The writing staff over at THISLALIFE do things a little differently. So while other much more sophisticated media sites, magazines, and institutions are sitting around trying to best each other's best lists, we're going to focus on the best shit in 2011 that probably won't make any lists. So stay tuned as the year ticks down to the explosion known as 2012, cause we're going through all the stuff that got it going in the year of the double ones.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was easily the surprise of the year (check out my review). What most people wrote off as a stupid cash grab by Fox rapidly climbed to both critical praise and some serious scrilla. I kind of saw it coming, Apes director Rupert Wyatt's previous film "The Escapist" is a under appreciated prison escape flick with great characters, so I had moderate hopes that Apes would deliver. But anchored by an incredible turn by performance capture god Andy Serkis, the story of how Caesar the ape, started the rebellion against the humans is pure cinematic gold.
And while it's not my favorite film of the year, it did easily have the best "Oh Shit Moment,"or OSM for short, which if you don't know is the only thing that really matters in entertainment. And while there are many great moments in the film, from the childish way Caesar first integrates himself into suburban life, to his takedown of a brutish neighbor, to his Tony Montana esque rise to power at the ape prison, or even the bridge showdown, nothing comes close to the end, which establishes the future of all the apes moves to come and those that came before it. LOOK AWAY NOW if you don't want me to spoil what the best part of the film. LOOK AWAY, you've been warned.
The theater I was in went absolutely bananas insane when this happened and I'm still reeling about it today. HAIL CAESAR!
