Kiryugoji04's Top 25 First-Viewed Films of 2011!

[kiryugoji04]

I'm doing this on another film forum I frequent and thought I'd share it with you guys too!

I've never done a "Top [X] [Y] Films" list so having kept track of all the movies I watched in 2011 has given me a great opportunity to give it a go. I don't watch enough movies in their year of release to make a full list out of those (I saw a total of five current releases in 2011) so I've opted instead for the "best films I saw last year regardless of what year they were ACTUALLY released" approach that I've seen many use.

As with all my lists (not that many have been made public), these films will be presented in an order that is a sort of hybrid between objectivity and subjectivity. Some rankings may not make any critical sense to some people but hopefully I'll be able to explain myself in such a way that, while one may not agree with me, one may be able to understand my perspective. Or not. Who knows!

And with that disclaimer, I present my Top 25 First-Viewed Movies of 2011!

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

Suspiria had me squirming in my seat for, well, the vast majority of the film. Particularly the OH JESUS LORD IS THAT RAZOR WIRE?! scene that nearly broke me. I say "nearly broke me" with as little hyperbole as I can muster because it seriously screwed me up for a couple days after I first watched it. EUGH. The reason it doesn't land any higher on this list is a simple matter of subject material. Honestly, witchcraft/demon/ghost/occult-type stories just typically aren't terribly interesting to me (I know they're not all one-in-the-same but they all fall into a similar category for me). That said, Suspiria's wild lighting, excellent cinematography, and unnerving tension are all undeniably top-notch and it does more than enough to earn a spot here despite my usual aversion to its subject.

[kiryugoji04]

I admit that I probably liked this movie a lot more than pretty much everyone else I've spoken to about it and that's fair. Rubber's story about a sentient, head-exploding tire with bloodlust and a vengeance (and a nomsy crush!) is just too unabashedly silly for me NOT to like - this kind of movie is right up my alley. Though I was initially a little off-put by how meta the framing plot was, it quickly won me over and while, yeah, it's not a perfect movie, I definitely loved watching it.

"IT'S NOT OVER YET! HE'S BEEN REINCARNATED AS A TRICYCLE!"

[kiryugoji04]

Gosh, I've done my best to carefully censor it but I think the banner image I want to use for number 22 is too NSFW for this forum.

[MouthForWar]

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

Okay, let's be totally honest here: For those of you who've never heard of this film, The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai is a softcore porn film. It is. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how it is also one of the most amazingly bizarre softcore porn films I've ever seen or heard of (without being something that involves tentacles or gore or somesuch, that is).

The plot is about a call girl (the titular Sachiko) who gets caught in the middle of a gunfight, which earns her a bullet in her brain and possession of a small canister containing the cloned finger of U.S. President George W. Bush. The bullet grants her both hyper-intelligence and bursts of ESP while the finger gives her the key to several hundred nuclear missiles across the globe. George W. himself also puts in an appearance. Kind of. Also, there is sex. Lots of sex. The weird thing about Sachiko Hanai is that it feels like the filmmakers went as out of their way as possible to make a porn film that feels almost like it has no business being a porn film. Like, the conversation probably went something along these lines:

"GUYS. Let's make a porn about a subject that is as far removed from porn as possible! WHAT'S OUR TOPIC?!"

"How about philosophy and global political conspiracies involving nuclear missiles and the potential end of the world?"

"PERFECT."

It's so weird, man. I mean, it SOUNDS weird but you don't really understand how weird it truly feels until you see the scene where Sachiko has sex with a college professor, vigorously discussing philosophy the entire time. The professor, incidentally, is played by tokusatsu-veteran Yukijiro Hotaru, well-known as Inspector Osako in the 90s Gamera films, and kaiju fans like myself might find his role as bizarre as I did for that very reason. The film is not without some problems - the pacing is odd and it feels fairly disjointed at times, and the day-for-night scenes towards the end are rather poorly done (the methods apparently used seem somewhat inadvisable as the movie appears to be shot on SD digital video). All of these flaws are mostly surmounted by the absurdity and surreality of the plot. It really does need to be seen to be believed.

[planetxleader]

[kiryugoji04]

[planetxleader]

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

Air Doll feels light and breezy in a sense but it is a very bittersweet sort of breeze - like a frosty winter wind trying to prove its relevance in the face of the oncoming spring. Or something equally poetic, I don't know. Though it just generally looked like a good film when I was shown the trailer by a friend, my main reason for wanting to see it was the mild crush I developed on star Bae Doona early this year (she's quickly become my favorite Korean actress - this is not the last you will see of her on this list!) and she doesn't disappoint in the least. Her performance as a blow-up doll that is miraculously granted a soul through means never explained - the whys and hows aren't terribly important - is, well, actually kind of magical. It's not a happy film, really, even though it's filled with plenty of happy moments but it was easy to get wrapped up in its melancholy flow. It's kind of a sad smile of a movie for the most part.

I was not, however, at all prepared for the ending.

Oh, God, the ending. The ending is soul-rending. The ending still haunts me to this day and yet it still manages to stay bittersweet and not just cruel. How, I don't know, but as much as I respect and appreciate the ending, I still feel betrayed. I would never change it but I still hate it on an emotional level. Air Doll is a WONDERFUL film, don't get me wrong, but it is not one that I plan on rewatching anytime terribly soon.

[MekaGojira3k]

I loved Rubber.

[king_ghidorah]

All I know is that I love the body types of asian women and it saddens me that Japan in particular now seems fasinated by ENORMOUS breasts lol...the girl in the above pic is nearly perfect....

Anyways, so far this list is interesting if for no other reason than I have not heard of practically any of these films lol

[kiryugoji04]

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

So awhile back my girlfriend invited me to go see a movie with her at one of our local art house theaters. It was a rare, RARE occasion where I knew literaly NOTHING about what I was getting ready to watch (even after sitting down in the theater!) apart from the title, I Love You, Phillip Morris. Okay, so is it some sort of commentary on the tobacco industry? No, it starred Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as two gay lovers in the silliest, strangest prison break movie slash romantic comedy I have ever seen. WELL THEN. It was probably the single biggest surprise of the year for me, as far as movies go. Not only did I have no idea what I was getting into but I also TOTALLY LOVED IT. I laughed myself half to death, tensed up in the dramatic portions, and yeah, I cried a little. But that last bit is actually kind of common on this list since I'm getting to more of a softie with each movie I watch, it seems. Point is, I had a damned good time and you will too if you haven't seen it already, else you may have no soul. Actually, the more I think about this movie for this review, the more I REALLY want to watch it again.

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

"WE CAN'T STOP HERE. THIS IS BAT COUNTRY."

I finally saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas after years of only seeing and hearing snippets of it. It was bizarre. It's a fever dream and like every fever dream I've ever had, it kind of scared me despite being a fascinating experience. I liked it, though I can't at all explain exactly what I saw, nor can I explain why it's number 20 on this list, I just know that's right where it needs to be. I need to see it again, probably. The practical effects work for the lounge lizards was fantastic, I should add.

"There I was... Mother of God, there I am!"