Film Review: The Avengers (2012)

Genre: Action

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Chris Evans (Capt. America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Tom Hiddlestone (Loki)

Director: Joss Whedon

Writers: Joss Whedon, Zak Penn

Despite the incredibly entertaining and talented cast at its disposal, The Avengers failed to create more than a bombastic spectacle for the senses, one that is as messy, loud, chaotic and corny as they come.

When I first began to think of the review for this film one word kept popping up in my head: unnecessary. From the battleship with “wings”, to the Hulk-proof cage, and the suicidal tendencies of Robert Downey’s Iron Man; The Avengers always opts for more, never for less. In its grandest moment the film depicts a mega battle that stretches the entire area of New York City where throngs of aliens “disembark” from another dimension with no other goal than to immediately attack and destroy the human race. The scale of the scene is so huge there’s no telling where one character is in relation to the other, throwing all concerns for accuracy and continuity out the window.

The Best Films of 2011 (updated)

It comes 10 months into 2012 but, for the first time, I am confident enough to make my own list of the “best” films of 2011.

Imagine how important it was for me to wait until now to publish this list, that the film that eventually ends up at the top is one that I only managed to watch 3 weeks ago. Without it, this list would have been a crime against my own taste.

Instead of giving you a top 10 or a top 20, I simply give you a run-down of all of the films that received, at the very least, a 4/5 (very good) in my rating system. The result is that there are 17 films out of the almost 100 films from 2011 that I managed to watch, 11 of which received a 4/5, five films received a 4.5/5 and only one received the very rare 5/5.

Despite still missing some highly praised films released the previous solar year (it is impossible to cover them all), I now give you my favorite films of 2011 (and why they are) when we are already in October 2012:

Film Review: The Tree of Life (2011)

Genre: Drama/Spiritual

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken

Director: Terrence Malick

The Tree Of Life is one of the most challenging films I would ever have the pleasure to review, a cinematic poem of incredible visual beauty that dares to examine our place in the Universe through the eyes of a boy growing up in Texas during the 1950s.

Only the fifth feature-length film of Terrence Malick’s long career, The Tree Of Life is as ambitious as it is personal, feeling like the director’s quest to find God in the memory of a fading childhood.

Malick’s exploration is a quiet one, using his impressive cast as vessels of emotion that speak through their eyes and through their touch, more than by the content of their words. For most of its running time, The Tree Of Life centers on Jack, the oldest son of an American southern family. He is shown as an older man reminiscing about his childhood and the loss of a brother, played by a nearly silent Sean Penn; and as a young kid, played by the very capable child actor Hunter McCracken, who seems to grow up in front of our eyes, balancing two very different parents and two younger siblings.

The Blog of Big Ideas’ 1st Annual Vanguard Awards

Following my previous post in which I summarized my thoughts about film in 2011, I think it would be interesting to continue the so-called “Vanguard Award” idea and expand it to include categories that are handed out in the Academy Awards.

The Vanguard Awards will be handed out by The Blog of Big Ideas to films, actors, and film makers that advanced cinema with their artistic vision and dexterity, helping to construct some of the most interesting pieces of art of the last year. It will be an annual award handed out on the same day as the Oscars. In subsequent posts of this coming year, I will be nominating films that I think should be given consideration until it all comes to a close with the awards themselves.

The Vanguard Award will be given to films of artistic relevance, where there are aspects that are unique, original and that may even be considered ahead of its time. This is not to say that the recognition I give to these films necessarily means that these are the films I thought were the best, just the most thought-provoking.

♦ Vanguard Film ♦

Nominees:

Drive (Nicholas Winding Refn)

Melancholia (Lars Von Trier)

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)

Bellflower (Evan Glodell)

Upcoming reviews for 2011: Incendies, Submarine, Win Win, and more…

There is no way I will be posting the much-required “best films of 2011” without watching some of the movies that have been branded by critics as some of the best of the year. Due to my professional responsibilities and my IMDB top 250 challenge, I have not managed to keep up with some of the most attractive offerings at the multiplex this year.