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Thread: 2011 - Year in Review

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    Default 2011 - Year in Review

    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%
    Last edited by Eric; 01-06-2012 at 11:48 AM.
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    PART 2 (April-June)

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    Hop
    April 1

    • Remember when I said that studios assume that parents will go see pretty much anything with their kids? I was saying that parents won’t go see crap just because it has the word “Disney” on it. Well, that apparently doesn’t apply when it comes to animated bunnies (or chipmunks, for that matter). This movie made $120 million even though it got a 26% rating. Wow.
    • Budget: $63
    • Revenue: $184
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 26%



    Source Code
    April 1
    • The good news, is that on the same day the terrible “Hop” came out, the highest rated flick of 2011 (so far) came out. "Source Code" not only got a 92% RT rating, but audiences responded and went out to see it. It made almost $100 million.
    • Budget: $32
    • Revenue: $123
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 92%



    Arthur
    April 8
    • As if you didn’t get enough Russell Brand last week with "Hop", here’s "Arthur". Thankfully this one barely made money, and got poor ratings, so I’m guessing we’re not going to see sequels. I’ve been wrong before though…
    • Budget: $40
    • Revenue: $46
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 26%



    Your Highness
    April 8

    • I’m not sure what to make of this one. Natalie Portman, James Franco, Danny McBride, Zooey Deschenel, a stoner comedy, how did this one lose $25 million? I assumed that the critics would hate it, and they did, but was it really that bad? I haven’t seen it yet, but generally I find these ad-libbed movies with that group pretty funny. Uh oh.
    • Budget: $50
    • Revenue: $26
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 26%



    Hanna
    April 8

    • On the same day "Your Highness" and "Arthur" were sucking, a surprise came out called "Hanna". Doubled up it’s money and had a very good rating. Plus it looked pretty damn good.
    • Budget: $30
    • Revenue: $64
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 71%



    Rio
    April 15

    • Easily the biggest financial victory of 2011 up to this point, "Rio" absolutely killed in the theaters, pulling in almost $400 million in profits. My kids and I saw it and they loved it, the music was fantastic and the movie itself was very well done. Good RT rating, and I imagine we’re going to see sequels to this one…
    • Budget: $90
    • Revenue: $485
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 71%



    Scream 4
    April 15

    • Going up against "Rio" was "Scream 4", and I don’t know much about this one other than that it did very well financially and got average reviews. I’ll see it I’m just not in a rush.
    • Budget: $40
    • Revenue: $97
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 58%




    Water for Elephants
    April 22

    • Remember what I said about chick flicks? Yeah, I almost didn’t put this one the list, but it had like no competition. Would people really go see a Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson book adaptation chick flick? Oh yes they did…
    • Budget: $38
    • Revenue: $117
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 60%



    Fast Five
    April 29

    • "Fast Five" marked the beginning of the blockbuster movies of 2011. While "Rio" made $400 million, "Fast Five" came out of nowhere and profited half a billion! Surprisingly high critical reception too (78% for a fast/furious movie?!) and this was one of the biggest surprises of 2011.
    • Budget: $125
    • Revenue: $626
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 78%



    Thor
    May 6

    • I liked "Thor" but I was really expecting a lot so I wasn’t totally blown away. Everything about it was good, I don’t know why I wasn’t as big of a fan. I think it was Thor’s squinty eyes. $300 million and a extremely high RT rating for a Marvel movie made this one of the hits of 2011
    • Budget: $150
    • Revenue: $449
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 77%



    Bridesmaids
    May 13

    • Back when I created this list I put down “Priest” as the obvious winner of this weekend. I mean come on, it was totally going to crush this "Bridesmaids" Apatow flick. I was so confident, and (back in January) there was so little buzz for "Bridesmaids", I didn’t even put it on my list! I did later, once I started seeing the trailers and realizing that "Priest" looked horrible, but I had no idea how big this one would be, probably the surprise of 2011. $250 profits and a huge 90% on RT. I liked it, but it was definitely an Apatow chick flick. The fat chick absolutely stole the movie in my opinion.
    • Budget: $32.5
    • Revenue: $288
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 90%



