The Best Movies of 2011: #40 – #21
Alright, running out of stuff to say on these intros, soooo…in case you missed it!:
Day 1: #94 – #81
Day 2: #80 – #61
Day 3: #60 – #41
And onto the good stuff.
40. The Guard
Not usually one for buddy cop movies, but this one was a keeper.
39. The Trip
It’s Sideways for foodies with dueling Michael Caine impressions. Someday Steve Coogan will get his due.
38. 13 Assassins
See, Takashi Miike? See what happens when you stop making kids movies?
Awesome stuff.
37. Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Gotta love Tribe.
36. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Insanely well-made and Mara’s my vote come Oscar night. Not sure I needed to hear this story three times though.
35. Trollhunter
One of those movies that keeps getting better the more you think about it.
34. Buck
Incredible story about learning from life and turning something terrible into something profound.
Always amazing to watch someone at the height of their craft.
33. Captain America: The First Avenger
Fun as hell and Tommy Lee Jones at the top of his game. Almost makes me excited for The Avengers.
32. X-Men: First Class
Just the boost this franchise needed…despite a complete and utter disregard for the source material.
31. Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Best surprise of the year, best Gosling of the year.
30. The Help
Better than the book and arguably the best cast of the year. Loving how much everyone liked this movie.
29. The Muppets
The Chris Cooper rap solo, “Travel By Map,” Rowlf’s flashback, I could go on. Suck it, Smurfs.
28. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Think I liked it more than most, but what a freaking blast. Like watching a Pixar movie in real life.
27. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
The Thin Blue Line for a new generation.
26. Drive
Cool defined, but still way too freaking violent.
25. 50/50
Don’t know how they pulled this off, but damn if I wasn’t tearing up and laughing along.
That Bryce Dallas Howard was quite the beotch this year, huh?
24. Terri
If only more coming-of-agers knew how to hit home and drop knowledge like this.
23. Point Blank
Didn’t know it was possible to hold your breath for 84 minutes.
22. The Tree of Life
A true achievement in film making and storytelling.
Would have been higher up if I didn’t have to talk about those fucking dinosaurs all year.
21. Bridesmaids
Wasn’t as hilarious the second time around, but that first go was something else.
Can ya’ smell it, folks? We’re almost there, so just keep calm and carry on until tomorrow for THE TOP 20 BEST MOVIES IN THE UNIVERSE THAT I SAW LAST YEAR WITHOUT LOSING MY MIND AND MURDERING MY SOCIAL LIFE! Raise the roof, yo!
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
Nice to see someone appreciate “Terri”.
Man now you’ve already listed all my Top10’s. I keep wondering WHAT THE HECK is in your Top20… there’s like nothing left!
Hahaha. Much love for Terri, totally took me by surprise and loved the heck out of it. Gotta spread the word on that one.
Great round up here. I really need to check out Terri and The Guard. I keep hearing solid reviews so I guess I should give them both a watch soon.
Give ’em a go! They are as good as you’ve heard, Terri especially. Let me know what you think when you do!
If you like Paradise Lost, you should definitely check out West of Memphis when it gets released. Saw it at Sundance. It’s incredible!
Will do. Never heard of it, but man if those guys aren’t getting their fair share of time on screen as of late.
Couldn’t have said it better about X-Men: First Class myself:P It easily got my vote for this year’s Replay Award.
Yeah, just saw it again on Cinemax lately and it was still freaking awesome. Hope Wolverine keeps it going.
Four of my top ten in your 40-21 list. I can only imagine what you’ve got waiting for the next list.
Hahaha. I’ve been getting that a lot. Hope the Top 20 delivered, homey.
I loved Crazy Stupid Love too. It was so surprisingly good and a feel super movie !!
That it was. Thought I was walking into a chick flick, couldn’t believe how wrong I was by the end. Why can’t more movie dates go like that?
Oh man, this one hurts. Drive and 50/50 were my top two films from last year. Nice to see some love for Terri, a very underrated movie.
Haha. Sorry, man. Both were awesome, 50/50 almost made it to the Top 20, but won’t argue with anyone who ranks them as such. Still think Drive went a tad overkill on the violence though.
And hell yeah for Terri, real shame that came and went as fast as it did. Great stuff.
The Guard and The Trip were two of my very favourite movies of the year (or of ever?)- thanks for including them here. Also: I don’t see as many movies as you, so thanks for the recommendations!
Damn! That’s some high praise! Glad you liked ’em so much, good movies for sure, and hope you like the rest of ’em if you ever get a chance!
If you ask me (which I am very aware you didn’t) Friends With Benefits should have made this list. It’s fantastic. Much better than No Strings Attatched.
Haha. Didn’t see it so couldn’t compare. Maybe someday the wife’ll get me to give it a look, but I’m sure (like most things) it’s better than No Strings Attached.
#34 (Buck) looks like one for me to put on my to-watch list. I’m a sucker for anything related to horses. 🙂
And I’m interested to hear that you think the movie version of The Help is better than the book. In my experience it’s usually the other way round.
Definitely check out Buck. Beautiful movie, incredible story, especially if you dig horses.
And I’m with you, it usually is the other way around, but this was one of the rare exceptions. Had a much greater connection to the movie than the source material.
#22 Tree of Life
This “movie” never would have seen a theater had it been directed by Joe Schmoe. Like everyone else, I was suckered in because this guy made the “Thin Red Line”. It’s been months now but I’m still irritated and angry about it. I WANT MY MONEY BACK MALICK!
Hahaha. Good thing I didn’t put in the Top 20.