Al's Top Rated Films: 2011

Fantastic action-packed sports drama from Gavin O'Connor that follows the complicated and history-torn Conlon family of fighters. The father Paddy is a former trainer and alcoholic, and is estranged from both of his sons. When his youngest son Tommy shows up on his doorstep after leaving 14 years earlier, he finds his father sober and and rediscovering his faith, and asks him to him train to compete in a mixed martial arts tournament with a $5 million winner-takes-all prize. Meanwhile, Paddy's older son Brendan is a high school physics teacher and former UFC fighter who is struggling to pay his bills. He also has a poor relationship with Paddy, and is completely alienated from his brother Tommy due to bitter drama from the past. In an effort to turn his life around, both brothers enter the same tournament, which results in a most epic showdown between both brothers/warriors. Fantastic story, acting, drama, and action all around. One of the finest sports dramas of its kind. Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte all arguably delivered their all-time best performances. They were all fantastic, and couldn't be casted any better. Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn, Kurt Angle, Anthony Johnson, Noah Emmerich, Bryan Callen, Sam Sheridan, and others also had great supporting roles.

Fantastic and powerful historical drama from Tate Taylor set during the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi, and follows an ambitious white author named Skeeter Phelan who decides to write a book covering the point of view of several African American maids who dedicate their lives working and caring for white families to survive. Skeeter's best friend has a maid named Aibileen Clark who opens up about the hardships, disrespect, and mistreatment she experiences in her job. When another maid named Minny Jackson hooks up with Skeeter after being severely disrespected by her longtime employers, other maids follow. Before long, Skeeter has enough stories to publish and eye-opening and dangerously controversial book. Incredible and original story with great writing and a cast that couldn't be more perfect. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain all deliver some of their all-time best and most powerfully layered performances. Ahna O'Reilly, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Eleanor Henry/Emma Henry, Cicely Tyson, Sissy Spacek, Mike Vogel, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ashley Johnson, LaChanze, Dana Ivey, and others had great roles among an excellent supporting cast.

Excellent baseball biopic that follows the Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane after they loose the 2001 playoffs to the New York Yankees, and his struggles to build a team with less than 1/3 the budget than a team like the Yankees. After being told his budget will not increase, he starts thinking outside the box, and recruits a math and statistics wizard who developed a formula to find 25 undervalued and overlooked players who produce real results on the field, that is within the Oakland A's budget. They get off to a slow start, but things dramatically improve as they tweak the formula. Extremely fascinating how they changed the game of baseball forever with their fresh approach to recruiting. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill both deliver a couple of their all-time best lead performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, Robin Wright, Brent Jennings, Ken Medlock, Kerris Dorsey, Arliss Howard, and many others had great supporting roles.

This beautiful French comedy/drama/biography is plenty of worthy of being called "Best of 2011". Great story about a quadriplegic (Philippe) that hires a troubled young man from the Paris projects (Driss) to be his caregiver because he likes his challenging personality, and doesn't want to be shown pity or compassion. The two men end up forming an unlikely bond and close friendship as they help each other live better lives. François Cluzet and Omar Sy both deliver outstanding lead performances and have great back-and-forth chemistry throughout. Audrey Fleurot and Anne Le Ny were also great among a solid supporting cast. It also included a great funky soundtrack with plenty of Earth, Wind & Fire.

Excellent music drama based on a true story and set in 1986 about a married couple's struggles to reconnect with their estranged son after not seeing him for 20 years. He has a brain tumor which prevents him from forming new memories, but they soon find classic rock from the 60s and 70s (especially the Grateful Dead) brings him back to a time he was happy. It's a great story of redemption for the father, as he tries to make things right with his son, where he failed him in the past. Lou Taylor Pucci, J.K. Simmons, and Cara Seymour all deliver fantastic lead performances—arguably the best of their careers. Julia Ormond, Scott Adsit, Tammy Blanchard, Mía Maestro, and others had great supporting roles.

