Saturday, May 19, 2012

2011 Movies Ranked


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Well, as I said before, last year was a very slow year for movies, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like any of them.  Anyway, here’s my Top 10 of 2011.  Of course, this is not necessarily the best of 2011, just my personal favorites.



29. The Tree of Life
D: Terrence Malick
**********
I know it was my fault for wandering into this movie not knowing what to expect and, for some reason, choosing to sit all the way through it.  I’m guessing this is not the right Terrence Malick movie to start out with.  You see literally a feature length blob of random footage before the movie decides to have things that resemble scenes. The random, non-narrative fashion in which the movie is cut is not just tedious, it’s unimpressive.  It requires work to make a coherent movie.   Mashing random shots together and pretending that’s artistic expression does not.  I will credit the movie with some beautiful cinematography and deep symbolism though.


28. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
D: Bill Condon
**********
Probably the most foolish and troubling of the Twilight movies aside from New Moon.


27. Almighty Thor
D: Christopher Ray
**********
A terribly dull Asylum rip-off redeemed only by the funniness of watching Thor shoot a submachine gun.  I also found it hilarious that the heroine was played by Marta from Arrested Development.


26. The Thing
D: Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.
**********
While the CGI isn’t as good as the practical effects of the original (really infuriating how they scrapped great practical effects), what truly makes this movie an insult to the original is the stupidity of the whole cast including the Thing itself.  The intelligent and logical decision-making of the characters was what made the original a true classic.


25. Super Shark
D: Fred Olen Ray
**********
A terrible shark movie in which they fight the shark with a hilarious CGI World War II tank with legs!


24. The Iron Lady
D: Phyllida Lloyd
**********
Who wants to watch a movie about Margaret Thatcher’s career when we could just show her going senile and hallucinating about her dead husband?


D: Deryck Broom, Roger Hawkins
**********
An promising premise that was ruined by too much inappropriate humor and an off-putting art style.


22. Pokemon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom
D: Kunihiko Yuyama
**********
Like most Pokemon movies I managed to sit through, it was pretty boring.  Apparently it’s also two movies for some reason.


21. “Transformers:” Dark of the Moon
D: Michael Bay
**********
Sam Witwicky and Jeong’s character where thankfully the only truly irritating aspects of this movie.  The action had its moments, but it was really long and tedious toward the end.  The movie is mediocre, but it’s the first of Bay’s “Transformers” movies I did not actively despise.


20. The Green Hornet
D: Michel Gondry
**********
At first I was excited about this movie because Michel Gondry is a visually distinctive director and Christoph Waltz was playing the villain.  Seth Rogen seemed questionable, but maybe this would be a Michael Keaton as Batman surprise.  Unfortunately, it was clear that they did not take this project seriously enough.  Some good action, though.


19. Source Code
D: Duncan Jones
**********
A great movie ruined by a terrible ending.


18. Battle: Los Angeles
D: Jonathan Liebesman
**********
Alien invasion + Shakycam.  Pretty much all this movie is.  I don’t mind shakycam that much, but there’s a problem when the camera is spazzing like crazy when the main character is just sitting in an office talking with someone.


17. Thor
D: Kenneth Branagh
**********
Despite having some funny moments, it was mostly bland.  Loki would eventually come into his own as a great villain, but here his motivation is baffling.  He became a villain because…he found out he was adopted?


16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2
D: David Yates
**********
While most everyone else complained about Part 1 being boring, I found this movie to be disappointing.  Needlessly drawn-out action is a pet peeve of mine, and this movie took virtually every moment of spontaneous badassery from the book and made it tedious in execution.


15. The Green Lantern
D: Martin Campbell
**********
A lackluster and forgettable superhero movie, but far from the worst.  While Ryan Reynolds can be an annoying comedy star, he’s a serviceable leading man.  I will say the movie has some good alien scenery, but a few moments of bad CGI.


14. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
D: Rupert Wyatt
**********
A surprisingly decent prequel to a cheesy classic.  Andy Serkis’ motion capture acting is great as always, but the “damn dirty ape” line doesn’t sound as good from Draco Malfoy as it did from Charlton Heston.  Also, antagonist was like a one-dimensional parody of a greedy corporate villain who only cares about money.


13. Cars 2
D: John Lasseter
**********
I actually avoided this in theaters, but there are some things I like about it, and it's actually far more genuinely fun than the first Cars.  It sucks that they made Mater the main character and the choice of villains is questionable, but it actually has some great action.  Car chases are a big part of action movies, and this is the first time I've seen a movie that takes advantage of anthopomorphic cars and how they'd go about action scenes.


12. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
D: Tomas Alfredson
**********
A decent spy thriller with a solid cast, but it’s a bit hard to follow and not nearly as engaging as it thinks it is.  I think Mark Strong is an underrated actor, and this is the first time I’ve seen him given a good role in a decent movie.


11. The Adventures of Tintin
D: Steven Spielberg
**********
Overall, very fun and whimsical action, but the hero is bland and lacks any personality or vulnerability.  Also, the characters are practically indestructible.  After Tintin survived what should have been a fatal plane crash, I was sure that the prospect of getting hit by a propeller blade wasn’t too bad. 


10. X-Men: First Class
D: Matthew Vaughn
**********
Honestly this and X2 are the only movies from this series I like.  Between this and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, this year has at least shown us that prequels don’t have to suck.  I was going to say more about this, but that will have to wait until I do a full review of it.  I also enjoy the score.


9. Warrior
D: Gavin O'Connor
**********
A solid drama about MMA that showcases Tom Hardy's talent.


8. Captain America
D: Joe Johnston
**********
Solid superhero movie with a good visual style.  Though the movie’s not really that great, it was impressive that they actually made it work.  It’s a dated concept, but they managed to make it a good modern movie.  The best part of the movie, however, was Red Skull’s car.


7. The Raid
D: Gareth Evans
**********
Eastern stunt-work and fight choreography at its finest. 


6. Rango
D: Gore Verbinski
**********
Absolutely fun, offbeat and zany take on the Wild West. 


5. The Sunset Limited
D: Tommy Lee Jones
**********
Jones and Jackson have good chemistry as the discuss matters of morals and religion.  Yeah, I know it's two guys talking, but it is engaging enough.


D: Jennifer Yu Nelson
**********
I didn’t think the plot or the action was as strong in this as it was in the first movie, but I love Lord Shen for being such a stylish and evil, yet human, villain.


3. Winnie the Pooh
D: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall
**********
This is a classicly charming and funny cartoon done refreshing in 2-D animation.  It disheartens me that this movie bombed at the box office.  Seriously, what is wrong with parents that they can’t let their kids drag them to good cartoons?  I also thought the Nessie short was cute.
2. Cabin in the Woods.
D: Drew Goddard
**********
A hilariously droll satire of horror cliches that's far more funny that the generic spoof its trailers suggest.


1. Drive
D: Nicolas Winding Refn
**********
I don't have much to say about this movie, but it’s an effective serious crime thriller, and very well executed.









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