2011 - Year in Review

[Eric]

PART 4 (October-December)

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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%

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Congrats! You made it through the list! Watch for "The 100 of '11" coming soon!