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Gregg’s Top 10 Cinema Films of 2011 (and some duds too)

I was kind of worried throughout the first half of the year that it wasn’t going to be a pleasant 2011 as far as theater viewings went. There were more than a few flops at the cinema by the time June came to a close with a sparse picking of films that had some ‘wow’ factor. Thankfully, the second half of 2011 made up for it in just about any genre you can think of, and as December winds down,  I waited until seeing War Horse before releasing this list.  However, that potentially epic film fell short and didn’t come close to making the list.  So without any more delay, here are some of the best and worst films we’ve had the opportunity (or displeasure) of experiencing since January…

Top 10

10. The Conspirator – James McAvoy is the man. Actually Daniel Day-Lewis is the man, but he wasn’t in this movie.  Nevertheless, McAvoy gave an award-worthy performance as Civil War vet turned lawyer Frederick Aiken.  Aiken was assigned the daunting task of defending Mary Surratt, who allegedly housed assassin John Wilkes Booth.

 

 

 

 

9.  Thor – Director Kenneth Brannagh takes a swing at pop culture as he manned directing duties for the Marvel film about the Norse god of thunder.  Chris Hemsworth expertly plays Thor with great chemistry provided from supporting actors Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins.  This movie could have easily been overly hokey, but instead struck gold.

 

 

 

 

8.  Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – The American ‘Bond’ is back as Tom Cruise leads the cast of Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and the drop-dead gorgeous Paula Patton.  The movie featured an awesome chase, new spy toys, wicked FX and an arsenal of espionage.  I was hooked from start to finish.

 

 

 

 

7.  Kill the Irishman – A film about the late Cleveland mob boss Danny Greene proved to be a small but strong movie with a great cast.  Headlined by Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer and the great Christopher Walken, this true story combined impressive acting with real life news footage and a relentless circle of vengeance.

 

 

 

 

6.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Michael Bay does it again and brings satisfying closure to the super budget trilogy.  There was a little more nonsense than there needed to be, but the final battle was Braveheart with robots.  Epic.  Absolutely epic.

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Drive – Who knew?  This movie didn’t get a whole lot of coverage and I almost let it slip from my 2011 viewing grasp.  Ryan Gosling plays a man of few words who is a stunt driver by day, getaway driver by night.  Walk softly and carry a big stick.  If you can’t find a big stick, drive a black Mustang like the devil’s chasing you.

 

 

 

 

4.  The Help – Incredible acting and an even more incredible story brought this film from obscurity in my mind to one of the most dramatic and best films of the year, as it focused on the mistreatment of black maids in the south by their white family employers in the 1950’s.  Watch for the small golden statues to grace this title.

 

 

 

 

3.  J. Edgar – Though some of the historical details were skewed in this film, it was truly fascinating and nothing short of an Oscar-worthy performance by Leonardo DiCaprio.  This bio-pic covered a lot of ground over the course of the late FBI Director’s career and personal life.

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes – After an initial viewing in a really bad movie theater, I wasn’t overly impressed.  After reviewing it with some clarity on a better screen and intelligible sound, I was to the moon over this film. James Franco stars in the best Planet of the Apes material from any decade.  The story, writing and directing just rocked, equating to one of the best films the summer had to offer.  Oh yeah, Andy Serkis was pretty freakin’ amazing too.

 

 

 

 

1.  X-Men: First Class – I’m not a huge X-Men fan but I’ll be damned if this movie didn’t kick some serious tail.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were awesome in their roles as was the supporting cast around them.  The flow of the story didn’t waver, and as a result, kept me glued from start to finish.  X-Men had a lot of competition to contend with this year, but it never fell from my top spot after the moment I watched it.  Kudos to a Marvel film that actually took itself seriously.

 

 

 

Honorable Mention

The Muppets – I grew up with these guys.  When I found out the story was about the Muppets fading from the limelight and trying to get back together, I thought, “How apropo.”  It’s been more than a couple years since the last film (which I thoroughly enjoyed), so the timing was right for a new one.  Like Aaron mentioned in his top 10 list, the smile-inducing qualities of this movie were infectious.  The best part?  Hearing their theme song for the first time in years.  For me, it was 1981 in front of the TV all over again.  I loved it.

 

 

Crazy, Stupid, Love. – Romance comedies, or rom-coms as they’re annoyingly called, are typically not my thing.  This movie, however, took a couple on the verge of divorce, a player turned faithful and a smart ass kid with raging hormones and combined them for one very clever and fun film.  Sure Steve Carel is usually the same character.  Let’s be honest though.  The guy does one thing and does it extremely well.  Add Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Kevin Bacon and you got yourself a good movie.

 

 

 

Biggest Disappointment

Cowboys & Aliens – (runners-up include Captain America and War Horse) – The title ‘Biggest Disappointment’ doesn’t necessarily mean the movie was bad.  It just means it seriously fell below expectations.  Green Lantern was one of those films this year, though I didn’t have high hopes for that boring disaster to begin with.  With a tag team of Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, however, I did expect Cowboys & Aliens to be a whole lot better than it was (especially with Jon Favreau as director).  The movie was uninspiring and lacked enough punch to be the blockbuster it could have been.

 

 

Worst Film of the Year

Arthur – (runners-up include Paul, Season of the Witch, and Priest) – I love Russell Brand.  I hate Arthur…proof that your favorite entertainers do not always have the King Midas touch.  This remake of the 1981 version (which starred Dudley Moore) did nothing to equal, let alone one-up, its predecessor.  The story focused around one very wealthy man-child who had everything done for him in life.  Things change when he finds true love.  Yay.  I had too much of a headache from the crap this movie unloaded to decipher what its downfall was; the directing, the story…it doesn’t matter.  The movie stunk (really badly) from start to finish.  How bad was it?  I’d rather watch Jonah Hex.