Excellent crime drama from David Fincher about an investigative journalist with a tarnished reputation, who agrees to write a biography on a wealthy industrialist's family. They really want him to uncover the mystery behind their niece, who disappeared 40 years previously. When he makes a connection between the niece and some serial killings 20 years before her disappearance, he recruits the help of an eccentric and gifted computer hacker to help solve the mystery. Daniel Craig delivered a great lead role, but it's Rooney Mara who steals the show with her jaw-dropping performance. She was excellent. Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson, Goran Visnjic, and many others had a great supporting roles.

Excellent crime drama/mystery from Brad Furman set in Los Angeles, and follows a high-powered, street-wise, and often times manipulative criminal defense attorney named Mick Haller who works out of his classic 1986 Lincoln Town Car. He generally represents guilty low-end criminals, but gets a tip that the son of a wealthy real estate mogul, Louis Roulet, wants Haller to represent him after he's been arrested for brutally beating a prostitute. Haller tends to believe Roulet's story of innocence, which quickly gets clouded in mystery. After finding that Roulet's case is linked very closely with another assault case he previously tried, he finds himself implicated in Roulet's crimes in a devious attempt to control his actions. Fantastic story all around with excellent dialogue and a great cast. Matthew McConaughey delivers one of his all-time best lead performances. Ryan Phillippe and Marisa Tomei also had excellent starring roles. William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, Bob Gunton, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston, Trace Adkins, Laurence Mason, Margarita Levieva, Shea Whigham, and many others had great supporting roles.

Excellent comedy drama/romance from Glenn Ficarra and John Requa that follows a troubled middle aged man named Cal who's wife and high school sweetheart Emily asks him for a divorce after 24 years of marriage. Before sinking into a depressing midlife crisis, he meets a suave ladies man named Jacob picking up gorgeous woman in the bar he frequents, who offers to help him turn his life around by teaching him to live the playboy life he lives. His teachings create some hilarious situations as Cal attempts to move one, and learns that he truly loves his wife in the process. Meanwhile, Jacob and Cal's daughter Hannah engage in a relationship without Cal knowing, which adds another caveat to the story. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Lio Tipton, and Jonah Bobo all delivered excellent lead performances. Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, John Carroll Lynch, Liza Lapira, Joey King, Beth Littleford, and many others has great supporting roles.

Hilarious and stirring comedy drama from Roman Polanski that follows the meeting of two married couples after each of their 11-year-old sons get into a fight. The meeting starts as a friendly and understanding exchange until one couple makes insinuations that the other couple are not raising their son correctly. Before long, in creates a domino effect of intense drama and childish attacks against each other until both couples end up breaking down and showing their true colors while simultaneously unloading baggage from their distressed marriages. Superbly acted with a great fast-moving single-location story. Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz are basically the only actors in the cast, and they all delivered some of their absolute best performances.

Excellent comedy drama from Alexander Payne that follows a husband and father named Matt King who's about to face some very hard times after his wife Elizabeth falls into a coma after injuring herself during a boating race. Unfortunately, he's been a mostly absent father and husband to his family over the years. His youngest daughter Scottie is 10-years-old, and is a handful on her own. His 17-year-old daughter Alexandra is quite rebellious, and doesn't get along with either of her parents. After they receive the news that Elizabeth will not being coming out of her coma and that she wishes to pass away peacefully, it changes everyone's tune as they work through the challenging times. But after Matt finds out Elizabeth was having an affair with another man, it throws a plot twist into the story that effects his business and the whole family. George Clooney arguably delivers his best lead performance. He was excellent. Shailene Woodley also had a great starring role. Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Beau Bridges, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel, Robert Forster, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent and thrilling sci-fi mystery about an Army captain who wakes up on a train in the body of a different man, and within 8 minutes of the arrival, the train explodes and everybody dies. After waking up again in a mysterious capsule, he learns he's part of an experimental government program using flashback memories of the teacher to locate the bomber who's planning to blow up the train and a large chunk of Chicago; in hopes of changing history and saving thousands of lives. Jake Gyllenhaal delivers another superb lead performance. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden also had excellent supporting roles.

