|
Title
|
Weighted
Average |
Mike
|
Bill
|
Talance
|
|
| Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
8.8 |
9.0 |
8.5 |
9.0 |
|
| X-Men: First Class |
6.0
|
9.0
|
9.0
|
| |
| Thor |
5.7
|
|
9.0
|
8.0
|
|
| The Muppets |
5.7 |
9.0 |
8.0 |
||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides |
5.7
|
|
8.5
|
8.5
|
|
| Cars 2 | 5.3 |
8.0 |
8.0 |
||
| The Help |
3.2 |
9.5 |
|||
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 |
3.2 |
9.5 |
|||
| Super 8 |
3.0 |
9.0 |
|||
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows |
3.0 |
9.0 |
|||
| Rango |
3.0
|
|
|
9.0
|
|
| Captain America: The First Avenger |
2.8 |
8.5 |
|||
| Battle: Los Angeles |
2.8
|
|
|
8.5
|
|
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon |
2.8 |
8.5 |
|||
| Moneyball |
2.8 |
8.5 |
|||
| Cowboys & Aliens |
2.7 |
8.0 |
|||
| Rio |
2.7
|
|
|
8.0
|
|
| Beginners |
2.7 |
8.0 |
|||
| Source Code | 2.5 | 7.5 | |||
| The Hangover 2 |
2.5 |
7.5 | |||
| Green Lantern |
2.5 |
|
7.5 |
||
| Paranormal Activities 3 |
2.5 |
7.5 |
|||
| Unknown |
2.5 |
|
7.5 |
||
| Yogi Bear |
2.3
|
|
|
7.0
|
|
| Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 |
2.0 |
6.0 |
|
Mike
|
Bill
Popcorn Cinema 2011 |
Talance
Back Seat Movie Critic |
|
|
|
Previous year's rankings: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996.
All movie ratings are on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.
Beginners -
Weighted Average = 2.7
Bill: Here's a local director using his real-life
family drama to tell a story about love, loss and life. His father, the
head of the Oakland Museum
of Art for many years, did come out of the closet after the death of
his mother at age 75 and then (SPOILER) did die of cancer soon after.
The movie changes time periods with rapid fire--which did not please
some in the audience. It has it's true tender moments, but at the end
leaves you empty. Thinking you were going to get a lesson in follow
your heart no matter who or when, you leave the theater with a
more--"life is sure confusing, isn't it?" motto and thus, deflated. The
actors and mood here, however, are top notch--especially McGregor and
Plummer as the son and father trying to make sense of it all.
Captain America: The First Avenger -
Weighted Average = 2.8
Bill: Like the X-Men prequel, this film completely benefits and is uplifted by
it's period setting. Set in the 1940's, Captain America is a fun
ride. It's a little bit Doc Savage, (look it up), mixed with Indiana
Jones. Chris Evans, never appearing to be able to carry a deep part
in previous films, surprises here by keeping the bravado in check and
allowing Cap to be a likable character--even after he's turned into a
super soldier. The sets are great and the actors are all doing a
splendid job--I almost bumped this score to a 9.0 just based on Tommy
Lee Jones alone. It shows what strong actors can do in this genre. My
biggest issue here is the Red Skull: the villainous head of Hydra, a
scientific Nazi program. It's not Hugo Weaving that's the issue; he's
played a great villain since The Matrix. The problem is that despite
holding the power of Thor's father Odin in his grasp, his Hydra forces
seem easily defeated and the ending of the film is predetermined by the
prologue. This weak finale spoils an otherwise enjoyable movie. But
wait! Stay through the credits to see the first trailer for The
Avengers! Worth the wait for hearing Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) say
"Okay guys, you're up" alone!
Cars 2 -
Weighted Average = 5.7
Bill: I will admit up front that the original Cars is probably one of my
least favorite Pixar films. Now considering we are talking Pixar here,
we are still talking about quality and good story-telling.
