Underrated Leading Performances of 2011

Last weekend, I looked at the ten most underrated supporting performances from 2011. I couldn't really just give you that list and run away laughing, now could I? It is time to look at the leading performances that didn't get an adequate amount of attention. Here's my ten picks, ranked...

10. Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower

It pretty much sounds like an Oscar success story: an ever dependable actress playing the lead in a true story of a woman working against all odds. Alas, The Whistleblower wasn't received that well and hardly anyone saw it. Maybe the film is a little too dependent on Rachel Weisz being dependable, but she gives a wonderful lead performance that the film itself can never live up to. Her performance/character can be summed up by one line that she utters in the film: "I don't want a scandal, I just want to do my job." And what a brilliant job she does.

New 100 Favourite Movies Update!

I've updated my top 100 for the first time since October. No special reason - I just felt the need for an upgrade. Check it out here. It has changed quite a bit, although the top three remain in the same spots (mind you, it'd take a lot to shift them).

I'd love to hear your feedback! How's my list looking?

Could You Kill Your Best Friend?

Film: Battle Royale
Year: 2000
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Written by: Kenta Fukasaku, based on the novel 'Battle Royale' by Koushun Takami.
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sôsuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto, Yukihiro Kotani.
Running time: 108 min.

Two or so weeks ago, The Hunger Games came out. It seems like everyone saw it. And then everyone reviewed it. There were two words that appeared in every single review I read: Battle Royale. Every time I clicked on a review, I felt compelled to find those words and to see what kind of slam they had against The Hunger Games for 'ripping off' Battle Royale's premise. Unless, of course, I was reading a 'review' from someone in the target audience who had no idea that Battle Royale existed, or that Japan made movies, for that matter. Basically, here's the main crux of this The Hunger Games/Battle Royale situation: people who care about The Hunger Games probably haven't heard of Battle Royale; movie bloggers will always point out how similar The Hunger Games is to Battle Royale; and people who love Battle Royale are most likely to hate The Hunger Games, even without seeing it. I am a person who cared about The Hunger Games and was aware of Battle Royale, but I only just saw the latter last night. In all honesty, I really liked The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale was a far better movie. And that is where the comparisons shall end.

A Conversation with Real Steel

Hey hey, here's a movie which I actually liked! This will present a little bit of a challenge, since I've been quite used to conversing with films that I didn't really like. Anyway, I welcome this - and hopefully you will too.
Do I really need to explain what 'a conversation' post is again? Newbies, go here. Let's hope to some Real Steel, guys!

CHRISTOPHER: After being told last week by Immortals that I was a little too pale, I've decided to revert my attention back to robots. I guess they're a lot less judgemental...
REAL STEEL: What you mean to say is boxing robots.

C: Sorry, boxing robots.
RS: We don't just have any robots.

C: So they're not like the robots you'd find in a Michael Bay film?
RS: No. I'm a movie with an actual heart beating through it, which is what robots were intended to be in.

C: Fair enough. So what else sets you apart from the average Michael Bay robotic flick?
RS: Uh, Hugh Jackman being awesome. A female counterpart that isn't just there to look good and do nothing else. Maybe an actual storyline. 

C: What is your storyline?
RS: Imagine your average sports movie. Now set it in the future. Instead of people boxing, have robots boxing. And then have Hugh Jackman train them. See where I'm going here?

C: So basically, it is a sports movie with boxing robots.
RS: ....and Hugh Jackman.

C: And Hugh Jackman. Does he sing in this movie?
RS: No, unfortunately not. 

C: So it can't be a great deal too memorable, then.
RS: BUT WE HAVE BOXING ROBOTS!

C: I guess so. If you ask me, boxing robots sounds like an iffy premise.
RS: So does basing a film on a board game. But this kind of stuff happens. 

C: So does that mean that Battleship will actually be good?
RS: It doesn't look like it follows the source material as it should. I don't remember seeing aliens when I had a couple of robots play the board game in an early edition of the script. 

C: Boxing was the best you could come up with?
RS: For now, yeah. Don't worry, someone will 'reboot' me in a few years and we'll have robots participating in 'the hunger games'. 

C: Sounds like a plan.
RS: Robots are so hot right now.

C: So you said that you actually have a beating heart running through you. How's that?
RS: Everyone loves an 'underdog triumphs' story, don't they? I am one of those. And I don't skip on the heart. Atom the robot and his bond with young Max is truly inspiring. You know, like that movie War Horse? Actually, maybe, if they want to reboot a reboot of me, they can have Atom go off to war and Max try and find him. Write that down.

C: Mhm...you sound like you're quite rebootable.
RS: Reboot and robot sound just about the same. 

C: But will people get their money's worth with just you, the original boxing robot movie?
RS: Of course. But then they'll want to go out and buy a boxing robot to keep as a pet, and that ain't to easy on the pocket. 

C: I'm sure that watching you and buying a boxing robot is more satisfying than watching a Michael Bay movie, though. 
RS: As real as steel, mate.

What I got:

The Real Rise of the Apes.

Film: Project Nim
Year: 2011
Director: James Marsh
Starring: Nim Chimpsky, Renne Falitz, Bob Ingersoll, Stephanie LaFarge, Jenny Lee, James Mahoney, Laura-Ann Petitto, Herbert Terrace, Bill Tynan.
Running time: 93 min.

As I sit down to tap away at this review of Project Nim, an excellent documentary about a chimp named Nim, I am faced with one considerable dilemma: I don't really know how to review a documentary. This is entirely due to the fact that I don't generally watch documentaries. I could probably count the amount of documentaries I've seen on one set of fingers. I'm not nearly well versed enough to know the ins and outs of documentary making, so I don't know how I'm supposed to critique that. I also don't know how you 'dislike' a documentary. Aside from the fact that all of the documentaries I've seen have been great (and Senna is a big advocate for that), I can easily get involved in things that I had no interest in beforehand. Mainly because documentaries usually tell stories that actually happened, so how am I supposed to critique that? I'll probably just get interested anyway. Such is the case with Project Nim, so don't laugh at me when I can't give you a review filled with technical terms and passages about lighting. But hey, that's not what I do anyway.