Best Movies of 2011

[DubDub]

In grand tradition, it's time for this thread again.

Here are the movies released in 2011.  Which ones did you see?  Which were your favorites?
/Klep from last year's thread.
I saw:

Human Resources Manager
Battle LA
Paul
Thor
Everything Must Go
Bridesmaids
X-Men: First Class
Green Lantern
Harry Potter 7.2
Captain America
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Edit, oh yeah: Drive

Some of the above I watched on a transatlantic flight, please forgive me.  The ones I would recommend are, in order:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Human Resources Manager
Edit, oh yeah: Drive

Bridesmaids and Paul were funny, but not great.  The comic-related properties were all about the same, except that Green Lantern was terrible.

[Meddling Mike]

Rango
The Adjustment Bureau
Sucker Punch
Source Code
Hanna
Thor
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
X-Men: First Class
Super 8
Bad Teacher
Cars 2
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
Bridesmaids

I was pretty "Meh" about most of the movies I saw this year. I'm a big movie enthusiast, but I didn't see anything this year that really jumped out at me, there were some pretty big gaps where I just didn't feel inclined to see anything that was in theaters. There's a few here or there that I'd like to see but missed because I was lacking a convenient date night. The muppets movie seemed to get solid reviews, I just never got around to seeing it. If you put a gun to my head and demanded I pick a favorite I guess I would say Thor, but I wouldn't even put it on the same level as some superhero movies like Iron Man/The Dark Knight. In terms of the worst one, going 100% with Sucker Punch. The previews looked cool. The reviews I read said it was completely lacking a story. I figured seeing it at an IMAX theater with impressive visuals would be good enough to compensate for a mediocre story like it did with Avatar, but this movie was just dumb. I hate how just about every single male in the film is corrupt, a child molester, abusive or giving the main character a lobotomy. The only male that didn't fit one of these criteria was the magical bus driver guy, who turned out to be a fictional figment of the main characters imagination until he magically appears as a friendly bus driver willing to lie to the authorities to help one of the supporting cast near the end of the movie. Total garbage.

[Commandant]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Rest was utter garbage.

[Onslaught]

Movie of the year for me comes down to Drive and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Lots of love for TTSS so far, and it is well deserved. Anyone who appreciated the subtractive design of it would probably also appreciate Drive. Even if you don't like the rest of the movie, Drive is honestly worth it for the opening sequence alone.

Rango was an unexpected animated gem, and the superhero movies I saw were passable. Parts of X-Men: First Class were actually very above average (the Bond nods during Magneto's nazi hunting were superb).

[Bill Copes]

The Woman

[reaperbong]

my favorite movies I saw this year:

Moneyball
Sucker Punch
Green Lantern
Transformers 3
Bad Teacher
Thor

honorable mention: All Star Superman (DC animated movie)

i was greatly let down by X-Men First Class, thought it was terrible. Capt. America was just ok, I thought both movies were incredibly overrated though.

[The Wolf]

Was bad teacher actually funny?  When i saw the preview i gave it about a 2% chance of being good

[Klep]

I've now seen a personal record of 28 of the 2011 US Theatrical releases:

    13 Assassins
    The Adventures of Tintin
    Captain America
    Colombiana
    Contagion
    Cowboys & Aliens
    Drive
    The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
    Green Hornet
    Green Lantern
    Hanna
    Hugo
    Immortals
    Killer Elite
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Melancholia
    Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
    Of Gods and Men
    Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
    Rise of the Planet of the Apes
    Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
    Sucker Punch
    Super
    Super 8
    Thor
    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    The Tree of Life
    X-Men: First Class

This was a good year for movies, with the average quality being very high (as opposed to, say, 2007 where you just had a handful of really stand-out films).  My top 5 - in no particular order - are:

The Adventures of Tintin
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Melancholia

Tintin was a delight.  I grew up reading the comics and to see it adapted so well and so lovingly to the big screen meant the world to me and left me with a smile on my face until the first rape scene in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo when I saw that the next morning.  Drive is an incredible stylistic work.  It doesn't have the most original plot, but it is executed flawlessly and the movie just overflows with cool.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is obviously an American version of a movie that was already made in Sweden (and adapted from a Swedish novel, obviously), but it's hard to imagine a story more suited to director David Fincher's talents.  When I heard he'd be directing this I knew it would be phenomenal and I was right.  Hugo is a great children's story, but also an opportunity for  Martin Scorsese to share with us how much he loves movies, and I was right there with him for the ride.  Lastly, von Trier's own oddities and Nazi comments aside, Melancholia was a powerful examination of depression and what impact that has on your life and the lives of your loved ones. Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress for it at Cannes, and it's easy to see why.

