Best and Worst Films of 2011 (Michael Medved)

Michael Medved Website ^ | December 2011 | Michael Medved

[Duke Nukum]

I liked Sucker Punch and Harry Potter. Didn’t see much else on the list.

[cubreporter]

Malcolm McDowell

[Imnidiot]

You’re not the only one! The trailer is so full of cool stuff...I can’t wait until I see how it sets up Alien.
DUDE! Only 6 more months!!!

[wardaddy]

problem is I don’t see that era as worse than now

blacks still had families

crime was negligible and the city actually ran

now it’s Detroit

discrimination ain’t everything

and blacks down home actually liked us then...now at least in town they act like they did when I first moved to Manhattan in 1980 and first encountered black hositility

in the deep south we have always had to deal with blacks in numbers 5-25 times that of northerners unless you live in Milwaukee and it’s hard for folks to know what that is like if they get their views of blacks from The Cosby Show and of southerners from Mississippi Burning or Time to a Kill

maligned as it was...Driving Miss Daisy was actually better

hell yes we were paternalistic...that was the big south versus north distinction...and it was better than now...at least to me

but...it’s Gone With The Wind as they say...progress and all

you sound ok...I offer my compliments

and no I never saw it...her family told me it was rotten and she was working out her issues with her once beautiful but not home much at night momma so I passed

as did all my kid down there

we treated our maids and cooks and drivers well enough....I saw separate baths and dishes for staff in Manhattan and there was little interaction tween them on the Upper East Side

much different down here...we may not have mingled sexually with them then but we treated them mannerly and to do otherwise was frowned on

[Fu-fu2]

I made an earlier comment on the movie The Help. I was a northerner at the same time as you. As I child on the south side of Chicago, I watched Martin Luther King walk down the street to “integrate” Marquette Park, which was the only large park not in a Black neighborhood on the south side. At the time, White people in the neighborhood were portrayed as racists. Most were just blue collar people, seeing their property values fall with the influx of crime that came with the “changing” neighborhood. The neighborhood went from somewhere where you could walk down the street unafraid at night, to one where you stayed inside and locked your doors. I attended an integrated high school, had lots of Black girlfriends. We joked about having “zebra parties”. But both sides knew we would never venture into each other’s neighborhoods. I thought the character portrayals in The Help were superficial and stereotypical.

[kalee]

Placemarker

[mitch5501]

Alien,still my favourite movie ever! A very dark gothic horror in a sci-fi setting.I'll never forget seeing the space-jockey for the first time.Trully jaw dropping.

6 months till Prometheus good grief!

[mitch5501]

Aww man that was heart breaking!

[CT]

Chisum was great. And any kids out there that want to see a great good vs. bad movie, this is the one! Even the song.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Heard they did and it blew. They could have stopped at this;

Adult language warning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX1Nh6c80wo

[L.A.Justice]

MONEYBALL will be released on DVD on this week.

[miss marmelstein]

Horses cannot be hurt in films. They have to be careful about that - a good thing, too. That’s why I prefer the play. Using beatifully designed puppets showed the true horror of the war to end all wars...

[6323cd]

Some really great poetry came out of WWI, didn’t it?

[morphing libertarian]

I recommend seeing he Debt. Very good cast and interesting story. Not in my all-time list, but worth a view.

[Retired Greyhound]

Thank you for the beautiful poem.

[6323cd]

There was an error in the third verse; here is the correct version.

A Soldier's Kiss

by Henry Chappell

Only a dying horse! pull off the gear,

And slip the needless bit from frothing jaws,

Drag it aside there, leaving the road way clear,

The battery thunders on with scarce a pause.

Prone by the shell-swept highway there it lies

With quivering limbs, as fast the life-tide fails,

Dark films are closing o’er the faithful eyes

That mutely plead for aid where none avails.

Onward the battery rolls, but one there speeds

Heedless of comrades voice or bursting shell,

Back to the wounded friend who lonely bleeds

Beside the stony highway where he fell.

Only a dying horse! he swiftly kneels,

Lifts the limp head and hears the shivering sigh

Kisses his friend, while down his cheek there steals

Sweet pity’s tear, "Goodbye old man, Goodbye".

No honours wait him, medal, badge or star,

Though scarce could war a kindlier deed unfold;

He bears within his breast, more precious far

Beyond the gift of kings, a heart of gold.

The painting is by Fortunato Matania.

[kalee]

Thank you.

[mitch5501]

Thankyou for the ping 6323cd

Beautifull painting,heartbreakingly beautifull verse.

I'm not sure I could watch a film like "War Horse".It would all be a little too much I fear.I'll admit it,I'm a wuss.I'll probably rent WH when it's out on DVD.Then the Missus and I can pretend we have a cold.

[LibertarianLiz]

I finally found which awards Andy Serkis had been nominated for his portrayal of Caesar. It was the 2012 Critic's Choice Awards.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
Albert Brooks (Drive)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Andrew Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)