    Priest
    May 13

    • Speaking of "Priest", how bad did this one suck? How can you miss with a vampire/kung fu movie set in the future? Oh I know, make it PG-13. Barely made any money…everyone was seeing "Bridesmaids".
    • Budget: $60
    • Revenue: $78
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 17%



    Pirates of the Cariibeean: On Stranger Tides
    May 20

    • I think a lot of people were skeptical about this one. Me included. The director (Rob Marshall) was well known in the movie industry, but not for big budget action movies, but for Broadway musical adaptations. "Chicago", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Nine", etc. How did it do? Well, it made an astounding $794 million, with revenues over a billion dollars. Incredible.
    • Budget: $250
    • Revenue: $1044
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 33%



    Hangover 2
    May 26

    • I was surprised to see this getting a sequel, and even more surprised that it was almost the same movie. I wasn’t surprised to see this thing make $500 million, but I was surprised that it only got 35% on RT.
    • Budget: $80
    • Revenue: $581
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 35%



    Kung Fu Panda 2
    May 28

    • I knew my movie blog was in trouble at this point, because "Thor", "Pirates 4", "Hangover 2", "Fast Five" and "Bridesmaids" were absolutely killing it in the movie industry and I hadn’t seen or written a review for one of them. But I saw "Kung Fu Panda 2" opening weekend and wrote a review immediately! Great movie, 81% RT rating and made $500 million. I loved it, and am happy to say that tonight my girls’ movie tonight (the 15-30 minute “cool down” after reading books is watching a movie) was "Kung Fu Panda 2". Safe to say they weren’t cooling down as they were jumping on their beds doing kung fu…but at least it’s not the Teletubbies. /shudder.
    • Budget: $150
    • Revenue: $666
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 81%



    X-Men: First Class
    June 3

    • I shouldn’t be as surprised about this one being so good as I was. Matthew Vaughn makes enjoyable movies ("Layer Cake", "Stardust", "Kick-Ass"), and after "X-Men: Wolverine" there was nowhere to go but up. I didn’t realize how high up this one would go, but an 87% RT rating for a Marvel film is huge, and the masses responded by helping it make $200 million. Hope this gets them back on track…my only complaint was how awful Beast looked (he was a muppet!)
    • Budget: $160
    • Revenue: $354
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 87%



    Super 8
    June 10

    • Don’t ask me why I have’t seen this yet. I loved "Cloverfield". I loved "Lost". I think Abrams is awesome and I even loved "Friday Night Lights" and Kyle Chandler. Steve Spielberg? I don’t care if his name is just in the "Executive Producer" line, that little bastard is responsible for some of the best movies ever. That’s it, bumping this to #1 and watching this weekend. Anyway, made monstrous money ($200 million) and an 82% RT rating.
    • Budget: $50
    • Revenue: $259
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 87%



    Green Lantern
    June 17

    • Oof. I feel bad for Ryan Reynolds…that’s two comic book characters he’s destroyed. Green Lantern is a tough super hero to start with, and the movie looked average at best. I was skeptical but then I started seeing the trailers and figured it would be okay. Almost a huge flop, barely made it’s money back and 27% on RT…ouch.
    • Budget: $200
    • Revenue: $220
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 27%



    Mr. Poppers Penguins

    • Poor "Green Lantern". The non-geeks were left with a mediocre Jim Carrey flick and I’m guessing they all kinda just shrugged their shoulders and went “Okay fine, we’ll see this crap instead of that 'Green Lantern' crap”. Took $130 million of "Green Lantern’s" profits!
    • Budget: $55
    • Revenue: $188
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 48%



    Bad Teacher
    June 24

    • Wow, I cannot believe how much pull Jason Segal, Timberlake and Cameron Diaz have. This movie looked awful and it almost made $200 million.
    • Budget: $20
    • Revenue: $216
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 44%