It was really hard to cut that down to 5, because there were so many good movies this year.  I won't pretend those are even the best 5, just the ones that I had the greatest appreciation for (and just barely).  If you really want to see all the best of 2011, then you'll also need to catch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Martha Marcy May Marlene at the least.  13 Assassins was a phenomenal samurai film as well, and if you don't mind being bored out of your skull, The Tree of Life is an artistic triumph for director Terence Malick.  We can only hope 2012 is anywhere near as good as 2011.

[Joblin Velder]

13 Assassins rivals Seven Samurai for me. So. Fucking. Good.

[Smmenen]

I saw a record low 17 movies in the theater this year:

Unknown
Limitless
Thor
Bridesmaids
Pirates: Stranger Tides
The Hangover 2
The Tree of Life
X-Men First Class
Green Lantern
Horrible Bosses
The Help
Bad Teacher
Harry Potter 7.2
Rise of Planet of the Apes
Colombiana
J Edgar
The Immortals

Movies that I still want to see:

The Beaver
Moneyball
Ides of march
Margin Call
The Rum Diary
The Muppets
Sherlock Holmes
Mission Impossible

My Top 5 Movies from 2011 are:

The Help
Limitless
X-Men First Class
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
J Edgar

The biggest surprise of the year was XMEN, which I thought was simply outstanding. It was probably one of the best superhero films I've ever seen, and that's included the Batman films.

Rise was also very surprising, and very good.

J Edgar was a brilliant psychological profile, but not a great narrative film.

Tree of Life was the most beautiful film I saw all year.  

Pirates of the Carribean was great fun.  It may be my favorite Pirate movie.  

Bad Teacher, Bridesmaids, and the Hangover 2 were all funny, but they weren't  as funny as I was expecting.   Bridesmaids was probably the funniest of the trio.  

[Meddling Mike]

Was bad teacher actually funny?  When i saw the preview i gave it about a 2% chance of being good

I was pleasantly surprised, not amazing by any stretch, but more entertaining than I anticipated.

Pirates of the Carribean was great fun.  It may be my favorite Pirate movie.

That's interesting, I felt like it was the weakest of the series so far.

[Diakonov]

Very low number this year for me as well, although there were a ton of movies I wanted to see.  Here's what I saw:

Thor
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Horrible Bosses
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Captain America: The First Avenger
Melancholia

My favorite, by far, was Melancholia.  It's one of the best films I've seen in years.  The soundtrack is impressive as well, which uses Wagner's Tristan und Isolde prelude as its main theme.

[forests failed you]

Sherlock Holmes: game of shadows
Hugo
X-Men: First Class
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

[Delha]

Thor
Harry Potter 7.2
Mission Impossible 4
Rango
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Rio
Puss in Boots

Looking at the list, I'm realizing that nearly all the non-animated stuff I wanted to see ended up slipping through the cracks (Moneyball, X-Men First Class, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for a start). That said, I was generally happy with all the stuff that I did manage to see. The year as a whole felt to me like there were lots of movies where I came in with low expectations and was very pleased to be proven wrong.

Of the surprises, Kung Fu Panda 2 was probably the biggest. I caught it on a lark, and was blown away by how visually stunning it was. There were several scenes that took a stylized approach and executed incredibly. Having that layered over a deeper storyline than its predecessor was enough to cement my impression that Dreamworks Animation is upping their game lately. Never would have guessed that this would be the prettiest movie of my year.

Seems kinda dumb to make a top five list out of 8 movies, so I'll just say my favorite out of the above was probably Rango (with KFP2 running a close second).

