Mike's Reviews: Best Movies of 2011!

Ok I know it is way too late for this but I want to do it anyway. I am making a top 10 list for the movies that came out in 2011. Yes even though it is May I still have last year’s movies fresh in my mind and I love to make lists even though it’s very hard to choose between certain titles. Now I haven’t seen every movie that came out in 2011 but I am pretty sure that the basic structure of the list wouldn’t change that much, especially in the top spots.

So without further delay here are my top 10 movies of 2011:

10 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I really enjoyed this film. David Fincher returned to form after “The Social Network” and brought us something a little more Fight Club-ish. From Rooney Mara’s stellar acting, to Trent Reznor’s punky arrangements, to the fast Oscar-winning editing, to the dark and perfect cinematography, this movie is very entertaining. Sure at times it may seem like it is just another episode of “CSI”, but if every “CSI” episode was this good I wouldn’t want to miss a single episode. 9/10

9 Moneyball

I didn’t always like Brad Pitt as an actor. I guess it was just the nonconformist side of me that thought the only reason he was so popular was because he was good looking, but over the years he grew on me and now I think he is a terrific actor. No surprise here that he turns in a magnificent performance and caries the film perfectly. I don’t care too much for Jonah Hill but he does an alright job I guess. Non baseball fans will love this and baseball fans will love it even more. 9/10

8 Hanna

Saoise Ronan is building up quite an impressive resume giving in another great performance as Hannah. This film is very weird in a way I can’t describe: Is it a drama? Not really. Is it an action film? Not exactly. Is it an adventure film? Nope. Is it a romance film? Not even close. What about a comedy? There are some funny parts but it’s not comedy. The point is I don’t know why I really like but I do. You probably will to so go ahead and watch it! 9/10

7 50/50

This is a film about cancer that makes itself clear it is not “Terms of Endearment” so don’t worry about getting sad or crying. You will laugh a lot thought because it is damn funny. Seth Rogan plays the same character he plays in all of his movies except now he is not so annoying. Bryce Dallas Howard is great as usual in her role and Joseph Gordon Levitt… well Ill just let you watch the movie and decide for yourself. 9/10

6 War Horse

This is Steven Spielberg’s best movie since “Minority Report”. The man just knows how to direct a movie about war. Many criticize it for being manipulative and overly sentimental but hey… that worked for me. John Williams never disappoints and this time he writes a great score that it on the same level as his other masterpieces like “E.T” or “Jurassic Park”. Granted this film is not “Saving Private Ryan” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” but it is one of Spielberg’s many marvels. 10/10

5 Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen is the director who you either love or you hate. Ok so some of you might just find him average but if someone doesn’t find his witty writing genius, I can’t see them watching one of his films and not get annoyed. I just loved this film to death and it was as lighthearted as any of Woody’s classic films like “Hannah and her Sisters” or “Manhattan”. I have often seen comments on Youtube saying that they are cursed not to have been born back in the 70s or 80s where all the good music came from and I always thought that to be silly. If you also think you were born in the wrong time period just watch this film. 10/10

4 The Help

It’s not often that you see a movie where you can list every cast member and include an annotation next to each name saying “Superb Performance”, but this film is one of those for sure. It really makes you think how much a director, a screenwriter, or a composer has to do to carry a movie if the acting is great. Viola Davis makes for a very tragic maid and deserves all the praise she got, but my favorite has to be Octavia Spencer, who made me laugh/cry the most. This is the sort of movie that I usually avoid watching being a 20 year old male with ADHD, but the emotion and… yes even thrill I got out of some scenes was action movie caliber. I loved to death. 10/10

3 Warrior

There is something about “Rocky” type films that makes me always like them. You know the type of film I’m talking about; the sports drama where it focuses on the struggles of getting to the ring and fighting to win glory, like “Million Dollar Baby”, “The Fighter”, “The Wrestler”, and now this one. Yes it is very formulaic but hey… if it aint broke don’t fix it right? It follows all the steps those types of movies usually follow, it gets to an emotional conclusion that makes you cheer, and I just thought it was totally awesome. 10/10

2 Hugo

Who would have guessed the director of “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “Goodfellas”, and “The Departed” would direct a children’s movie in 3D? No one that’s who. Thank god he did though because, along with “Avatar”, this movie raises the bar for future filmmakers who are just looking to make 3D to get 3X the amount of money. The film reminded me a lot of the first 2 “Harry Potter” movies when they were still innocent little kids’ films. I was in awe at every frame of this movie and I hope that in the future people will look at this film as a time capsule inside a time capsule teaching future filmmakers about how films today are primarily older ones re-imagined. 10/10

1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Part 2

Speaking of “Harry Potter”, the last one of the series was definitely the best movie of 2011. It had everything a film should have, it was as faithful to the book as it should have been, it was perfectly acted, directed, written, and shot, and most importantly entertained my ass all the way through. I am a huge fan of both the book series and the film series, and this is the finale I had been waiting for. I think every series deserves a final chapter like this one but rarely do we come across one. 10/10

Now as I said it is hard to choose between titles when making lists so for this one, certain movies can switch places and I would be fine with it. Numbers 1 and 2 stay where they are, 3-6 can be swapped around, and 7-10 can also be swapped around.

Honorable mentions for the following films that would have made it into a top 20 list but just couldn’t make the cut into the top 10, in Alphabetical order: