My top 50 favorite movies of 2011

Awesome ending to one of the best movie franchises in the history of film. 10/10. Movies like this one are the reason I love going to the movies. I got in line at 8:30pm for an 11:45pm showing (yes we were first in line) and I did not mind a bit! It would have been very sad if the 8 movie series ended with the thud of a dud rather than soar into movie history with a great film. Luckily it did the latter. The tone of seriousness and darkness broken up by rare moments of well placed comedy was perfect. The actors were at their best after having had so much practice in the first 7 movies. The direction by Yates was great. The action and special effects were thrilling. It is a very completely well done fantasy action movie that leaves the viewer well satisfied. It is a bit sad the movies and story had to come to an end but I don't think I could ask for much more.

This is why I love going to the movies! I had been waiting a long time to see this and it did not disappoint! It is the type of movie that is right up my ally, a surprising amount of comedy, great action, great effects, real drama from strong characters. I did not leave the theater wanting anything more. It may not end up being my favorite movie of 2011 but it will contend for the top spot. Pure movie fun!

A great summer movie! I thought the first half was a bit slow but not too bad, a minor flaw in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable comic-book movie! It is great to see all the Avengers (well, except Hawkeye) have good solid solo movies before the epic movie directed by Joss Weadon comes out in 2012 where they team up.

Captain America was played very well by Chris Evans and I love how they had him look like a weakling before his transformation. Also, I love Haley Atwell, she is gorgeous and I hope she gets a lot more roles after this!

The story, the acting, the action, the costume, I loved it all! This is a very entertaining, fun and well made movie!

Wow, in IMAX this movie is even more amazing! This is a big budget action movie done really, really well. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it is one if not my favorite action movies of 2011.

I agree with the 90% of over 60,000 non-pro critics that give this movie the ripe tomato! It is the definition of awesome summer popcorn movie! Not a lot of thinking involved but still a decent amount with a very good story and solid acting to back up the visuals. Lets face it the visuals are what make this movie great. I found the visual effects astounding! They were so good and they need to be recognized as such. The action was intense and nearly non-stop especially leading up to the end, that last half hour or so was one long awesome action scene! Thank you Spielberg and Michael Bay for bringing the Transformers to live action life so well in these movies. The 2nd movie had some faults but I still enjoyed it and the first and 3rd movies are very strong and really just very entertaining and fun which are the things I like most about movies.

A great movie, sure to end up being one of my favorites of 2011 out of the 60-70 that I see each year in the theater so it gets the 10/10 and well deserved. It has great story, some new takes on the characters stories but all in all very well done and cool. Great direction, pacing, character development, action, all the key elements for a great Marvel superhero movie are here and it was thoroughly enjoyable!

I really enjoyed this and with definite improvements on the first one I can't really find anything I didn't like so I give it a 10! It was funnier, cooler, better scripted, had better fight scenes and was just more entertaining than the first one and I liked the first one! I thought the slow motion was used very well in the first one but in this one it was great! Well written, well acted and just really entertaining! One of my favorites of the year!

One of my favorite movies of 2011. I read the book and saw the Swedish version before seeing this and it did not disappoint one bit. Daniel and Rooney were great together and really brought the characters from the book to life. Acting, story, directing, all great, I can't wait for the next one!

What a nice surprise! One of my favorites of the year! I loved this movie and to be totally honest when I heard this was Martin Scorsese's next film I was not exactly excited. I was not sure what to expect but when the trailer hit I thought it looked interesting and with Scorsese directing I decided to see it. Wow, it was a great time, it is basically a film about the love of movies so, yeah, right up my ally. Aside from that it was a very interesting story, mysterious and exciting and unique. The 3D was done well, really well actually and I just had a lot of fun with this well made entertaining film.

50/50 is a 10/10. Joseph Gordon Levitt is Oscar worthy in his portrayal of a 27 year old otherwise healthy man that is told he has a rare form of cancer. It sounds cliche but the movie to me was just so real. I have never dealt firsthand with what the main character in this movie did but I can still say I believed that every moment of it could truly happen. I think the story is based on a friend of Seth Rogans and his experiences but whatever it is the end result is amazing. It had a great mix of cold life and death seriousness, comic relief, happy and sad emotion, love, loss, betrayal and realism.

