Film 2011. Worst. Year. Ever.

It has been widely-agreed that 2011 was a lacklustre year for film.

Many highly-anticipated films did not live up to their hype (127 Hours, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and others were just plain awful (Cowboys & Aliens, Sucker Punch). It was a year of pointless sequels (Hangover 2, Transformers 3, Pirates 4), unnecessary remakes (Conan, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and filling-the-void superhero films (The Green Lantern, The Green Hornet, Captain America). The output of 3-D fodder reached an all-time high and children’s cinema reached an all-time low, often at the same time (The Smurfs, Yogi the Bear, Chipwrecked). Oscar season was underwhelming with only The King’s Speech and Black Swan entering into five-star territory. Even Pixar misfired with Cars 2.

Nevertheless, it has been a great year to write about cinema. I have continued to write for Intuition Online, I attended my first film festival (Empire Magazine’s Big Screen) and I created my very own film website: The Big Fairbanski. The content is coming in 2012.

Also, coming in 2012, is probably the best year of cinema since 1999: The Dark Knight Rises, Superman: Man of Steel, The Amazing Spiderman, The Avengers, Brave, Skyfall, John Carter, Prometheus, The Muppets and a little independent movie called The Hobbit.

As such, maybe 2011 was a necessary sacrifice to keep audiences occupied whilst the studios worked on the big dogs.

In which case, bring on 2012.