Doobie's List: Top 5 Surprises (and Disappointments) of 2011
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Don�t want to end on a down note, so far #1 I�m doing the disappointment first.
#1 Disappointment: Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy was a great disappointment: 1) Visually stunning? Avatar this is
not. 2) There is a story, but since I didn�t get a chance to connect with the
characters, it didn�t matter. 3) It was a looong movie. 4) As my wife put it so
well, it suffered from Star Trek The Motion Picture syndrome - too many long,
sweeping shots. Tron: Legacy wasn�t the worst movie of the year by far. In fact,
I thought it was �OK� (in the universal, �Bad�, �OK�, �Good�, �Very Good� scale
of grading movies)., but after all the hype this film received, it should - and
could have been so much better. I know a few people who absolutely loved it,
they think it�s one of the best films of the year or even all-time. They say
some of the greatness is loss on the masses as is often the case with truly
great films. And you know what? I believe them. But when you�re making a movie
that costs this kind of money and market it like never before and announce
�we�ve got a franchise!� months before it�s release - I don�t think it�s wrong
to expect it to appeal to the masses. It didn�t have to be Transformers.
But did it have to be 2001? I kind of thought we�d get a Iron Man or Dark
Knight. I was disappointed...
#1 Surprise: The rest of the 2010 Disney film slate:
Alice in Wonderland, Prince of Persia, The
Sorcerers Apprentice, Toy Story 3, Tangled
I looked forward to the release of Tron: Legacy with much anticipation. The
rest of Disney�s slate this year - not so much. I dreaded having to see Alice.
Prince of Persia and Sorcerer�s Apprentice I expected to be slightly below
average action films. Toy Story 3 should be good - but more of the same. And I
wouldn�t say I expected Tangled to be sub-par, but I feared it would be
considering how important it was to the future of Disney animation. How wrong I
was. Tangled was awesome. If the music had been a little more memorable it
would�ve fit in with the classics of the 90s. Toy Story 3, despite my inner
desire to just enjoy it but nothing more, was just amazing. What an ending to
the story. I didn�t cry - I promise. Prince of Persia and Sorcerer�s Apprentice
were both above average family action films - well above average in the case of
Sorcerer�s Apprentice. And Alice in Wonderland was the biggest surprise of all.
Unlike Tron, here I did expect art and instead got a fast paced, enjoyable,
mesmerizing fun action film. What a 2010 line-up it turned out to be. All
leading up to �. but as I said, I didn�t want to close this on a downer.
Those are my thoughts, I�d love to hear yours.
Discuss It
-- Posted January 12, 2011