    Cars 2

    • Ah Pixar, you finally hit a speed bump. <---SEE WHAT I DID THAR?!? "Cars" wasn’t my favorite Pixar movie, but that’s like saying it wasn’t my favorite meat lover’s pizza. Pixar is generally the studio that I compare most to Blizzard. They release polished products, they don’t mass produce garbage, their products have that “this is my life’s work” feel to them. Look on RT and find the lowest rated Pixar movie (other than this one) and you’ll be surprised. My girls and I went to see it and they were undwhelmed and I was annoyed. It wasn’t that it was awful, it’s not THAT bad, it’s just that it wasn’t a Pixar movie. It had adult themes (complex spy movie double crosses, a torture scene (no really!), and the plot revolves around an oil company out to prove that a green gasoline is bad (again, really!)) This was a miss by Pixar, no doubt about it. It made $350 million, but a 38% RT rating is enough that this will be remembered as one of Pixar’s worst.
    • Budget: $200
    • Revenue: $552
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 38%



    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    June 29

    • I’m sorry, but can you believe that movies are making a BILLION dollars nowadays? It’s mind blowing. Don’t get me wrong, WoW has made like TEN billion dollars over the last 7 years, but it still amazes me. Now "Transformers 3" here almost made a billion dollars in PROFIT. That alone is astounding, considering there’s also all the money to be made from video games, toys, t-shirts, etc. Subtract the massive marketing and it’s still quite a feat. Anyway, TF3 was actually fairly decent for a Transformers movie. I wrote that Michael Bay has created his own genre of actually finding the most loud, confusing and obnoxious way to blow shit up on screen, but this one actually had a little more control than TF2 which was just obscene by comparison. Thankfully this was (allegedly) his last one, so I’m assuming we’ll get a part 4 in a couple years by a young, creative director and we’ll all be watching a Transformers movie and asking ourselves why we’re enjoying it so much when there are 83% less explosions and lens flares on screen.
    • Budget: $195
    • Revenue: $1124
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
    Last edited by Eric; 01-06-2012 at 11:53 AM.
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    PART 3 (July-September)

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    Larry Crowne
    July 1

    • This one looked a lot better on paper; Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in a heartwarming comedy. Then I saw the trailers and was underwhelmed.
    • Budget: $30
    • Revenue: $60
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 34%



    Horrible Bosses
    July 8

    • Gunning for the surprise of the year award, here was "Horrible Bosses", another movie that I didn’t expect to do nearly as well as it did.
    • Budget: $37
    • Revenue: $210
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 69%



    Zookeeper
    July 8

    • As horrible as this movie looks, I expected that it would be the one to make almost $200 million, not "Horrible Bosses". An amazing 14% on RT, yet somehow this one still managed to almost make $100 million.
    • Budget: $80
    • Revenue: $170
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 14%



    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
    July 15

    • Coming in with not only the highest revenue of the year, but also the 2nd highest RT score for the entire year, the finale to the Harry Potter series didn’t disappoint. Over a billion $ in profits and a 96% RT score easily make this the biggest and best of 2011, and a worthy end to the series. I’ve long been disappointed with the HP movies, so I was glad when the final 2 ended up being excellent movies.
    • Budget: $250
    • Revenue: $1328
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 96%



    Winnie The Pooh
    July 15

    • A surprise that this made so little money, considering how high of a score it got, but going up against Harry Potter’s finale, and I just don’t feel that the Winnie the Pooh series will ever be as popular as it once was.
    • Budget: $30
    • Revenue: $33
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 91%



    Captain America
    July 22

    • I was honestly a bit worried about this one. I mean we’d already gotten 2 really good Marvel movies, and "Captain America" was the lead-in to potentially the biggest comic book movie of all time, "The Avengers". It really needed to be good to build the buzz for this year’s Avengers, but when I saw the trailers I wasn’t blown away. I don’t know what it was about this movie but I just wasn’t all that excited to see it. When I did I was impressed that it was a good movie, and the trailers didn’t do it justice, but I still wasn’t absolutely blown away. Much like "Thor", I just couldn’t get into Chris Evans as Captain America. I don’t know what it was, it just felt a bit awkward. Maybe because I thought he was a good Human Torch…I don’t know. Anyway, it ended up being good, made $200 million and now we wait for "The Avengers"…
    • Budget: $140
    • Revenue: $369
    • Rotten Tomatoes: %79



