It's 2AM on a Monday night (when I'm starting this), so I won't bother defending why I'm wasting so much time doing this, so here are my thoughts of the 2011 movies I've seen this year.
The fucking Oscars take too long and the Golden Globes are just wrong or unreliable. There's still a bunch of movies that came out in 2 theaters on 12/31 that are considered 2011 movies, so I've certainly not seen everything. Also, there's all those movies I simply haven't seen yet (2-3 released per WEEK. How can I keep up with that?). So, here you are, the movies from 2011 that I've seen, an arbitrary grade for it, and a little blurb about it. If you want, just read the first dozen or so. That's my top ten list, I guess.
"Bridesmaids" A
Best comedy of the year. I'm a sucker for Apatow productions, so I'm very biased.
"Hugo" A
I'm not a sucker for Scorsese and went in to this movie not excited to see it and, frankly, pissed that I had to pay for 3-D. Still, I came out of this movie in love with it. I highly recommend it for anyone who is a cinema history nerd. This has made me a Scorsese believer if I wasn't already.
"Warrior" A
On paper, there's no reason for me to like this movie. It's Rocky, in tournament form. There is something about this, the way that they develop the characters, the thrilling shots, and surprisingly wonderful acting that made this movie one of my favorites of the year. Even if this doesn't seem like your genre, give it a chance.
"Crazy, Stupid, Love" A-
This is what a romantic comedy should be. Great cast. Funny. Not a totally cliche ending.
"Drive" A-
This is everyone's favorite "man, I'm so hip and cool" movie. I saw it before all the hipsters though and liked it greatly then.
"War Horse" A-
Not since Brokeback Mountain has the tagline for a good movie sounded so ridiculous. I liked this movie WAY more than I expected. This is one of John Williams' best scores and really, it's a shame that people know Speilberg's tricks already, because, this is nothing new from him, but it's certainly one of the best example's of what he does so well. I honestly cried some watching this.
"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" A-
The title is too long and James Franco delivers all of his lines like he believes this is the most ridiculous thing he's ever done (check his filmography. It's not). Beyond that, surprisingly fantastic movie.
"50/50" B+
I love Joseph Gorden Levitt. I love Seth Rogen. I now love Anna Kendrick. The rest of the cast is good. Sure, this has a very Hollywood ending, but I don't think that should mitigate the significance the the journey.
"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" B+
Perhaps the best popcorn movie of the year.
"The Descendants" B+
Alexander Payne's movies are not my preference, but I like George Clooney and I like that Jim Rash (from Community co-wrote the screenplay). Thoroughly enjoyable film.
"The Help" B+
Good movies. This is coming from someone who gets quickly bored by movies talking about race relations. It's a bit on the long side though.
Does it bother anyone else how little credit Emma Stone gets for her work on the movie? She's the one that got me in the theater. The other actresses may have stepped up more than her, but she certainly held her own.
"Super 8" B+
E.T. meets Cloverfield. I say this as someone who loves both movies.
"X-Men: First Class" B+
I looked at the cast for this and thought they were shooting this with a bunch of 2nd or 3rd choices for all the roles. After the Wolverine movie, my opinion of the franchise couldn't've been lower. Little did I know, this would perhaps be the strongest Marvel (not just X-Men) movie yet.
"Bad Teacher" B
It's like watching Bad Santa if you wanted to do Billy-Bob Thorton. Pretty much, if you like one movie, you'll like the other.
"Moneyball" B
Watch this movie and you'll feel like a baseball expert. I did. Brad Pitt does a good job (award-worthy? I disagree). Jonah Hill takes a refreshingly different kind of role. Overall, it comes together well.
"Like Crazy" B
Man, this movie can be tough to watch if under the wrong conditions (so I discovered). The girl (Felicity Jones, I think is her name) is very good in this.
"Contagion" B
In the middle of this movie, someone in the movie theater coughed. You could feel the entire room tense up line none I'd ever been in. In other words, this movie was effective.
"Captain America: The First Avenger" B
Probably the best romance story of any Marvel movie. It did drag some in the middle.
"A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" B
I love this franchise. I am aware it's not for everyone and that you have to forgive it's weaknesses to appreciate it's strengths. Still, funniest rated R 3-D Christmas season of the later half of 2011, without question. Take the "The Sitter".
"The Muppets" B
Cheesy, stupid, and filled with nostalgia. To hate this, you have no soul.
"We Bought A Zoo" B
Better than Elizabethtown. Worse than Almost Famous.
"Young Adult" B
Greatly uncomfortable movie, but Charlize Theron is great in it, as is Patton Oswalt.
"My Week With Marilyn" B
Williams could steal the Oscar from Streep with this movie. The rest of it: eh.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" B-
This should've been the best popcorn movie of the year. All they had to do was use the book. I don't know how they fucked this up.
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" B-
This was kind of like watching a really good episode of SVU with a TV-MA rating and no time limit. I love SVU, but I would expect a little more from it at over 2 hours.
"Transformers: Dark Of The Moon" B-
Better than Transformers 2, but what isn't.
"Our Idiot Brother" B-
A movie help up primarily due to the comedic strength of it's cast. Also, Rashida Jones and Zooey Deschanel as a lesbian couple. I'm sold.
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" B-
A lot to digest. It was good, but I couldn't go to the bathroom for a hour because if I missed anything, I'd never catch up.
"30 Minutes Or Less" C+
Funny premise, but the movie just ended. It didn't really have an ending. It just stopped and went to credits.
"Your Highness" C+
Sometimes, you watch a movie and want to keep rewatching it because you are certain there is something to it you missed, and if you could ever figure out what it was, it could be the funniest comedy ever. This had that kind of feel.
"Paul" C+
It's sad. They just can't recreate the Shaun of the Dead magic.
"The Ides of March" C
A thriller about the Democratic primaries. Thriller. Primaries. Let that sink in. It did what it could with the material it had.
"The Adjustment Bureau" C
What if the Matrix was remade as a straight-up romance movie?
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows" C
The first one didn't impress me. This one did less.
"Horrible Bosses" C-
Maybe it suffered from too many much better comedies coming out this year, but for a cast this strong, the comedy was so week.
"No Strings Attached" C-
For some reason, I imagine the outtakes and deleted scenes are probably hilarious. As it is, the movie is bland as bland can be.
"The Thing" C-
I went sixth months seeing a movie a week this year. This movie, convinced me to take a break.
"The Hangover Part II" D+
The first was a "greater than the sum of it's parts" situation. This movie was the same as the first, except in Bangkok and less polished but with a bigger budget.
"Cedar Rapids" D+
I don't know what to make of this movie. It had "Maybe" from Arrested Development in it, so that gets it the '+'.
"The Green Hornet" D
Not as bad as some people made it out to be. That doesn't make it go, either.
"The Beaver" D
Am I missing something? This was just awful!
"Just Go With It" F
Interesting title. It's like they knew they would have to trick people to see this and enjoy it. I remember hearing someone say they were surprised how good a job Brooklyn Decker did in her first real acting role. I want to find that person so I can know how bad they thought she would be, because this is already in the "give a couple line to the producer's ten year old daughter" bad.
"Sucker Punch" F
As a painting brought to life, this impressed me. Sadly, there's also plot and acting to account for.
There you go. Probably filled with typos, but no one's getting all the way through this anyway, so what do I care?
Guess who DID get through all of it, typos and all. I have to do something during this internet blackout. Finally, someone who has my same feelings about HORRIBLE BOSSES!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't bad, but in a summer of so many good comedies, it was very lacking.
ReplyDelete