My Top 25 for 2011
by witster18 | created - 27 Jan 2012 | updated - 6 months ago | PublicI still have yet to see "The Artist", "Take Shelter" & "A Separation", but I'm pretty sure I've covered about every other candidate. Here's my top 25 for 2011. I will edit in any deserving films as I view them.
You'll see some films that IMDB lists as 2010 films, but most of those are foreign films who's U.S. release fell in 2011.
just missed(in order): Warriors. 26.XMen:First Class 27.Water For Elephants 28.The Music Never Stopped 29.Margin Call, 30.Submarine , 31.Super 8, 32.Ides of March, 33.The Mechanic, 34.Detention 35.Real Steel, 36.50/50 37.Tree of LIfe 38.Samsara
If you like you can invert this to see it from 25-1
THis list contains 4-9's, 11-8's, 18-7's, and 3-6's
just one man's opinion.
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1. Midnight in Paris (2011)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller
Votes: 449,814 | Gross: $56.82M
Very good. Extremely good. Deserves a spot in the top 10. A whimsical, delightful, fairytale-of-a break-up.
2. 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: 251,777 | Gross: $82.58M
Speaking of Acting. This may be Clooney best performance. THe scenery and the music is hypnotic, and the story is one of heartbreak, loss, and realizing what is important to you.
3. 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: 704,311 | Gross: $35.06M
A little too short, but Refn used great music and visuals to sell a really simple story. The style reminds me of early Michael Mann or William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A.". A really good movie that shines with restraint and fine acting.
4. 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: 494,745 | Gross: $102.52M
5. Incendies (2010)
R | 131 min | Drama, Mystery, War
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel
Votes: 200,160 | Gross: $6.86M
Powerful. Tragic. "Incendies" was the best foreign film released in the U.S. in 2011.
6. Headhunters (2011)
R | 100 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Julie R. Ølgaard
Votes: 106,966 | Gross: $1.20M
7. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 929,159 | Gross: $13.18M
8. 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: 464,450 | Gross: $75.61M
Great for a film about baseball management. Who would of known? I'm not sure it deserves quite this many Oscar nominations, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
9. 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: 896,641 | Gross: $176.65M
I thought this was everything a comic-book-movie should be and more. It was as if the old stills were brought to life. Fantastic movie.
10. The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A lawyer defending a wealthy man begins to believe his client is guilty of more than just one crime.
Director: Brad Furman | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy
Votes: 253,729 | Gross: $58.01M
Great surprise from early in the season.
11. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,157 | Gross: $0.13M
Presses the ridiculous/violent button, and the button sticks.
12. Win Win (2011)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale
Votes: 55,261 | Gross: $10.18M
Win Win is not your typical comedy/drama. Good performances in this nearly perfect little movie. Nice balance between the light-hearted script and the serious themes. realistic and optimistic at the same time. Some really nice supporting performances too.
13. Jane Eyre (2011)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot
Votes: 93,009 | Gross: $11.24M
Mia and Michael are fantastic, and this might be the best Jane Eyre film adaptation. A shame some of these actors got snubbed on Academy Award nominations.
14. Ip Man 2 (2010)
R | 108 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Centering on Ip Man's migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Lynn Xiong
Votes: 110,998 | Gross: $0.21M
Yen has Bruce Lee-esque martial arts skills, and he's a pretty good actor. Fantastic action sequences. This is a character that's easy to like.
15. 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: 309,139 | Gross: $169.11M
The best straight comedy of the year. A genuinely funny film.
16. Shuffle (2011)
PG-13 | 82 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A man begins to experience his life out of order: each time he falls asleep, he wakes up on a different day of his life, at a different age, and he never knows where or when he will be "tomorrow."
Director: Kurt Kuenne | Stars: T.J. Thyne, Paula Rhodes, Chris Stone, Meeghan Holaway
Votes: 1,934
best ultra-low-budget film of 2011.
17. 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: 51,334 | Gross: $1.19M
One of the great surprises of the year. Lacks the refinement of say "Goodfellas", but the story is interesting and the characters are colorful and fun. Very entertaining little flick.
18. 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: 549,662 | Gross: $54.71M
19. War Horse (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farm boy enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. His hopeful journey takes him out of England and onto the front lines as the war rages on.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch
Votes: 165,587 | Gross: $79.88M
Nice to see a return to form Hollywood. Good movie.
20. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A middle-aged husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa | Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
Votes: 564,214 | Gross: $84.35M
Gosling is as good here or better than he was in Drive. Steve Carell is fantastic. This is about to move up to 15.
21. 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: 336,795 | Gross: $73.86M
This is the best "looking" film of the year. Scorcese will sweep the artistic awards(direction, cinematography, design and art direction), but the film dropped out of the top ten because of it's lack of comedy, action, and a magic storyline to match the look. Very good, but could have been even better.
22. The Guard (2011)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is partnered with an uptight F.B.I. agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.
Director: John Michael McDonagh | Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Ronan Collins
Votes: 95,601 | Gross: $5.36M
A real gem. Great chemistry in the script - completely sold by two great actors.
23. Hanna (2011)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Vicky Krieps
Votes: 206,840 | Gross: $40.26M
Fire Starter meets Firefox meets La Femme Nikita. Oozes with style and great music from the Chemical Bro's.
24. Goon (2011)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.
Director: Michael Dowse | Stars: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Eugene Levy
Votes: 90,778 | Gross: $4.17M
If you can get past the 300 or so f'bombs - you'll find a surprisingly effective/innocent/hilarious performance by Sean William Scott.
25. Loosies (2011)
PG-13 | 89 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A young pickpocket in the New York subways, living a fast, free, lifestyle is confronted by a woman with whom he had a one night affair.
Director: Michael Corrente | Stars: Peter Facinelli, Jaimie Alexander, Michael Madsen, Vincent Gallo
Votes: 6,183 | Gross: $0.00M
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