Nerd Mentality

Fifteen Flicks You Gotta See In 2011

Posted February 2nd 2011 by Frankie Aguilar.

The year 2011 is shaping up to be very similar to 2010 in the cinematic landscape. Nerdy movies are in abundance, and there are more sequels coming out this year than you can shake a broadsword at. So here I am, attempting to ferry you across the river of miserable movies like Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son or Rise of the Apes to the shores of film excellence listed here. Keep in mind I am a gigantic nerd, so if this list seems skewed, that's why.

Cedar Rapids
Release Date: February 11, 2011
Director: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Why you gotta see it: Ed Helms stars as an inept and naive insurance salesman picked to represent his company at a conference in the titular Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If you ever wanted to see Helms' character of the Nard Dog from the Office in a movie, this is as close as you're going to get. The script for Cedar Rapids was bandied about in 2009 as one of the best unproduced screenplays and with Ed Helms and John C. Reilly co-starring, be prepared for a comedy that is as smart as it is disgusting.

Trailer

The Adjustment Bureau
Release Date: March 4, 2011
Director: George Nolfi
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Why you gotta see it: Trying to tap the very under represented Sci-Fi Romance genre, The Adjustment Bureau will hit with the same crowd that enjoyed last years Inception. The Adjustment Bureau is loosely based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick, whose other stories inspired Blade Runner,Total Recall and Minority Report. Matt Damon stars as an up and coming congressman who meets a ballerina but finds his attempts to start a relationship with her continually disrupted by some very mysterious forces.

Trailer

Battle: Los Angeles
Release Date: March 11, 2011
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Peña, Bridget Moynahan
Why you gotta see it: Do you like aliens, but are totally tired of goofy friendly extra terrestrials? Prefer your space invaders to actually invade? Then Battle: Los Angeles is what you've been waiting for. Taking its name from the conspiracy theorist's next best thing to Roswell, Battle: LA follows a platoon of battle-hardened Marines as they defend L.A. during a world wide alien invasion. Expect big time effects, big scale battle scenes and Michelle Rodriguez to be super hot.

Trailer

Paul
Release Date: March 18, 2011
Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman
Why you gotta see it: This made my list last year as much on merit as it did due to my hope that it would actually make it to theaters. Luckily for all of us, Paul finally has a release date, and over a year of waiting has done nothing to diminish my excitement for this film. This movie stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as comic book nerds on a cross country road trip that stumble into Area 51 and pick up the titular alien Paul. If that sentence doesn't do it for you, nothing else will.

Trailer

Sucker Punch
Release Date: March 25, 2011
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens
Why you gotta see it: Say what you will about Zack Snyder's films, his attention to detail and production cannot be denied. As much an epic action adventure film as it is a psychological girl power movie, Sucker Punch is all about kickass girls kickin' ass. Dubbing this movie as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns" you can expect it to have all the trappings of a Synder film: badass slow motion action, epic green screened worlds, and bloody visceral imagery.

Trailer

Thor
Release Date: May 6, 2011
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins
Why you gotta see it: The first of a trifecta of Marvel properties to come out in the summer of 2011, Thor will be the biggest risk yet taken by the fledgling Marvel Movie Studios. Attempting to blend Nordic mythology with a modern world is tough enough for a comic book writer to do, so you can imagine how difficult attempting to pull together a coherent story in a full length film will be. That and trying to keep in canon with the ever-expanding Marvel Movie universe is a tough task, but the crew behind Thor is spectacular and looks poised to start the summer off right.

Trailer

X-Men: First Class
Release Date: June 3, 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones
Why you gotta see it: Equally as difficult as the production of Thor, Fox Studios is taking a huge step towards revamping the X-Men franchise by doing X-Men: First Class as a prequel. Trying to come back from the disaster that was X-Men: The Last Stand, and the underwhelming X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, First Class will try to return to the roots of what made X-Men successful in the first place. Featuring well known characters played by familiar faces, the First Class story will trace the beginnings of the relationship between Professor X and Magneto.

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