This was a year when the charm of wasted slackers wore very thin. Russell Brand was wholly obnoxious in the Arthur remake, Seth Rogen a useless bore in The Green Hornet. But the most repellent of them all was Danny McBride as Thadeous in Your Highness. The movie seemed to have Mel Brooksian potential: two medieval princes, one saintly (James Franco), the other a lazy stoner (McBride) set out on a quest to save a damsel in distress (Zooey Deschanel). With David Gordon Green directing, this was basically a Pineapple Express reunion. But Your Highness turned out to be a bewildering disaster that even a dozen bong hits couldn't save. McBride, who co-wrote the screenplay, is a funny guy, but the film's jokes skew toward appealing to homophobes and fifth graders. It truly feels as though something is missing, almost as if McBride and Green sketched out a series of situations that they planned to fill in with improvisation before being unexpectedly called away. How did Natalie Portman justify the gift of her bare bottom to a movie like this?
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Business Blunders
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Consumer-Spending Trends
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Campaign-Debate Moments
- Top 10 Best Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Trends
- Top 10 Marriage Stories
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Memes
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Worst Movies
- Top 10 Best Movies
- Top 10 New Findings in Parenting
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball-News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 People Not Running for President
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Protest Signs
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Smart-Phone Apps
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Space Moments
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Best Tweets
- Top 10 Worst Tweets
- Top 10 U.S.-News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Creative Videos
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 World-News Stories
- Top 10 Photos of the Year
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months