    Friends with Benefits
    July 15

    • Remember when you heard about that movie with one of the chicks from "Black Swan" about 2 friends who decided to get together just for sex? Yeah, that one came out in January too, when Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher made "No Strings Attached" ($150 million, 49% RT). Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake took a shot at the same movie here in July and guess what? $150 million, but a much higher ranking (71%). Still, have any one of you seen either of these? Do you have any desire to?
    • Budget: $35
    • Revenue: $150
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 71%



    Cowboys & Aliens
    July 29

    • Wow. You’d think that Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and a movie directed by Jon Favreau had surefire hit written all over it. If I told you there was a movie that profited almost $450 million this weekend, you’d just assume it was "Cowboys & Aliens", right? Almost becoming a flop, this big budget alien western failed to deliver much in terms of profitability, and a poor 44% rating leave this one on the “Meh’ list.
    • Budget: $163
    • Revenue: $175
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 44%



    The Smurfs
    July 29

    • And here is the movie that made $450 million dollars, ensuring that we’ll see a sequel filled with awfulness. 24% on RT, but that didn’t stop this one…damn that Dr. Horrible, he can make people watch anything!
    • Budget: $110
    • Revenue: $563
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 24%



    Crazy, Stupid, Love
    July 29

    • In a surprise, this romantic comedy came out of nowhere, opened against ridiculous competition, and came out $100 million ahead and with the highest rating of the weekend.
    • Budget: $45
    • Revenue: $143
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 78%



    Rise of the Planet of the Apes
    August 5

    • Back when I wrote the 100 of ’11, this one was still called “Ceaser: Planet of the Apes” or something equally terrible. They ended up going with the mouthful “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, which was laughable, but once I started seeing the trailers and once the buzz started, I felt the need to go see this one. And I did, and it was fantastic. Made almost $400 million, an 83% rating, is easily one of the surprises of 2011. While some people *cough* Stryder, got caught up in the message, I was absolutely amazed by the CGI of the apes…and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this walked away with the Academy Award for best special effects.
    • Budget: $93
    • Revenue: $481
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 83%



    The Change-Up
    August 5

    • Ugh…this one looked horrible, and apparently it is.
    • Budget: $52
    • Revenue: $71
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 24%



    Final Destination 5
    August 12

    • Really? There are 5 of these now? /Insert joke about using the word FINAL in the title of a movie on it’s 5th iteration. I guess the biggest question is: how can these movies still make $100 million!?
    • Budget: $40
    • Revenue: $158
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 60%



    30 Minutes Or Less
    August 12

    • Again, another one that looked really good on paper: Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, dark comedy, should be good, right? Meh.
    • Budget: $28
    • Revenue: $39
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 43%



    Conan The Barbarian
    August 19

    • Is it wrong that I’m happy that this is one of the biggest flops of 2011? Not only did it get a pathetic 23% on RT but it also lost $40 million. Maybe it’s because I just don’t think "Conan" really needed to be remade, and definitely not remade with some random, non-Ahnold dude, but I think the remake is almost as lazy as the comic book movie nowadays.
    • Budget: $90
    • Revenue: $49
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 23%



    Fright Night
    August 19

    • I struggled with putting this on the list, considering that I’m bitching about "Conan" (a remake), why would I be encouraged by a "Fright Night" remake? First of all, it actually looked decent, and second I think it had a much better cast. That Anton Yelchin dude is good, and hey, is that Dr. Who? McLovin? Oh yeah and Colin Farrell. Barely made any money but at least it got a decent RT score.
    • Budget: $30
    • Revenue: $37
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 75%



    Colombiana
    August 26

    • I fully admit that I put this on the list because I was turned on by Zoe Saldana shooting things and punching people, not because of the content of this movie. Looked almost like the formulaic revenge movie, but damn that girl is hot.
    • Budget: $40
    • Revenue: $61
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 28%



