My Favorite Movies of 2011

In September of 2011, I began writing reviews and posting other articles on this here website. What started as a creative outlet with no real direction in mind has turned into a dedicated passion that I am almost afraid to even think about stepping away from at this point. The final four months of 2011 turned in to a testing ground for the content you now see on a regular basis. The site will continue to evolve and expand and I will keep posting my thoughts as long as you keep reading them.

71: Into the Fire

71 Into the Fire is based on a story about a South Korean army platoon made up entirely of student soldiers who were tasked with protecting a strategic location against a vastly superior North Korean force. This tale of uncommon heroism stars Korean rapper Seung Hyun Choi who turns in an impressive performance under the direction of John H. Lee.

Fast Five - Movie Review

The Fast and Furious franchise is one that I have never been overly fond of. The first one was decent, but all others that followed were just not very good at all in my opinion. Fast Five takes the whole idea of what these movies are all about and turns them on their head with lots of big time action and less of a focus on the import car culture and racing.

Battle: Los Angeles - Movie Review

Columbia Pictures seemed to be taking a chance by using a young, unproven director in Jonathan Liebesman to create a movie that would tell a very unique science fiction story without the help of any big name, box office stars. Utilizing a raw, documentary-like film making style to show how a single military squad would perform during an alien invasion, Battle Los Angeles attempts to take viewers right in to the middle of dramatic moments and intense battle scenes.

Thor - Movie Review

For Marvel Studios, Thor is a very important movie and a critical piece of a puzzle that, when fully assembled, will culminate with The Avengers joining forces on screen in what could be the biggest super hero movie of all time. To help stack the deck, they have brought in a load of top notch talent including Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, and Stellan Skarsgård along with rising star Chris Hemsworth who is tasked with bringing the God of Thunder to life.

X-Men: First Class - Movie Review

With Matthew Vaughn taking over the X-Men franchise, people were wondering what to expect from the man most people only knew as the guy who had directed "Kick-Ass" which, to me is one of the best super her movies ever made. If nothing else, audience could be assured that this would be a whole new direction for the mutant anti-heroes.

2011 Movie of the Year

2011 had no shortage of quality movies, from big time blockbusters to smaller, relatively unknown features and I was fortunate enough to see so many of them (and even a few not so good ones) in the theaters.

For me, the main indicator of a movie's quality is the emotion that I feel as I am walking out of the theater as well as how long the movie sticks with me after seeing it. Some fade away very quickly and others have me dwelling on them for days, weeks, and sometimes longer. There are also a select few that I walk away from immediately wanting to see them again and wanting to know more about the people and places I just saw.

These are the ones that I remember as my favorites and each year there is one memorable movie in particular that manages to stand above the rest. With all of that being said and without any further delay, the winner of the first ever 'Two Oh Six: Movie of the Year' award goes to...

2012 Academy Awards: Prediction Special

 

Welcome to my first annual

Academy Awards Prediction Special!

This is my first attempt at picking the winners of those famous gold "Oscar" trophies and I look forward to seeing who actually walks away with them. I  have only included categories where I feel I can make a good decision while leaving out ones where I would only be guessing.

You will see the nominees for each category along with who I feel will ultimately win although you will not see who I feel is the most deserving of the awards. Those announcements will be saved for another post.

2011 Bar of the Year Award

You would be hard pressed to find another place that can offer such a unique and fun experience as Grim's on Capitol Hill. Featuring three very distinct floors that each have their own style and atmosphere, Seattle is fortunate to have a place like this to go to for food, drinks, dancing, and just general socializing. This winning combination has led to Grim's being named the 'Two Oh Six: Bar of the Year' award winner for 2011.

2011 UYBC Year in Review

The UYBC or 'Unofficial Yelp Bar Crawl' is an event series focusing on neighborhoods in and around the city of Seattle. This monthly bar crawl series gives people a great opportunity to see new places, visit old favorites, and hang out with a constantly changing group of friends over the course of one fun-filled night. After the jump you will see names of neighborhoods that are links to each of the 2011 bar crawl event pages.

2011 Best of the Web

These are the movie related websites, videos, and other internet things that gave me the most pleasure and/or helped me to kill the most time over the course of 2011. A couple are rather prestigious, most are humorous, and all are just flat out entertaining.

2011 People's Choice: Top 20 Movies

A recent poll posted on this blog's Facebook page was used to determined what were the most popular movies of 2011 with responses being submitted mostly by readers of my blog. The results are listed below and I'm sure you will find more than a few surprises.

2011 Movie Theater of the Year Award

 

The Seattle Cinerama has long been established as THE place to go for that big premier or special event movie night. Recent improvements to everything from the projectors to the seats and even the addition of chocolate popcorn has kept this classic movie house at the top of my list of favorite places in Seattle and has now earned the inaugural "Two Oh Six: Movie Theater of the Year" award!

2011 Restaurant of the Year Award

Kylie's Chicago Pizza is known for serving the best deep dish, Chicago style pizza in the Seattle area while providing consistently top notch service and, by doing so has earned the inaugural 'Two Oh Six: Restaurant of the Year' award.

Hugo - Movie Review

If someone had told you that Martin Scorsese had just made a 3D movie starring a couple of kids, you might look at them with a fair amount of confusion. The statement is actually true, although this film is so much more than one might expect and yet the unexpected is what you should hope to find in a film like this.

The Artist - Movie Review

'The Artist' begins in 1927 during the heyday of silent films and follows the lives of two people as Hollywood begins to transition in to an era of sound. One is in danger of being left behind while the other becomes an overnight sensation and, although their stories are intertwined, they are constantly being pulled apart by both time and technology.

This movie is primarily a love story but is also so many other things that, by the time the credits role, you realize you are appropriately at a loss for words when trying to describe such a beautifully crafted silent movie.

Drive (2011) - Movie Review

Up and coming director Nicolas Winding Refn, who hails from Denmark, has made a very bold statement with his first mainstream Hollywood effort. Best known previously for his direction of critically acclaimed films like Bronson and Valhalla Rising, Drive will definitely get his career going full speed ahead as he brings us a story full of understated drama contrasted by brutally intense action sequences.

Warrior - Movie Review

The Movie: Warrior

The Director: Gavin O'Connor

The Cast: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn

The Story: The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.