[Iron_Chef]

Here's what I saw this year (in release date order)

The Green Hornet
The Eagle
I am Number Four
Battle: LA
Limitless
Sucker Punch
Fast Five
Thor
The Hangover 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
X-Men: First Class
Super 8
Green Lantern
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Harry Potter 7v2
Captain America
Drive
Sherlock Holmes 2

I enjoyed all of these movies.  Super 8 and Drive both gave me something I didn't expect.  Super 8 was very much a story about people, and not just a monster movie.  Drive was NOT Fast & Furious 27, but was excellent.  As for the action movies, I go in with no expectations and leave happy.  Green Lantern was really the only movie that I left the theater thinking about what they could have done better.

Of the surprises, Kung Fu Panda 2 was probably the biggest. I caught it on a lark, and was blown away by how visually stunning it was. There were several scenes that took a stylized approach and executed incredibly. Having that layered over a deeper storyline than its predecessor was enough to cement my impression that Dreamworks Animation is upping their game lately. Never would have guessed that this would be the prettiest movie of my year.

Quoted for truth.  At first I was skeptical if they could live up to the first movie, but those doubts went away when I saw him face down his old enemy.... stairs!

Favorite movie of 2011: Fast Five (With KFP a short 2nd)
Least Favorite: Green Lantern

Favorite Scene (only because it's so fresh in my mind) The intellectual battle between Moriarty and Holmes.

[LordHomerCat]

I tend to watch a lot of movies on DVD and via download moreso than in theatres, so I'm really bad about release years.  Among those mentioned already, Drive was fantastic (love the soundtrack, it does such an incredible job of emphasizing the emotions of the film).  Moneyball was really good, but I also like baseball and math a lot so I might be a bit biased.  Fast Five was surprisingly good, and had a real plot instead of just 2 hours of cars.  I think it was the best in the series since the first, and probably the best overall (because the first was so hilariously badly written).  Super 8 was a lot better than I expected; it evoked movies like Stand by Me and other 70s coming-of-age flicks, which can only be a good thing.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is actually next on my list, and I'll try to catch Melancholia as well based on these recommendations.

[withmangone]

Did anyone catch the new Polanski movie "Carnage?" It was one of the few 2011 flicks I was interested in and have yet to see. Wondering if it lives up to the trailer.

[TheWhiteDragon]

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows I thought was really good - better than the first by far (which was also good).  i was pleased with Captain America, and though Xmen: First Class was very good.  it was probably one of the best of the Xmen movies (though I love Magneto).  Bridesmaids was funny, but not as funny after the first time.  Hall Pass was decent for a laugh.  The latest Pirates was good.  I thought worse than the first, but better than the other 2.  Transformers sucked nuts as did Green Lantern.

On the recent retro, I finally saw I am Sam.  Helluva good movie.  I hate Sean Penn, but that sunavabish almost made me crack a tear.

[nataz]

Ip Man: Legend of the Grand Master   
The Mechanic
The Eagle
I am Number Four
Red Riding Hood
Limitless
Your Highness
Hanna
Rio
Water for Elephants
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night
Fast Five
Thor
Trolljegeren**
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Winnie the Pooh
Captain America: The First Avenger
Cowboys and Aliens
30 Minutes or Less
The Rum Diary
J. Edgar
Immortals
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Trolljegeren (translation: Troll Hunter) was my favorite movie of the year. I think it may be on netflix streaming now. Its done in a documentary style and was a lot of fun to watch. Very unexpected.

[JACO]

In last year's thread I wrote:

I cannot remember and more uninspiring year of movies.

Somehow this year was even more uninspiring theatrically. Things I saw at the theater:
Bridesmaids
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates was entertaining and Bridesmaids sucked. Things I will eventually see:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
Ip Man

I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes and Tinker, Tailor in the next week and a half, and I have a feeling those two will be the two best movies I will see from 2011. What an abysmal year. I thought the apocalypse was supposed to happen in 2012.