    Our Idiot Brother
    August 26

    • I admit that I didn’t put this on the list, because when I read about it I chuckled at a Paul Rudd indie comedy. A 68% RT rating, and a movie that makes 5x it’s budget shouldn’t be dismissed though.
    • Budget: $5
    • Revenue: $25
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 68%



    Apollo 18
    September 2

    • This one snuck into 2011, as I watched it get bounced around and delayed throughout the year. Mainly the reason that it’s on this list is because of Timur Bekmambetov (director of "Wanted", "Night Watch") who was a producer. I figured this would be better than it ended up being with him attached, and don’t get me wrong this one also made 5x it’s budget, but it’s low RT score means it’ll be quickly forgotten.
    • Budget: $5
    • Revenue: $26
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 25%



    Contagion
    September 9

    • Although we pretty much saw the entire movie in the trailers (or so I thought) this one still doubled it’s budget and got a very high 84% rating. Another amazing weekend, with 3 movies that came out with RT scores higher than 80%.
    • Budget: $60
    • Revenue: $135
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 84%



    Warrior
    September 9

    • I’m truly surprised this one didn’t do as well as it did, with a good cast, good buzz and a high RT rating.
    • Budget: $25
    • Revenue: $23
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 82%



    Drive
    September 9

    • Coming out of nowhere was this Ryan Gosling flick that is apparently graphically violent, but ended up with one of the highest RT scores of the year, 93%, along with huge profits for its $13 million budget.
    • Budget: $13
    • Revenue: $68
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 93%



    Moneyball
    September 23

    • Who knew that a Brad Pitt movie about the numbers behind creating a baseball team would end up being one of the highest ranked movies of 2011? "Moneyball" made $50 million, and carries a sick 95% RT score…will it get Oscar buzz?
    • Budget: $50
    • Revenue: $104
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 95%



    Abduction
    September 23

    • The runner up for the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the year, this Taylor Lautner pathetic effort comes in with an astounding 4% score. Not surprisingly, it made money, as I think they could just film him wandering around with his shirt off for 2 hours and the Twilight gals would see it. Sad…but not so sad as the film that got a 3% score…
    • Budget: $35
    • Revenue: $82
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 4%



    Killer Elite
    September 23

    • So you didn’t want to see a drama about baseball numbers with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, and you’re not a Twilight tween, so what is left for you? How about an action movie about dueling assassins starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert Deniro! Actually that sounds really good, but the 25% RT score shows that apparently this one stinks…and is why it lost money.
    • Budget: $66
    • Revenue: $53
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 25%



    Red State
    September 23

    • Only on here because there are some Kevin Smith fans, I did not originally include this in the 100 of 11. I hear it’s actually kinda good, in a weird way, but it failed to do anything financially. Someone see it and let us know how it is!
    • Budget: $4
    • Revenue: $1
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 57%



    50/50
    September 30

    • I am torn by this movie because it has Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who I am unashamed to admit I have a man-crush on, and Seth Rogen who seems like he’s a placeholder simply here to make money. The good news is that this has one of the top RT scores of the year, so I’m sure it’s really good, but I’m still torn. Made good money for a super low budget movie, so it’s on my list…
    • Budget: $8
    • Revenue: $39
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 93%



    What’s Your Number?
    September 30

    • Remember when I said I don’t put many chick flicks on my list? Well I am unashamed to admit I have a crush on Anna Farris, so I put this on here long before I saw the trailers. God it looks horrible.
    • Budget: $20
    • Revenue: $30
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 24%
    Last edited by Eric; 01-06-2012 at 11:58 AM.
    Boondock

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    is playing MLB The Show Eric's Avatar
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    PART 4 (October-December)

    -------------


    Real Steel
    October 1

    • Trying to kick off the fall movie season, here is "Real Steel", that got heavily hyped and promoted throughout the year. Looked like a heartwarming mix of a sci-fi "Rocky" and a movie about a kid and Hugh Jackman as the father figure, it definitely made money ($160 million), but it didn’t get very high scores.
    • Budget: $110
    • Revenue: $276
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 58%



