Palooza Presents "The 99 Films of 2011"

[Cornelius]

I agree with your review of 30 Minutes or Less. The only reason I may have liked it a little more than most is because I grew up in western Michigan and recognized many of the filming locations. Other than that........meh.

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

59. Like Crazy
Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston, Oliver Muirhead, Fiona Hughes

Director -
Drake Doremus
Writer(s) -
Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 74%
Metacritic Score - 71/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
For pussies like me, this movie is actually kind of hard to watch. There's not much to say here - it's like a less tame, more optimistic (depending on your interpretation) Blue Valentine. The low budget production values kind of frustrated me, but I've seen enough movies that I got over it quickly once I got involved. Really impressive acting, too, especially from someone like Anton Yelchin.
Spoiler Alert - Ambiguity
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

58. Young Adult
Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Collette Wolfe

Director -
Jason Reitman
Writer(s) -
Diablo Cody
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 80%
Metacritic Score - 71/100
Viewed - decent torrent
A selfish, self destructive and self obsessed woman does self destructive things in between being obsessed with both herself and getting what she wants. A beautiful as Charlize Theron is in this movie, I fucking hated her guts. I hated her more than Aileen Warnous. Diablo Cody once again creates a character (no doubt the personality based on herself) that is the worst character in the movie. Jason Reitman needs to quit collaborating with this woman. There is only one reason to see this movie - yet another brilliant portrayal of a damaged outsider by Patton Oswalt. His character makes everything better whenever he shows up and he's the voice of reason throughout the movie. I'm not sure if the casting of Patrick Wilson as the guy of her dreams was done to show how delusional she was (she's still hot, he looks like a dirtbag now) or not. I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Spoiler Alert - Don't worry, nothing really happens.
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

57. Too Big to Fail
William Hurt, James Woods, Bill Pullman, Cynthia Nixon, Paul Giamatti, Edward Asner, Billy Crudup, Evan Handler, Tony Shaloub, Matthew Modine, Topher Grace

Director -
Curtis Hanson
Writer(s) -
Peter Gould
Rotten Tomatoes Score - n/a
Metacritic Score - n/a
Viewed - HBO
This movie has an awesome cast, which is definitely what it is keeping it afloat here. This is waaaay too Hollywood; they took an important part of the recent financial collapse, dramatized the characters to fit a certain film mold - good guys, bad guys, supporters on each side. This movie has a hard time placing blame on everyone involved, instead turning to scapegoats to fit the aforementioned story mold. Worth a watch for entertainment purposes, but that's about it. This is another added to the disappointments of 2011.
Spoiler Alert -
Grade - C

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

99 Films of 2011

76. Hanna
Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps

Director -
Joe Wright
Writer(s) -
Seth Lochhead and David Farr
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 71%
Metacritic Score - 65/100
Even though she creeped me the fuck out, Hanna was a bit of a badass. To me, this movie had a ton of potential and it just kind of fell on its face. It could have been so much more than it was with such a cool premise, good actors and a competent director. It also had an odd fish out of water element at a certain point that made it seem as though the filmmakers were unsure what to do with the movie for the rest of the way. She spent her life as a recluse and has no idea of the modern world, what the fuck is she going to do in it? There's no way she should have been able to successfully complete her mission. She has no resources besides her survivalist training; we're in the real world now, but she'll get her revenge anyway.
Spoiler Alert - Hanna wins.
Grade - F

This was awful.
Watched it last night. It was like someone grabbed some artsy film festival script and threw it in 20 mins in. Awful acting by everyone other than dad/hanna.

Yuck.

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

56. We Bought a Zoo
Matt Damon, Scarlett Johannson, Patrick Fugit, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Elle Fanning, Mary Elizabeth Jones, Angus Macfadyen, John Michael Higgins, JB Smoove

Director -
Cameron Crowe
Writer(s) -
Cameron Crowe, Aline Brosh McKenna
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 67%
Metacritic Score - 58/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
"Based on a true story" always means sugar coating the truth. I don't know anything about the true story involving this, but you could tell that it dramatized. Everything is too perfect and too Hollywood. On top of that, it's really sappy and childish; the inspirational themes of the movie are shoved down your throat. Scarlett Johannson is a beautiful human being and looking at her was worth the time I spent watching this mediocre movie. Cameron Crowe waiting so long to make a movie for this? Dumb.
Spoiler Alert - They buy a zoo.
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

55. Being Elmo
Kevin Clash, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Oz, Rosie O'Donnell

Director -
Constance Marks
Writer(s) -
Philip Shane, Justin Weinstein
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 94%
Metacritic Score - 71/100
Viewed - Netflix
I didn't really have any complaints about this doc. It's short and it follows the pursuit of doing something you're passionate about. It's inspiring, but it's nothing too extraordinary. At the end of the movie I was proud of the guy for following his dreams and accomplishing so much, but I haven't thought about the movie since. As quick as the movie went by, it slipped out of my brain even quicker.
Spoiler Alert - Elmo is pretty famous
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

