12 Movies I Liked a Lot in 2011

20. The Lincoln Lawyer



I was in the mood for a legal drama and this is a straight thriller, but it's a very good one (a couple of plot holes notwithstanding). Matthew McConaughey is awesome in this kind of thing.

19. The Thing



I don't understand why people are confused about whether this is a remake or a prequel. It's clearly a prequel; it just hits a lot of the same beats that the John Carpenter version did. It doesn't do some things as well as Carpenter did (the monster test comes to mind), but it's still effective and the CGI monsters look better than most of Carpenter's practical effects. Also, the nerd in me loves how seamlessly the two films connect. They're really two halves of one movie.

18. Drive



The more I think about Drive, the more I like it. Even going into it knowing that it was an artsy thriller, it still took some time for the film to sink in and work on me. It's touching, horrific, tragic, and unconventionally heroic.

17. Horrible Bosses



Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudekis are all charming and likable in this, but they're upstaged by Colin Farrell and (I can't believe I'm saying this) Jennifer Aniston who are hilarious. Kevin Spacey is also good, but I've seen him play this kind of prick before, so it wasn't as surprising. The real show-stealer was Jamie Foxx. From his character's name to the way he sips his soda, he was the funniest character I've seen in a movie all year.

16. Bad Teacher



At last, a reason to like Cameron Diaz again. And it doesn't hurt that she's surrounded by some of my favorite comedic actors: Jason Segel, Phyllis Smith, Eric Stonestreet, Thomas Lennon, and (after this film) Lucy Punch and Justin Timberlake. Building a story around an unlikable character is a tricky proposition for me, but they made it work.

15. Super 8



I was a little let down by the ending, but otherwise this movie had a touching story, humor, some stereotype-breaking characters, and great performances by the kids and The World's Most Handsome Actor. It also took me back to the '80s and that's a place I always enjoy visiting.

14. Puss in Boots



I'm a little afraid to watch this again for fear it won't be as funny the second time, but I had a blast with this movie. Lots of swashbuckling and it's hilarious, especially for people who've spent much time around cats.

13. X-Men: First Class



I was very nervous about this one after they began announcing the cast and the massive number of mutant characters that are in it. I had X-Men 3 flashbacks. Surprisingly, it's a focused story with a specific point that it makes well. Awesome performances by James McAvoy and (especially) Michael Fassbender too.

12. The Three Musketeers



Not the weightiest adaptation of The Three Musketeers ever, but why should it be? Hits most of the main story beats while adding lots of steampunk and butt-kicking Milady. My only gripe (though it's a significant one) is that the Miladay/Athos relationship is changed enough to rob their story of its power. That's one of the best, most heartbreaking parts of the novel and I'm sorry it got left out. But I'm happy about the war-dirigibles.

11. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol



From a story standpoint: the best Mission: Impossible movie yet. I miss Maggie Q though.

10. Captain America: The First Avenger



Lots of pulpy awesomeness and great performances by everyone. I'm not into the costume and I'm disappointed that the script doesn't give Chris Evans time to develop convincingly into the inspirational leader that I associate with Cap, but even if he doesn't feel exactly like Captain America to me, I still like this character.

9. Thor



This, on the other hand, felt exactly like Thor to me. Chris Hemsworth was perfect and the script wonderfully balanced the Earth and Asgard settings in an impressive way. The Thor comics I've read have rarely made that work as well. Certainly Green Lantern didn't with Earth and Oa. Thor had character development that reflected the comics and Natalie Portman made me believe why Earth might compete for his allegiance. Also: Kat Dennings stole every scene she was in.

Friday Night Art Show: The Best Pirate Crew Ever

August was Pirates Month at Sketchy Business and there's lots of cool stuff to see there. I've picked out a few of my favorites, but you should really check out the entire gallery. There's so much that I eventually had to cut myself off and leave behind - among others - pirate onions and a pirate riding a dinosaur.



By Phil Postma.


By Galit Weisberg.



By Nachshon Rubel.



By James P Brouwer.



By Ian Jeans. Pirates pilates. I wish I'd thought of that.



By Phil Postma.



By Patri Balanovsky.

The House on Cullen's Peak



By Kurt Schaffenberger.

Buck Rogers Hates Cephalopods



By Frank Frazetta. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Key Out of Time



By Ed Emshwiller. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Everglades River Chase



Artist Unknown. [The FictionMags Index]

Queen of the Danger Lands



By Alex Schomburg. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Dorothy



By Jeremy Vanhoozer.

Golden Blood



By J Allen St John. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

He's got Cat Class and he's got Cat Style



Artist Unknown [Brother Cal]

Hans My Hedgehog



By Eleanor Davis.

The Monsters of Juntonheim



By Osborne. [American Pulps and Magazines]

Fear me... if you dare!

Here's to Future Days

The Future of Atomic Robo



Brian Clevinger has shared a list of working titles for upcoming Atomic Robo mini-series. If that's not enough to get you going, he also gives some teases about genres, plots, and settings, but you'll have to click through to see those. Here are the titles:

Atomic Robo and Other Strangeness
Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X
Atomic Robo in Diamonds Are For Never
Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific
Atomic Robo: Under an Iron Sky

Puss n' Boots and Other Dreamworks Animation Plans



While I dread the thought of another Shrek film, I'd eagerly go see one that was just about a swashbuckling cat. Looks like I could get my wish.