I will admit I love action movies and sci fi and comic book movies the most. However, I enjoy most genres and I have always said I do enjoy a good drama (for example 'Good Will Hunting' is one of my favorite movies of all time) and this movie proves that one of my favorite movies of the year can also be a drama like this one. I judge a movie first on how much I enjoyed watching it, 2nd on how artistically well I think it was made and 3rd on whether or not I think I will watch it again and how much each of those things is weighed percentage wise varies. So when a movie this like this one can make me laugh, cry, feel sorrow, feel heartbreak, feel uplifted and feel how real it seems all while having superb acting, directing and writing I have no problem giving it a 10/10 and considering it one of my favorites of of 2011 so far.

What a show! The Muppets are back baby! I watched the TV show in its heyday as a kid and even loved their brief return to TV years later so I was very excited to see this and it did not disappoint. I was laughing often and even said 'awesome' a few times at different scenes. Just pure joy and fun seeing the whole gang again. Id love for them to return to TV but if they don't I certainly hope this will be the first of many Muppet movies to come!

Another of my favorite movies of 2011. The story and drama I found quite gripping. Really well directed by Steven Spielberg and if you can let yourself be swept up in it then it is a definite tear-jerker. I love the big epic feel to it, the cinematography is wonderful with some of the best images caught on film this year. Great inspiring story and a great time at the movies.

Dragons breathing fire, Nazi Zombies, giant warriors and more being fought by sexy women in sexy clothes, whats not to like? This movie is right up my ally, I had looked forward to it for a long time and it did not disappoint. It even has a decent plot when you think about the beginning and the end more closely. The non-action scenes were interesting and well shot and the action scenes were just off the charts awesome. Visually stunning with so much going on it makes you not want to look away or you will surely miss something. I saw it on IMAX with bass butt-kickers in the seats which made it even more awesome. Very cool, very entertaining and just a ton of fun, highly recommended!

Probably my favorite comedy of the year, it was freakin hilarious. NPH was awesome as usual. It was rude, it was raunchy, it had a basic plot but it is a comedy and it was hilarious so mission accomplished :)

Not going to win any awards for excitement but it is a very solid film. Really not much bad to say about this movie it had great acting, story and execution. It is a slow burn type of film where the story is executed slowly but very effectively. Gosling achors the film really well and I see great things for him.

Lets see should I believe 187 professional critics at 35% ripe or 80,000+ regular movie goers at 82% ripe!? Oh wait, thats right I have my own mind lol. Yes, I think we can safely say that when the disparity between critic and real paying movie goer is that big I go with myself and my fellow paying movie goer and judge it ripe. In other words if you are trying to decide who is right don't, just go see this movie and there is a very good chance you will enjoy it!

I just love this franchise and the Captain Jack Sparrow character Depp has created. It is one of my favorite movie characters of all time, for sure. I love pirates and Depp has created a great one that I love watching. The story in this one is great, the directing, the score as usual is awesome, the scenery as usual is beautiful and of course the action scenes were frequent and amazing. A movie based on Pirates is just a great place to start for an adventure movie to begin with then you add this great character of Captain Jack Sparrow and for this installment a wonderfully played character of Blackbeard and probably my favorite addition in this movie, Penelope Cruz's character. I love Keira Knightly but I am in love with Penelope Cruz she is just gorgeous. Also her Spanish accent and the addition of the Spanish in this film just feels right for a Pirate movie.

I think they did a great job and I really enjoyed it! Critics have the right their opinion as everyone does but 82% ripe after 80,000+ non-pro critic reviews tells it all for me. But what really tells it all is what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears. Oh and in 3D and on the gigantic IMAX screen made it even better! It might not end up being my favorite of the year but its up there because of the great stuff they added for this movie and because it was just so fun and entertaining, which is why I go to the movies.

Who says there are no more original ideas in Hollywood? How many people saw this idea coming? No one, thats how many! This is really good mash up of two great genres! Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde! What a great cast! The story here was pretty basic but that is really the only criticism I have for this. I highly commend Jon Favreau and the rest of the filmmakers for having the balls to mash these two genres together because really why is it Aliens only visit the modern times? I love them visiting the old west. The action and effects were some of the best parts of the movie and I really enjoyed them and this whole movie. I can easily see this being added to my blu-ray collection!