    Ides of March
    October 1

    • This movie on the other hand, did get high marks, scoring 86% on RT, and making a lot of money for it’s low budget. Typical George Clooney, playing pretty much the same cool guy that he plays in ever movie, but I’m still interested in seeing it.
    • Budget: $12.5
    • Revenue: $55
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 86%



    Footloose
    October 14

    • This weekend made me sad. Two remakes, one of them getting a terrible score and barely making it’s money back, and the other one is Footloose. First of all, did we really need this to be remade? No. Just make your own original movie about dancing…it seems to work with the "Step Up" franchise. But I guess it’s okay (71% RT) and it made good money, so what can I say other than that I won’t be seeing this one.
    • Budget: $24
    • Revenue: $62
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 71%



    The Thing
    October 14

    • While I was happy that "Conan" failed, I was not happy that this one failed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that a remake failed and hopefully that means they’ll think twice before remaking everything, but I would have much preferred "Footloose" to bomb royally.
    • Budget: $35
    • Revenue: $28
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 35%



    Paranormal Activity 3
    October 21

    • This is one of the few horror flicks I’ll put on these lists because they make unbelievable money and apparently scare the bejeesus out of people. I mean this movie’s budget was FIVE MILLION DOLLARS and it made TWO HUNDRED. How can you possibly do better than this? I think the quality is starting to diminish, but still, a horror flick that pulls in that kind of profits along with a 67% RT score still has some legs.
    • Budget: $5
    • Revenue: $203
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 67%



    The Three Musketteers
    October 21

    • When I saw this trailer I literally laughed. It looked embarrassingly bad. 24% RT score, yet somehow it doubled it’s $75 million budget. How? Who saw this?
    • Budget: $75
    • Revenue: $132
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 24%



    Johnny English Reborn
    October 21

    • I really, really didn’t want this movie to appear on the list. It makes me sad that this movie made over $100 million because that means we’re probably going to see more of this guy…
    • Budget: $45
    • Revenue: $158
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 38%



    Puss in Boots
    October 28

    • I’m surprised this movie didn’t do better. Don’t get me wrong, $260 million profit is nothing to balk at, but I figured with the positive reviews (82% RT) and the "Shrek" audience, it would do much better. My kids enjoyed it. I’ll say this though, while I love Zach Galifniakifiakfias, he definitely doesn’t have a voice for animated movies. It’s not that it was bad, it’s that it was plain. You need a voice that has something unique about it and his just sounded like some random dude.
    • Budget: $130
    • Revenue: $391
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 82%



    In Time
    October 28

    • Man Justin Timberlake was busy this year! "Bad Teacher", "Friends with Benefits" and the lead in "In Time", which made itself a decent $100 million despite it’s 37% RT score.
    • Budget: $40
    • Revenue: $133
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 37%



    Tower Heist
    November 4

    • Another flick that I can’t believe made money. I mean really, did any of you see this in the theater? Do you know anyone who did? And yet it made back it’s $85 million dollar budget plus another $50 million. Then again, I thought it would score way lower than 68% on RT, so maybe it’s better than the trailers looked because man this looked AWFUL.
    • Budget: $85
    • Revenue: $127
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 68%



    A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
    November 4

    • See this is why I’m surprised that "Your Highness" failed. The stoners usually come out in droves for these movies, but here’s what surprised me the most: this movie got a 70% score on Rotten tomatoes. That means critics actually scored this one high, meaning it must actually be funny. I didn’t even see the Guantanamo Bay one (I don’t think anyway, I may have forgotten it), but hey look, there’s Neil Patrick Harris, no wonder this one was a success…
    • Budget: $19
    • Revenue: $35
    • Rotten Tomatoes: %70



    Immortals
    November 11

    • This one looked like it trying to be "300" all over again, but it didn’t score all that well. It made over $100 million, so that’s good, but a 36% score and I suddenly didn’t have the strong desire to rush out and see this.
    • Budget: $75
    • Revenue: $196
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 36%