Hilarious crime comedy/thriller that follows an eccentric, brash, and somewhat racist Irish policeman with a dark sense of humor and a love for dugs, alcohol, and prostitutes; who's forced to partner up with a black FBI agent from Atlanta to help investigate an international seizure of cocaine worth a half a billion dollars. Brendan Gleeson delivered a fantastic lead performance, and Don Cheadle was also excellent as usual. Their interaction was great throughout. David Wilmot, Mark Strong, Rory Keenan, Liam Cunningham, Fionnula Flanagan, Mícheál Óg Lane, Katarina Cas, Sarah Greene, Dominique McElligott, and others had great roles among the supporting cast.

Excellent psychological drama/horror/thriller from Jeff Nichols set in LaGrange, Ohio, and follows a construction worker and dedicated family man named Curtis LaForche, who lives a good life with his loving wife Samantha and deaf daughter Hannah. One day Curtis begins having disastrous nightmares filled with looming black birds and motor oil falling from the sky like rain. In the end, he or Hannah ends up being brutally killed or harmed—sometimes by his loved ones and close friends. He becomes desperate and reaches out to doctors for help while he obsessively builds an underground storm shelter in preparation for what he feels will be a catastrophic event that will kill everyone in town. Fantastic story and beautifully constructed throughout with a perfect cast. Michael Shannon is one of the more underrated actors out there, and he delivered arguably his best lead performance to date. Jessica Chastain also has an excellent starring role. Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart, Kathy Baker, Katy Mixon, LisaGay Hamilton, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent crime drama that follows an obscure man who works as a car mechanic, an audacious stuntman and driver in Hollywood movies, and also moonlights as a driver of getaway cars in real-life criminal robberies. He soon gets into trouble with the group of gangsters he works for after things go wrong when helping his neighbor knock off a pawn shop. Great writing and acting throughout. Ryan Gosling delivers one of his best lead performances. Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Kaden Leos, and others also had great roles.

Excellent political drama written by, directed by, and starring George Clooney, that follows Democratic Governor Mike Morris' second-in-command presidential campaign manager, Stephen Meyers. Stephen is a 30-year-old prodigy in his field, brilliant with strategic political moves, and wholeheartedly believes Mike Morris is the best man for the job. When the campaign manager of Republican Senator Pullman contacts Stephen to try to get him to switch sides, it sets off a chain of events that seems to be systematically destroying Stephen's career as they attempt to cover up corrupt actions. However, they don't know what sort of information and dirty secrets he may have on them, which may produce power moves to get him back on top. Great story all around with a great cast. Ryan Gosling is the real star of the film, and he delivers another excellent lead performances as he usually does. George Clooney also had a great starring role. Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent and thrilling drama from J.C. Chandor that's inspired by the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007, and based on the debacle of the Lehman Brothers financial services firm which filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The story takes place over a 24-hour period after a major financial investment company decides to downsize, and fires the head of risk management, Eric Dale, who's been researching a model of numbers that he feels would be detrimental to the company. He ends up handing off the file to a brilliant entry-level analyst who cracks the code, and exposes the most serious financial flaw in the company's history; let alone something that will cause one of the world's worst financial crisis. Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, and Zachary Quinto all delivered fantastic lead performances. They're some of my favorite of all their careers. Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, and Demi Moore also had great starring roles. Mary McDonnell also had a nice supporting role.

