2011 - Year in Review

[Eric]

First things first, hello again, Noncompliance! As I'm sure you were all aware as you were all avidly reading and following my movie blog (http://nielsonratings.wordpress.com/), 2011 was the year I tried to switch from posting here on Noncompliance to posting on a Wordpress blog. It wasn't a bad experience, I just couldn't keep up with it. I liked certain parts of Wordpress but as a whole it was irritating and wasn't much of a "movie blog" considering I only saw like 5 movies in the theater. And considering that 95% of my readers are from this site, I figured this is a better home for this stuff. At least I know Klauso enjoys these posts.

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2011 – Year in Review

The 100 of ‘11


Every year I pick out about 100 notable movies for the year that look enjoyable & interesting (to me), or I assume they’ll be either the best reviewed or make the most money…or both. Note that I’m not a huge horror fan, so I generally gloss over Halloween 9 or Saw 18, but I acknowledge that some of those flicks do make good money and have a huge fanbase. I also don’t put a large number of the artsy, indie or chick flicks on here. I’m not saying they’re bad, I just focus on the big releases. Watch over the next couple days, I’m trying to knock out the year in review and the “100 of ‘12”…and level my god damn Sith in TOR.

(Movies are listed by release date)

PART 1 (Jan-Mar)


Season of the Witch
January 7

• Nic Cage movie that got delayed from 2010 and eventually released here in January, an incredible 10% Rotten Tomatoes rating but it actually made money!
• Budget: $40 million
• Revenue: $92 million
• Rotten Tomatoes: 10%

The Green Hornet
January 14

• I blasted this movie on my Rotten Tomatoes review, I really disliked it, but it made almost $100 million so we’re probably going to get an awful sequel someday.
• Budget: $120 million
• Revenue: $228 million
• Rotten Tomatoes: 44%

No Strings Attached
Jan 21

• Boy Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher can make money! $125 million profit!
• Budget: $25
• Revenue: $148
• Rotten Tomatoes: 49%

The Mechanic
Jan 28

• I haven’t seen this one but I heard that Jason Statham punches people.
• Budget: $40
• Revenue: $51
• Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

The Rite
Jan 28

• Anthony Hopkins thriller that actually did quite well despite it’s 19% RT rating. Plus you kinda see everything in the trailer…
• Budget: $37
• Revenue: $96
• Rotten Tomatoes: 19%

Sanctum
Feb 4

• I had no desire to see this movie, but I guess throwing down the “produced by James Cameron” helped it make $70 million.
• Budget: $30
• Revenue: $109
• Rotten Tomatoes: 30%

Gnomeo & Juliet
Feb 11

• I’ll never forget this terrible movie because it was the first time some random person commented on my movie blog. I guessed that the whole Elton John music combined with an animated movie & slapstick humor would make a ton of money, and someone randomly commented that it would be a box office bomb (I believe Rich came flying in out of nowhwere to argue with this guy, too lol). Well, it almost made $200 million, and I did see it eventually on a free HBO preview (my kids wanted to!) and it was really pretty lame. But hey, we were right about it making money!
• Budget: $10
• Revenue: $194
• Rotten Tomatoes: 56%

Just Go With It
Feb 11

• Adam Sandler is amazing. I think he’s fully accepted that he makes awful movies, so at this point I’m guessing he goes to work and whenever he reads a script and goes “Oh my god that is the worst!” he also says “I’m going to make that movie”. And then he makes hundreds of millions of dollars. Case in point, Sandler, Jennifer Anniston, Brooklyn Decker, 19% Rotten Tomatoes and profits of $130 million.
• Budget: $800
• Revenue: $215
• Rotten Tomatoes: 19%

I Am Number Four
Feb 18

• I had high hopes for this movie. I thought the trailers were solid, and I figured it was going to take the Twi-hards and actually show them what a decent movie looked like. Well, it got the audience, almost making $100 million, but apparently it sucked.
• Budget: $50
• Revenue: $146
• Rotten Tomatoes: 32%

Unknown
Feb 18

• Another one of these Liam Neeson flicks like “Taken”, came out of nowhere, got decent reviews and made huge money.
• Budget: $40
• Revenue: $135
• Rotten Tomatoes: 55%

Drive Angry
Feb 25

• And as if "Season of the Witch" and it’s 10% Rotten Tomatoes rating wasn’t enough, here’s another Nic Cage flick 1 month later, and the first bomb on this list. Surprisingly, it has an average 45% RT rating, but it lost $20 million.
• Budget: $50
• Revenue: $29
• Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

