The new year is here, and with it a time for reflection on the past year and things we resolve to do better in the coming 365 days. The New York Times talked to some studio executives last week about whether Hollywood had learned its lessons from the flops in 2010 and was going to lead us into a great year for movies in 2011. Amy Pascal, Sony's co-chairwoman shared: "We think the future is about filmmakers with original voices. Original is good, and good is commercial."
Original voices maybe, but original film stories not so much. Despite the fact that some of this year's most-loved films were new ideas ("Black Swan," "Despicable Me" and "Inception"), the biggest moneymakers followed the too-familiar trend of sequels, reboots and remakes ("Toy Story 3," "Iron Man 2" and "Alice in Wonderland"). And while studio execs might be professing that change is in the air for 2011, looking at a list of next year's films shows a whole lot of the same.
Here's a breakdown: Of the 93 films hitting theaters next year, 29 are original; 28 are either adaptations or based on true events (but not twisted into thrillers like "Apollo 18" and "The Rite"); 34 are either reboots, remakes or sequels; and two are documentaries (hi there, "African Cats" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never"). After the jump we'll take a look at them and see if studios really have learned lessons from 2010's biggest flops. Read More...
Tags alice in wonderland, arthur, battle los angeles, black swan, breaking dawn, captain america, cowboys and aliens, Despicable Me, Fast Five, green hornet, green lantern, Hall Pass, hanna, harry potter and the deathly hallows, how to train your dragon, inception, iron man 2, no strings attached, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, priest, rango, Rio, Rise of the Apes, Scream 4, Source Code, sucker punch, Super 8, the dilemma, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Muppets, The Sitter, The Smurfs, the thing, the tourist, thor, tintin, toy story 3, your highness, Zookeeper
'Lion King,' 'Apes': The Five Best Movie Animals Of 2011
Posted 12/7/11 4:06 pm EST by Eric Ditzian in Commentary
Lions and tigers and a panda bear. Lizards and elephants and werewolves and dogs and cats and rabbits and monkeys. Yes, from the supernatural woods of "Breaking Dawn" to the seafaring adventures of "Tintin," it was a good year for animals at the movies. And since we're lovers of both animals and movies, we naturally had to look back at the past 12 cinematic months and select our favorite non-human creatures from the kingdom Animalia.
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Tags Best of 2011, rango, rise of the planet of the apes, the lion king, The Muppets, War Horse