Excellent action-packed drama/thriller from Joe Wright that follows a 16-year-old girl named Hanna who possesses mysterious skills including increased intelligence, muscle mass, stamina, awareness, and a lack of pity. She's been living with her father in the forest her entire life, who has taught her the ways of being the perfect fighter and assassin. We find out early on that she is a government secret, and a merciless CIA agent named Marissa Wiegler has been trying to locate her since she was born, along with her father, which she holds secretive and sensitive information about. But Hannah has reached the age of discovery, and wants to live freely and experience the world, and it's going to take more that just a crazed team of CIA agents to take her down. Saoirse Ronan delivered a fantastic lead performance as Hannah. She was perfect for the role. Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana also had great starring roles. Jessica Barden, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, Aldo Maland, Vicky Krieps, Michelle Dockery, Tom Hollander, and Álvaro Cervantes also had great supporting roles.

Excellent sequel in the Mission Impossible franchise from Brad Bird. This is the 4th installment, and it's arguably the best of the first 4 films. This time we find IMF (Impossible Mission Force) agent Ethan Hunt in a Russian prison for mysterious reasons, following the equally mysterious disappearance of his wife Julia. He's soon busted out by the IMF and paired with a new team that's tasked to take down a terrorist named Kurt Hendricks (a.k.a. Cobalt), who's acquired Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning to bomb the United States. After a series of events causes the IMF to shutdown a takeaway all support to Ethan and his team, the missions becomes seemingly impossible to accomplish. These films just keep getting better and better with time. The story and acting is really tightened up from previous films, and stands as my favorite in the series so far. Tom Cruise delivers an excellent lead performance. Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner also had great starring roles. Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Léa Seydoux, Josh Holloway, and many others had great supporting roles.

Hilarious crime comedy from Seth Gordon that follows three best friends who absolutely hate their bosses. Nick's boss is a total prick, makes him work extremely long hours, promises a promotion the takes it away, and threatens his livelihood. Kurt actually loved his job, until the owner dies and he's stuck with his careless, reckless, coke-addicted son who hates and antagonizes him, and plans to run the company into the ground. Dale is engaged, and hates his extremely hot nymphomaniac boss at the dental office he works, because she's constantly harassing him, and threatens to tell his fiancée they are having an affair if he doesn't sleep with her. After brainstorming over several beers, they conclude that they must find a way to kill their bosses, and attempt to do so in hilarious fashion. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day all delivered excellent lead performances. Kevin Spacey, the sexy Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, and Colin Farrell also had great starring roles. Donald Sutherland, Julie Bowen, Wendell Pierce, Ron White, Ioan Gruffudd, Brian George, and Meghan Markle also had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent and unique drama that follows a philosophical conversation/debate between a highly intellectual white professor who just tried to kill himself by jumping in front of the Sunset Limited subway train, and a deeply religious black ex-con who was there to stop him and saved his life. The whole film takes place in the black man's apartment as they talk out the reasons why the man is trying to kill himself; with the black man working his hardest to shed some light of hope into a man that's literally on the edge of suicide. Tommy Lee Jones (also the director) and Samuel L. Jackson are the only two actors present the whole film, and the dialogue is very compelling and thought provoking throughout. They both delivered excellent performances.

Excellent biography/historical drama from Clint Eastwood on the life and career of FBI law-enforcement administrator, J. Edgar Hoover (1895–1972). The story starts in 1919 following the assassination attempt of the Attorney General, when Hoover is assigned head up a division to weed out Communists, anarchists, revolutionaries, and any other sort of radical that threatens the U.S. government. His work comes from a background of science and cataloging information, and is so effective, that he rises to the top of the bureau and builds a great reputation with the the public until time and history disrupts his momentum. The story also follows his troubled social life, and mysterious relationship with Associate Director Clyde Tolson. Fascinating story all around with great dialogue and acting all around. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers an ambitious and excellent lead performance as he usually does. Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts also had great starring roles. Ed Westwick, Judi Dench, Damon Herriman, Josh Stamberg, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Gunner Wright, David A. Cooper, Lea Thompson, Adam Driver, Christopher Shyer, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent drama/adventure/mystery that follows a very intelligent and eccentric 9-year-old amateur inventor who's father died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Struggles are still heavy a year after his death when he finds a mysterious key hidden in his closet with the name "Black" on the envelope. He then sets out to find and meet everybody with the last name "Black" in New York, until he finds the lock the key opens. Heart-wrenching and very well written and acted. Thomas Horn gave a fantastic emotion-filled lead performance. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock were also great like they usually are. Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Caldwell, and John Goodman also had great roles among a solid supporting cast.