Fail time again for the critics. 62% ripe with real people tells the truth. This movie was awesome! Take the non-stop action intensity of 'Black Hawk Down' and put in as the enemy this time bad ass aliens that are very hard to kill, have amazing weapon technology and are bent on exterminating humans and you have the recipe for a great action sci/fi movie! If you don't feel the suspense, the emotion and the intensity in this highly entertaining film then check your pulse!

Yup, I give it a 9, it really is that good! From what I heard Vin did not come back when they were doing crap like Tokyo Drift but when he had more control he came back and this was the result. I think it succeeds because it is not as focused on car racing as the previous ones. Car racing is still in the movie and there are some great ones but they more highlight the movie rather than make up most of the action scenes. This movie has a lot of great action scenes with no cars. It is almost like Ocean's 11 meets Fast and the Furious. The plot focus is more on a robbery than anything to do with cars. The acting is good enough, the plot is decent and the action really is top notch. This movie was a pleasant surprise with how good it was and it could definitely end up in my collection at home in the near future.

A great adventure film! I was very upset to see this was not showing at my local IMAX theater but I still really enjoyed it on the smaller theater screen. I love the way the animation was done, the characters, story and pace were all really good.

Wow what a great treat to be able to see basically a very cool 'summer movie' come out in the cold if January! Over 60% of regular movie goers are liking this one so it seems its getting a love it or hate it response. I thought it was a ton of fun and I had a great time watching it. That is how I rate movies pretty much. If it entertained me well and I had a great time it gets a high rating.

This is basically 'Seth Rogen does Green Hornet' so if you go into this hoping it will be serious and brooding like The Dark Knight then yeah you are probably not gonna like it. But you just might because you might be surprised at what you see. It was very funny, I laughed out loud many times and for the naysayers it was not unintentional laughter. The comedy in this is done very well and the action and effects were really well done too. When Kato fights hand to hand he says it feels like time slows down for him so the way they showed that was very cool and Matrix-esque.

So you take some good comedy add in some cool action and special effects and on top it all throw in some of the coolest gadgets and weapons seen since a Bond film! Basically Kato is the master of cool shit, building it and using it! A great line in the movie is Seth's character says to Kato "I think we have both been wasting our potential, you probably a little more than me." LOL, understatement of the year!

This movie rocked and I had a great time because I didn't take it too seriously and it still seriously entertained me. If you want to get out of the cold and go see a great 'summer popcorn movie' in January or February then go see this movie.

Statham anchors this exciting, strong film. Don't be afraid of a complex plot critics and others. Although slightly confusing at times the plot works itself out and I loved it. I look forward to seeing it again where I am sure I will catch some small things that I missed the first time. The action is great and consistent throughout the movie and Jason Statham has such great action movie presence on screen. Clive Owen and Robert de Niro were great as well and a solid supporting cast made this more than a forgettable action movie as some critics have called it. As far as the 'based on a true story' stuff I have no idea what was real or not so it did not affect my enjoyment of the film at all. In short, I found the acting great, the plot pleasantly complex demanding of my close attention, the action top notch and I recommend it and look forward to seeing it again.

Well acted, well directed realistic view of what could happen if fear were to spread faster than the truth. I almost found the Jude Law character to be more scary than the virus! I liked how for once government agencies were not shown as the evil doers behind the scenes saying screw you to the public. Now, not everyone in the government agencies acted selflessly Fishburne's character was for the most part good but did a couple selfish things. However, what Jude Law's character did was unforgiveable. When misinformation spreads faster than the truth it is a very scary situation indeed.

I liked the direction in this movie and the pacing. It is the one of the best 'virus takes over the world' movies I think I have ever seen. The script is solid and does not dumb down the material or really make anyone a hero except maybe one person but she is not really a main character.

Another thing I liked about this movie which made me bump it from 8 to 9 is it was 100% filmed with IMAX cameras! I had seen other movies on IMAX that had some scenes use up the whole screen but this one had every scene take up the whole massive screen at my IMAX theater.

