Palooza Presents "The 99 Films of 2011"

[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

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

48. The Lincoln Lawyer
Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, Michael Pena, John Leguizamo, Bryan Cranston, Shea Whigham​

Director -
Brad Furman
Writer(s) -
John Romano
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 84%
Metacritic Score - 63/100
Viewed - Netflix
Michael Connolly is the poor man's John Grisham, but this outdoes most of Grisham's adaptations. It is one of the better courtroom dramas and gives life to a dying genre. These are the types of movies McConaughey should be making instead of the shitty Kate Hudson romcoms he's been doing for god knows how long. Playing a sleazeball who takes down even sleazier people is something he needs to do more often. Another movie that I had low expectations for and they were exceeded. The story is cool and clever, the acting and cast are top notch and it'll keep you entertained for the allotted time.
Spoiler Alert - McConaughey doesn't take his shirt off. I don't think.
Grade - C

 

[Houston]

Without seeing the trailer.....Fast and Furious 6 will be the the first time I'm excited to see one of these movies since the first sequel.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

47. J. Edgar
Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas, Ed Westwick​

Director -
Clint Eastwood
Writer(s) -
Dustin Lance Black
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 44%
Metacritic Score - 59/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
I still stand by my statement about DiCaprio being the best/most consistent actor of his generation. Even though this movie is nothing special and a pretty big disappointment with the names involved, DiCaprio does his absolute best to make this movie work. Unfortunately, it's too boring and that melancholic score from Eastwood brings the movie down. The story is sloppy and it fails to present any real controversy to the well known American figure. The filmmakers barely scratch the surface on something extremely dark inside of Hoover. In my opinion, biopics are never very good anyhow. The idea of a biopic is a good one, but very rarely does the movie ever measure up to the performance of the central character and here it's no different - DiCaprio is excellent, but the sloppy script and boring directing keeps it from being as great as it could have been. Don't even get me started on the horrible makeup either.
Spoiler Alert - He gets old and dies like a normal person.
Grade - C

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

46. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy​

Director -
Sean Durkin
Writer(s) -
Sean Durkin
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 90%
Metacritic Score - 76/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
I was not really impressed with this movie. It had been hyped up and when I finally got around to seeing it, I was left somewhat disappointed it. For what the filmmakers were trying to do, the were successful, but that's not what I wanted. They made John Hawkes' character mysterious and I couldn't stop thinking how much more interesting it would be if it focused more on the group and less on her adjusting to the real world. Speaking of Hawkes, he pulls off another engaging performance, overshadowing the hype train that was being run on Elizabeth Olsen, the youngest, least coked out and already has the best resume of the sisters. She didn't impress me as much as I was expecting her to. I also admit I really liked the ambiguous, paranoid ending. It was a perfect cap to the story being told, I just saw a better story inside of all that.
Spoiler Alert - Ambiguity
Grade - B-

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

45. Terri
Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Bridger Zadina, Olivia Crocicchia, Tim Heidecker​

Director -
Azazel Jacobs
Writer(s) -
Patrick DeWitt
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 86%
Metacritic Score - 72/100
Viewed - HQ torrent
John C. Reilly can make any movie better. You throw him into any situation as any character and he livens up the room. Once again, he steals the show here, but the kid who plays Terri ain't no slouch either. What they put together is a nice little movie about adolescence and being an outsider. I'm sure all you weirdos can relate to it. On top of that, it's surprisingly clever and funny and not one part is overdone or over the top. I almost forgot to mention Creed from the Office puts on a great performance as Terri's delusional Uncle James. Being the weird/crazy/delusional guy seems to work perfectly for him. In this, it's not played too much for humor, but to show how difficult Terri's life is, which is impressive for Creed.
Spoiler Alert - Terri has a good day
Grade - B-

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

44. SUPER
Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo​

Director -
James Gunn
Writer(s) -
James Gunn
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 47%
Metacritic Score - 50/100
Viewed - decent torrent
My biggest gripe with this movie is probably its biggest spoiler, so I am warning you now - Spoilers are throughout this segment, so if you haven't seen it, please move on to the next post. Seriously. Get the fuck out. Okay - For once in her entire career, Ellen Page was the best character in a good movie. She was wild, she was insane, she adorable, she was awesome, she was funny. She pulled off all of her potential in this movie. Boltie was a cool character and an even better sidekick. At one point she pretty much rapes Rainn Wilson, who here is playing a mopey loser who gets his wife stolen by a drug dealer, Kevin Bacon. Well for no god damn reason whatsoever she is killed during their raid to get his wife back at the end. She gets shot right in the face if I'm not mistaken. The story is simple, but James Gunn jumps into another overdone genre and makes it feel somewhat original. Bacon is entertaining, if a little over the top - as is some of the violence, but I love that. Liv Tyler is possibly the least desirable person on Earth, but for someone as disgusting as Rainn Wilson, I guess fighting for her makes sense.
Spoiler Alert - See above.
Grade - B-

 

[Buzzman]

maybe after Metacritic part you can put the way you watched. That was interesting.