Unfortunately, my favorite message from the original Cars,--slow down
and smell the roses--has been completely replaced by a James Bond spy
plot in this sequel. The film still delivers the amazing Pixar
beautiful animation and its fun to see car versions of many famous
places and people, but this "fish out of water" tale seems a bit stale
and the film is too long. Again, a so-so Pixar film is still heads and
shoulders above many other movies released. Fun, but I did look at my
watch 90-minutes in.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -
Weighted Average = 5.7
Bill: This film on my "to see" list probably had the
most to lose or win. Although I loved the first and second Pirates film,
the last film seemed
bloated and adrift. As with so many sequels, upping the ante by upping
the number of characters and the plot lines only leads to confusion and
a movie that wears out it's welcome. Although many fans were upset
that Keira Knightly and Orlando
Bloom would be missing from the newest adventure, their story arch had
been successfully ended in the last film. Replacing them for the
younger crowd are a preacher man and a mermaid! The characters seem
there just to fit the younger demo as they have little to do. Penelope
Cruz as Angelica, daughter (or is she?) of the evil pirate Blackbeard,
makes a nice foil for Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. And speaking of
Blackbeard, this is where the film runs aground. Ian McShane can play a
villain with the best of 'em, but here he's either written as the most
feared pirate ever or as comic relief. He doesn't have the well-rounded
characterization of Davy Jones (nor the CGI) and is left a bit limp.
Geoffrey Rush is always a treat and his Barbossa provides continuity
from the previous films, plus a lot of humor; he steals every scene he's
in. Of course, however, this is Depp's movie as he's in nearly every
scene. All in all, a decently fun and well-acted film. It is certainly
gorgeous as the locations are beautiful and Depp loves playing Sparrow
and it shows.
Super 8 - Weighted Average = 3.0
Bill: JJ Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg feels like a film from 20 years ago back in the hey-day of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.
It feels a bit like E.T. Meets the Goonies and there's nothing wrong
with that! In a year of loud, epic smash-ups (like Transformers),
this film dares to evolve on plot and character growth and not just on
special effects. In fact, the better scenes are the ones with the
human interactions and not the big special effects pieces (a way too
long train derailment as seen in the trailer to say "Hey, This is a
Summer Movie Too!" and an alien spaceship reconstruction). Like E.T., Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jurassic Park,
the special effects are revealed slowly to be build tense and move the
plot. It's amazing that the kids in this film are all pretty much
novices as they all hold their own quite nicely. You'll relive your
childhood with the fantasy of both what's wonderful about growing up and
what's wonderful about dreaming of what's out there. Made for $50
million, it's a profitable, albeit perhaps quite summer hit.
Thor - Weighted Average = 5.7
Bill: The first summer blockbuster out of the gate has
one advantage--not being compared to the others that get released
later! I was set to pass on Thor,
but thought the combination of the director and decent cast has some
hope. I was never a huge Thor fan as I found it often hard to have
his mythology mix with the gritty real-world of Iron Man or the
Incredible Hulk. This film, however, changed my mind. Humor,
mixed with fantasy and a touch of Shakesperean drama make Thor a fun movie. It's better than Iron Man 2--especially as it has a much better villain in Loki. Hemsworth,
Portman, Hopkins and the rest of the cast take the material seriously
but the writer's cut to some funny bits when the mood begins to get to
over the top. Watch for a sneak-peek of a certain arrow-slinging Avenger
who's not getting his own solo film as well as more after-credits set
up for The Avengers movie with Nick Fury.
X-Men: First Class - Weighted Average = 3.0
Bill: Another prequel, but low and behold--an
intelligently written and acted one! Although this particular film
in the X-Men franchise is the lowest performer, it's not a dud by any
stretch. Telling the story of the meeting of Professor X and
Magneto as young men, the movie smartly utilized the fashion, politics
and general strangeness of the 1960's. No, there's no Storm,
Cyclops or Phoenix
here, but we do get Beast, Havok and (yes!) the White Queen.
Okay, so maybe this all means more to comic fans than the general
populace, but the well-paced film flows well for the non-initiated as
well. Although I generally like Kevin Bacon and believe he's a
strong actor, he was the only weakness here and perhaps it's because he
was the most known actor in the film. Still, a good film with a
good message.