Underrated crime comedy drama/thriller from Geoffrey Fletcher set in New York City, and follows a couple of young fun-loving assassins named Violet and Daisy. They casually take jobs when they need money, and decide to pounce on what looks to be an easy job so they can afford some fancy new dresses modeled after their favorite pop idol, Barbie Sunday. When they get to the apartment to kill the man and collect their dough, they find the man is very nice and cooperative, and wants them to kill him. They are thrown by the whole situation and take steps to understand the situation before killing him. Through a crazed series of events, they befriend the man and end up spending the whole day at his apartment reflecting on their own lives and choices, while other dangerous criminals and deadly situations take place. The story is solid throughout, and has just enough of a unique flare to make it standout. The casting and acting is fantastic. I'm surprised at how overlooked this gem is. Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel both delivered excellent lead performances and made a great serial killing duo. James Gandolfini also had an excellent starring role. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Danny Trejo, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Very powerful drama about a woman named Eva who has a seemingly perfect married life until she she has a baby boy named Kevin. No matter how hard she struggles to love him, he mysteriously hates and resents everything about her in every stage in his life. There are troubling signs of violence and other incidents that raise many red flags. Once he reaches high-school age, he uses his intelligence to antagonize his mother at every opportunity, until an event occurs that could only be described as the most horrifying nightmare that any parent could imagine. The only gripe I have is that the story starts off too slowly and mysteriously, and doesn't really start to pick up steam until Kevin reaches age 6. From that point on, the story is compelling throughout. Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller both deliver great lead performances. John C. Reilly, Jasper Newell, Ashley Gerasimovich, Alex Manette, and Siobhan Fallon Hogan also had very nice supporting roles.

Great sci-fi thriller about a man who takes an experimental drug called NZT that expands his creativity and allows him to utilize 100% of his brain power. When he goes to his brother-in-law's house to buy more, he stumbles upon a dead body, a large sum of money, and more NZT, he ends up effectively investing the money until he catches the attention of Russian loan shark, who is interested in the mysterious drug. Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro all deliver great lead performances. Andrew Howard, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Fascinating Discovery Channel documentary for history and beer lovers all around. Full of interesting facts and tidbits about the origin of beer and how it played a role in innovating agriculture, civilization, industry, and transportation. It also presents many off-the-wall facts that you won't learn from history books. The whole presentation was far more interesting than several documentaries I've seen. Great special overall.

Thought-provoking documentary about the battle between mountain bikers and the U.S. Forest Service that prohibit bikers from touching public land, and delves into riders creating their own tracks just to be torn down, and the argument of who "the public" really is when it comes to using these government protected trails. Very interesting film with great action shots throughout.

While the first two Harold & Kumar films are certified stoner classics in my book, this one fell a bit short. That said, it's a still a solid addition to the collection, and rounds out the trilogy nicely. This time we follow Harold & Kumar 6 years after Guantanamo Bay (2008), and they have since parted ways and live different lives, until Kumar arrives at Harold and Maria's door on Christmas Day, accidentally burns down Maria's father's prize Christmas tree. So they set out to find the perfect replacement on a comedy filled adventure through New York City. Kal Penn and John Cho deliver great lead performances as usual. Neil Patrick Harris, Paula Garcés, Danny Trejo, Patton Oswalt, Bobby Lee, Thomas Lennon, Danneel Ackles, Jordan Danger, and others had nice supporting roles.