Top Movies Of 2011
by dirty_dutchman | created - 20 Mar 2011 | updated - 13 Apr 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Artist (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Votes: 248,506 | Gross: $44.67M
This is a true and riveting homage to the era of silent films. Jean Dujardin embodies the role of George Valentin, a silent film superstar who falls victim to the progress of talkies. It is a wonderful sort of film that sadly doesn't come around as often as it should.
9/10
2. Warrior (2011)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, Sport
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
Director: Gavin O'Connor | Stars: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison
Votes: 497,475 | Gross: $13.66M
I can't deny that this movie is fairly cliche, nor can I say I enjoy anything that involves MMA. But this movie, like so many great boxing movies of the past, is just simply awesome. It feels like Rocky, but the added twist of the two brothers makes it even more meaningful. Gavin O'Connor directed Miracle, a film I consider to be the best sports themed movie of all time, and he doesn't disappoint here either.
9/10
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
R | 158 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 494,420 | Gross: $102.52M
The story is right up Fincher's alley, so it's no surprise that he put his fingerprint on Larsson's mystery. Craig and Mara each fill their roles well, with Mara giving a particularly intense performance. There are a number of noticeable deviations from the book, but with the smooth speed with which Fincher unfolds the story, you barely notice.
8/10
4. Rango (2011)
PG | 107 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 292,708 | Gross: $123.48M
The story is straight out of Chinatown, but the wit and the visuals make it so much more entertaining.
8/10
5. The Tree of Life (2011)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Votes: 184,002 | Gross: $13.30M
This is a solid film with wonderful cinematography and strong acting. The one glaring flaw? It seems much more like a stream of consciousness than a cohesive film.
8/10
6. The Descendants (2011)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause
Votes: 251,631 | Gross: $82.58M
It's a bit more dramatic than his earlier works, but it still has the Alexander Payne touch. Much like he did with Jack Nicholson, Payne is able to bring George Clooney down to earth for once.
8/10
7. Moneyball (2011)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 464,007 | Gross: $75.61M
This is a movie that provides a challenge to the ideal of baseball, the conflict between tradition and statistic. And it's entertaining, too.
8/10
8. Hugo (2011)
PG | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 336,646 | Gross: $73.86M
Scorcese takes a rare break from his usual fare to create a fascinating tale of two children who rediscover a faded cinema legend. It's clear that this is a movie very close to Scorcese's own heart.
8/10
9. Drive (I) (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama
A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Votes: 703,617 | Gross: $35.06M
Never have I been more impressed by a completely formulaic movie. The 80's-retro feel, combined with an incredibly likable Ryan Gosling, makes this a surprisingly strong movie.
8/10
10. X: First Class (2011)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
Votes: 723,032 | Gross: $146.41M
The cast, the story and the visuals round out what is not just a satisfying superhero movie, but also a great movie.
8/10
11. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
PG-13 | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
Detective Sherlock Holmes is on the trail of criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, who is carrying out a string of random crimes across Europe.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams
Votes: 480,073 | Gross: $186.85M
Living up to the first movie is a daunting task, but A Game of Shadows holds its own. It's about on par with the first one. The story is a bit weaker, but the villain is far better.
8/10
12. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.
Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
Votes: 528,074 | Gross: $209.40M
With arguably the best M:I crew yet, Brad Bird and Tom Cruise deliver a punch with the latest installment. The story is about on par with M:I-3, but you can't go wrong with the over-the-top action and stunts.
8/10
13. Source Code (2011)
PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Votes: 549,260 | Gross: $54.71M
Duncan Jones takes a flimsy premise and turns it into a thrilling sci-fi film.
8/10
14. Thor (2011)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Fantasy
The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston
Votes: 899,429 | Gross: $181.03M
Despite moving too quickly, the story makes it a unique addition to the Marvel universe.
7/10
15. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier, transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a warmonger and a terrorist organization.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayley Atwell
Votes: 895,979 | Gross: $176.65M
I love the campy, throwback feel of the movie, much like Joe Johnston's masterpiece, The Rocketeer.
7/10
16. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
PG-13 | 105 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee who leads an ape uprising.
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Karin Konoval
Votes: 557,798 | Gross: $176.76M
It moves quickly, but it does a fine job of crafting an origin story worthy of the original Planet Of The Apes.
7/10
17. The Muppets (2011)
PG | 103 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A Muppet fanatic with some help from his 2 human compatriots must regroup the Muppet gang to stop an avaricious oil mogul from taking down one of their precious life-longing treasures.
Director: James Bobin | Stars: Amy Adams, Jason Segel, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones
Votes: 96,811 | Gross: $88.63M
It's a labor of love, showing just how much we can miss the Muppets. It's a tad inconsistent, but in the end it is wonderfully heartwarming.
7/10
18. Super 8 (2011)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney
Votes: 367,320 | Gross: $127.00M
It's vintage J.J. Abrams, even if there is just a tinge too much influence from Steven Spielberg and Stephen King.
