“Holy crap, I’m actually doing this write up on Jan 1st? Not Feb 20th or someshit like that? Go me! The totals are in. I went to the movies 111 times, for 108 movies (three dupes). Geez. Please stop me from doing the math on how much that cost me. I lazed out on some write ups (my overarching excuse is theater) but I think I still managed to do pretty good on that front. 111 trips to 108 movies between approximately 12 theaters across 3 states. Anyways, here’s the full list:
Yogi Bear, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rabbit Hole, How Do You Know, Country Strong, Blue Valentine,
Green Hornet, The Company Men, The Mechanic, Biutiful, The Illusionist, Gnomeo and Juliet, I Am Number Four, Rango, Drive Angry, Red Riding Hood, The Adjustment Bureau, Red State, the lincoln lawyer, sucker punch, source code, limitless, paul, your highness, scream 4, hanna, rio, water for elephants, fast five, thor, hesher, Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger Tides, Bridesmaids, The Hangover Part II, Priest, Kung Fu Panda 2, X-Men: First Class, Beginners, Green Lantern, Super 8, Tree of Life, Mr Popper’s Penguins, cars 2, bad teacher, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, larry crowne, horrible bosses, conan obrien cant stop, Company, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (x2), Winnie The Pooh, Zookeeper, Friends With Benefits, Captain America: THe First Avenger, cowboys & aliens, crazy stupid love, The Smurfs, Rise of the planet of the apes, The Change Up, Love, 30 minutes or less, Glee 3D Concert Movie, The Help, Fright Night, Attack the Block, Colombiana, 50/50, our idiot brother, warrior, The debt, drive, contagion, straw dogs, The Lion King, abduction, killer elite, moneyball, dream house, real steel, Ides of March, Footloose, paranormal activity 3, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (x2), Margin Call, Puncture, in time, Take Shelter, j edgar, melancholia, The Muppets (x2) , Martha Marcy May Marlene, Happy Feet Two, Arthur Christmas, Hugo, My Week With Marilyn, The Descendants, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Shame, The Sitter, Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Young Adult, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Girl with the dragon tattoo, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Adventures of Tin Tin, The Darkest Hour, War Horse, We Bought a Zoo
How did they all measure up? I found it incredibly disturbing how many more ended up in the bad column when I was jotting down notes, but things evened out. Remember, I base my faves and worsts on entertainment value, so dont expect my top 10 to line up with this year’s Best Picture nominees. Sure as heck ain’t gonna happen people. Also, this is just how I’m ranking them at the moment. God knows I might change my mind in five minutes, or when some of these get a second viewing.
Expletive Dleted’s Top 10 for 2011
1-The Muppets – I can’t remember ever needing a second viewing of a movie because I was laughing too hard to the first time that I missed half of it. Brought back so many nostalgic warm fuzzies.
2-Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – I’m an action junkie, and this for me was a near perfect adrenaline flick–creative action sequences, just the right amount of comic relief, fun gadgets, great characters.
3-The Adjustment Bureau – This year started off pretty bleak. I wasn’t able to name something as a running fave of the year til this one came out in mid-Feb. Loved the concept and the suspense.
4-X-Men: First Class – I was hesitant to let myself get excited for this because I’ve loved X-Men since I was 8. This was truly a return to form for the franchise, and I felt that same excitement at seeing the team come to life as I did for the first movie.
5-Warrior – Such a pleasant surprise. Fantastic character drama, and I loved each of the brothers so much. And on top of that, I picked up a new sports interest.
6-Rise of the Planet of the Apes – My pick for best of the summer. Again, a rather disappointing season, and then right at the end, this one shows up and surprises me. Far better than it deserved to be, for which I’m going to credit Andy “”motion capture”” Serkis.
7-A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas – What can I say? I have a soft spot for these two loveable losers. I was laughing so hard throughout the whole thing, I just had to see it again. Also, possibly the best use of 3D this year.
8-50/50 – Such a perfectly blended dramedy. You had your irreverent humor (thank you, Seth Rogen) but so much heart (thank you Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Really good, very real story.
9-Source Code – And we’re crossing into guilty pleasure territory. Yeah, the science was pretty bogus, but you know what? The ride was a total blast. Duncan Jones is certainly well on his way to becoming scifi royalty.
10-Beginners – Hey look, it’s one credible choice on my list! Truly moving story, and wonderfully acted.
Honorable Mentions: I Love You Phillip Morris, Gnomeo & Juliet, In Time
And now for the bottom of the pile. These are the ones were I was falling asleep, clawing my eyes out of boredom, or just desperately wanted to get the \m/ outta the theater. Ones that were disappointments to their franchises, but not necessarily awful movies (Pirates, Cars 2, Green Lantern, etc) aren’t included since they were still stomachable.
Expletive Dleted’s most disliked of 2011
1-Tree of Life – Prolly the most polarizing movie of the year. You either loved it or hated it. I fell asleep. Like totally passed out asleep for 20 minutes. When I woke up, the earth still hadn’t been fully formed and I missed nothing of the nonexistant plot.
2-Killer Elite – Breaks my heart that a Jason Statham movie ended up on this list, but it was so boring. I expect more action outta that man, and it was all talk and none of it particularly good.
3-Your Highness – Here’s Natalie Portman’s I-just-won-an-Oscar-but-I-still-had-a-bad-paycheck-movie-to-release disgrace. Hey it happens to all of ’em. Just not funny at all, and painfully so.
4-Rango – Yes, the animation was gorgeous, but storywise, I was bored outta my mind. I just did not care at all about any of those little critters.
5-Water For Elephants – I actually had a tough time picking between this and the dishonorable mentions for the last slot. This “”won”” out because after a kinda blah story with not much going on that wasn’t predictable (although I did like watching Christoph Waltz play full out meanie), the ending was such a disappointment. The one thing that should have gone predictably didnt.
Dishonorable Mentions: How Do You know, The Illusionist, Red Riding Hood, Priest
Alrighty then, not the best year for movies, but there were a few hidden gems in there. Here’s hoping I beat my number next year and get more write ups in. Also got a few small side projects in mind once I get thru my endless queue. Black Friday sorta piled it on more than usual. See ya at the movies!!”