My 2011 Best (And Worst) Pictures

I'm not watching the Oscars live. I'm recording it and plan to zoom through it, skipping over a lot of the stuff that I know won't hold my interest. If it weren't for Billy Crystal being the host I probably wouldn't watch at all. I only saw one of the Best Picture nominees, "Moneyball," and there are like 27 movies I saw that were better. At this link you'll find all the grades for the films I saw in 2011. I saw a lot fewer movies last year -- just 54 in all. A big reason for this is my schedule, with going back to work in mid-October cutting back on my free time. That, and a natural tendency for procrastination, is why this particular post is being done at the end of February.

If I should happen to see any more 2011 movies that are still in theaters, I'll update the list as needed. Until then, here are my rankings for my own personal 10 best and 5 worst movies. (Remember, if I didn't actually see it I can't include it no matter how good or bad it might be.)

My Top 10

Quick Reviews: Potter 7.2, Crazy Stupid Love, Rise/Planet of the Apes

Five movies over the last two weeks. I've let this go way too long and can't motivate myself to write separate posts for each of these, so I'm doing this in two posts.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: Pretty much everything you'd expect from the final Potter movie, even if you didn't read the books. One of the hyped moments was the first kiss between Ron and Hermione, but what I really liked was their immediate reaction once the kiss was over. My grade: B-plus.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.: Why do we need, two commas and a, period in the title.? Very good, made me laugh, a little contrived, a plot twist near the end caught me completely off-guard (although some apparently guessed it in the trailer). Ryan Gosling: yum. My grade: B-plus.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: I've dubbed this a preseboot: a prequel/sequel/reboot of the franchise. Technically it's only a reboot but this is my word. I like that it gave a plausible explanation of how the "rise" actually starts, and how the story makes you root for the apes to win. James Franco's talent is kind of wasted, though. My grade: A-minus.