2013 retrospective edit: Got around to seeing more movies from 2011 over the past year. Here's my review of the few I managed to see, in order of awesomeness:
1) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - off the meat rack. Awesome acting, dialogue, plot, scripting, music, etc.
2) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - very close second place, this movie ruled. Great cast and acting. If you like dumb movies with lots of explosions and terrible dialogue you should avoid this.
3) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - very entertaining. Not as great as two above, but fun with a cool plot.
4) Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 - if you like the book I think you'd like this movie. I liked the casting for this, but they changed it for parts 2 and 3 (coming out later), which I find problematic. PS. if you've never read this book you're a n00blet.
5) Rise of the Planet of the Apes - far exceeded my expectations, and tied in nicely with old Planet of the Apes movies (non-Marky Mark ones). I would watch this a couple more times probably and then be done with it for the rest of my life.
6) Bridesmaids - this movie sucked, plain and simple. This is what happens when you have a shitty script where females try to replicate male bathroom and fraternal
humor. #FAIL.

Other movies I want to see from 2011: none.

[Ten-Ten]

...I stayed away from theaters this year. Watched Capt. Amereica at home along with super8, Rio, Rango, suckerpunch, limitless, and Cowboys and Aliens. *yawn*
(Rio and Rango was hillarious, though I don't think Rango was for younger audiences.)
I have spent more time watching and searching for older movies on netflix/online this year than any other. Seems this year theaters were more filled with garbage than usual.

Ease up on the special effects and CG, Hollywood. I'm craving originality and well written scripts that don't involve cussin' every five seconds, or have excorcists, warewolves, vampires or wizards in them.

It's strange that most crap nowadays is called a "Film"...

This year I'm hoping the final Dark Knight movie doesn't dissapoint.

 

[withmangone]

Trolljegeren

I had completely forgotten about The Troll Hunter! Awesome flick. In a similar vein, I saw the movie Rubber at the same film festival where i saw troll hunter. It's about a psyckokinetic, serial-killing tire. Freaking hilarious (borderline British humor). Definitely worth a watch, and i know it was on netflix once upon a time. Maybe still?

[voltron00x]

That new X-Men was shockingly good.  It did have a really strong cast of actual actors, not mostly eye-candy like the previous ones.

[LemonLyman]

The Adjustment Bureau
Thor
Hangover 2
X-Men First Class
Green Lantern
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Captain America
Moneyball
Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol
Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

They were all at least passable or better, except green lantern was disappointing.

X-Men and Thor were exceptional for comic book movies. 

Moneyball is my favorite move in a long time, but I really enjoyed the book and felt like the move actually lived up to it.

[nataz]

Trolljegeren

I had completely forgotten about The Troll Hunter! Awesome flick. In a similar vein, I saw the movie Rubber at the same film festival where i saw troll hunter. It's about a psyckokinetic, serial-killing tire. Freaking hilarious (borderline British humor). Definitely worth a watch, and i know it was on netflix once upon a time. Maybe still?

I totally agree that rubber was amazing. Did it come out this year? I thought I saw it a while ago

[Klep]

Rubber, while good, was a 2010 release.

[withmangone]

Trolljegeren

I had completely forgotten about The Troll Hunter! Awesome flick. In a similar vein, I saw the movie Rubber at the same film festival where i saw troll hunter. It's about a psyckokinetic, serial-killing tire. Freaking hilarious (borderline British humor). Definitely worth a watch, and i know it was on netflix once upon a time. Maybe still?

I totally agree that rubber was amazing. Did it come out this year? I thought I saw it a while ago

Woops. IMDB says 2010. My b

[voltron00x]

Finally saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Wow.  Way, way better than I expected with great ties to the original film.  Probably my favorite popcorn flick of the year.

[Klep]

So the Oscar Nominees are out and I have to say I'm stunned by how bad they are.  Only 9 out of 10 possible nominees for Best Picture, which means that films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Melancholia, Drive, and Martha Marcy May Marlene were deliberately not nominated while Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - a film which makes a motif of a body falling from the twin towers - did get nominated.  Kirsten Dunst, who won Best Actress at Cannes, is not nominated, nor are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the TGWTDT score.  The Adventures of Tintin is snubbed in the Best Animated Feature category, and we now have the phrase "Academy Award Nominee Jonah Hill" as a true thing to say.

Last year the Academy had things down pretty well, but this year is a boondoggle.

[Meddling Mike]

I saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and had to say I was actually pretty disappointed with it. I found it really hard to follow what was going on in the story and why. There was a massive abundance of characters, but it jumped around so much I felt like you never really got a good feel for any of them. The fact they were constantly referring to everything and everybody in code didn't make it any easier.