Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - slow build cerebral thriller. Excellently cast, film noir-esque - very very careful about costumes and sets to really take you back to 1973 - very nostalgic. But, the lack of blue sky/sunshine the whole movie was a little over done.
We Bought a Zoo - Nice family story. Matt Damon is good and there's a darling little girl in it, too. A little saccharine, yes, but I like that.
Sherlock Holmes 2011 - Started out a bit rough, was ultimately fun. I have to set my Jeremy Brett and Doyle canon purist tendencies aside to get into these. Costumes very awesome.
Hugo - didn't love it - it tried to be charming and had a few moments, but ultimately failed for me. The best parts were interactions with people in the station.
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol - ridiculously unrealistic, forgettable, but kind of fun. Still a little creeped out by Tom Cruise, though.
The Muppets - Nostalgic and wonderful! Just a very cute story, adorable.
Tower Heist - old school fun. Murphy with Stiller was a mix that worked.
The Big Year - very interesting - made me read the book, which is even better. I want to be a birder now!
Real Steel - very cool. Jackman is charming and the rock-em sock-ems are pretty awesome.
Dolphin Tale - very family friendly movie, safe and inspirational.
Midnight in Paris - This was a good, charming movie, although a tad slow at times. It had to be good for me to like it because Woody Allen is very very slimy to me.
Friends with Benefits - Raunchy, but excellent chemistry and humorous. I liked it in spite of myself.
Midnight in Paris - This was a good, charming movie, although a tad slow at times. It had to be good for me to like it because Woody Allen is very very slimy to me.
Friends with Benefits - Raunchy, but excellent chemistry and humorous. I liked it in spite of myself.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - I'm an old-school Planet of the Apes fan by virtue of my brother, and this is by far the best in the series.
Crazy Stupid Love - This one works, if you like Steve Carrell. I do.
Cowboys and Aliens - totally stupid premise but Daniel Craig can make anything believable. Quite fun!
The Change-Up - I like the two leads Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, but this just didn't quite work - not terrible, but not so great, either.
Captain America: The First Avenger - I wanted to like this. I honestly found it boring, though.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Excellent ending of the series. The only movie since Avatar where I thought maybe the 3D was actually worth it.
Zookeeper - This is Mall Cop set at the zoo. Stupid but relatively harmless.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - The new girl is ridiculous, the digs at Megan Fox were obvious, the story and action were way over the top. Transformers are cool and Shia LeBeouf has appeal, but the whole package was a little off.
Cars 2 - One of the dullest movies I saw all year. Maybe a 4 year old boy would like this.
Super 8 - This is darker than E.T., but has a lot of its charm and wonder. Love Kyle Chandler. This was very well scripted, acted, and casted.
Green Lantern - A lot more corny than most superhero films, but I enjoyed the whole Green Lantern origin story and the humor worked. Its look was a little dumb, though - couldn't quite decide if that was part of the humor, or if they just failed.
X-Men: First Class - All these superhero movies are starting to run together in my brain, but I remember thinking this was a rather successful addition to the X-Men franchise. Some of its tones were quite like Captain America.
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Not quite as good as the first, but still one of the better animated films I saw this year.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Contributed nothing to the series that I can recall, had some fun moments and Jack Sparrow still has appeal, of course, but overall doesn't really work.
Something Borrowed - I like the actors, but this movie pretty much sucked.
Fast Five - Absolutely ridiculous story and action - but it is basically a fun amusement park ride.
Hop - Cute holiday film.
Water For Elephants - I liked this better than I thought I would. But come on, Pattinson is 10 years junior to Reese and it shows badly. The story is kind of dark but compelling.
Source Code - Not much in the way of good Sci-Fi this year, this was pretty much tops.
Rio - Cute bird cartoon, it works as an original story.
Arthur - Stupid as it gets, but kind of works. Kind of.
Limitless - So-so sci-fi action thriller. See Source Code instead.
The Lincoln Lawyer - Stellar role for McConaughey. Wicked story, Philippe is nasty and scary. Made me read the book - recommended.
The Adjustment Bureau - Sci-fi without all the tech, interesting story. I liked it.
Rango - I wanted to like this, but I pretty much hated it. Not a good story, creepy but well-done animation, not funny at all - quite dark.
Hall Pass - Yet another reminder that just because I like the actors doesn't mean I'll enjoy the stupid nastiness of rated R comedies.
Just Go With It - Aniston is beautiful as ever, but the whole movie doesn't work.
No Strings Attached - I'm not sure exactly what I don't like about Portman. This is basically the same movie as Friends with Benefits, but not as successful.
(I may add to this if I see a few more 2011 movies in 2012. Thinking of seeing Tin Tin, or Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)
Crazy Stupid Love - This one works, if you like Steve Carrell. I do.
Cowboys and Aliens - totally stupid premise but Daniel Craig can make anything believable. Quite fun!
The Change-Up - I like the two leads Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, but this just didn't quite work - not terrible, but not so great, either.
Captain America: The First Avenger - I wanted to like this. I honestly found it boring, though.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Excellent ending of the series. The only movie since Avatar where I thought maybe the 3D was actually worth it.
Zookeeper - This is Mall Cop set at the zoo. Stupid but relatively harmless.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - The new girl is ridiculous, the digs at Megan Fox were obvious, the story and action were way over the top. Transformers are cool and Shia LeBeouf has appeal, but the whole package was a little off.
Cars 2 - One of the dullest movies I saw all year. Maybe a 4 year old boy would like this.
Super 8 - This is darker than E.T., but has a lot of its charm and wonder. Love Kyle Chandler. This was very well scripted, acted, and casted.
Green Lantern - A lot more corny than most superhero films, but I enjoyed the whole Green Lantern origin story and the humor worked. Its look was a little dumb, though - couldn't quite decide if that was part of the humor, or if they just failed.
X-Men: First Class - All these superhero movies are starting to run together in my brain, but I remember thinking this was a rather successful addition to the X-Men franchise. Some of its tones were quite like Captain America.
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Not quite as good as the first, but still one of the better animated films I saw this year.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Contributed nothing to the series that I can recall, had some fun moments and Jack Sparrow still has appeal, of course, but overall doesn't really work.
Something Borrowed - I like the actors, but this movie pretty much sucked.
Fast Five - Absolutely ridiculous story and action - but it is basically a fun amusement park ride.
Hop - Cute holiday film.
Water For Elephants - I liked this better than I thought I would. But come on, Pattinson is 10 years junior to Reese and it shows badly. The story is kind of dark but compelling.
Source Code - Not much in the way of good Sci-Fi this year, this was pretty much tops.
Rio - Cute bird cartoon, it works as an original story.
Arthur - Stupid as it gets, but kind of works. Kind of.
Limitless - So-so sci-fi action thriller. See Source Code instead.
The Lincoln Lawyer - Stellar role for McConaughey. Wicked story, Philippe is nasty and scary. Made me read the book - recommended.
The Adjustment Bureau - Sci-fi without all the tech, interesting story. I liked it.
Rango - I wanted to like this, but I pretty much hated it. Not a good story, creepy but well-done animation, not funny at all - quite dark.
Hall Pass - Yet another reminder that just because I like the actors doesn't mean I'll enjoy the stupid nastiness of rated R comedies.
Just Go With It - Aniston is beautiful as ever, but the whole movie doesn't work.
No Strings Attached - I'm not sure exactly what I don't like about Portman. This is basically the same movie as Friends with Benefits, but not as successful.
(I may add to this if I see a few more 2011 movies in 2012. Thinking of seeing Tin Tin, or Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)