 

[Palooza]

maybe after Metacritic part you can put the way you watched. That was interesting.

all updated for ya. I have a ton of work to do for school, so I'll probably update this plenty after my 545 class in order to distract myself.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

43. Thor
Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Jaimie Alexander, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner​

Director -
Kenneth Branagh
Writer(s) -
Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 77%
Metacritic Score - 57/100
Viewed - In theaters/DVD
I wrote a bunch of stuff for this one, but it all got deleted. It's frustrating, so I'm not rewriting it. I liked the balance between Asgard and Earth, the badassness of Thor, Natalie Portman's face and the bonerific set-up to THE AVENGERS. Loki was too whiny and not evil enough (thankfully he makes up for that in THE AVENGERS), Natalie Portman's boring acting and Kat Dennings being involved in this movie without her titties being on display were my only real problems with the movie after seeing it twice.
Spoiler Alert - This leads to the AVENGERS.
Grade - B-

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

99 Films of 2011

44. SUPER
Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo​

Director -
James Gunn
Writer(s) -
James Gunn
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 47%
Metacritic Score - 50/100
Viewed - decent torrent
My biggest gripe with this movie is probably its biggest spoiler, so I am warning you now - Spoilers are throughout this segment, so if you haven't seen it, please move on to the next post. Seriously. Get the fuck out. Okay - For once in her entire career, Ellen Page was the best character in a good movie. She was wild, she was insane, she adorable, she was awesome, she was funny. She pulled off all of her potential in this movie. Boltie was a cool character and an even better sidekick. At one point she pretty much rapes Rainn Wilson, who here is playing a mopey loser who gets his wife stolen by a drug dealer, Kevin Bacon. Well for no god damn reason whatsoever she is killed during their raid to get his wife back at the end. She gets shot right in the face if I'm not mistaken. The story is simple, but James Gunn jumps into another overdone genre and makes it feel somewhat original. Bacon is entertaining, if a little over the top - as is some of the violence, but I love that. Liv Tyler is possibly the least desirable person on Earth, but for someone as disgusting as Rainn Wilson, I guess fighting for her makes sense.
Spoiler Alert - See above.
Grade - B-

I thought the Ellen Paige/Rainn Wilson sex/rape scene was one of the most uncomfortable and creepy movie scenes i've ever scene, not counting scenes that were intended to be uncomfortable and creepy. Juno fucked Dwight Schrute ffs.

This was a weird movie. Not really a comedy, but also so over the top at times that it played like a comedy. I had a hard time getting into it.

 

[Palooza]

I thought the Ellen Paige/Rainn Wilson sex/rape scene was one of the most uncomfortable and creepy movie scenes i've ever scene, not counting scenes that were intended to be uncomfortable and creepy. Juno fucked Dwight Schrute ffs.

This was a weird movie. Not really a comedy, but also so over the top at times that it played like a comedy. I had a hard time getting into it.

I liked how he targeted people who pissed him off - like the guy who cut in line and got a wrench to his face multiple times.

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

42. The Guard
Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Rory Keenan, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot​

Director -
John Michael McDonagh
Writer(s) -
John Michael McDonagh
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 95%
Metacritic Score - 78/100
Viewed - Redbox
Don Cheadle is one of the most hit or miss actors out there. I usually either really like his work, or can't stand it. Here, though, he's put into a perfect fish out of water supporting role. In this, this is Brendan Gleeson's show and he proves his ability to carry a slick and clever crime movie like this. John Michael McDonagh is the brother of Martin McDonagh, the GENIUS behind In Bruges. This movie feels a lot like a JV version of the forced buddy crime movie from 2008. Mark Strong pulls off yet another one of his sinister villains, but none of the bad guys are really in the movie much. It's more about the eccentricities and genius of Brendan Gleeson and the struggles of Don Cheadle to solve a case in a foreign place as a black guy. The script is sharp and funny, with the laughs mixing from intentional to unintentional in scenes. I will forever hold it against this movie that it is so much like In Bruges, but the use of Brendan Gleeson is much more well done here, so I commend McDonagh for that.
Spoiler Alert - See it for yourself
Grade - B

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

41. Captain America - The First Avenger
Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Derek Luke, Neal McDonough, Sam Jackson​

Director -
Joe Johnston
Writer(s) -
Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 79%
Metacritic Score - 66/100
Viewed - In theaters/3D
More than any other of the pre-Avengers films, I was skeptical about this movie. Joe Johnston was a hack who had only made mediocre action movies that had no substance (Jumanji, Jurassic Park III) or duds completely (Hidalgo, The Wolfman) and Chris Evans had been limited to sarcastic prick roles his entire career. Somehow, they made this work beyond anything I ever imagined. Not only was it an engaging orgin story, it looked cool and had a variety of characters that kept you involved. Johnston creates something that does every conventional superhero thing better than it should have. Beyond Chris Evans inspiring performance, Hugo Weaving plays yet another terrifying villain, Tommy Lee Jones as the hardass who kicks Cap into shape and Hayley Atwell, an unknown who comes out of nowhere to charm up the screen with her presence.
Spoiler Alert - The First Avenger... do you get it?
Grade - B

 

[Palooza]

99 Films of 2011

40. The Help
Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek​

Director -
Tate Taylor
Writer(s) -
Tate Taylor
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 76%
Metacritic Score - 62/100
Viewed - In class
There is no denying the amazing acting and inspiration showcased in this movie. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer knock it completely out of the park, Emma Stone is adorable as the moral center, Jessica Chastain is beautiful and damaged and Bryce Dallas Howard makes a perfect bitchy villain. Add in some well timed humor and a racial story and you've got everything the Academy looks for in a movie. At the end, I was teary-eyed and inspired, but it was in no way life altering. If I didn't have to watch this movie for class, I would never have watched it at all and even if I did, I'm sure I'd never discuss it again. The overcoming racial oppression is essentially what the class is about, so having this pounded into your head from a movie you don't care about to start off with left a bad taste in my mouth. It's a good movie, don't get me wrong, but I'll never watch it again nor discuss it again after this.
Spoiler Alert - Black people are practically equal these days
Grade - B

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

So did you like In Bruges or did you think it was forced?