Is this an indication that I've entered the dreaded next age bracket of the entertainment industry (are they even making films for MY demographic anymore??) or that 2011 offered very little to entice me to plop down the inflated prices for 3D versions of films I only wanted to see in 2D? Don't get me wrong. I'm very much a supporter of 3D movies, but when I have no choice as to the option of 2D or 3D and am then asked to pay for not having a choice, it is reason to rethink seeing a film theatrically, pocketing the surcharge, and taking a chance at buying the Blu-ray version a few months down the line. This seems to have become my daughter's mantra, as she doesn't like wearing the 3D glasses, and would just as well await a home release that she can watch over and over again. Even with this sentiment in mind, the number of 3D films we went to see in theatres rose from 7 in 2010 to 15 in 2011.
I recently read somewhere that movie studios are needing to counter plummeting ticket sales and rampant pirating of their films (not to mention increased home viewing options like digital downloads--R.I.P. Blockbuster Video--) by offering a slate of films that demand the cinematic experience of seeing it on the big screen. This is evidenced by the fact that some of the highest grossing films weren't as highly pirated as one would expect, because who wants to see Harry Potter 8 or Transformers 3 on a crappy bootleg with dim lighting, European subtitles, muffled sound and the occasional person walking across the screen? Not me, which is why I'll be seeing The Dark Knight Rises, The Lorax, and The Hunger Games at a cinema near you. Here's to a more exciting and entertaining selection of films in 2012. May I present the best of 27 in 2011...
9. Kung Fu Panda 2; With heart, humour & spectacular animation, this sequel does Pixar style entertainment better than Pixar of late
and the number one film of 2011 is...
Honourable mentions: Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger
Looking back over the ones I did manage to see in 2011, I can't really put too many on an honourable list or dishonourable list. Like I said above, it was pretty vanilla this year. Movies that critics seemed to loathe, like Sucker Punch, weren't really all that bad when you went into the theatre knowing what to expect. Other films like The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Green Tides and Super 8 (green?) were sub par, but not entirely awful, and I'd definitely sit through them again on TMN or video. They just aren't something to write/tweet home about. So picking a five worst films wasn't exactly fair, but these are the ones that were most underwhelming.
The Top 5 Worst Films of 2011 are...
and the worst film of 2011 is...
Dishonourable mention: Gnomeo & Juliet
All in all, it was a rather sad year for children's entertainment. Pixar has been swallowed by Disney and is pumping out uninspired sequels while the mouse house offers their best films revisited in 3D format only to prove that original fare can't quite compare. Rango is number one for the reason that it offered some spectacular animation from Industrial Light & Magic's first foray into the genre while providing a story that, though based on tropes, really stood out as original and inventive. Apart from that, the animated films were satisfying, but uninspired (Hop, Rio).
Fittingly, last year I foretold of Yogi Bear's crapiness in my Top 10 of 2010 yet failed to heed my own advice. Follow me @joejameskireel so you don't make the same mistake(s) I did.