7/10
19. The Help (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Drama
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 492,107 | Gross: $169.71M
I know I'm supposed to dislike Bryce Dallas Howard's character, but she goes a bit too far, making this movie unbearable at times.
7/10
20. Battle Los Angeles (2011)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A squad of U.S. Marines becomes the last line of defense against a global invasion.
Director: Jonathan Liebesman | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ramón Rodríguez
Votes: 185,090 | Gross: $83.55M
It is not a particularly intelligent movie, but it is thoroughly exciting and action packed.
7/10
21. Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. All that stands in their way: a posse of cowboys and natives.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Abigail Spencer
Votes: 232,333 | Gross: $100.24M
It doesn't quite live up the hype, but it's an entertaining western, where the enemy happens to be aliens.
7/10
22. Horrible Bosses (2011)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Crime
Three friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.
Director: Seth Gordon | Stars: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Steve Wiebe
Votes: 469,438 | Gross: $117.54M
This is one outrageously funny movie, thanks in no small measure to the three leads, especially Charlie Day.
7/10
23. Unknown (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
When a man awakens from a coma only to discover that someone has taken on his identity, he teams up with a young woman to prove who he is.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 269,254 | Gross: $63.69M
Figuring out the twist isn't incredibly difficult, though the movie is a decent mystery.
7/10
24. Fast Five (2011)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers plan a massive heist to buy their freedom while in the sights of a powerful Brazilian drug lord and a dangerous federal agent.
Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster
Votes: 406,796 | Gross: $209.84M
Having avoided the other Fast and Furious movies, I found this action movie quite enjoyable.
7/10
25. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 270,000 | Gross: $62.50M
I appreciate the premise behind this, even if the execution is less than impressive.
7/10
26. Paul (2011)
R | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Two English comic book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Director: Greg Mottola | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Mia Stallard
Votes: 265,928 | Gross: $37.41M
If you get the references, this movie is a lot of fun. If not, it's very bland.
6/10
27. The Mechanic (2011)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An elite hitman teaches his trade to an apprentice who has a connection to one of his previous victims.
Director: Simon West | Stars: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn
Votes: 171,473 | Gross: $29.12M
I was very surprised by this low key action movie, even if the idea has been done to death.
6/10
28. The Hangover Part II (2011)
R | 102 min | Comedy
Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.
Director: Todd Phillips | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha
Votes: 533,960 | Gross: $254.46M
The fact that it doesn't try to be different for the first movie hurts more than it helps.
6/10
29. Bridesmaids (I) (2011)
R | 125 min | Comedy
Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.
Director: Paul Feig | Stars: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Terry Crews
Votes: 308,898 | Gross: $169.11M
It's not a chick-flick, and that's good. But Judd Apatow's stink is all over it, and that's bad.
6/10
30. Kill the Irishman (2011)
R | 106 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of Danny Greene, a tough Irish thug working for mobsters in Cleveland during the 1970's.
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh | Stars: Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer
Votes: 51,294 | Gross: $1.19M
Ray Stevenson is an intimidating actor, but he has a certain charm that can keep a movie like this going. By that I mean, the story is thin and the writing is pretty bad.
6/10
31. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush
Votes: 563,489 | Gross: $241.06M
While it seems I was one of the few who liked the previous two sequels, this one didn't work for me.
6/10
32. The Three Musketeers (2011)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down-on-their-luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich
Votes: 111,985 | Gross: $20.38M
I couldn't tell if this was supposed to be goofy or if the terrible writing just made it that way.
6/10
33. Sucker Punch (2011)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone
Votes: 252,517 | Gross: $36.39M
For all the style and flair, eventually that only question I asked was, "so what?"
6/10
34. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
PG-13 | 130 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Harry, Ron, and Hermione search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord as the final battle rages on at Hogwarts.
Director: David Yates | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon
Votes: 946,933 | Gross: $381.01M
Seven movies building up to this?!
6/10
35. Just Go with It (2011)
PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
On a weekend trip to Hawaii, a plastic surgeon convinces his loyal assistant to pose as his soon-to-be-divorced wife in order to cover up a careless lie he told to his much-younger girlfriend.
Director: Dennis Dugan | Stars: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nicole Kidman
Votes: 265,114 | Gross: $103.03M
At times, it emerges as a very funny movie. But overall, it is just another formulaic Sandler comedy.
5/10
36. Your Highness (2011)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
When Prince Fabious's bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her... accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.
Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Danny McBride, Natalie Portman, James Franco, Rasmus Hardiker
Votes: 104,382 | Gross: $21.60M
I enjoyed Pineapple Express, but clearly the magic didn't work in this movie...which actually features magic.
4/10
37. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
PG-13 | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel
Votes: 431,692 | Gross: $352.39M
How bad does a movie have to be when it isn't even better than an Adam Sandler comedy? Well, just ask Michael Bay. Despite a strong finish, everything before it is remarkably terrible.
4/10
Tell Your Friends