50. The Hangover, part 2 directed by Todd Phillips
To nobody's surprise, the second Hangover movie opened with a bang, smashing all R-rated comedy records for box office totals almost instantly. The original cast was back (minus Heather Graham), with some new faces as well and a lot of pre-release rumors. Without a doubt, this flick was one of the biggest of the year, at least in terms of buzz. Unfortunately, it couldn't live up to it. Admittedly, The Hangover, part 2 has it's moments, but it's really just a carbon copy of the original. Literally. Almost everything from the first one is repeated in some form or fashion in the sequel, except now that we know what to expect, all of the bliss is now absent. This film should have waited until Summer 2013... and used a different script.
49. Insidious directed by James Wan
Not exactly breaking any new ground in the genre, but nevertheless, Insidious is well-made horror flick with an old school vibe. Features serviceable performances from Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, as well as some memorable supporting characters. It does unravel a bit in the last 20 minutes or so though.
48. J. Edgar directed by Clint Eastwood
There are a lot of problems with J. Edgar as a film, so many in fact, that it's hard to know where to start. First, the film covers too much of his life. Instead of being a complete biopic, the film would have been significantly stronger had it stayed focused on one monumental event. Second, the actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer are just too fresh-faced to realistically portray decrepit old men. The make-up is a huge failure in this film. Lastly, since the film is so broad, it's difficult to really get a good grasp on the man at it's center. The film was criticized for going easy on the salacious stuff and I think it's a valid point. There seems like there could have been a lot more material to include to spice up what is sometimes just a flat out dull movie. Were it not for great performances from DiCaprio and Hammer, J. Edgar would have fallen even farther down on my list.
47. The Thing directed by Mattijs van Heijningen, Jr.
46. Water for Elephants directed by Francis Lawrence
Not exactly the weepy sort-of epic that the trailers made it out to be, but as far as this genre is concerned, you could do a lot worse. The book was better overall, as the film adaptation blunted the grittiest parts of the source text, but I'm confident that Christoph Waltz can make any project halfway decent on his own.
45. Limitless directed by Neil Burger
A fun, "What If?" type of movie that surprisingly held up well on a second viewing. The interactions between Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro were not nearly as catastrophic as I would have imagined going into the film, in fact, they're actually pretty damn entertaining.
44. Anonymous directed by Roland Emmerich
43. Red State directed by Kevin Smith
Almost a year ago, director Kevin Smith sent the cinematic universe into a tizzy shortly after screening his new film, Red State, at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, by announcing he would be self-distributing the movie. I still don't know why this was such a big controversy or why so many Internet goons took the news personally. But, for whatever reason, Smith's announcement gave him the maximum amount of press he could have pulled from the festival and it definitely translated into ticket sales when he toured the film a month or so later.
But if you weren't able to score a ticket to one of Red State's tour dates or if the Smith-led circus skipped by your town, you had to wait all the way until this past October to see it. And even then, there was no guarantee that would be able to see it in a theater (luckily, I was, but only at a special one-off screening). Did Kevin Smith change the world or did he simply handicap his film's earning potential? It seems the answer isn't so simple. Smith may have planted the seeds for a future revolution in indie-filmmaking, but Red State will likely be forgotten long before that revolution comes into fruition.
The film itself seems experimental at times, like a film school project with $5 million budget. The narrative is linear, but the perspective shifts several times during the course of it, leaving little time for character development or catharsis. If Smith's goal was to make a film that didn't look or feel like a Kevin Smith film, he succeeded. If it was to emulate the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino, as he himself stated on several occasions, then I think he needs to set his sights a little lower next time.
42. Real Steel directed by Shawn Levy
The Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots movie that looked like a joke the first time I saw the trailer for it actually turned out to be a halfway decent movie, designed more like a traditional sports flick than Sci-Fi or action. There are parts that are cheesy and the acting sometimes leaves a little to be desired, but Real Steel is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon. For whatever reason, it reminded me of the way I felt about the Summer blockbusters of my youth, which I had thought I had long ago outgrown, and yet here I was, happily watching two robots kick the crap out of each other.
41. Arthur Christmas directed by Sarah Smith & Barry Cook
40. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 directed by David Yates
A lot of people might have this film higher on their end of the year lists, but they probably came into the film with a lot more invested. The only other Harry Potter movie I saw from start to finish was the first one. However, despite being in the dark about a lot of what was going on in this film, it still managed to beat out a lot of other movies this year. The last Harry Potter was exciting and epic, which is probably exactly as it should be.
39. Rango directed by Gore Verbinski
A classic Western disguised as a digitally animated feature with animals instead of cowboys. Well done and thoroughly enjoyable.
38. The Adventures of Tintin directed by Steven Spielberg
The first of Steven Spielberg's two entries on this list is a digitally animated adaptation of a popular British character that seems to be significantly less popular here in America. The film was decent, although there was a feeling at the beginning of it that we were already supposed to be familiar with who this Tintin guy is and what he does on a day to day basis. This assumed familiarity was a minor setback, but still, proved to be annoying (at least to me). I think we were owed a little bit more backstory. Anyway, it was still a competent film that served up the right amount of excitement to remain engaging for it's duration. One wonders though what a live action Tintin movie would have looked like...
37. Hesher directed by Spence Susser
Hesher, a strange little film starring Joesph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, went under a lot of people's radar back when it was released at the end of June. It's definitely not a film for everyone, but the Fight Club-esque transformation of a young, disillusioned teen by a nomadic metalhead named Hesher (except Hesher actually is a real person) is a different spin on a familiar tale. The boy's mother has died and his father is despondent. But just when things appear to be at their worst, a stranger works his way into their lives. Hesher is an injection of life in the face of grief and loss, appearing on the scene like a well-timed cherry bomb.
36. The Muppets directed by James Bobin
The new Muppets movie has all the right visuals, all the right songs and moments, and really doesn't have much to complain about. However, it still felt like maybe it was missing a few key laughs or touching moments. Very good, but could have been better. Oh, and not enough Statler and Waldorf.
OK, still more to come, as we get to the Best films of 2011 (finally...). Anyway, just for fun, I thought I'd include a little breakdown of all the theaters I went to this year (not including the times I saw movies twice - which, admittedly, was probably not the best use of my time if I was serious about seeing 100 different movies in the theaters). This breakdown will mean nothing to you if you're not from Pittsburgh and even if you are, it still probably won't mean much.
Cinemark Robinson Township and XD - 35
Cinemark Pittsburgh Mills Mall - 25
AMC Loews Waterfront - 13
Cinemagic Manor Theatre - 8
Waterworks Cinemas - 4
Rave Motion Pictures Pittsburgh North - 4
Destinta Theatres - Chartiers Valley - 3
Carmike Maxi Saver - 2
Dependable Drive-In - 2
Twin Hi-Way Drive-In - 2
Oaks Cinemas - 1
South Side Works Cinema - 1
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