54. Hobo with a Shotgun
Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Nick Bateman

Director -
Jason Eisner
Writer(s) -
Jason Eisner
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 67%
Metacritic Score - 55/100
Viewed - Netflix
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was highly entertaining; had the perfect amount of cheese and B movie qualities. I loved the excessive violence and language, which walk a fine line between ridiculous and creative. It was hilarious to see Trailer Park Boys' Ricky get his head ripped off in an unbelievable way in the first 10 minutes of the movie. And on top of that shit, we have the kid from Small Soldiers as possibly the most deserving character of the Hobo's rage. The over the top nature of the bad guys was fun at first, but started to get stale for a while. Thankfully, they all get what they deserve. Overall this was a really well done, but not perfect addition into the lifeless Grindhouse genre. Surpassing the two films that inspired it (Planet Terror and Death Proof), this movie is a must-see for violence lovers everywhere.
Spoiler Alert - He uses the shotgun
Grade - C

[Goober]

I watched Everything Must Go Monday Night. Thought it was really good. Don't think many have seen it. Was it even in theaters?

I noticed it was on Netflix the other day, I need to get around to watching it.

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

53. The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn
Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Cary Elwes

Director -
Steven Spielberg
Writer(s) -
Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat, Joe Cornish
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 75%
Metacritic Score - 68/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
To date, the best motion capture movie made, unfortunately it's still pretty damn mediocre. It's a pretty solid adventure story with Andy Serkis stealing the show as the rightful captain of the Unicorn from everyone except for Snowy. Unicorn is awfully homo-erotic, too, I'm not sure what they were thinking with that one. Daniel Craig is a classic greedy villain and pretty boring, but the rest of the characters were engaging enough to keep you interested. Jamie Bell is a perfect Tintin and I wish we could have gotten more from Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as Thompson and Thompson because they were pretty awesome. Back to the mo-cap, it's both a gift and a curse here - it makes the movie look fucking phenomenal, I wish I would have seen it in 3D, but the faces are still so fucking strange. There's no one on the level of Tom Hanks in Polar Express here, but they're not completely far off.
Spoiler Alert - The good guys win.
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

52. Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows
Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams, Stephen Fry, Eddie Marsan

Director -
Guy Ritchie
Writer(s) -
Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 60%
Metacritic Score - 48/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
This movie is practically the same thing as the first one. Guy Ritchie took what worked (bromance, stylish action, lots of RDJ wit) and pounded it into your skull this time around. Rachel McAdams was disposed of quickly and I didn't care because they introduced Noomi Rapace's character shortly there after. It's good thing I just saw the Avengers and he redeemed himself, but Robert Downey was not one of my favorite people after watching this movie. You are a sarcastic genius. I get it. Jared Harris plays a competent Moriarty, but he did not live up to the legendary villainy that surrounds his name. I definitely think this movie could have been a lot more fun and fresh, but again I was disappointed.
Spoiler Alert - The villains lose
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

51. Puncture
Chris Evans, MarK Kassan, Vinessa Shaw, Marshall Bell, Brett Cullen, Jesse L. Martin, Michael Biehn

Director -
Adam Kassan, Mark Kassan
Writer(s) -
Chris Lopata
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 53%
Metacritic Score - 54/100
Viewed - Netflix
I went into this movie with really low expectations. I've never been a huge fan of Chris Evans, but he does a really good job in this. Becoming Captain America has certainly turned this guy into something much more impressive than we've seen. Evans plays a drug addicted lawyer who works a case trying mandate the use of safety needles in hospitals. It's a classic David vs. Goliath and you know how that went. This was really well done with a little too much of a John Grisham feel to it. It is based on a true story if I remember correctly, but that didn't make the random ending any more tolerable.
Spoiler Alert - Drugs are bad
Grade - C

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

50. Limitless
Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish, Andrew Howard, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth

Director -
Neil Burger
Writer(s) -
Leslie Dixon
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 69%
Metacritic Score - 59/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
Another movie I watched with some of the lowest expectations. I was not ready to take Bradley Cooper seriously as a leading man, but he knocks this out of the park. This movie is about adderall on crack, which are two of my favorite drugs so I didn't get caught up in the fact that he's pretty much a fraud. It's a pure popcorn flick that you can just shut your brain off for 2 hours and enjoy yourself. Over thinking or taking this movie too seriously will result in a bad experience. I thought it was going to suck and it wound up entertaining the shit out of me.
Spoiler Alert - People don't really get what they deserve.
Grade - C

[Palooza]

Front page updated

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

49. Fast Five
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Matt Schulz, Sung Kang

Director -
Justin Lin
Writer(s) -
Chris Morgan
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 78%
Metacritic Score - 67/100
Viewed - DVD
This is a fantastic action movie built in the Fast and the Furious world. Adding the Rock to the cast to hunt them was possibly the sole reason for this being awesome. This went far and beyond the car racing franchise this started off as. Now, we have ridiculous heists and fight sequences with plenty of cars thrown in the middle. The action is intense and pretty much non-stop. This is easily the best film of the series, but at the end of the day, Paul Walker is still in it, so it can only be so good. Also, I'd like to mention that 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift are two of the worst pieces of shit in the history of cinema. I'm glad the franchise is making some sort of attempt at making good movies.
Spoiler Alert - Despite the title it's pretty furious, too.
Grade - C