My Ten Favorite Movies of 2011
Below is a list of my ten favorite movies (and one "Honorable Mention") that were released in 2011. I suspect that not one will be an Oscar contender:
MY TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2011
1. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" - Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, as they try to prevent Professor James Moriarty from starting a world war for profit.
2. "Captain America: The First Avenger" - Chris Evans stars as the first Marvel Comics superhero, Captain America. Directed by Joe Johnston, the movie also stars Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones.
3. "The Debt" - John Madden directed this excellent remake of an Israeli thriller about a secret that hangs over three Mossad agents who had been assigned to capture a Nazi war criminal back in the 1960s. Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain star.
4. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - David Fincher directed this superb adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel about a Swedish journalist and an eccentric young hacker, who investigate a 40 year-old mystery. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara star.
5. "Battle: Los Angeles" - Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez star in this science-fiction thriller about a platoon of U.S. Marines battling invading aliens in Los Angeles.
6. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" - In this fourth MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movie, Ethan Hunt and his new team go rogue to clear IMF's name, when the agency is implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin. Directed by Brad Bird, Tom Cruise stars.
7. "Cowboys and Aliens" - Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford star in this adaptation of a graphic novel about a New Mexican community in 1873 that battles an invading force of aliens.
8. "Limitless" - Neil Burger directed this excellent tale about a writer who discovers a top-secret drug that bestows him with super human abilities. Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star.
9. "The Source Code" - Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this science thriller about a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers that he is part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright co-star.
10. "Fast Five" - Vin Diesel and Paul Walker star in the fifth and I believe, the best entry in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise.
Honorable Mention - "Unknown" - Despite its mixed reviews, I have developed a great fondness for this thriller about an American scientist who wakes up from a coma and discovers that someone has taken his place in Berlin. Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones star.