Palooza Presents "The 99 Films of 2011"

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

65. Cedar Rapids
Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Anne Heche, Stephen Root, Kurtwood Smith, Alia Shawkat, Sigourney Weaver, Rob Corddry, Thomas Lennon​

Director -
Miguel Artera
Writer(s) -
Phil Johnston
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 86%
Metacritic Score - 70/100
Viewed - redbox
LOL the Wire reference.. do you get it? Because I was in the Wire. Obnoxious joke is obnoxious. John C. Reilly hits it out of the park once again, which is what brought this movie to mediocrity. As a supporting character, he can only do so much, but he hit every nail on the head with this one. Ed Helms plays yet another bitchy character who needs to break out of his shell. Yawn. Maeby Funke as a prostitute kind of creeped me out for a little bit, but then once they started doing drugs and stuff, I was used to her and actually enjoyed her character. Another thing - for a comedy, I did not find it to be that funny. Not laugh out loud funny at least. This movie was pretty much just as boring as I'd expect the midwest to be. Nothing too terrible, but not great either. Mediocrity at its lowest form.
Spoiler Alert - Ed Helms breaks out of his shell
Grade - C

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

64. Submarine
Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine​

Director -
Richard Ayoade
Writer(s) -
Richard Ayoade
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 87%
Metacritic Score - 76/100
Viewed - Redbox
I think more depressing teen love stories should be like this movie. This coming of age drama has a crazy array of characters, none of which would be described as good looking in any sense. The object of the protagonist, Oliver's affection does have "that thing". The director does a very good job of showing the audience how special she is, even if she isn't the best looking girl. What holds this back is the character of Oliver himself. Sometimes he's too self-aware and other times he's annoyingly naive. The melancholic soundtrack by the Arctic Monkeys front man that fit perfectly with the somber and depressing tone and feel of the movie. While it fit and it worked, it was just too depressing for me. If I was a kid who had his heart broken or was looking for love, this movie would have appealed to me more. The supporting characters are pretty spectacular, too, getting three brilliant English actors to round out the adults of the movie - Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor as Oliver's drifting parents and Paddy Considine as their weirdo neighbor and former lover of Sally Hawkins' character.
Spoiler Alert - Everything's gunna be okay
Grade - C

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

63. A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas
Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Trejo, Paula Garces, Elias Koteas, RZA, Eddy Kaye Thomas, David Krumholtz, Amir Blumenfeld, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Lee, Patton Oswalt​

Director -
Todd Strauss-Schulson
Writer(s) -
Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 68%
Metacritic Score - 61/100
Viewed - In theaters/3D
Two things factored into why I liked this movie so much - the amount of marijuana I consumed beforehand and experience in the theater. I went with a large group of friends; we were the only people in the theater and we were all as high as can be. Between this and the awesome interactive 3D - smoke pouring out at us as we smoked was the coolest thing ever at that moment. The jokes were what to be expected from the H&K franchise, an underrated set of movies. This one was on par with the others - nothing special but highly entertaining. I could have done without the fucking loser from CollegeHumor, though. Everything about him felt forced. Also, Kumar looks like shit. NPH's dressing room bit had me in tears, too.
Spoiler Alert - I was too high to remember
Grade - C

 

[Houston]

Sally Hawkins may be my favorite actress right now. Even with her acting aside, nearly everything she's in is worth watching, especially the movies when she's the main character.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

This thread is now an F for no more F's.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

62. 30 Minutes or Less
Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria, Michael Pena, Fred Ward​

Director -
Ruben Fleischer
Writer(s) -
Michael Diliberti
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 44%
Metacritic Score - 49/100
Viewed - In theaters
Danny McBride's raunchy humor is in full effect here, which is something I happen to love. The plot is pretty stupid and very ridiculous, but it works for dumb comedy like this. After Zombieland, the bar was set high for this movie, but this one seemed to be too much for Fleischer, who seemed to trip up here in his sophomore effort. Jesse Eisenberg is pretty lame and annoying as the main character, but Aziz Ansari comes through to save the day for him, bringing enough laughs to take away from Eisenberg. Fleischer needs to do better on his next effort, or else he may suffer from one hit wonder syndrome.
Spoiler Alert - The movie is longer than 30 minutes.
Grade - C

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

61. The Company Men
Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello, Rosemarie DeWitt, Eamonn Walker​

Director -
John Wells
Writer(s) -
John Wells
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 67%
Metacritic Score - 69/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
This movie had a lot of good things going for it - Ben Affleck was tolerable (although a bit of a stubborn baby), Tommy Lee Jones was easily someone to root for, Craig T. Nelson was a cock, Chris Cooper played a on-the-edge-of-losing-it businessman, Kevin Costner as a sarcastic everyman prick and Maria Bello as a hot piece of ass. What went wrong? For as heartbreaking as everything seems to be going, you realize that everything is going to work out, no matter what. The ending gift wraps happiness for the characters with a nice little bow, something that pisses me off, but I was able to look past it enough not to fail it.
Spoiler Alert - Everyone, except the dead people, wind up with a job.
Grade - C

 

[EmpireWF]

30 Minutes was a HUGE letdown for me. Didn't find it funny at all besides Ansari.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

60. Everything Must Go
Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Michael Pena, Stephen Root, Laura Dern, Glenn Howerton ​

Director -
Dan Rush
Writer(s) -
Dan Rush
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 75%
Metacritic Score - 65/100
Viewed - redbox
I really like when comedians like Will Ferrell stretch out beyond their comfort zone into more dramatic fare. This isn't a gigantic stretch for Ferrell, but he's less of a dumb man-child and more of a lost and broken guy. The premise is smart and cool and perfect for a movie like this - Ferrell's wife locks him out of the house and puts all his shit on the lawn. If I remember correctly, this movie is based on the Raymond Carver story. Either way, this is Ferrell's first step toward the comedy-to-drama transition of comics. Hopefully he'll continue down a Bill Murray-type road instead of an Adam Sandler one. Ferrell needs to make more movies like this and I look forward to when he does. Any movie that can throw Glenn Howerton in a role is a movie I can get into.
Spoiler Alert - Michael Pena, you're a bad sponsor.
Grade - C

 

[Palooza]

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

Limited release, I believe. One of my friends saw it in the city over the summer, but I caught it on DVD.

 

[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 - :smug:
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