The Best Movies of 2011: #80 – #61
Remember that time I single-handedly financed the film industry by seeing 94 movies in a year? Yeah, that was nuts. Anyway, for those who missed the first round of the countdown…
Now let’s keep this train a-movin’ as we break on through the realm of halfway decent! Huzzah!
80. Green Lantern
Thank God for Peter Sarsgaard.
79. Horrible Bosses
Thank God for Jamie Foxx.
78. The Last Circus
High marks for pure insanity.
77. The Green Hornet
Awfully forgettable and still not sure how Michel Gondry got involved, but at least it started out strong.
76. Red State
Had all the potential to be the best horror movie of the new Willennium, but damn if it wasn’t long-winded.
75. We Need to Talk About Kevin
Quite the point of discussion, but damn if it wasn’t a one-trick pony.
74. The Future
Lost me at the sweater dance, but sure gets points for being different.
73. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Way to go, Elizabeth Olsen, but still wondering what the freaking point of this thing was?
72. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Sticking with the book, but way to go Max von Sydow. Dude’s one of the greats.
71. The Way
Big heart, weak script.
70. Tower Heist
More fun than I could ever ask for from a Brett Ratner movie, and big ups to scene-stealin’ Matthew Broderick.
69. The Adjustment Bureau
Saw it on a plane, liked it for what it was.
68. Young Adult
Love me some Patton, love me some Charlize, love me some Reitman, hate me some Mavis Gary.
67. The Adventures of Tintin
Awfully pretty with some wild action scenes to boot, just didn’t have the script to back it up.
66. Puncture
Surprisingly eye-opening, one more reason to like Chris Evans, good enough movie as a whole.
65. Scream 4
Not being a huge fan of the series and not being one to endorse fourquels, liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
64. The Descendants
Had its moments, but didn’t do anything new for me and didn’t do anything old all that great either.
63. Warrior
Great cast, but it’s still The Fighter in an octagon.
62. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Pretty inspired as far as horror movies go, pretty funny as far as comedies go. Why isn’t Alan Tudyk a household name yet?
61. A Better Life
Important stuff backed by a boss performance from Demian Bichir.
Alright, homeys. Check back on the morrow for the next 20!
Can’t wait to see how many Descendants debates I get into today.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
I didn’t know what to do when I was watching The Descendants. I couldn’t tell if I was supposed to be laughing or not. Just a weird feeling to have while watching a movie. It jumped back and forth between comedy and drama to much for me to really get into it, and neither were strong enough in my opinion.
Can’t wait for the rest of this list. And I’m right there with on Alan Tudyk; can’t think of a single thing I haven’t liked him in.
You’re dead-on, man. Didn’t find it funny, and the drama was laid on so thick that I was choking on that shit by the end. Weakest effort by Alexander Payne yet, and I freaking love Alexander Payne. Single tear…
And the world really deserves to know about Alan Tudyk. There is no explanation for this travesty.
I’m really glad to find ONE PERSON ON THIS PLANET who thinks Descendants wasn’t that great, but I am disappointed to see two of my TOP 10 of the year this low in your ranking — Warrior and A Better Life. Meehhhh!
Both were good movies and both had some stellar acting, just thought Warrior was painfully, eye-rollingly formulaic and A Better Life just didn’t leave that lasting impression on me. Still, thumbs up for both, and both were definitely better than The Descendants. Flabbergasted as to the reception that movie’s gotten.
Sometimes people are just afraid to say “it wasn’t that great” when everybody says how great a movie is. You put Sideways next to it, it’s unbelievable how small it is. It’s a TV movie, and a mediocre one. And so unbelievably unmotivated. Only thing I liked was Clooney’s performance (and the one by the older daughter), but man was that script lame.
You put any Alexander Payne movie next to it and the comparison is night and day. The performances were good, but Clooney’s been better, way better if you ask me. Such a lame script, felt so phoned-in and blunt.
Yeah, and also you knew right from the beginning that he would not sell the land…
Haha. Like I said, phoned it in. Really bothered me how the whole freaking plot was just one big lead-up to confronting Matthew Lillard, too. Just didn’t care about any of ’em to be honest.
Yeah, Clooney just wanting to go see “the other guy” just for the sake of “looking at him once” was not motivated enough to make a movie, I thought. Just watched “Shame” by the way, finally, loved it.
Why is Real Steel bot on any of your lists????
Didn’t see it. Heard surprisingly good things though.
Looks like I have a lot to catch up on. I think I dozed off while watching The Adjustment Bureau.
Haha. I don’t think you’re alone on the Adjustment Bureau.