Mid-year report card: My favorite 10 movies - so far - of 2011

After a slower-than-usual start to this movie year, things have definitely picked up this summer for one heavy on good comedies, just the way I like it.

So, without any hesitation, let's just get right to it: Here, in reverse order, are my 10 favorite movies - so far - of 2011.

10. "Cedar Rapids"
Miguel Arteta's insurance salesmen comedy is lighter than air and manages to wrap up just before its laughs run out, and the very best of them all come from John C. Reilly, who just takes over the screen with an irresistible ball of bluster.


9. "Soul Surfer"
Yes, a Christian movie, but even without those overtones, the story of Bethany Hamilton, the professional surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, would still be an inspiring tale. Here it's very well told, and AnnaSophia Robb just shines as Bethany.

8. "Water for Elephants"
The definition of by-the-book filmmaking, but since the source is a book I love, the movie just worked for me. And besides, I think the only time I actually heard people cheer in a movie theater this year was when Rosie the elephant finally ... I won't spoil it for you, but just trust me that this grand romance set at the circus is a fun ride.

7. "Super 8"
The science fiction in J.J. Abrams' movie is much weaker than its overall view of life through the eyes of a group of 13-year-olds who love making movies, which is infectiously entertaining. And keep an eye on Elle Fanning, who steals the movie with a performance way wiser then her years should allow.

6. "Rio"
Though I enjoyed "Cars 2" a heck of a lot more than the original flick from Pixar, it definitely won't be the best animated movie of 2011. That title, so far, goes to this flick from the "Ice Age" crew, which brings the streets of Rio de Janeiro to vibrant animated life (especially in bright 2D) and just delivers a thoroughly fun story.

5. "Hanna"
Joe Wright's Euro-thriller came out so early in the year that it's easily forgotten, which is a real shame, because its nearly as smart as it is exciting, and Saoirse Ronan is just icy perfection as the titular assassin raised to carry out her father's revenge plot.

4. "Bridesmaids"
In summer, the ultimate season for the raunchy R-rated comedies, none has delivered more laughs than this romp led by Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and for that they've been rewarded with huge box office numbers (more than $146 million domestic so far, hopefully more than enough to greenlight more genuinely funny movies led by women.)

3. "Tree of Life"
No movie this year has been more ambitious or packed with more maddening contradictions than Terence Malick's "Tree of Life," which manages to paint an often painfully intimate portrait of family life in Texas of the 1950s while at the same time asking questions about the very nature of human existence. Malick's most personal film, and in my opinion, his best, too.


2. "Midnight in Paris"
Woody Allen's best movie since "Hannah and Her Sisters" is also his most popular one since then, too, even making an almost month-long run in Macon that unfortunately ends Thursday. As much a valentine to the City of Lights as it is just the funniest movie I've seen this year, and in this solid year for comedies, that's a real accomplishment.

1. "Win Win"
Thomas McCarthy's movie can sort of be described as "The Blind Side" set in the none-too-glamorous world of high school wrestling, but what it really is the story of a not terribly heroic man trying to do the best he can in trying circumstances. And Paul Giamatti's performance as that man gives the movie much of its soul, and makes it an all-around winner in my book.

Honorable mention: "The Way Back", "Of Gods and Men", "Jane Eyre", "Thor", "X-Men: First Class", "Bad Teacher", "Cars 2"

And there you have it. Please feel free to add any you think I may have snubbed, and have a perfectly passable Tuesday. Peace out.

Atonement: The power of secrets and lies

Before diving any further into Joe Wright's often very challenging movie about the novel by Ian McEwan, let me predict that you will hear the word "Atonement" more than any other when the Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday morning. That's not really an assessment of how much I liked the movie (which I mostly did), just an observation about what we can expect very soon (and why, of course, it was given a not-at-all-coincidental wide release this week.)

If I was unable to fall in love with the movie, that fact comes from the built-in structure of both the novel and the flick. I won't spoil the major twist, which feels perfectly natural in McEwan's book but a little forced at the end of a two-hour movie, but I will say that by design it gives a remoteness to the love story at the tale's core (the love story which, of course, gives them a double dose of movie-poster eye candy with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, even if this movie in so many ways belongs to young Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis.)

The movie is at its strongest in the first 45 minutes or so, when Wright almost perfectly captures the atmosphere that nurtures all the best and worst aspects of Briony's budding creativity. Though the almost constant clacking of typewriter keys turns into a gimmick far too quickly, it's easy to see how she could be led to (willfully?) misinterpret what she saw one evening at the manor house where she was raised, an act of betrayal which will permanently alter the lives of her sister Cecilia (Knightley) and Robbie (McAvoy), the son of a family servant who lusts for Cecilia (and, in particular and understandably, a certain part of her anatomy.)

I don't want to give away any more than that, because much of the magic of this opening portion comes in discovering through whose eyes you're watching it all unfold. At its best, in particular with the closing shot of Robbie returning home with the defiant twins in tow, it's as good as and strongly invokes Jean Renoir's "Rules of the Game."

It's at this point, when the flick shifts to the wartime lives of Cecilia, Robbie and Briony, that it develops a rather severe distance (again, much of that can be credited to what we learn at the end, but I stlll found it to be a drag on the viewing experience.) There's just, as hard as Knightley and McAvoy tried, a lack of passion to the tale that prevents you from growing more attached to either of them, or to Briony (who will be played by two more actresses as the story continues.)

Which isn't to say there aren't some stunning visual sequences in the second half, particularly the five-minute-or-so scene on the beach at Dunkirk, where Robbie and two of his fellow soldiers arrive in pretty rough shape. It's probably the most impressive set piece of 2007 (though I still prefer the arrival of Remy in the kitchen at Gusteau's in "Ratatouille"), and rivals what Alfonso Cuaron put together at that burned-out building in "Children of Men.") Just as an aside, I was waiting to see if Wright would let the black soldier in their ragtag group have any lines at all, which made me laugh way louder than I should have when he finally gets to utter his two-word, dead-on assessment of their rather dire straits.

In all, I would urge that you don't let any of my qualms let me stop you from seeing this fine flick, the kind of satisfying fare for adults (an impressive 50 or so of whom turned out for my 11 a.m. showing Friday morning) that we just don't get often enough for me. And as far as the Oscars go, it hopefully sets up a great battle royale in the category of Best Supporting Actress between Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby Gone," Kelly Macdonald for "No Country for Old Men" and young Ms. Ronan for her superb work here (and hopefully an appearance from Allison Janney for "Juno" too.) My heart's with Macdonald and my money's on Ryan, but I wouldn't count out Ronan either if "Atonement" goes on the awards roll I'm expecting.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some bills to pay, some grocery shopping to do and then a John Sayles (huzzah!) movie to watch at my local multiplex. Peace out.