    Jack & Jill
    November 11

    • And here it is, the worst film of 2011, with an incredible THREE percent score from Rotten Tomatoes. Never mind that it actually had almost 90 million dollars in revenue (seriously, WTF?!?), this one looked like one of the worst movies ever made.
    • Budget: $79
    • Revenue: $88
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 3%



    J. Edgar
    November 11

    • I didn’t originally have this on my list because I heard nothing about it until it was suddenly being released. Clint Eastwood directing, and I have heard that DiCaprio is good, but the movie itself is not.
    • Budget: $35
    • Revenue: $36
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 42%



    Happy Feet 2
    November 18

    • I’m extremely surprised that this one didn’t do better, considering that the first one made like $200 million. This one actually lost money (so far), but didn’t score extremely low…
    • Budget: $135
    • Revenue: $122
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 44%



    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 1)
    November 18

    • I have a confession to make: I read the Twilight series. I hated them, but I read them. I’m one of those weirdos who wants to read the books that popular movies are based off of (For example, I’m right in the middle of the Song of Ice and Fire series ("Game of Thrones"), I’m reading Hunger Games next for it’s 2012 film release, etc.). Now Twilight is interesting to me because the first book was horrendous, and the movie was even worse. The second book was bad, but nowhere as bad as the first, and the 2nd movie actually didn’t suck as tremendously as the first one. The third book and movie were about the same as the second one, forgettable garbage, but I could see them getting at least a little better. I guess someone told them that if you’re going to make that kind of money, you should probably release a decent product. Now here’s my guilty confession: I actually enjoyed the 2nd half of the final book. Yes, I know how gay that makes me Joe, but if you haven’t read the books, just wait until you see the movie (part 2, that is). It actually has an enjoyable concept, and while I won’t say it made the reading experience worthwhile, it definitely made it a relief that I finally found some enjoyment at the end. That being said, the first ½ of book 4 was at least different than the previous 3, so I will see this movie when it comes out on Blu-Ray, but I fully expect it to be crap. At least they split it into two movies so (hopefully) the last one is semi-decent. I doubt it though…these things have never scored higher than 49%, and that was the very first one which I thought was the worst!
    • Budget: $110
    • Revenue: $654
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 26%



    The Muppets
    November 23

    • Another amazing weekend, by far the best movie release weekend of the year if you’re a critic; 3 movies with RT scores of 92% or higher. Starting with "The Muppets", the highest scored movie of 2011. While it didn’t make a ton of money, it did double it’s budget and hopefully kickstarted the Muppets again for a new generation. That Jason Segal…man is he shaping Hollywood or what?
    • Budget: $45
    • Revenue: $86
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 97%



    Hugo
    November 23

    • Martin Scorsese, 94% RT score (one of the top 5 of 2011). That should be all that has to be said, but this movie has lost almost $100 million! A massive financial flop so far, but I think it might get a second wind when it gets nominated for best picture, best director, etc.
    • Budget: $150
    • Revenue: $53
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 94%



    Arthur Christmas
    November 23

    • If I had to guess which $100 million budgeted movie released this weekend was going to fail, financially, I would’ve guessed this one. Looked cheesy, but a 92% RT score, and it made it’s $100 million budget back and then some…
    • Budget: $100
    • Revenue: $134
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 92%



    New Years Eve
    December 9

    • This one is amazing to me, because with this cast, how could you possibly get a 7% score from Rotten Tomoatoes? I mean really, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Robert DeNiro, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Sara Jessica horseface, Michell Pfieffer, Hillary Swank, even Zac Efron. 7%?!?
    • Budget: $56
    • Revenue: $83
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 7%



    The Sitter
    December 9

    • Proof that Jonah Hill is not bulletproof, I put this movie on here long before I started to see the crappy trailers and uninspired look/feel of this one. Interesting follow up to the previous weekend, where all 3 scored in the top 10 for 2011, the big releases of this weekend were garbage.
    • Budget: $25
    • Revenue: $21
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 25%



    Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
    December 16

    • Wow. Mission Impossible 1-3 scored as follows: 61%, 57%, 70%. Part 4? A whopping 93% RT score, making it one of the highest rated movies of 2011. It’s still in the theater, so it could make even more than the $150 it’s already profited, but I’ll say that if you haven’t seen this one you really should go see it in the theater. The Burj tower scene alone is pretty good, but as a whole it’s just a great action flick, and well worth your $10. Plus the lady in it is…wow.
    • Budget: $145
    • Revenue: $294
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 93%



    Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
    December 16

    • Also opening this weekend is the sequel to the surprise hit "Sherlock Holmes", which I was very surprised to enjoy as much as I did. I have heard mixed reviews about this one, but as a whole it’s getting decent scores and is still making money
    • Budget: $125
    • Revenue: $153
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 59%



    Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
    December 16

    • I keep waiting for these movies to become so bad that even the kids don’t want to see them, but yet again it’s profitable. My kids liked this one, but wow was it bad.
    • Budget: $80
    • Revenue: $111
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 13%



    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    December 21

    • I won’t be surprised when this one gets nominated for lots of awards. By far one of the better movies of 2011, and if you haven’t seen this one you really should go. It’s extremely dark, disturbing and well executed, but by far you need to see Rooney Mara absolutely own her role, and she is pretty much a lock for the Acadamy Award.
    • Budget: $90
    • Revenue: $65 (Still in theaters)
    • Rotten Tomatoes: %86



    The Adventures of Tintin
    December 21

    • Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg in a $135 million budgeted movie. Yeah, I’m interested, but I went to see Dragon Tattoo instead…and wasn’t sad. I’ll see this one at home. I hear it’s good, decent score and it’s already made a ton of money.
    • Budget: $135
    • Revenue: $267 (still in theaters)
    • Rotten Tomatoes: %75



    We Bought A Zoo
    December 23

    • Ugh. I wrestled with this one when I heard about it, and really hoped it would slip to 2012 so I wouldn’t have to put it on here. Based on a heartwarming true story with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johanasson, I’m sure I’ll see it eventually.
    • Budget: $50
    • Revenue: $50 (still in theaters)
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 63%



    War Horse
    December 25

    • Spielberg directed Oscar contender, I’ve heard it’s really good but it’s not doing so hot financially.
    • Budget: $70
    • Revenue: $50 (still in theaters)
    • Rotten Tomatoes: %76



    The Darkest Hour
    December 25

    • Hate to end with this crap, but it looked/sounded a lot better than apparently it is.
    • Budget: $30
    • Revenue: $14 (Still in theaters)
    • Rotten Tomatoes: 13%



    -------------

    Congrats! You made it through the list! Watch for "The 100 of '11" coming soon!
    Last edited by Eric; 01-06-2012 at 12:03 PM.
    Boondock

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    is playing MLB The Show Eric's Avatar
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    (Yes I know there are some broken links...there's an upload limit...will fix tomorrow)
    Boondock

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    Senior Member Kyrillian's Avatar
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    Yea I got into an arguement with that guy who commented on your Gnomeo and Juliet lol. I think it morphed into an arguement about how much the Farrelly brothers suck now.

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    is playing MLB The Show Eric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kyrillian View Post
    ...I think it morphed into an arguement about how much the Farrelly brothers suck now.
    And I have to agree...look at how bad "The Three Stooges" looks. Dear God man...
    Boondock

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    Administrator Klaus's Avatar
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    I missed A LOT of movies this year. Will catch up on a ton this winter. We did go to "We bought a Zoo" last weekend (yes, Michelle got to pick). It was decent but it's a pretty sad movie with Michelle crying no less then three times....

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    Cynic Jomama's Avatar
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    lmao... you READ twilight......

    If you really want some Mormon indoctrination I can point you in the right direction without having to suffer through that tween garbage... I think you left your favorite off your list, the Justin Bieber movie...

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    Administrator Klaus's Avatar
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    I read a couple of the books too. She's not the best writer but they were entertaining.

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