If you'll remember last January, I compiled a list of all the movies I wanted to see that already had set release dates.
It's time to go back to that and list all the movies I saw this year, month by month. I'm doing kind of a then and now type thing. You might get bored. I'll try to keep you interested.
JANUARY
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE DILEMMA
THE GREEN HORNET
THE DETAILS
BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE (Tribe Called Quest doc)
BLUE VALENTINE
Summary: None of those were on my list because half of them were *technically* 2010 movies that didn't get released in SLC until January, two of them were Sundance movies and I didn't make that initial list until the 26th of January. So...
FEBRUARY
THE MECHANIC
What I said then: "Ben Foster, Jason Statham in a shitty action movie? Of course I'll see it."
What I say now: "Yep, pretty much exactly what I thought."
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
UNKNOWN
HALL PASS
MARCH
CEDAR RAPIDS
What I said then: "Because I think Ed Helms is hilarious"
What I say now: "Stick by it. I thought this movie was great."
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
What I said then: "Could be awesome, could be a laughable train wreck. Either way, it's a way to spend my Sunday night."
What I say now: "This movie was terrible. Not even laughably bad. Long and boring, it was like watching someone play a shitty video game."
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU
What I said then: "Matt Damon is great, Emily Blunt is pretty and Philip K. Dick was awesome."
What I say now: "Way too many religious undertones. Really wanted to like it, but was kind of silly."
THE LINCOLN LAWYER
LIMITLESS
APRIL
SUCKER PUNCH
What I said then: "Just to see if Zack Snyder is who I thought he was. Plus over the top action, way too much slow motion and out of nowhere sex scenes? It can't be all bad."
What I say now: "He is exactly who I thought he was and I was wrong. It was all bad. The whole thing was just awful."
I SAW THE DEVIL
YOUR HIGHNESS
What I said then: "It's either going to be hilarious or it's going to miss on every level."
What I say now: "I had no idea there was going to be THAT much weed humor in it. I don't smoke weed, so didn't do it for me."
HANNA
SCREAM 4
What I said then: "Curious to see whether they can make something good or if they should have just left it alone."
What I say now: "Probably should have just left it alone."
SUPER
MAY
FAST FIVE
THOR
What I said then: "I have faith in Kenneth Branagh."
What I say now: "My faith paid off. I loved THOR."
BRIDESMAIDS
13 ASSASSINS
JUNE
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
What I said then: "Matthew Vaughn hasn't made a bad movie yet."
What I say now: "Still hasn't. It was awesome."
SUPER 8
What I said then: "Neither has JJ Abrams."
What I say now: "Still hasn't, but maybe he shouldn't try quite so hard to be Spielberg."
TREE OF LIFE
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE HANGOVER: PART II
What I said then: "This movie will be so overhyped that there's no possible way for it to live up to the expectations. It'll still have one or two really funny parts."
What I say now: "It was exactly the same as Part I. No one tried, no one cared. It was just boring."
JULY
BEGINNERS
HORRIBLE BOSSES
TABLOID
CAPTAIN AMERICA
What I said then: "I don't have faith in Joe Johnston, but I'm hoping he surprises me."
What I say now: "He surprised me. Not great, but a fun Cap movie was all I wanted and that's what I got."
COWBOYS & ALIENS
What I said then: "Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford together will get me into the theater to see just about anything."
What I say now: "I wish they'd gotten me into the theater to see a better movie."
AUGUST
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
What I said then: "James Franco and John Lithgow battling super intelligent monkeys? Sold."
What I say now: "So much better than I thought it would be. So, so good."
30 MINUTES OR LESS
What I said then: "Reuben Fleischer (ZOMBIELAND) alone will get me in to the theater just to see if he can give me another fun hour and a half."
What I say now: "Fun, short and sweet. Really enjoyed it."
FRIGHT NIGHT
OUR IDIOT BROTHER
SEPTEMBER
ATTACK THE BLOCK
CONTAGION
What I said then: "Steven Soderbergh and Matt Damn. Don't need to know anything else."
What I say now: "Decent. Not great, but had some fantastic moments. Didn't scare me as much as it did other people."
DRIVE
What I said then: "Nicolas Winding Refn tells a story of a Hollywood stunt driver. I already bought a ticket for this."
What I say now: "Everyone should have bought a ticket for this. Might be the best movie of the year."
OCTOBER
50/50
WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?
MONEYBALL
What I said then: "I love baseball movies and this seems like it has potential."
What I say now: "Potential fulfilled. Maybe a bit too long, but I really, really liked it."
THE RUM DIARY
POINT BLANK (A BOUT PORTANT)
NOVEMBER
TOWER HEIST
MARTHA, MARCY, MAY, MARLENE
MARGIN CALL
A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR CHRISTMAS
THE MUPPETS
What I said then: "Jason Segel was handed the reins of the Muppets franchise based off Dracula The Musical in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. Absolutely nothing can go wrong."
What I say now: "Knocked it out of the park. It was the perfect reintroduction to The Muppets and I loved every second of it."
HUGO
What I said then: "Martin Scorsese. Enough said."
What I say now: "Glad I saw it, didn't think it was as amazing as it was made out to be."
DECEMBER
THE SITTER
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL
What I said then: "Brad Bird (THE SIMPSON'S, THE INCREDIBLES, IRON GIANT) makes his first live-action feature. Cautiously optimistic."
What I say now: "So much fun. Best MI movie yet and I didn't hate Tom Cruise at all. Which was shocking to me."
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
What I said then: "David Fincher. Enough said. Plus Daniel Craig. And Rooney Mara looks great."
What I say now: "Took me about half the movie to stop comparing it to the Swedish version, but still really liked it. And I'm totally on the 'I now have an enormous crush on Rooney Mara' bandwagon."
THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN
What I said then: "Because it's the only movie anyone will be talking about come December. 'Spielberg and Jackson working together?!?!?! I HAVE TO SEE IT NOW!!!!!'"
What I say now: "Waaay better than I gave it a chance to be. Really fun movie."
On the initial list that I never saw because they didn't look remotely appealing after seeing the trailer or I heard/read enough bad things to stay far away:
GNOMEO & JULIET
PAUL
SOURCE CODE
THE BEAVER
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES
GREEN LANTERN
CARS 2
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PT. 2
NOW (retitled IN TIME)
IMMORTALS
SHERLOCK HOLMES 2
WE BOUGHT A ZOO
WAR HORSE
All in all, I saw 58 movies in the theater in 2011 and none of them immediately stick out as the frontrunner for BEST OF THE YEAR. I'll probably narrow it down to a TOP 5 sometime over the next few days, and also go through the 2012 releases so keep an eye out.
What did you see last year that you absolutely loved? Anything?
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