A solid drama that is well scripted, intelligent, emotional and realistic. I recommend it, especially in IMAX.

This movie was very cool and a lot of fun. The critical response to it literally baffles me. Nicolas Cage who I can am not always thrilled with as an actor was good in this. In some movies he is terrible and rarely is great but in this one he was good. The story was uncomplicated but not too simple or boring at all.

I saw it with a group of friends and we all liked it. We knew it had terrible critic reviews but we are gamers and the theme of it fit very well with the Ravenloft game setting we are about to start playing a Dungeons and Dragons type game in. It is a very dark setting with witches, priests, wolves etc. and of course fantasy and magic as well as swords and bows. However even though we knew it had bad reviews we were still determined to see it and we hoped it would not suck too bad. We were ready for a bad movie but at the end we all agreed that is not what we saw. It is no Lord of the Rings but it is a very solid 8/10 movie for me. It had interesting characters that were not terribly complex but for this story did not need to be and good action scenes and well done special effects.

When you see only 4% of critics liked it be sure to check the community tomato meter to get a more accurate percent for the movie. In my opinion at 4% of only 93 critics liking it there has to be some pressure on critics to not be part of the 4% or else be ridiculed so then the percent stays really low. When I checked the community meter I was not surprised to see it be 42% higher at 46% at last look after 3786 regular movie goers have rated it. Maybe if you are not a D&D gamer or not into the fantasy type themes in the movie you might not enjoy it as much as me but I highly recommend you at least rent this one eventually and make up your own mind. I liked it and you never know you may too.

I enjoyed this a lot I won't lie. Certainly not my usual cup of tea with it being a silent film and black and white it still really entertained me. I think this is a lock to win the best picture academy award, as I write this the awards are two weeks away. I really was impressed with how well the actors conveyed the story despite it being silent and most dialogue not even getting words put to screen. The leads were amazing and I think the lead male should win the best actor Oscar. Not much rewatch-ability for me with this one but still a nice entertaining film.

Best Picture nominee if I ever saw one. I would be very surprised if this movie is not among the 10 nominees for the Academy's top prize. The Debt is very well made, entertaining and suspenseful. The story is very engaging and the time shifting works for the most part it was slightly off a bit but otherwise this movie is very good and I recommend it.

Saw this in IMAX and I was worried about it because the barrage of advertising they did for it but I was pleasantly surprised. For an action/fighting film there is a surprising amount of drama. The child actor I had not seen before and he had some challenging emotional scenes and I think he did well with them. Obviously in a movie where the real stars are robots you are going to need the plot line around the robot trainers to be fleshed out and it is in this film. Some stuff you expect to happen does but some happens that you don't. The robot fighting scenes are really well done and entertaining and I think pretty unique. I have never seen robots box in a film before. The the sub plots are well done and really add to the film I think. The whole movie kept me interested and entertained and it also surprised me at times. Real Steel will keep you rooting for the protagonists until the end and it might just steal your heart too!

Not one of my favorites of 2011 but still a solidly entertaining film. I do not remember much about the previous planet of the Apes movies so I am just reviewing this one based on itself and not compared to anything else.

I was surprised at the length of the build up in this movie. I am not saying it was a bad thing just that it surprised me. Maybe the trailer had me expecting the break out to be sooner but thats ok. The storyline I think was done well. I think that it is important to really get to know what happened to lead up to the rise of the planet of the apes. This movie succeeds in showing us a lot about how they became intelligent and the successes as well as failures of the first trials.

It was interesting to watch the head ape Caesar and try to imagine what he was thinking at different moments in the film and what plan he had going in his head now. Andy Serkis did a great job acting as Caesar and all the digital and special effects were impressively done. I was a bit worried the apes would look fake and for the most part they looked very real.
James Franco was good as the lead human and I like how the movie centered on apes without a doubt. The humans were obviously important but it was noticeable that as the movie moved along the humans were shown less and less as their importance in the movie as well as in society was diminishing. I think the movie also ended at a great point obviously setting up sequels which I look forward to.

In summary, 2011 continues to be a very strong year for movies in my opinion so this one while likely not in my top 5 or 10 for this year it is still a very solid action/drama providing great entertainment and I recommend it.

