My Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2011

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Okay, while I still didn't see the four movies I was holding out for before I wrote this list (The Descendents, The Artist, Melancholia, and Take Shelter), I still saw an assload of movies and here were my favorites of the year. Maybe your favorites made the list, too. Check it out.

10. Horrible Bosses

Horrible Bosses was the kind of movie that was hilarious the first time, but not so much the second. Kind of like Borat. It doesn't hold up on repeated viewings, but for that first time I saw it, it was one of my favorite movies of the summer. Motherf**ker' Jones!



9. Rango

Rango was just too weird NOT to like. Any "kid's movie" that features a cameo of Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas makes this list. No question.



8. Hugo

Hugo was the film I was most surprised with liking this year, which is strange, given that it had the Scorsese pedigree. Watching those trailers, though, I didn't know what to think. But after seeing it, it's one of the most beautiful films of the year. It's touching and also a history lesson on film. It's incredible. But it's also definitely NOT for kids. Not because it has anything their virgin ears couldn't handle, but because it takes a very adult approach in telling a children's story. Kids will be bored silly, but adults will dig it. See this film.



7. Cedar Rapids

Honestly the funniest movie of the year. In what other film do you have John C. Reilly being his regular goofy self, and Senator Clay Davis (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) pretending to be Omar from The Wire? A first class comedy with heart. I loved it.



6. 50/50

Wow. Looking back at this list, 2011 was seriously the year of comedies. But 50/50 was a different kind of comedy since it was the kind that could make you feel stronger after watching it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt bared the burden of carrying the emotional heft of this cancer tale by having the Big C, and Seth Rogen got to lighten it up by saying lines like, "He has type 4 Cancer." Type 4 Cancer...that still makes me laugh. A great, sad, and yet, triumphant film. It's little wonder so few people actually saw it. It was too good for most people.



5. X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is the best Marvel movie ever made and only a step down from the greatness that is The Dark Knight. Nuff said.



4. The Muppets

I knew I was going to love the Muppet movie as how could I not? It's the Muppets. But I didn't think I would love it THIS much. It's just too good. My favorite part of it is actually not even the Muppets themselves, but Chris Cooper, who steals the show entirely. Maniacal laugh.



3. Drive

If this list was for the coolest picture of the year, Drive would be number one, no question. Its style was impeccable, its music was incredible, and the acting in it was just jaw-droppingly good. Plus, it had Bryan Cranston in it, so yeah, one of the best of the year. Love it.



2. War Horse

War Horse is incredibly mawkish and melodramatic, but it made me cry. Twice. I don't cry in movies. Ever. But War Horse made me do it. From the music, to the cinematography, to just everything about it, it's one of the most beautiful and touching films I've ever seen. It's also one of Spielberg's best.



1. The Tree of Life

My favorite film of the year (and inversely, my fiance's most hated film of the year) is probably one of the most polarizing films you'll ever see. You either love it to death, or you think it's one of the worst films you've ever seen. I pick the former. It's beautiful beyond measure and it captivated me to the very last frame. It's the only film I've ever seen where the plot was not as important as the visuals passing by. It's like a dream, a meandering, but focused, dream. The best film of the year, no question. Hell, one of the best films ever in my opinion. A masterpiece.

My Top Ten Favorite Movies

A lot of people say I have awful taste in films. But actually, no. My taste in films is amazing. It's actually better than yours. And if you don't believe me, then just check out these movies below. I think you'll tend to agree.

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10. The Tree of Life

Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%

It might be a bit early to put this in my top ten favorite films list, having come out just this year, but I was absolutely blown away when I saw it. From beginning to end, Terrence Malick's epic film is probably the only movie that I've ever seen where the overall storyline didn't even matter. It's just a beautiful movie to watch. It's a very quiet film, but also, loud in its visuals and music. It's wonderful. It's like a visual poem. Top class. A plus work. See it. If you can find it anywhere.

