I’ve had lots to do so these will most likely be pretty short. An exercise in brevity I guess.

– War Horse – (2011)

Dir- Steven Spielberg; Star- Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson
Irish boy gets a horse but it’s taken away to fight in World War I which upsets him. Then we follow the horse on its journey through war torn Europe as it changes owners. This could have been decent if it focused on the horse as a common thread in the war torn lives of many people across borders, which it kind of tries to do, but instead it plays more like a sappy teenage horse movie. Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography is unbearably artificial, making everything look brighter than it really is, like the whole movie was shot in a big warehouse but also on location in a field in Ireland. It was distracting and gave the entire picture a feeling of non authenticity, but hey he was nominated for an Oscar for his work here. War Horse is too long, too sappy and unsure of whether it wants to cater towards a fully impacting anti-war theme or a child’s horse fantasy.

– The Artist – (2011)

Dir- Michael Hazanvicius; Star- Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman
Black and white silent film about a movie star who can’t carry his success over to talky movies, while the actress he made famous shines in the new format. Charming, funny, and worthwhile for revitalizing techniques and feelings of the golden days of cinema, but with a familiar plot that spends too much time wallowing in sorrow and not enough time being exuberant. Dujardin’s smile is infectious and his necessary charisma is undeniable, but the extended low points in the plot make it too easy to nod off.

– Shame – (2011)

Dir- Steve McQueen; Star- Michael Fassbender, Carrey Mulligan
Yuppie New York City sex addict Fassbender must face his affliction when his irresponsible younger sister moves in with him. An interesting character study that doesn’t completely examine everything it can, but what it tackles it does well, thanks to a first rate cast and sharp direction. I can’t say that the plot wasn’t predictable, but it didn’t matter because Fassbender did such an impressive job inhabiting a man whose hidden vice keeps him from forming any sort of meaningful relationship with anyone.

– The Tree of Life – (2011)

Dir- Terrance Malick; Star- Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn
Terrance Malick’s ethereal rumination on life in the context of the entire universe is pretty ambitious but also quite dull. He builds a story about kids raised by a strict father and somehow tries to make us feel the pain of human philosophizing through pretty cinematography and surreal images. It’s the kind of thing you would think about for 20 minutes while walking by the river, but this takes two and a half hours and is a movie.

– Meek’s Cutoff- (2011)

Dir- Kelly Reichardt; Star- Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood
Wagon train gets hopelessly lost on its way west, everyone questions if they should trust the raggy old man who’s leading them. Understated but better because of it, like every Reichardt movie. The daily grind, the sights, the struggles, and the life of those heading west has never been so realistically captured. It wasn’t glamorous, it was often monotonous, and there was uncertainty every step of the way. An important and very welcome addition to Reichardt’s contribution to American realist film making.

– Rise of the Planet of the Apes – (2011)

Dir- Rupert Wyatt; Star- James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow
The story of how the apes in Planet of the Apes rose to power; biologist Franco unleashes something bad on the world that makes monkeys really smart. Technically impressive but it’s ultimately too summer-oriented and pretty stupid.

– Margin Call – (2011)

Dir- J C Chandor; Star- Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto
Behind the scenes at a financial firm that gets wind of the impending economic collapse of 2008, and the moral lapses that occur to save themselves at the detriment to everyone else. It’s modernly made and pretty straight forward, trying to mix business action with personal dilemmas with average but not spectacular success.

– The Ides of March- (2011)

Dir- George Clooney; Star- Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti
Like Margin Call but for politics, about an impending presidential primary race and the moral dilemmas that occur as the idealist Gosling learns of the transgressions that are inevitable in a winning campaign. Unbelievably star studded, modernly made and pretty straight forward. It’s entertaining but not terribly noteworthy.

– The Guard- (2011)

Dir- John Michael McDonagh; Star- Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle
Gleeson is uproarious as a sardonic Irish policeman who uncovers a drug smuggling ring. His character is more complex than meets the eye yet hilariously crude and matter-of-fact. The quirky Irish sense of humor is refreshing, and the heroic finale was unexpected and awesome.

– Moneyball – (2011)

Dir- Bennett Miller; Star- Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Brad Pitt is Billy Beane, general manager for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. The movie is about how they used statistics and computers to turn a bunch of no name players into a winning team, with further elements about Beane’s own desire to win to make up for what he couldn’t do as a player. Well made business-decision porn follows the Social Network vibe very well (and was even co scripted by Aaron Sorokin), with a good dose of inspiration and spirit. Very entertaining, especially if you’re into baseball.

– Another Earth – (2011)

Dir- Mike Cahill; Star- William Mapother, Brit Marling
A girl is going to go to MIT but kills a man’s family in a car accident and eventually becomes his cleaning lady. Oh yeah, and there’s a carbon copy of earth in the sky in which all the people alive now live in some sort of alternate universe. Clearly questions of fate and decision making will arise. An interesting premise that is too blatant in its message, with an ending that wants to be clever but really makes no sense.

– Water For Elephants – (2011) 

Dir- Frances Lawrence; Star-Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz
Edward Cullen joins the circus where he becomes a vet and falls in love with Reese Witherspoon despite the fact that the circus owner is into her. The romance wasn’t as interesting to watch as the daily activities of running a circus in depression era America, which is reproduced in a lively and memorable fashion. It was fun seeing Christoph Waltz as a circus owner instead of a Nazi, but it doesn’t take long before his scary side comes out in full force to great effect.