Dreamworks is also planning a dragon movie, a superhero spoof (starring Robert Downey Jr.), yet another movie about re-imagined fairy tales, and sequels to Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar (again). I'm up for another round of Kung Fu Panda if it's as fun as the first one, but I don't think we can really be sure that that'll be the case. Of those five, I'm most interested in the superhero one in which Downey plays a supervillain who's forced by his own evil schemes to become a good guy.

There's also a chance that they'll be working on a Chris Sanders movie about a caveman. All they had to say was "Chris Sanders" and that's the most exciting project they've got.

Edited to add: Someone was nice enough to point out in the comments that the dragon movie is also directed by Sanders. I saw "dragon movie" in the article and immediately went to the next paragraph. Needless to say, it just shot up to the top of the list for me.

Now I should check to make sure Brad Bird's not attached to Madagascar 3 or something.

The Great Bear



You know what sounds as awesome as any of Dreamworks' plans? A Danish cartoon about a young boy, a missing sister, a vast and ancient forest, mythical animals, and a giant, tree-covered bear.

Links du Jour: Infinite Shrek, Spider-Man 3, and Lushbians

Swashbuckling

• A commenter was nice enough to give me some more info on the Captain Alatriste movie: "Alatriste is done and released, at least in Spain, South America, Mexico and several other places. You can get the DVD (region 2) at DVDgo.com. It has shown at a few festivals in the U.S., but there is no scheduled release date here." Thanks! I'll be keeping my eyes open for US release dates, and Amazon's going to send me an alert when it's available on Region 1 DVD.
• Last week I mentioned that Antonio Banderas as Puss 'n Boots was the main reason I'm going to give Shrek 3 a look. It looks like I may soon be able to enjoy him without having to also endure the annoying ogre. Not that Dreamworks won't ask me to do that some more too.

Spies

• Mike Myers is planning another Austin Powers movie. God help us. My five year old son is learning that -- no matter how funny it was the first time -- you can't just tell the same joke over and over again and have it stay funny. Maybe he and Mike Myers should have a conversation.

Mystery

• ABC and the Lost producers have a schedule now for doling out the remaining episodes of the series. Basically, they'll be doing three more, shortened seasons of 16 episodes each. That sets the series to end in 2010. Earlier this year, Damon Lindelof was saying that they wanted to quit at four-and-a-half seasons. This new plan pads that out to about five full-length seasons (the equivalent of three full-length and three shortened ones). That means we'll get some filler, but I'm okay with that.

Fantasy

• I like talking animals. I'm not what you'd call a fan of the genre -- hell, I didn't even know it was a genre -- but I grew up watching Bugs Bunny and Disney cartoons, so of course I like talking animals. Didn't know there was a whole award program specifically for them though.

Superheroes

• Clio Chiang is one of my favorite artists and now she's got some superhero sketches up on her blog. That's her version of Gambit and Rogue illustrating this post. And that's exactly how I like to see Gambit and Rogue. Him: all flirty cockiness. Her: having none of it. Worst thing that ever happened to that couple was their going past flirtation into an actual relationship. Sam and Diane, man. Sam and Diane.
• They finally went and made it official. It's been true for years, but now it's right there in the title: Wolverine and the X-Men. Coming soon to a Saturday morning near you.

Writing is Hard

• I saw Spider-Man 3 over the weekend. I don't know if I want to write a full review of it, but the short version is that I was pretty disappointed. One of the reasons is that Venom just felt kind of forced into the whole thing. There was a great story in the film, but it got crowded out by the Venom parts. And here to explain why is Sam Raimi: "I had worked on the story with my brother Ivan. Primarily, it was a story that featured the Sandman. It was really about Peter, Mary Jane, Harry and that new character. When we were done, Avi Arad, my partner and president of Marvel at the time, came to me and said, 'Sam, you're not paying attention to the fans enough. You need to think about them. You've made two movies now with your favorite villains and now you're about to make another one with your favorite villains. The fans love Venom. He is the fan-favorite. All Spider-Man readers love Venom. Even though you came from '70s Spider-Man, this is what the kids are thinking about. Please incorporate Venom. Listen to the fans now.'" Worst advice ever.

Stuff Nobody Cares About but Me

• Lady, That's My Skull has coined an ingenious new word: "Lushbian, n., a woman who usually acts heterosexual but becomes all kissy-face with other women when they are all really drunk." You know you know one.
• This is why I don't get into anime. The Sci Fi Channel is starting a new feature called Ani-Monday. Great, says I. It'll be a chance for me to try out some anime from the ground floor instead of trying to jump into the middle of some ongoing series. But just look at some of the titles they're opening with. Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society is a perfect example of how inaccessible these things are for new people. It's obviously a continuation of the Ghost in the Shell series, but which part is it? None of them are numbered so that you know what to go back and watch. They never are. Or if they are, it's like another Ani-Monday offering: Street Fighter II V. Are you freaking kidding me? And people say that comics are hard to jump into.
• Why, oh, why didn't I know there was a 2007 Keira Knightley calendar when it could've done me some good?