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9. Cool Hand Luke

RT score: 100%

The movie that got me into Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke is a landmark film. It has stellar pacing, great acting, and some of the most famous lines in film history ("What we seem to have here is a failure to communicate"). I love this film. Paul Newman's smile is vintage. One of the best movies of the 60s.

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8. Barton Fink

RT score: 90%

The Coen Bros. best film in my opinion, it's a movie about writing. Or really, a lack thereof. In other words, it's about writer's block, and man, is it weird. Two John's (John Turturro and John Goodman) steal the show in this comedy/drama. And well, I don't know what else to say about it. The ending is just surreal. It's almost just a cheap joke. But it's still classic. Just like the movie itself.

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7. There Will Be Blood

RT score: 91%

I'm actually pretty surprised this isn't on more favorites lists. It might be pretty recent (2007), but it's still one of the only films that I could watch over and over again and still find more and more to appreciate with every repeated viewing. Daniel Day Lewis does the performance of a lifetime, and the score (performed by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead fame)is tremendous. The storyline itself is just twisted, and it's brilliant in its scope and ambition. An American classic, through and through.

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6. Pulp Fiction

RT score: 94%

I think it's pretty obvious that Quentin Tarantino will never make a better film than Pulp Fiction. The shifting storyline, the untrustworthy characters, the dialogue, the ending. Everything about the film is quintessential 90s and yet, timeless at the same time (Just watch Kurosawa's Rashomon. They're practically the same movie in scope). Inglorious Bastards doesn't even come close.

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5. Midnight Cowboy

RT Score: 90%

How John Wayne beat Dustin Hoffman for best actor in 1969, I have no idea (It's all politics). Dustin Hoffman does some of the best acting I've ever seen in my entire life as Rico Ratso, and Jon Voight isn't half bad himself. It's a manly story, and yet, very sentimental and sad. It's a song for the streets. A wonderful film. Though, today, I can't see how it would be rated X. This stuff would probably be PG-13 today.

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4. Adaptation

RT score: 91%

Another film about writer's block, this one is beyond weird. Even weirder than Charlie Kaufman's previously written film, Being John Malkovich (Another great picture). In it, Nic Cage (One of my fave actors) plays, well, Charlie Kaufman. And also his made-up brother, Donald Kaufman. He's writing a script for a book about flowers, but then, the movie becomes about him writing the script, and well, just watch it. It's worth it. Chris Cooper is great as well. He won an Oscar for it and deserved it. A rarity for the Academy Awards to actually award TRUE greatness.

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3. Total Recall

RT Score: 81%

The deepest film Arnold S has ever done, I'm surprised everybody fawned over Inception and didn't go back and talk about how great this was, because really, it's the better picture. And the ending in it is an even bigger draw. Was he in the machine, or was he really a spy? Why knows? But I have my theories ("Ah, blue skies on Mars. That's a new one."). It's a brain bender. A great one.

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2. Big Trouble in Little China

RT score: 82

This is just a childhood favorite of mine. It also gets better with age. When I was younger, I actually feared some of the scenes (Especially with Lo Pan shooting light out of his eyes) but as an adult, it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen in my life. The action is ridiculous, the story is even MORE ridiculous, and it's infinitely re-watchable. I've probably seen it over 20 times. And it never gets old. Ever. Almost the perfect film.

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1. Apocalypse Now

RT score: 99%

The greatest film I've ever seen, I can't think of a movie that I could watch more than this one. Every single scene in this flick is from a director who was tortured to get his work to the screen and it shows. It's a labor to watch, but in a good way, a satisfying way. Some scenes are just hard to sit through, and some scenes make you laugh. Marlon Brando is equally hilarious and horrifying, and there are just too many moments to mention. If you haven't seen it yet, then you must. It's a landmark work. And my favorite film ever. Watch it. And if you've seen it already, watch it again. It's the best. Take a look.