It’s the end of another year here at Everything Action and that means that it’s time for each of your Everything Actioncast hosts to give you their picks for the ten best movies of the year.  It was kind of a disappointing year but there were a couple of great summer blockbusters and the latter half of 2011 had some great movie as well.  Tune in to the Everything Actioncast next week for some elaboration on our lists but, for now, check out the top tens below.

Brian’s Top Ten

Honorable Mention: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

You know it’s been a slow movie year if a fourth sequel happens to make my list. But the thing about Pirates 4 isn’t that it’s a “great movie” per se — far from it — but it happens to shake off the rust from the who-cares doldrums of “At World’s End”. Instead Depp here is more of the main focus with Knightley and Bloom out of the way, this time supported by Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane as excellent secondary characters. Not everything here hits the right note (mermaid romance, anyone?) but it manages to garner some of the charm that make the first one such a thrill ride.

10. Thor

Yet another Marvel movie, and perhaps the one that doesn’t hold up as much. (I’m still pondering Iron Man 2.) Despite a fluky plot and questionable character development, Thor has a bad-ass Anthony Hopkins and amazing special effects. Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings are meh-worthy indeed, but at least Chris Hemsworth does a good job in the title role.

9. Horrible Bosses

I do enjoy me some black comedies. Horrible Bosses is a key example of that, with its twists and turns powered by an all-star-esque cast. Charlie Day, who’s been stealing scenes left and right on FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, finally gets a role to shine unlike the buddy he’s played in a dozen romantic movies. Also, who knew Jennifer Aniston could be play the perfect evil vixen? Funny stuff.

8. The Hangover Part 2

A textbook example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Pretty much the same plot as the first film, except this time the guys are in Bangkok and it’s Ed Helms’ future brother-in-law that’s missing. The first Hangover had a bunch of shock moments and in the sequel they try to top them only to come out as… gross. But the bond between the characters that was in the first movie is still there and Zach Galifianakis still shines as Alan. A fun romp that doesn’t improve over the first movie but still worth your time.

7. Paul

I like to describe this movie as a love letter to geek culture. The fact that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star doesn’t hurt either.

6. Bridesmaids

Before you grab those pitchforks, hear me out. This movie is laugh-out-loud funny. And Kristen Wiig, who has been relegated to playing one-note characters on SNL, is fantastic. I think she might give Amy Poehler and Tina Fey a run for their money. Wiig is supported by a great cast, including Melissa McCarthy whose Megan plays off like a female Zach Galifianakis.

5. X-Men: First Class

Let me get this off my chest: I’ve forgiven Brett Ratner. Mostly since 2011 wasn’t such a good year for him. X3 was a pretty terrible movie but I can gladly say that “First Class” has completely removed that bad taste in my mouth. Hiring Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”) was a great choice. Michael Fassbender is awesome as a young Magneto. And while I wasn’t too keen on their choices of character history, namely the Xavier/Mystique friendship that was never brought up in the previous movies, I did like how they handled some of the lesser-known “first” X-Men. A step back in the right direction for this franchise.

4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I’m an unabashed fan of the original Apes movies. So imagine my horror upon seeing Tim Burton’s travesty in 2001. Really? That’s what he came up with? And don’t get me started on that ending, Marky Mark. Luckily this time around they have smart people behind the scenes and the result is a logical reboot. They could’ve easily made James Franco the focus here but the surprise is Andy Serkis as Caesar who is absolutely amazing. What’s more impressive is that this film not only gives the franchise a fresh start after Burton mucked it up, it also improves on 1972′s eye-rolling “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”. Very excited to see the direction they take now.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

After I finished reading “Deathly Hallows” I knew the movie had to be epic. The Battle of Hogwarts… how could that NOT be a movie masterpiece? While Part 1 contained mostly exposition, Part 2 is mostly a bang with the mighty showdowns that have been hinted at all series long. A thrilling conclusion to one of the most intriguing movie franchises of this young century.

2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Yeah, a late addition but well worth it. It’s hard for me to find a fourth film in a franchise that is still as engaging and entertaining as this one. Cruise returns yet again as venerable agent Ethan Hunt who returns to the field to stop a madman from inciting global nuclear war. Simon Pegg returns as the comic relief/tech guru Benji and Jeremy Renner provides a welcome boost as chief analyst Brandt. There’s twists and turns, both literally and plot wise, with some absolutely jaw-dropping action scenes scattered throughout. A fine blend of what made the first and third films so intriguing.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

Another Marvel movie, only this time our focus is on the first Avenger, Captain America. Mostly a propagandist, it can easily be seen how a character and a movie like this can be easily screwed up. But leave it to Joe Johnston, who 20 years ago nailed the 1930′s aesthetic with “The Rocketeer”. This time he nails the whiz-bang excitement of war-time America in the 1940′s. All while supported by an awesome cast: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving as the menacing Red Skull. A great lead-in to what’s sure to be one of the best action movies of 2012, “The Avengers”.