'Paul' is a great homage to sci/fi movie and very funny! It is a well written comedy that has a decent amount of action believe it or not as the main characters are fugitives on the run throughout the movie. With great geek comedy and numerous subtle and not so subtle geek references, good action, a great cast and even some emotion and character depth, 'Paul' was a very satisfying movie for this sci/fi movie geek.

A really heartfelt movie that surprised me with how good it was! I was not sure what to expect from this movie and it turned out to be quite emotional with each character having good depth and a story and pace that really worked.

Let me start by saying I cannot wait for the sequels! I liked this movie a lot, don't get me wrong hence the 9/10 but now that the background, story and characters are pretty well set, the action will be more frequent and even better in the sequels which you can tell by what happens at the end, they are sure to make.

I really enjoyed this movie and honestly its my kind of genre/movie. I can watch a movie like 'The Kids Are All Right' for example and enjoy it, like I did, once and understand the critical love for it but its not a movie I will add to my home collection of 600 movies and choose to watch in my home theater. Now this movie is one I will look forward to owning and enjoying again in my home theater. At last look 97 critics had it at 27% ripe and just under 25000 RT members/site visitors had it at 74% ripe. I obviously am among the 74% and its really too bad critics are being harsh on this because if people only listen to critics they will miss what I, and a lot of other people, consider a good movie. But hopefully people make up their own minds and don't let critics do their thinking for them. I think most people decide on their own.

This movie had a very cool story that is hinted at heavily in the trailers and then expanded upon in the movie. The characters are set and backgrounds fleshed out. I liked all the characters and it seems we will meet more in the sequels and it will be interesting to see what they are like. The great thing about this movie was even though it had to build a lot in the beginning and middle of the movie it still stood on its own very well and had good action and the last 1/3 of the movie or so is worth the wait! It has some very exciting action scenes and a very satisfying ending with lead in to more to come. I recommend this very fun movie co-written by comic legend Mark Millar, 'I am Number Four' provides a great time at the movies! See it in IMAX if you can!

I love Gary Oldman and he shines again here. The plot is great and forces you to pay close attention which I love. One thing I did not like was the use of characters names. That is, sometimes only the first name was used, sometimes only the last name, so it made it a lot harder to keep track of who was who which made it harder to follow along. Other than that I really enjoyed it and I look forward to watching it again and picking up some small things I might of missed the first time.

A nice tribute to Spielberg's movies of the 80s but it had some flaws. First the things I liked: The character development was very well done and you can appreciate the emotions the main character and some supporting ones go through and you root for them.
SOME SPOILERS IF YOU READ ON:
The tease of the unknown in the train was great. From the trailer all they way through the first 2/3 of the movie you really do not have a good idea what the thing looks like. They also did some clever things early on in the movie to hide it like the gas station sign swinging in the viewers way just in time, that was cool. The suspense, danger, action and chaos that really ramp up in the second half is great too.
As far as the things I didn't like: The story is somewhat basic lets face it. I had guessed the things main objective right at the start. Also, the ending was a bit of a let down. For whatever reason, without giving too much away, the scene that was supposed to be the most emotional, just was not for me. I can be a sap sometimes and I was happy for the characters but sometimes I get my tears jerked from movies but with this one it just didn't happen for whatever reason. Lastly, the final objective of the thing, you know what I mean if you have seen it, seemed to happen way too fast. It was trying to do that the whole time then in a few minutes at the end it was done. I think that could of been better somehow.
However, even though there were things that I didn't like they were outweighed by the things that I did and I give it a solid 8/10. In my overall experience I enjoyed watching this movie and it was made well and crafted with care. Recommended.

A slightly flawed but overall entertaining movie. It has some great acting by Bradley Cooper as he anchors the movie well as narrator and lead. The premise is interesting and although the story is not executed perfectly in my opinion it is still entertaining. It leaves you with some questions at the end but that is surely intentional. It also had some nice surprises in the story that I did not see coming. Maybe I will next time if I get to take some NZT ;-)

Tony Jaa will kick your ass! The first one is the best but the fighting in this one is badass too.

