had anything this year that I was really looking forward to. A lot of mediocre sequels and remakes came out, and some original movies slated to be big had rather tepid word of mouth. Anyway, I noticed that when I began last year's thread I had seen only 13 movies, and I'm up to that now so I might as well start anew. Feel free to discuss films in this thread, list 2011 movies you've seen, rate, rank, whatever. I'll be keeping a list as I'll probably be watching more current movies from now through Oscar season. Here's my listing of movies I've seen so far this year, in order of preference. 1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Hanna - 7/10 4. Super 8 - 7/10 5. In Time - 7/10 6. Source Code - 7/10 7. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 8. Insidious - 6/10 9. Unknown - 6/10 10. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 11. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 12. Thor - 5/10 13. Just Go With It - 2/10 Now... I will have to say that perhaps I've not been fair to a few of these films. Early this fall I watched several movies that didn't get my full attention. Midnight in Paris, in particular, probably deserves a second watch but is unlikely to get one before Oscar season. I hope this board isn't completely dead, cause I'd like to get some recommendations and start filling in the gaps in my viewing.

I'm glad In Time got a good review from you. I'm wanting to see it, along with Puss in Boots. :P

Since you're interested, I'll post my mini-review of [b]In Time[/b]: "The biggest problem with prescient, high-concept sci-fi these days is attention span. It's not so much that the pacing or editing is too fast; rather, like the flawed-but-underrated Surrogates a couple of years ago, In Time has a fascinating premise but is a little too distracted by chases and gunfights to fully explore it. Essentially the movie is its idea. Once you've established a world in which people only age to 25 and must then either acquire more time to use as currency or perish, the script almost writes itself. Part Robin Hood, part Bonnie and Clyde, In Time plays like a critique of class struggles and capitalism gone awry. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is the 99% who inherits 100 years from a suicidal patrician and sets out to overthrow the oppressive system - er, that is, stay in fancy hotels, gamble in upscale casinos and cavort with rich moguls' daughters. It's only when he's wrongly accused of stealing the century he was given that he becomes a fugitive along with Sylvia Weis, who never wanted for anything but suddenly finds herself with mere minutes on her life clock. A quick Stockholm Syndrome later, they are working together to extract horded time from the wealthy and spread it among the lower class. It's consistently entertaining, but I can't help but wish the writers had let us in on more back story. How did this system get implemented? Are people born with a clock on their arm, or is this done at birth through institutions? If so, are there children born in the wild, free from this constraint? It's stated that the cost of living is artificially raised. Is time subject to inflation? Why can there only be so much of it? Why is the system of transferring time from one person to another so sloppy? Is it just to bolster the world of competitive wrist-wrestling? The film is at its best when it gives us space to ponder its central questions rather than trying to relate its fictional world to our real one. Something about hearing on-screen millionaires lecture on watching people die all around you also rings false. If nothing else it does give you something to talk about on the way out of the theater, and that alone puts it above most of the movies playing at any given time." So there you go. I'd also like to mention that the director, Andrew Niccol, is responsible for one of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 90's, a little gem called Gattaca. He also wrote and produced The Truman Show. In Time is not as good as those films, but there's a lot of talent behind it nevertheless. Co-stars Cillian Murphy, the sort of normal dude from The Big Bang Theory, that slimy guy from Mad Men. OH. And since I know a lot of you here like Firefly, as I do... I could have sworn the rich character in the beginning was Sean Maher. He is not. The resemblance is uncanny.

That's basically what the critic in the newspaper said... So I think it sounds like it's worth the $8. Plus, Matt Bomer is in it, and I love Matt Bomer. :D

That's it, Matt Bomer. He's the guy I thought looked like Sean Maher. Where do you know him from? Also... [quote]That's basically what the critic in the newspaper said[/quote] You see?? I should be a movie critic. That's one of my dream jobs.

Just saw [b]Conan O'Brien Can't Stop[/b]. A split between a documentary and a behind-the-scenes tour video, COCS follows Conan after his cancellation and settlement with NBC as he punch-dances out his rage in a wooded glen - I mean, goes on the road since he's not allowed on television. Some of the material is interesting but overall the movie just doesn't have any style, or anything much to say. It's just your standard shots of people in dressing rooms and in tour vans, segments of the act, Conan being "on" all the time and making never-ending jokes and being passive-aggressively ticked off a lot. I feel like if you love Conan you might love this. As someone who's only sort of a fan wanting to learn more or even just be entertained, I found this film lacking. Disappointing. 1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Hanna - 7/10 4. Super 8 - 7/10 5. In Time - 7/10 6. Source Code - 7/10 7. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 8. Insidious - 6/10 9. Unknown - 6/10 10. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 11. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 12. Thor - 5/10 [b]13. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - 4/10[/b] 14. Just Go With It - 2/10

