Movies for 2011

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1) Into the woods. Stage production. Famous fairy tale characters come together in Sondheim's musical. Bernadette Peters stars. Really entertaining, music very complex. Little Red Riding hood steals the show.(p)

2) Fiddler on the Roof. Traditions are changing everywhere as Tevye the Dairyman deals with five daughters and Russian Pogroms. (p)

3) The Many Faces of Christopher Lee. The veteran actor talks about his career, and shows off trophies of it, including Dracula's ring and the last extant piece of the Wicker Man. (N/A)

4) The Legend of Billie Jean. When the rich kids trash her brother's scooter, Billie Jean wages a one-girl crusade for justice. Helen and Christian Slater, Yeardley Smith looking all of 10. And one of the best Pat Benatar songs ever.(p)

5) Dreams in the Witch House. One of the Masters of Horror series, this gorey, sexualized Lovecraqft adaptation actually works quite well. A student rents the cheapest room he can find, only to be haunted by the long-dead Keziah and her familiar, Brown Jenkin. (f, 2)

6) The A Team. I was a fan of the TV series. This was a worthy successor. Liam Neeson was perfect for Hannibal and the rest of the cast did a bangup job. Some nice meta with Reginald Barkley starring in The Greater Escape. Big dumb action movie, and it was perfect. (f, 1)

7) Halloween. This was the original and I had never seen it. Minimal gore, lots and lots of suspense. Jamie Lee Curtis turns in an excellent screen debut. (p)

8) Dorian Gray. Ben Barnes is beautiful and evil in this remake. The story is classic, with some updating. We see ALL of Dorian's debauchery, including some same-sex interludes. Quite yummy and lush. (f,2)

9) Clash of the Titans. Big CGI retelling/mangling of the Perseus myth. Grimmer than the 80s version, much more Nietzschian. Really like the Medusa in this one. (p)

10) Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. I like the book this is based on and the movie takes some of the same ideas, but doesn't stay true. Cute love story added in, plus the typical winning Dad's approval theme. (f, 2)

11) Batman Begins. Christian Bale in typical origin story action movie with Morgan Freeman doing a Q style part.(f,1)

12) Machete. I wanted to see this from the moment I saw the fake trailer in front of Planet Terror. And it was just as awesome as expected. A renegade federale seeks revenge on those who killed his family. Violent, gory, nudity, and an on-camera crucifixion. But terrific. Lots of big names and strong women. Michelle Rodriguez is fabulous and Danny Trejo, although an ugly man, is ungodly hot. Bonus for Lindsay Lohan in a nun's habot with a big gun. Most memorable scene? the lowrider cars bouncing outside the gate like a pack of wild animals. (p)

13) The Jacket. A damaged Iraq War I vet is sentenced to an asylum where he is experimented on, and accidentally sees the future. AKA Kris Kristofferson plays with Adrien Brody's mind. Good film, some medical squickage. (p)


14) Cats Don't Dance. Animated tale of a cat who wants to be a movie star but finds one Dora Dimple firmly in his way. (f, 2)

15) Karate Kid. Will Smith's son takes lessons from Jackie Chan to defeat the bullies. (f,2)