I thought this was a solid effort thus the 8/10. I am not usually one to really enjoy quirky type movies like Hunter S. Thompson movies usually are but I enjoyed this one a lot. I was very surprised to see all the rotten reviews. Granted the plot does wander a bit but I followed it easily and while the ending was not probably what some people expected I like that it was an honest ending. Depp is great and omg Amber Heard alone is worth the price of admission. There is one shot of her face close up and I just thought to myself 'wow she is gorgeous!' and I prefer brunettes generally! I liked the different than normal script and I was interested to see where it would go. It had some good comedy and I enjoyed it.

Suspenseful and keeps you guessing right up until the end. It has some great acting, writing and editing. One action scene that stands out as very good is a car chase through Berlin. I loved how the movie had me paying close attention the whole time and I thought I was close to figuring it out then it shocked me in the end, I love that. A second viewing would be almost a waste because you know the ending but the first viewing is very entertaining!

63% Audience rating vs. 35% critic rating, I side with the audience. The 3D was just ok and that was not Freida Pinto naked in the nude scene it was a body double, I read an interview Freida had. She said they just brought in the body double and she was not even asked to do the scene! So that kinda sucked but otherwise I really liked it. The story was a bit basic but it served the movie well. The action was well done and slightly stylized. All in all a solidly entertaining action film.

Amazing effects and imagery, exciting action and a decent story make Green Lantern highly entertaining! At last look almost 60% of over 82,000 regular movie goers liked and I agree with them not the critics.

I was happy to be able to see this in Hollywood, CA while on vacation at a theater at Universal Studios, Hollywood and I really liked it. I thought there was good emotion, acting, writing, action and special effects. In 3D it made it even cooler and was simply a lot of fun and the climax was the just awesome!

Suspension of disbelief is required but all together it is done well. It is probably one of the most romantic sci/fi movies I can think of so that along with its interesting premise are strengths of it. It is acted and directed well and while a bit predictable it still offers enough to keep you entertained and engaged to the end.

Well this certainly is better than Craven's last movie 'My Soul to Take'. I like the self-aware nature of the style making references to movies so many times making it seem more like the movies are the movies and what happens to Sidney and company is real (well, you know what I mean). I like being very familiar with the characters also and actually having some development of them is nice. I also like the fact that you know one or more of them is the killer but they usually make it pretty hard to figure out and in this one they got me again, which I like, predictable would be bad. Nudity would be nice for a change, none in this one again, its not like the movie is rated PG-13 it is R so be like all the horror movies you reference and have a nude scene or two! Anyway, I recommend it if you enjoy the horror genre.

I have not seen a lot of Woody Allen movies but this one was really well done. It was very interesting in the way the story took place without giving too much away. Allen's writing was great, Wilson might have his best performance ever and Marion Cotillard I can never get enough of. A surprisingly fun little movie.

Solid film making but for me not one of my top 10 of the year. I liked the directing, surprised it was Clooney directing I did not know that until the credits, the acting was spot on because when you have Gosling, Seymour-Hoffman and Giamatti its hard to go wrong and the script was interesting and entertaining. It is solidly well made and I liked the story even though it borrowed heavily from real events here and there it was I am guessing a good look at how leaders are actually elected. It is an entertaining drama but for me there have other dramas from this year that I have liked better such as 'The Debt' and 'Drive'.

Anyone who complains about no unique ideas coming out of Hollywood need to see this movie. Its uniqueness is one of the things I like most about it along with the action. The story was decent enough and I really enjoyed this very different experience of a movie. The actors did a good job and I hope they make some sequels because when thinking about the movie right after watching it I thought of two ideas they could use to make one or two more movies. That in itself is something that rarely happens when I think about a movie after seeing it. In Time is a unique and entertaining film with some decent acting and suspense and I am really surprised at the low tomato rating, I really enjoyed it.

I liked this movie it was cool that I got to see it at the world famous 'El Capitan' theater on Hollywood Boulevard across from the Kodak Theater while on vacation. I thought it was interesting that Mater the tow truck was basically the star this time instead of McQueen. I thought it had a cool espionage plot that kept adults like me interested as well as good comedy. I found it a solidly funny and entertaining animated movie. Why think too hard about it? :-)