Quentin Tarantino thinks ‘The Three Musketeers’ was one of the best movies of 2011

Quentin Tarantino — the Oscar-nominated director and noted cinema geek — recently revealed his list of the top films of 2011.

“Midnight in Paris” is No. 1. Okay, we get that.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is No. 2. An unexpected choice, but one that can be supported by the fact that it was a surprisingly enjoyable movie with a remarkable motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis.

And then there’s the entry that appears at No. 11 on Tarantino’s list, a notch below his two-way tie at No. 10 between “The Artist” and “Our Idiot Brother”: “The Three Musketeers.” Yes, that “Three Musketeers,” the one that bombed at the box office and mustered a 25 percent positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

This controversial choice — which could be a joke, or perhaps an attempt to say something nice about a movie that co-starred his “Inglourious Basterds” Nazi Christoph Waltz — has prompted bafflement and, in some cases, anger in the blogosphere.

Flavorwire dubbed Tarantino’s list “trollish,” and went on a “Really?!? With Seth and Amy”-esque rant about the “Musketeers” mention. “So, to Mr. Tarantino’s eyes, ‘The Three Musketeers’ was a better film than ‘Beginners,’ ‘Hugo,’ ‘Carnage,’ ‘The Descendants,’ ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Contagion.’ Really?”

The Portland Mercury summed up its feelings with a blog post entitled, “I Don’t Know What Quentin Tarantino is Smoking .?.?.”

The A.V. Club also was puzzled, but smartly noted that QT “probably has some very long, arcane explanation as to why” he chose “Musketeers.” That’s a good bet considering that Tarantino probably has a very long, arcane explanation as to why he chose to eat lentil soup for lunch today.

Other things about Tarantino’s list that have stuck under the collective craw of the movie faneratti: the fact that “Drive” was featured under his “Nice Try Award” column, and that several arguably questionable releases — “Green Hornet” (another Waltz effort), ”Green Lantern,” “The Sitter”and “The Hangover Part II” — popped up on his “Others He Liked (in no particular order)” rundown.

Somehow, though, we suspect everyone will put this behind them before Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” comes out later this year.

Here’s the full Tarantino list, including his choices for the year’s worst movies, which apparently were subsequently excised from the Tarantino.info Web site. Read, then share your confusion/agreement/irritation by posting a comment.

Tarantino’s Top 11 Movies

1. Midnight in Paris

2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

3. Moneyball

4. The Skin I Live In

5. X-Men: First Class

6. Young Adult

7. Attack the Block

8. Red State

9. Warrior

10. The Artist/Our Idiot Brother (tie)

11. The Three Musketeers

Others He Liked

50/50

Beginners

Hugo

The Iron Lady

Carnage

Green Hornet

Green Lantern

Captain America

The Descendants

My Week With Marilyn

Fast Five

Tree of Life

The Hangover Part II

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol

The Beaver

Contagion

The Sitter

War Horse

Nice Try Award

Drive

Hanna

Drive Angry

Real Steel

Worst Films

Sucker Punch

Potiche (Trophy Wife)

Miral

Insidious

Rampart

Straw Dogs

Paranormal Activity 3

Meek’s Cutoff

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