As you can see from previous posts, I saw a lot of great movies this year (as well as several great TV shows and series), and I enjoy tipping readers off to the 10 best new and 10 best classic films I saw in 2011, but I also want to make note of the movies that disappointed me in 2011 - not the worst movies of the year, because obviously there are thousands of horrible films that I would never think of seeing (that's what we pay professional critics to do); I have high expectations for every movie I see or start to see - I've obviously chosen each movie out of the million or so available because I thought I'd like it, but inevitably we come upon some duds, so here is my list of the Most Disappointing Movies (I Saw) in 2011, which, fortunately, is not long:
I'm Going Home (2001) and A Talking Picture (2003): Readers of this blog will know that I love classic (and recent) European cinema, so I was really interested to learn about Manuel de Oliveira, a Portuguese director now a centenarian - I was really interested in seeing some great films from Portugal, which has for me been off the map of movies. Ugh - honestly, I started watching each of these two films and could not finish either - terribly stilted, stagy, seemingly going nowhere - one about a woman on a boat journey with her young daughter (?), stopping at various ports to meet local folks, no better than a travelogue (plot developed later apparently, but I could only give it so much), the other something to do with a long and dull stage show and some backstage maneuverings. I'll never know.
J. Edgar: There's got to be a great story in the life of J. Edgar Hoover, but this Eastwood vehicle doesn't tell it. Scene after scene of stilted dialog, boring biopic episode by episode unfolding of a life story, confusing regarding politics and sexuality, a classic example of way too much tell not enough show. Nothing from this film stays with me.
Tree of Life and Days of Heaven (1978): I keep thinking I ought to like Terrance Malick, he's thoughtful and serious and scrupulous, so I tried twice but honestly Tree of Life was one of the most pretentious movies I've ever seen - the story of one family and its tragedy (very poorly portrayed with extremely awkward and confusing jumps back and forth in time and huge gaps in the plot) set against weird footage of the origin of the universe, from the big bang onward. Huh? Days of Heaven was at least gorgeous to watch, but the plot was absurd: movies, even art-house cinematographic films, have some obligation to narrative consistency and coherence, which Malick disdains.
War Horse: Big, expensive, epic, dull. Do you care about a boy (actually, not even a boy - 18-year-old farmer's son who becomes a World War I soldier) and his horse? I love some animal films - e.g., Homeward Bound - but they have to have true feeling, humor, pathos. This Spielberg vehicle, despite its excellent production values (which may well earn it a few Oscars), has thoroughbred aspirations but plods along its tedious narrative path like an old workhorse bound for the glue factory.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.