Matt Bomer stars in White Collar on USA. I'm in love with him. XD

1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Hanna - 7/10 4. Super 8 - 7/10 [b]The Ward - 7/10[/b] 5. In Time - 7/10 6. Source Code - 7/10 7. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 8. Insidious - 6/10 9. Unknown - 6/10 10. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 11. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 12. Thor - 5/10 13. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - 4/10 14. Just Go With It - 2/10 I almost put [b]The Ward[/b] at number 3 on this list - that's how much I liked it. Eventually I placed it below Super 8 because I felt that film was more colorful and full of wonder. However The Ward is one of the most purely enjoyable genre exercises this year. I call it a genre exercise because this horror/thriller is nothing you haven't seen before. The plot is cliche and the tricks are all familiar. If you've seen half as many movies as I have you can probably call every scare before it happens. And yet, somehow, this was just really effective. I place much of that praise on the shoulders of Amber Heard, who plays our protagonist. She is such a likeable, strong, plucky, smart, resourceful character that we can't help but root for her, which makes the chase scenes very thrilling any time she's in danger. We identify with her. When she ends up in a straight jacket, I was imagining what it would be like if I were in a straight jacket, and so on and so forth. The ending is disappointingly familiar. I've seen at least two other movies that I think had this exact same premise. It explains a lot of the weirdness we experienced, but still feels unsatisfying. That said, I think a lot of viewers will be so hard on the ending that they forget how invigorated they were by the first 70 minutes of the movie. Sure, I wish this film from horror legend John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) were more unique and creative, but I can't deny that he's taken familiar material and made it work hard. I can't name the film this is most like without giving away the plot, but if you like chillers like 1408, Shutter Island, or Jacob's Ladder you will probably enjoy this little movie.

Well, here's what I'm running into. I'm seeing a lot of movies I like but none I really love. As such, they're all kind of coalescing around the 7/10 rating (my "good" rating). It's really hard to choose which ones I liked better. So this ranking my change. Anyway here goes. 1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Hanna - 7/10 4. Super 8 - 7/10 [b]5. Horrible Bosses - 7/10[/b] 6. The Ward - 7/10 7. In Time - 7/10 8. Source Code - 7/10 9. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 10. Insidious - 6/10 11. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 12. Unknown - 6/10 13. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 14. Thor - 5/10 15. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - 4/10 16. Just Go With It - 2/10 I normally don't like raunchy comedies, but [b]Horrible Bosses[/b] made me laugh out loud. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis and Charlie Day are hilarious in this. It's their comic timing, delivery and camaraderie that make the film work so well, along with great supporting performances by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Aniston (Colin Ferrell didn't stand out to me). I'm pretty stingy about comedies and I don't see a lot of them that I think are really funny, so this was a welcome treat. Best straight comedy since The Other Guys last year.

Saw [b]Limitless[/b] tonight. Bradley Cooper plays a role that I would have ideally liked to see inhabited by a young Jeff Goldblum. He's a scrappy author with a bad case of writer's block whose life is going down the tubes until he stumbles upon a crazy new drug that allows him to access his brain's full potential. With his memories neatly organized, his learning ability through the roof and his senses sharpened, he easily pulls his life together and starts making money in the stock market. However, he can only last for so long and his crashes from the medication become more problematic even as he begins to be pursued by some unruly characters. Limitless is an entertaining thriller with a fun visual conceit. I found myself interested in the way the experience of NZT was portrayed on screen through the use of angles, zooms, closeups, lighting, etc. The biggest problem is focus. The movie has so many ideas that could arise from its premise it can't decide which ones to chase, and so ends up leaving a lot of plot threads lying around and having sort of a frayed narrative. The ending also seems sudden and while it's open to interpretation I think only one interpretation allows the movie not to break down. It's occasionally preposterous but mostly stimulating throughout. 1. Drive - 8/10 2. The Adjustment Bureau - 8/10 3. Hanna - 7/10 4. Super 8 - 7/10 5. Horrible Bosses - 7/10 6. The Ward - 7/10 7. In Time - 7/10 8. Source Code - 7/10 9. The Lincoln Lawyer - 7/10 [b]10. Limitless - 6.5/10 [/b] 11. Insidious - 6/10 12. Midnight in Paris - 6/10 13. Unknown - 6/10 14. X-Men: First Class - 5/10 15. Thor - 5/10 16. Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - 4/10 17. Just Go With It - 2/10