Chris’ Top Ten

10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

9. Rango

8. 13 Assassins

7. Thor

6. The Hangover Part 2

5. X-Men: First Class

4. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2. Captain America: The First Avengers

1. Horrible Bosses

Joe’s Top Ten

10. Cedar Rapids

9. Drive Angry

8. Horrible Bosses

7. The Mechanic

6. Insidious

5. Fast Five

4.  Thor

3. X-Men: First Class

2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

Honorable Mentions:

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The Hangover Part II

Paranormal Activity 3

Zach’s Top Ten

10. Thor- Thor kicked off the Summer superhero movies in a great way and, while still fun, feels more like setup for the Avengers than the more standalone, and superior, Captain America.  Chris Hemsworth was fantastic choice as the God of Thunder.

9. Drive- It probably got a little over-hyped upon release but Drive is still a great crime movie with a surprisingly menacing Ryan Gosling as the unnamed wheelman “hero”, a great soundtrack and atmosphere and some shockingly over the top violence including the best head explosion since Scanners.

8. Real Steel- Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots: The Movie seems like the stupidest idea ever but with the charm of Hugh Jackman, better CG robot battles than Transformers and a healthy dose of Rocky IV (Ivan Dragobot!) made Real Steel one of the funnest movies of the year.

7. Fast Five- Expectations were low after the incoherent CG mess that was Fast & Furious but fortunately The Rock came in and delivered a much needed burst of energy and his brutal fight with Vin Diesel was one of the best fights of the year.  The movie also delivered some of the most awesome, over the top action sequences of the year from the opening train heist to the end chase where Diesel and Paul Walker use a giant safe and their muscle cars as weapons.

6. X-Men: First Class- Much like Fast Five above, expectations for a new X-Men movie probably couldn’t be lower, especially after the disaster that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine but First Class came out of nowhere to be the second best superhero movie of the summer and, hopefully, the start of new X trilogy.  The standout of First Class has to be Michael Fassbender as Magneto but James Macavoy was fun as well as a swinging Charles Xavier.

5. Contagion-  The scariest movie of the year, by far, Contagion will give germaphobes a heart attack and non-germaphobes into them.  An all-star cast led by Matt Damon gives different viewpoints into a global outbreak of a deadly virus and the lingering shots of doorknobs and water fountains are scarier than any slasher in a horror movie.

4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes-  Washing the bitter taste of Tim Burton’s disasterous reboot, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the biggest surprise of the year, one of the best movies of the summer and featured one of the most impressive pure CG creations yet with Caesar, brilliantly performed by Andy Serkis.  Each third of the movie has a distinct feel from the coming of age beginning to the prison break middle to the all out ape rampage of the end, they all work together to create a smart and exciting summer blockbuster.

3. The Muppets- If you didn’t leave The Muppets with a smile on your face, you have no soul.  It was so great to see the entire Muppets gang back on the big screen from the big three of Kermit, Fozzie and Miss Piggy to obscure characters like Uncle Deadly and the new additions (80′s Robot!) were great as well.  Add tons of catchy songs and awesome celebrity cameos and you have one fantastic, hilarious movie.

2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol- Thankfully I was able to see MI: Ghost Protocol before the year ended because it’s an amazing action movie and the best entry in the Mission Impossible series.  Tom Cruise still kicks all kinds of ass as Ethan Hunt and Jeremy Renner seems like a fine choice to possibly take over the franchise.  It features some amazing action sequences in exotic locations like Dubai, especially Ethan’s death defying climb of the world’s tallest building.  It’s a must see if you like the MI series or just great action in general.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger- The best superhero movie of the year and the best action movie of the year, Captain America was just tons of fun with Joe Johnston going back to his forte; pulp, 40′s era adventure with super heroic bad guys and over the top evil bad guys.  Chris Evans was an absolutely fantastic choice to play Steve Rogers and the effects to show him pre-super soldier serum were amazing.  Cap had a great supporting cast as well from Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull and Hayley Atwell as Agent Carter.  Unlike Thor, Captain America was also a great stand alone movie as well as a great stepping stone to the Avengers.

