2012 Recap: Top 10 movies of the year
So another year has gone by and this week I have had the chance to reflect on what I have seen and how it all shakes out. Last year I got kind of in depth but this year I am going to keep it fairly simple with three posts: a best 10, a worst 10, and a general prize posts for things like “Movie Most Likely to Make Me Want to Club Baby Seals”.
Before I go on I’d like to mention my cousin Nora has expressed an interest in posting some of her own movie reviews. She also has some dating advice that is probably even more valuable than my own haphazard collection of misinformation and ill informed theories, mainly due to the fact that she is not only a girl but is several orders of magnitude more successful in the dating world than I am. She also grew up with my other cousin who is something of a chick magnet (no bitter jealousy here, I swear) so she has seen it all.
Bear in mind that these lists and my awards are strictly movies that I actually saw last year, so spare me your “Why isn’t Jiro Dreams of Sushi on this list?” emails and comments. Last year I watched and reviewed 94 movies, which is a lot in anyone’s book (although the year before I did 110, so I must be slacking some). In retrospect as I look over the scores I gave out I realize I have been overly generous. Does Men in Black 3 really rate even 1 star? It looks like I tend to be nicer to sci fi and other nerd movies.
In compiling my list I have used my scores as a guideline, but not an absolute. Some movies are just better than others in spite of the stars or black holes I was able to find in the film. so, without further ado, here is my list of the 10 best films of 2012.
10. End of Watch-Ironically not a lot of people I know saw this film. A found footage film based on the daily lives of two LAPD officers. What made this movie work for me was the amazing intensity the film brought to the screen. Not like a horror movie but instead a consistent level of seat arm gripping. Don’t expect to feel good at the end of this one.
9. the Dictator-I’ll admit I am a Sasha Baron Cohen fan and this film might not be as good as Borat, but I laughed my ass off. I think a lot of people might not have been happy with the exact subject matter, and I think it hilarious when his movies get accused of antisemitism, but if you can unlock your sense of humor I think it’s a great film.
8. the Grey-another movie that manages to break out of the norm and thrill you without car chases and an idiotic master plan to destroy all of Nebraska or something. I love the fact that the director didn’t compromise his vision by pushing out a happy ending like an impacted bowel movement. I don’t know if this is a good example of excellent acting or just really good casting, but Liam Neeson nailed this one. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a sequel here.
7. Moonrise Kingdom-next time I use the word “whimsical” in a review one of you do me the favor of driving over to my place and smothering me with a pillow. That being said, this movie is in all ways cute and fun. Sort of “Stand By Me” meets “Peewee’s Big Adventure“. Also the cast is really impressive. (Stand By Me image courtesy of the Movie T Shirt category)
6. the Raid Redemption-when you see as many movies as I do it sometimes feel like you are chained in front of a guy with a fire hose and the hose is shooting out mediocrity. That is more true in the action genre than any other, if only because even movies that try to avoid cliche’s still get hit with the fact that action films in themselves are cliche. The Raid Redemption is one of the few I have seen that really made the whole action thing work without reminding me of every other action film I have seen, starting with Die Hard.
5. Looper-Sci fi is like fine wine to me, and honestly I think I like sci fi better in the dystopic near future of Bladerunner than the fabulous far future of Star Trek. Not only that, but this movie managed to use time travel as a plot device without running into the usual movie time travel paradox: how did the writer get his head so far up his own rectum (I’m talking to you, J.J. Abrams). There are holes but for the most part they were forgivable, leaving us with a great story, excellent performances, and an awesome ending.
4. Dredd-This is one people might disagree with me on. It’s not amazing in the traditional sense of movies like Citizen Kane or the Godfather, but in a very real sense I appreciate it for having a vision of what they wanted to do and executing it perfectly. They wanted to do a Dredd movie that truly derived from the comic book and have it remain exciting and cool. They absolutely succeeded. While I found it highly derivative of the Raid I think the sci fi element more than made up for it. Besides, taking inspiration from another good movie sounds more like a smart move than just lack of imagination. It’s movies that rip off bad movies that end up sucking (cough cough Red Dawn cough cough).
3. Wreck it Ralph-as a kids movie I didn’t give this one a score but if I had it would have ranked up there very high. An excellent kids movie that even adults will really enjoy. All I can say about this film is of all the movies I saw last year this was the only one I saw a second time.
2. the Life of Pi-on paper this film shouldn’t even be in my top ten, but in the viewing you realize how extremely well done and beautiful this movie is. Great story, awesome acting, and a cool subtle darkness that appeals to the side of me that likes grim movies. Well worth watching IMO.
1. Argo-this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who read the review I wrote. Phenomenal story, awesome action, and a pacing that somehow managed to make a walk through an outdoor bazaar as exciting as the chase sequence from the Italian Job. It’s place as my Number 1 is cemented not only because it rated 12 stars but because I couldn’t find a single black hole to give it, a singular event indeed. I see this movie as not only a triumph of direction, but also of editing. As close to flawless as a movie can get in my (less than) humble opinion.
That’s my list. Feel free to disagree and post your own opinions in the comments here. Follow me on Twitter @NerdKungFu. If you have any off topic suggestions or questions feel free to email me at [email protected]. Thank you all for reading, and for all your support last year. 2013 is going to rock!
Dave
P.S. Nora just texted me that she is going to write a review for This is 40. Thank god. That movie looked like a good excuse to jump off a bridge, and now I don’t have to go see it.
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