5. 'The Muppets'
You'd have to be dead inside to walk out of ‘The Muppets’ without a big fat cheesy grin on your face (no offense to those dead inside, by the way). This return to glory for Kermit, Piggy and company -- dreamed up and co-written by star Jason Segel -- is 103 minutes of nostalgic, unadulterated bliss ... with musical covers! (Including the best cover of Cee-Lo's ‘F*** You’ that will ever exist). Consider this franchise fully reinvigorated (well played, Segel). We're still humming a month after seeing it. For the record, it's spelled "Mah Na Mah Na."
4. 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'
Very few people can make a story with multiple rapes, a bunch of murders and so, so many facial piercings this appealing and strangely sexy. Director David Fincher and his stars, specifically Rooney Mara, are among those people. Though Mara's Lisbeth Salander is coolly detached at best (and borderline sociopathic at worst), she invites a connection you don't quite see coming, and Daniel Craig is broodingly excellent. Even if you've read the Stieg Larsson source material and keep the original Swedish trilogy on the best shelf in your media library, the Fincher adaptation is not to be missed.
3. 'Bridesmaids'
As much as we hate having the "are women funny?" conversation -- because duh, stop wasting our time -- it's handy to have an unassailable example sitting right there on the DVD shelf. Far from having one breakout star, ‘Bridesmaids’ was the perfect kind of ensemble comedy; it's actually hard to choose the best performance. Is it Kristen Wiig, as quirky as she is on ‘SNL’ but somehow a thousand times more engaging and a million times less annoying? Is it Melissa McCarthy's boundary-free supporting role, Chris O'Dowd's charming love interest or Jon Hamm's unexpectedly hilarious (but sadly familiar) douchenozzle? We dare anyone to suggest the writers (women) or actors (mostly women) aren't as funny as any dude.
2. 'The Artist'
Insisting you must run, not walk, to theatres to see a black-and-white silent film? Yeah, we sound pretty pretentious right about now. But you'll be thanking us five minutes in -- that's about how long it takes to fall head over heels in love with this love letter to Old Hollywood about a silent movie mega-star whose career fades when ‘talkies’ arrive. It's funny, touching, sweet, charming, technically amazing and a true crowd-pleaser. Look for it to win Best Picture at the Oscars next year, and possibly even do for silent black-and-white films what ‘Avatar’ did for 3-D. Okay, probably not that second part.
1. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2'
Hang on, need to grab a box of tissues before explaining why this movie, the final movie in a series that shaped a generation of movie fans, deserves the number one spot on our list of 2011's best. The bottom line is this: The best minds in the movie industry -- including just about every serious British actor and their 26 collective non-‘Potter’ Oscar noms -- put a great deal of effort into realizing the dreams of ‘Potter’ fans worldwide, and they've earned our top honors for getting it exactly right. ‘Part 2’ is a fitting send-off, blending whimsy and horror as well as ‘Potter’ ever has. Plus, we waited a decade to see Molly Weasley take her gloves off. It was worth the wait.
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