Honorable Mentions:

Rango

Hobo With a Shotgun

Source Code

Paul

The Mechanic

Robert Zemeckis brings us another 3D motion capture extravaganza with his take on the classic Dickens story, A Christmas Carol.  It’s a little effects bloated but is still a fine treat for the holiday season.

Jim Carrey stars as Ebenezer Scrooge as well as the Ghosts of Past and Present.  As Scrooge he gives a fantastic performance and captures all the sides of Scrooge, from miserly and cold to happy and outgoing.  Bob Hoskins, Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn fill out the supporting cast but are pretty much overshadowed by Carrey. This also kind of effects the story as well as I think the side story of the Cratchit family is more brief than in other adaptations.  It’s also a little distracting hearing Carrey as the Ghosts as he throws out some crazy accents, which conflict with his more understated performance as Scrooge.

Zemeckis really uses the 3D to his advantage in A Christmas Carol.  There are fantastic sweeping shots of Victorian London that actually might give some people motion sickness, I know I felt a little like I was going over a hill on a roller coaster.  He also uses fog extremely well, although the falling snow is a little fake.  As with most of the 3D movies that have come out recently, the 3D really gives a great sense of depth to the scenes, in particular there were many scenes where you look through windows and they look extremely good.  The only thing Robert Zemeckis hasn’t solved yet is making the characters not have eyes as dead as Kardashian sister’s.  It gets slightly better with each movie but it still feels a little creepy.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about the movie was the fact that Zemeckis took a darker approach to the story that is more in line with the original.  You kind of know what you’re getting into when the movie opens on Jacob Marley’s corpse.  You also have to watch the Ghost of Christmas Present die and then see Scrooge tormented by the personifications of Ignorance and Want.  Scrooge is also chased by a demon carriage driven by, I think, the Ghost of Christmas Future.  That sequence is pretty extraneous as Zemeckis seemed to think he needed a big action set piece before the finale.  Scrooge is shrunk down and chased around London, finally ending up in a pawn shop where he sees his former housekeeper selling off his possessions.  It’s exciting for sure but just doesn’t really serve any purpose plot wise.  The rest of the ghost sequences are well done and I especially liked the Christmas Present sequence where the ghost and Scrooge travel around London in Scrooge’s den and the floor turns transparent.

Overall I think this is a fine adaptation of Dickens’ classic story.  It’s not quite as fun as the Muppet or Disney versions but it has more of the sensibility of the original, a great lead performance from Carrey and some fantastic cinematography and effects.  If you’re looking to get the holiday season started this year, you could do a lot worse than this.

4 out of 5

]]> http://www.everythingaction.com/2009/11/14/review-a-christmas-carol/feed/ 0 http://www.everythingaction.com/2009/06/24/1984-greatest-year-ever/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=1984-greatest-year-ever http://www.everythingaction.com/2009/06/24/1984-greatest-year-ever/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:10:11 +0000 Zach http://www.everythingaction.com/?p=1312

If you’re a movie nerd then the answer is probably yes. In the newest issue of Toyfare (and I believe also mentioned on Slashfilm and The Totally Rad Show) a ridiculous amount of classic and cult movies came out in the year 1984.  Take a look and see if you agree.

• Ghostbusters
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Gremlins
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• The Karate Kid
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
• The Last Starfighter
• The Muppets Take Manhattan
• The Neverending Story
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Police Academy
• Red Dawn
• Revenge of the Nerds
• Sixteen Candles
• Starman
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• The Terminator
• This is Spinal Tap
• Toxic Avenger

All those plus the birth of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Macintosh and the Marvel Secret War, that’s tough to beat.  If you have any memories of 1984 (and please share since I was -2 at the time) or if you think there’s a year that beats it let us know.

DVD

Traitor

Generation Kill

Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 6

Old School (Blu Ray)

Tommy Boy (Blu Ray)

Pick of the Week: Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog

Joss Whedon’s internet blockbuster arrives on DVD this week. Dr. Horrible tells the story of Neil Patrick Harris’ titular Doctor trying to get into the Evil League of Evil by defeating his douchebag of an archenemy Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). Meanwhile the Doctor tries to woo the girl of his dreams, Penny (Felicia Day), as his alter ego Billy. Dr. Horrible is hilarious and there are tons of great songs that will probably get stuck in your head. It’s a great addition to the “Whedonverse” as Joss apparently calls it. (Thanks Robot Chicken!)

Video Games

Rock Band (PS2 and Wii)

Most Boring Game of the Year?- Learn Math

Rise of the Argonauts

TV

A Muppet’s Christmas: Letters to Santa

Sci Fi Original Movie: Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon