Movies of 2011

If you were the kind of person that actually followed this blog when it was still a thing, maybe you'll remember that I did this every year. The following collects my brief thoughts on the movies of this year.

I only count movies with release dates from 2011 according to imdb.com. I figure it is as reliable as any other website. Unfortunately, imdb goes by the original release which means foreign or very limited releases that only made it to the general public in 2011 don't qualify. It's maybe needlessly strict as it doesn't allow a lot of movies that a lot of people would count but what's the point of even ranking movies by year anyway? I might as well actually follow the releases if I'm going to bother at all.

Long story shortened, the following crappy movies don't qualify: Super, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, Insidious. The following good movies don't qualify: Sarah's Key, Trollhunter, Uncle Boonmee, Submarine, Tabloid, Meek's Cutoff, The Arbor, Everything Must Go, The Perfect Host

Also, if some local theatres would get A Separation, Martha May Marcy Marlene, Shame, I'd appreciate it.

NOTE: Blogger deleted most of the movies in the crappy movie section. I added most, if not all, of them back. It's possible I missed some, but they were apparently crap. So, maybe it doesn't matter.

If you didn't see these movies, you wasted your life:

Hugo - Man, 3D kids movies don't get better than this.

Drive -Everything in this movie is so offputting and somehow it works.

50/50 - Gen Y needs its cancer movie too you know.

The Artist -If the trailer doesn't give you a film boner, you probably shouldn't see this. You should also get better taste in movies. Maybe the best movie of the year.

Movies you really should see:

The Muppets - Exactly what I wanted it to be.

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest - If you don't like A Tribe Called Quest, get out.

Winnie The Pooh - just charming

Warrior - Predictable, formulaic and yet still totally sucks me in.

The Thing - If I had never seen the original, I would have thought this was the best horror movie of the year

Pearl Jam Twenty - I can't believe Cameron Crowe made something that isn't terrible but I'll blame my Pearl Jam love for being able to overlook his involvement.

Take Shelter - Great performance that draws you into his plight

Another Earth -

Source Code - About as hard science fiction as a movie can be and have broad appeal.

The Guard - In Bruges 2011 or near enough

The Tree Of Life - I love love love the Texas sections of this. The opening and closing do nothing for me. Kind of a wash.

Super 8 - Close Encounters Of The Third Kind as directed by J. J. Abrams

Into The Abyss - disquieting to say the least

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - It retains a lot of stuff that sets up the sequels which the original didn't do. So, as a standalone film maybe not as good as the original but a much better adaptation with some planning for the inevitable sequels.

Weekend - A real look at relationships beginning. Probably going to be offputting for a lot of people.

Terri - "Cool Breeze Club: Members only" is the quote of the forever.

These are good, but don't go out of your way:

The Descendants - I couldn't buy the stupid kid going from being completely unaware that Alzheimer's exists to being some emotional idiot savant. It felt too much like an obvious adaptation where I kept thinking, "There has to be a book that explains this better."

Hanna - I wonder how much I would have liked this had it come out later in the year because I was so desperate to like a movie that I had to latch onto something.

Paul - This is a litmus test for how many movies you've seen about aliens

Scream 4 - second best Scream movie but Scream 2 and 3 were just awful.

My Week With Marilyn - great performance by Michelle Williams

X-Men: First Class - the best X-Men movie but just don't get too worried about following the comics closely (or at all).

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - so much better than a reboot/prequel of a not very good series should even think of being.

Rango - I think adults would appreciate this more than children because so much of this is meant for adults (not fart jokes like a Shrek movie but kids just won't get it).

Shark Night 3D - I will never not like a movie with sharks killing people

Contagion - About as realistic a look at all aspects of a pandemic as you can get while being fictional and in two hours.

Moneyball - This is a good enough story to carry the weaker aspects of the movie.

The Ides Of March - something you may not know about politics: they are corrupt

Midnight In Paris - I don't love the time period enough to love this but it's very well done overall.

Thor - Mute Kat Dennings character. She served no purpose and the movi would have been better served letting the comedy come from Thor's inability to understand Earth customs.

Win Win - Indie Movie: The Movie

A Better Life - nice little movie looking at how hard life is for illegal immigrants

Bobby Fischer Against The World - interesting but it's like reading the wikipedia article of someone and thinking you've truly learned something

The Adventures Of Tintin - a pretty solid adventure film but I think it drags a bit in the middle. I also never particularly cared for Captain Haddock as a character in the comics. The 3D is pretty good though.

Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol - the best, and arguably only, action movie of the year. The Dubai sequences really need to be seen in IMAX. Good on Brad Bird for making a quality live action movie.

One Day - I just couldn't really care about either character but this is fine I suppose. I also felt that they didn't age Anne Hathaway very well. Her accent didn't work for me either.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - I felt like the book probably explained a lot of stuff that was not covered in the movie. Note to self: read the book. Superbly acted but it feels like stuff was missing.

Carnage - one of the better acted films of the year (except for Jodie Foster who sucked). Pretty good at slowly ratcheting up the tension comedicly.

Haywire - Steven Soderbergh does it again. Another movie that feels like a half formed idea where, somewhere along the line, he lost interest. A good enough, female version of The Limey.

I guess these are good:

J.Edgar - I didn't appreciate how the movie just moved around in time which I feel should work instead of forcing a linear story arc out of a person's life that was never there. It felt weird here though because it felt like it was attempting to cover up the fact that nothing was being said about Hoover's life just collecting a few notable events. Also, horrendous old age makeup.

Crazy, Stupid, Love - There's enough here to like but has any standard romantic comedy truly been better than "yeah, sure."

Bridesmaids - I like that a movie actually feels like it's written for women and actually works for me. But, you know, still not all that hilarious

The Rum Diary - a series of mildly interesting vignettes that are not as good when put together

The Adjustment Bureau - The most fine a movie could ever be

Horrible Bosses - Funny enough. I like that it actually feels like a bunch of regular guys that will never be able to kill someone actually trying it.

Real Steel - Rocky Sock'em Robots (this is the cleverest thing I've ever said and no one will ever read it and it's not even all that clever)

Cedar Rapids - This is the kind of movie that would be the best comedy ever if I were a huge fan of The Office (US).

30 Minutes Or Less - decent enough performances by the lead actors and Nick Swarsdon is the least awful he's ever been

Melancholia - the entire planet is destroyed and it's still the least depressing thing I've seen from Lars Von Trier

The Devil's Double - Great lead performance but a story this interesting should have been more interesting.

Jane Eyre - this is technically fine and my understanding is that it's true to the novel. It's well acted and all that stuff but the world does not need another adaptation of Jane Eyre or any of the Bronte sisters' novels.

Margin Call - A bunch of under developed characters that are acted very well.

War Horse - too episodic and way too maudlin for my tastes

Lincoln Lawyer - better than it should have been. If John Grisham wrote novels about ambulance chasers, this is what it would probably be like.

Our Idiot Brother - not sure what it is about this but I enjoyed it despite everything except Paul Rudd sucking in this.

Don't waste your time

The Mechanic - not even bad enough to laugh at which makes it the worst Jason Statham movie there could ever be

Just Go With It - Utter garbage but probably not as bad as Jack And Jill is.

In Time - A bunch of good ideas poorly executed

Hobo With A Shotgun - Even worse than the name implies

Battle Of Los Angeles - NOT Battle: Los Angeles. The Asylum version which is worth watching with friends for a laugh but not amusing any other way

The Roommate - Have you ever heard of a movie? Then you know how this is going to go step by step

Columbiana - there is one good sequence in a police station. The rest is awful.

Straw Dogs - It's a scene by scene remake practically which means it serves no purpose unless you think relocating the movie from rural England to rural Louisiana means something.

The Hangover: Part 2 - the most like the original a sequel could possibly be

Limitless - Here's the thing. The brain doesn't work like the premise even suggests. Beyond that, just not good and putting DeNiro in anything is a sign it sucks

Sucker Punch - How does one ruin school girls fighting WWI zombies? Like this.

Drive Angry 3D - The 3D was pretty good. It had more depth than the characters - ZING!

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - just stop please.

Battle: Los Angeles - about as good as you think it is. If you think it's going to suck, you're right. If you think it's going to be awesome, you're right.

Fright Night - the first half is a good enough remake but the second half is just awful. A vampire neighbor terrorizing a kid is a solid premise for a legit horror movie.