Hall Pass
Feb 25

• I figured this one would do well, and it did, but I didn’t think it would be as bad and as predictable as it was. I didn’t enjoy it, and thought it could have been so much better, plus I was really hoping to see more of Jenna Fischer.
• Budget: $36
• Revenue: $83
• Rotten Tomatoes: 35%

Rango
March 4

• The highest rated by Rotten Tomatoes for the year so far, with an impressive 88%, and it made a solid $110 million. I was honestly surprised it did so well because I thought the marketing was awful and the trailers looked average. Can’t stop Depp & Verbinski, I guess.
• Budget: $135
• Revenue: $243
• Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

The Adjustment Bureau
March 4

• I actually left this one off my original "100 of ’11" because I didn’t think it was going to be any good. Looked cheesy, and I didn’t think people would be interested, but this is proof that if the movie is good, people will see it. 72% RT rating and made $75 million
• Budget: $50
• Revenue: $128
• Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

Beastly
March 4

• I had this one on the 2010 list as well, but it got pushed back from 2010 to March of 2011. Either way I should’ve removed it from the list. Looked awful, totally missed the teenage girl crowd, barely made anything and got 19% on RT.
• Budget: $17
• Revenue: $29
• Rotten Tomatoes: 19%

Take Me Home Tonight
March 4

1. Wishful thinking on this one, the 2nd financial bomb on this list. I was really hoping it would be good because I like Topher Grace and Anna Farris (see "What's Your Number" below). Nope.
2. Budget: $19
3. Revenue: $7
4. Rotten Tomatoes: 28%

Battle: Los Angeles
March 11

• I was really, really excited about this one. I thought the trailers looked great & the concept was one I could get my head around (grunts in the streets battling with the aliens), but it fell flat. I can’t say it is a failure, because it made a ton of money, but it just wasn’t that good. I think with a movie like this you have to go for the hard R rating like District 9 did. How many of you knew just how good District 9 was going to be, and how many expected it to be as bloody and violent? You can’t do a alien war movie with massive casualties and a PG-13 rating. It’s just silly.
• Budget: $70
• Revenue: $211
• Rotten Tomatoes: 35%

Mars Needs Moms
March 11

• I want you all to remember this movie because it will probably be the last time you see this type of animation used in a film again. You know, the type of animation used in "The Polar Express"…that weird facial animation where they take real actors and put their faces into an animated flick. Just creepy, and this one looked horrible. Possibly the biggest bust of the year too, losing a whopping $110 million. That’s what you get for just assuming that parents will take their kids to see anything with the word “Disney” attached to it.
• Budget: $150
• Revenue: $40
• Rotten Tomatoes: 37%

Red Riding Hood
March 11

• Another garbage movie (11% RT one of the worst of 2011), this is proof that the director of the first "Twilight" movie is an absolute no talent piece of crap female director, and that she doesn’t deserve the distinction of having the biggest opening day ever for a female director ("Twilight").
• Budget: $42
• Revenue: $89
• Rotten Tomatoes: 11%

The Lincoln Lawyer
March 18

• "The Lincoln Lawyer" is the first film for this interesting weekend of 3 highly rated films. Doubled it’s money and a huge 84% RT rating. I remember when Shortkross saw this flick he liked it.
• Budget: $40
• Revenue: $86
• Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Limitless
March 18

• Matthew McConaghy AND Bradley Cooper on the same weekend? Women moviegoers were busy! A 69% RT rating and a ton of profits (almost $150 million!) prove that Bradley Cooper is so hot right now.
• Budget: $27
• Revenue: $162
• Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Paul
March 18

• I was a bit worried about this movie when I saw it’s competition. Both "The Lincoln Lawyer" and "Limitless" looked better, and while I trust Simon Pegg & Nick Frost I just didn’t think there’d be enough geeks to support this one. I was wrong, it did very well (better profits than "The Lincoln Lawyer") and got a great RT rating (better than "Limitless").
• Budget: $40
• Revenue: $98
• Rotten Tomatoes: 71%

Sucker Punch
March 25

• Ah Sucker Punch, how you let me down. I had this one pegged as the “Watchmen” of 2011. I was so confident that this was going to be a success that I put it on my top 10 of 2011 before I even saw it. And then I saw it…and was sad. I was still arguing for this movie’s potential even after it came out on Blu-Ray but eventually I had to accept the fact that it’s just a bad movie that could've been so much better.
• Budget: $82
• Revenue: $90
• Rotten Tomatoes: 23%