Category Archives: 2011 Films

2011 Films, Best Documentary Feature Oscar Winners, Documentary, Sports

Undefeated-2011

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Undefeated-2011

Director Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin

Starring Montrail “Money” Brown

Scott’s Review #134

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Reviewed July 25, 2014

Grade: B

Undefeated (2011) is an emotional documentary, a true story of a high school football coach brought into a struggling, poor, suburban Memphis area high school and leading the team to a championship title.

The story of the coach taking various students under his wing, father-figure style, and helping them succeed not only in football but in academics as well is inspiring and heartwarming.

The coach’s passion shines through to the viewer.

As wonderful a story as it is, I felt slightly let down because, yet again, the slant is an affluent white family swooping into a poor Black neighborhood and saving the Black kids with their mighty influence.

Why can’t we see a film that is the reverse?

In the twenty-first century, this is becoming slightly offensive and one-sided. It is The Blind Side (2009) with real people!

With that rant out of the way, the documentary is pretty awe-inspiring, and the coach is portrayed as a fantastic, truly caring human being.

I laughed, cried, and rooted for the struggling football team to victory.

The portion on what has since happened to the football players is interesting to see.

Undefeated won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2012.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Documentary-Feature (won)

2011 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Independent Thriller, Thriller

The Loneliest Planet-2011

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The Loneliest Planet-2011

Director Julia Loktev

Starring Hani Furstenberg, Gael García Bernal

Scott’s Review #131

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Reviewed July 24, 2014

Grade: B-

The Loneliest Planet (2011) is an independent film with incredibly gorgeous cinematography of the Georgian landscape (outside Russia), where the entire movie is set.

The story centers around a young couple, Alex (Gael García Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg), on a backpacking excursion through the mountains.

Their relationship is tested along the way, mainly because of their camping guide, a man who comes between them as the plot unfolds and a romantic triangle begins to emerge.

All three characters are complex, likable at times, and annoying at other times, so that is a satisfying part of the film.

The dynamic between the three individuals is interesting when action happens, which leads to my major gripe with The Loneliest Planet.

The biggest negative is that the story moves at a painfully slow pace, and while I don’t mind slow-moving films, the extremely long sequences of watching the three characters trek across the countryside with backpacks and absolutely no dialogue mean nothing happens.

When the story does develop, the audience empathizes with each character.

The ending is abrupt and ultimately unsatisfying.

As a film with lavish footage of picturesque landscapes, few are fortunate enough to see, I’d give this film a solid A, but for the compelling storytelling, the film is lackluster as a whole.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Director-Julia Loktev

2011 Films, Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama

Jeff, Who Lives at Home-2011

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Jeff, Who Lives at Home-2011

Directors Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms

Scott’s Review #107

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Reviewed July 12, 2014

Grade: B

I confess to not being a huge fan of Jason Segel.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011) tells the story of a slacker who lives with his mother and in the shadow of his successful brother, played by Ed Helms.

He regularly smokes pot and looks for meaning in random occurrences.

One day, he begins an adventure when he believes he sees meaning in a phone call, and it sets up a series of mishaps involving his brother and estranged wife, played by Judy Greer.

The secondary story involves the mother (Susan Sarandon), who leads a dull life working a mundane job. She suddenly develops a secret admirer at her job.

The film was much better than expected.

As the movie unfolds, it becomes a day in the life of a dysfunctional yet loving family.

I expected a silly, dumb comedy given the star and the premise, but the film was much better than that. It is a nicely layered, touching movie with a message and a touch of spirituality.

I loved the ending and was impressed by the heartfelt nature of this small slice-of-life film.

2011 Films, Horror, Horror Anthologies

The Theatre Bizarre-2011

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The Theatre Bizarre-2011

Directors Tom Savini, Jeremy Kasten, Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Richard Stanley

Starring Udo Kier, Lena Kliene

Scott’s Review #77

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Reviewed June 28, 2014

Grade: B+

The Theatre Bizarre is a little-known horror treat from 2011 that was shown only at horror festivals upon release and is otherwise shamefully unknown.

Horror buffs must give this film a chance.

The main story centers on a young woman’s attraction to an odd theater in her neighborhood and her hesitant pursuit of the theater. Once she musters the courage to enter, she is treated to six stories told by the strange owner of the theater, who is a wax figure.

The audience also experiences the stories in one-by-one vignettes.

A puppet host (or Guignol) introduces the six short films: “The Mother of Toads”, “I Love You”, “Wet Dreams”, “The Accident”, “Vision Stains” and “Sweets”.

As each is shown, the host becomes more human, and Enola becomes more puppet-like.

The stories range from the morbidly gruesome (A bitter, angry woman castrates her cheating boyfriend. An unstable woman serves her boyfriend to her friends for dinner), to poetic, (a young girl and her mother discuss the process of death upon witnessing a deadly motorcycle crash).

The first vignette (Mother of Toads) wasn’t the best, but the subsequent stories fascinated me.

The ambiance, especially inside the theater, is dark, dreamlike, and surreal, which adds a lot of atmosphere to the film.

It reminded me quite a bit of Masters of Horror, a popular series on Showtime in the mid-2000s.

Highly recommended gem for horror fans.

2011 Films, Australian, Biography, Crime Drama, Drama, Thriller

The Snowtown Murders-2011

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The Snowtown Murders-2011

Director Justin Kurzel

Starring Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway

Scott’s Review #57

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Reviewed June 23, 2014

Grade: C+

The Snowtown Murders (2011) is an Australian film based on a true story about a charismatic, manipulative man who influences a family of misfits to follow his murderous streak.

The film is helped by a group of very talented actors (unknown to me) who successfully convey a sense of bleakness and despair in their lives, and some fine, emotional acting makes this film slightly above average.

The entire look of the movie is dreary, raw, and hopeless, from the lighting to the camera shots.

The details of the film are impressive- from the confined, dismal house the family lives in to the unhealthy meals consumed, all are filled with a sense of chaos.

The Snowtown Murders pushes the envelope with the explicitness of the murders and torture scenes, so the viewer is left feeling uncomfortable.

The downside is that the movie drags at times and meanders at a plodding pace, which adds to the discomfort.

I’m not sure whether this is intentional.