Best Sound
The Last Circus
Here was a film seemingly scripted and produced for someone like me: surreal circus violence and a killer clown? Sign me up! Sadly Alex de la Iglesia’s Spanish Civil War metaphor coated in pancake makeup felt a tad empty to me, but when backs snap and faces get ironed, your ears experience something very, very new.
Season of the Witch
Could you envision a table reading where Ron Perlman and Nicolas Cage toyed with British accents, then director Domonic Sena watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and realized that only VILLAINS in period films needed them? Yeah, I'm assuming that's what went down and thankfully, we're all the better for it.
Torture Device of the Year
Immortals burned a few pretty oracles inside one and Gary Oldman lorded over it in elephant form in the already-hysterical Red Riding Hood. Who knew the biggest trend of 2011 would be so...brass?
Most Effort Put Into Films That Weren’t That Good
Rubber/Dylan Dog: Dead of Night
It’s a tiring tie between the look-at-how-weird-I-am Rubber and the laugh-at-me-PLEASE Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. With its aggressively avante garde approach, Rubber goes flat (damn you easiness of tire puns) on the screen because as good an idea as using a ridiculous premise to craft a film about voyeurism is, the movie simply is not, primarily because it clearly THINKS it is and...well, you get the point. That might not have made sense, but neither did the film. Dylan Dog, on the other hand, tries harder than Anne Hathaway at the Oscars to endear itself to the absent audience, forcing awkward banter between Brandon Routh’s wooden private eye and his former Superman costar’s ‘wacky’ zombie. You almost feel bad for it. Unless you paid, and then it’s not funny to anyone.
Best Construction of a Sequel
REC 2
Yes, it was technically a 2010 release, but when non-illegal means or film critic badges mean lowly movie fans like us can only see it in 2011, I consider it 2011. REC 2 didn’t grab me with quite the same urgency as its predecessor, but it’s hard not to admire how well REC 2 works in terms of its series, picking up the found footage narrative without feeling contrived.
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows: Part Deux
Having thus far only read the first book, I understand that there are some character nuances I have yet to experience simply by watching the films. That being said, one of the best villains in this film franchise is Helena Bonham Carter’s cackling Beatrix LeStrange, an evil witch who brings to mind what was good about Tim Burton before, well, he married Carter and got stuck in time. Thus, seeing a likable but minor character (Ron’s mum) finish her off with a quick spell and a line curbed from Aliens just felt anticlimactic.
William Finchter, Drive Angry 3D
How exactly does one hijack a movie from Nicolas Cage? One be William Finchter's ambiquous Accountant, that's how.
Best Film Without a Genre
Take Shelter
I've read rumblings of how Jeff Nichols' quiet study of schizophrenia/the apocalypse/Michael Shannon's awesomeness was likely ignored by major film awards because of its oddness or even, dare I say it, categorization as horror. In no way does the film belong on the same shelf as Paranormal Activity, but it IS horrifying, much in the same way as something like Todd Haynes' Safe or Michael Tolkin's The Rapture. But for some, the apocalyptic undertones relegate Take Shelter out of the pure and prestigious 'drama' club, making this haunting--and duh, incredibly acted--tale a movie without a home...or shelter.
Frank Oz Is An Asshole Award
...For his grumpy Stadler and Waldorff-esque trash-talking of The Muppets before its release. Look, it's not Jason Segel's fault that your last film managed to poop on the talents of Bette Midler, Nicole Kidman, Nathan Lane, Jon Lovitz, and the original near-perfection of Bryan Forbes' The Stepford Wives. Trust me, that film was far more offensive than Fozzie's fart shoes.
Movie I'm Appreciative Exists. Now Go Away
Chillerama
I love the spirit behind this film, a four-part anthology made by four hard-working and creative directors with a clear affection for genre history. But twenty minutes of semen jokes, another twenty minutes of werebear singing, another twenty of a Hitler gag that was funny for fifteen, and an endless repeat of movie quotes in the finale is a whole lot of wasted time.
Best Random Homages
Hobo With a Shotgun/YellowBrickRoad
In the 21sst century, we can safely assume that any working filmmaker has seen a lot of movies. It's common practice to reference the ones with influence, be that visually or in dialogue. This year, there were two films that did this to outstanding effect: Hobo With a Shotgun for its affectionate embrace of all the colorful hues and homeless politics of 1986's Street Trash, and the sharp direct-to-DVD YellowBrickRoad, which used one of the most beloved classics of all time as a maddening inspiration for some fantastic scares.
Needs More Dinosaurs Award
Tree of Life
Because c’mon! What’s more accessible than dinosaurs? Do you KNOW how many Land Before Time sequels have been made?