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 Review: Rango

I'm gonna keep this a bit shorter because I want to try and go to bed at a semi-decent hour, after having been up all of last night (until about 11:30 am, actually). Johnny Depp is clearly having lots of fun voicing the title character in "Rango." He's a pet chameleon whose cage is thrown from the back of the car it's in. He ends up lost in the desert, and makes his way to a town called Dirt (populated by various creatures), where water is in extremely short supply and events lead to his becoming the sheriff. It cribs from a lot of other movies -- mostly Westerns, of course, since that's what it is -- but it mixes it all up into a fun, quirky little package. By the way, although it's animated it's not the typical all-ages movie. The youngest moviegoers either will probably be bored or scared. My grade: B-plus.