2011, was a year, what had films come out during it... so it was... aye

On yet another late-night meander through the various delights of Wikipedia sometime last week... I ended up on the page of Vincent Gallo and subsequently on the page of his 2011 film Essential Killing. I had a look at the synopsis of the film and, finding myself suitably intrigued, I hit a forum I use with some friends and decided to ask if any of them had seen it.

 Until tonight the post hadn't been referenced by anybody else, until my band mate (and very own, personal nemesis) Gaz mentioned that he had just got his hands on it. He mentioned that any time he was stuck for ideas about a film to watch he’d refer to a “Top 50 films of 2011” article on Total Film.com (http://www.totalfilm.com/features/50-best-movies-of-2011/) to try and help him on his way. I followed the link and had a quick look. I was amazed at how many films on there I had intended to see, but for some reason or another never got round to.

 I’d go to the cinema fairly regularly but 2011 was different because of having a shitty back for large parts of it, making sitting down in a cinema a bit hit and miss. In fact, the only films on the list that I’d actually seen in a cinema were Super 8 (great… if slightly ruined by the last 10 minutes), Moneyball (favourite film of the year, along with the documentary Being Elmo), The Fighter (fantastic) and something else that escapes me right now. I had of course seen some other films theatrically also, although these were almost all comedies, decided upon at the last minute with groups of people who were almost always hungover or lazy, seeking something easy on the mind; Hangover 2, Inbetweeners, Bad Teacher and Your Highness come to mind right now, but there were others (and not all as bad as the three mentioned there). Any of the other films on the Total Film list were watched from the (dis)comfort of my own home or in the homes of others.

 Upon realising how many of these films I intended to see, or had in my possession, but had not yet watched, I realised that I was going to start doing so tonight. The list is fairly substantial so I can’t imagine it will be something I do within a couple of days… but I’ll try and chip away at the list, a few titles a week. Then I’ll blog about them… perhaps mentioning why I had looked forward to seeing these films for so long, how the film differed from the film I had built in my head over the last year or so.

I’ll list a couple of them now before I head off to watch one.

Attack The Block – I’ve been listening again to some of director Joe Cornish’s BBC 6 Music podcasts with Adam Buxton lately, so this film was already on the list.

True Grit – I remember I was supposed to see this in the cinema but when the time came my gimpy back and legs were in so much pain when trying to get ready that I gave up and stayed in. Probably watched a terrible movie, or episodes of a TV show I’ve seen countless times before, as I’m prone to do.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – I read the book earlier this year (which was fantastic. I had put it off for so long because everyone was always fucking talking about them), thanks to the Amazon Kindle gifted to me by old Santa Claus. Feel like I should really watch the Swedish version first. But also feel like before I watch the Swedish version I should probably read the other two books first. But as it turns out, my to-read list is longer than my to-watch list and much more time consuming. It could be a while before I see this one, folks.

The Lincoln Lawyer – I can’t help it. I really can’t. I’ve got a soft spot for Mr. Matthew McConaughey. I just wish he’d stop making fucking terrible Rom-Coms. I’m also partial to the odd courtroom drama, from time to time. So McConaughey, being all Mr. Smooth in a courtroom should be right up my alley and I’ve heard good things about it. I might watch this one tonight. It’s a tie between it and Attack the Block I think.

Black Swan – Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis says it all really. I don’t know how I’ve not watched this yet, because I did see them both is some of their less *ahem* critically acclaimed 2011 releases. Portman in Your Highness (which was ok… but a definite let-down) and No Strings Attached, with Kunis’ old That 70’s show buddy Ashton Kutcher. It was pretty bad…even for a Rom-Com. I only watched it because I was stuck in bed with a sore back and no laptop/hard drives which were in Scotland, and I was in Ireland with an iPad, my Dad got for Christmas, but everyone seems to commandeer. This was the one film on it and I can only assume my sister must have rented it on iTunes. I saw Kunis in Friends With Benefits, which was actually not too bad.

Submarine – I’m a huge fan of Richard Ayoade in The I.T Crowd and The Mighty Bush. His directorial debut was something I read lots about and really wanted to see, but I seem to remember being weighed down with university work which essentially paralyzed me, stopping me from doing anything – including the university work itself.

Tintin – More Joe Cornish material. This time, it’s as a writer in collaboration with Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat. Directing was left to some bigger fishies. I loved the Tintin cartoons as a kid, and was only put off going to see this because my, then, 6 year old niece wouldn’t hear of it and insisted upon something else entirely.

Thor – I wanted to see this… but fully intended to wait until it was out of the cinema because I thought it was going to be crap. Apparently it wasn’t, and now, post-Avengers I’m excited about sitting down to watch it.

There are others films from 2011 I want to see on this including 127 Hours, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Ides of March to name but a few. However, it’s just hit me that I only wanted to write this blog for 15 minutes and it’s now 2 hours later (I’m easily distracted) which means I’m going to be lucky if I even watch one of these films tonight, let alone blog about it.

Right… I’m away to watch one of these films. I shall probably return with something that might be analysis of some of the above, but could be about something entirely different. Or nothing at all.