My New Year Resolution is to try and write at least 3 blogs a month (you lucky lucky people). I usually publish a top ten of my films of the year at my scarcely updated website. However as I am now writing this blog I thought I would go into a little more detail here, and include some extras as well that I have heretofore not done. Please be aware there may be spoilers.
Notable mentions
These are the films which I really enjoyed and were the closest to being in my Top Ten:
Argo – This is a very good suspenseful thriller with excellent performances from all the cast. A bit of a letdown for me because it changed a lot details from it source material, which I had read before watching the film.
Lincoln – a great film with a lot of power house performances (just give Daniel Day Lewis the Oscar right now). The film also introduced me to a lot of interesting historical figures I was unaware of before.
Prometheus – an excellently suspenseful science fiction film, which unfortunately suffers from its connections to the Alien franchise causing people to not see its own merits. I can’t wait for the sequel the further adventures of Elizabeth and David.
Seven Psychopaths – this has been unfairly compared to the writer/directors previous film the brilliant In Bruges. Though I prefer In Bruges this is still a smart, wicked funny character piece with Christopher Walken out Walkening himself.
The Bourne Legacy – I was dubious about there being a Bourne film without Jason Bourn in it, however setting this film parallel to the previous one and making Aaron Cross a different yet still engaging character made this thriller fit in seamlessly into the Bourne universe.
The Top Ten
10) The Dark Knight Rises
I was conflicted about this one as you will remember if you have read my earlier blog I love batman. So it was hard for me to put this so low on the list, in fact this nearly missed the top ten all together. However in the end what I liked about the film, the mood, the performances (Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy deserve a special mention) and Anne Hathaway in that catsuit, outweighs any issue I may have with plot holes.
9) Wreck-It-Ralph
Wreck-It-Ralph is something of a rarity. It is an animated film made completely for children without any nods or winks towards adult, (the exception being some of the older computer game characters), that parents can sit through and still have a great time with their younglings. It is a colourful mash up of heroes who are bad, and villains with hearts of gold, in a story about wanting to belong and fighting bullies with the odd poop joke thrown in.
8) Jesus Henry Christ
A small independent comedy that you may have missed (not the only one on this list), dealing with children who are more clever than their parents, parents on the edge and finding out in the end that being yourself and loving your family no matter how weird they are will get you through almost anything. With brilliant performances from the all the cast this is one you should try and catch.
7) The Dark Knight Returns Part 1
As disappointed as I was with The Dark Knight Rises, this straight to DVD animated Batman film was a wonderful surprise. Following closely the first two issue of The Dark Knight Returns comic book series, it succeeds in bring to the screen both the darkness and despair of a Gotham City without the Caped Crusader and the obsessive desire and need for Bruce Wayne to wear the cowl. Part Two is released at the end of this month.
6) Skyfall
James Bond is back and with a bang. After the less then great Quantum of Solace we get Daniel Craig back to his best as a slightly older and even more world weary secret agent. This being the 50th anniversary of Bond on film we had hoped for something special and Sam Mendes delivers just that. With tonnes of references to the history of bond, an excellent opening song, in my opinion the best Bond villain so far and the action turned to just right this is one of the best Bond films ever.
5) Safety Not Guaranteed
This is another small independent comedy, this time with a very slight science fiction edge to it. The thing that makes this one of my top five films of the year are the performances especially by the always wonderfully deadpan Aubrey Plaza and the “Yes I find him strangely charming in this, however I don’t know why” Mark Duplass, (very different to his character in The League). This film is definitely one to catch if you can.
4) Moonrise Kingdom
So Wes Anderson makes another offbeat comedy, full of quirky characters, a bright colour palette and starring Bill Murray. I would tell him to stop and try something new if he wasn’t fantastic at it and didn’t produce such wonderful films. Moonrise Kingdom may star big names like Bruce Willis, Edward Norton the aforementioned Bill Murray and Francis McDormand, however it is the child actors that make this film not just the two leads but also the scout troop full of psychopaths, who are just delightful.
3) The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey
Let me just state from the start this is my favourite so far of all the Peter Jackson Middle Earth films. I liked the Lord of the Rings Trilogy well enough, however I find when watching them at home I tend to skip past all the Frodo scenes in the last two films. I don’t think it will be the same with Bilbo and this film. Martin Freeman brings a charm and depth to Bilbo that Frodo lacked. I know that The Hobbit is a lighter book then the Lord of the Rings, but that makes this more enjoyable for me. Bring on Smaug and the Five Armies.
2) The Avengers
Being a huge comic book fan this should be on the top of my list and if it wasn’t for the eventual winner this would be. The culmination of 5 years and 5 other films, this was fan boys wet dream of a film, finally we get a superhero team up film that didn’t suck. The now crowned king of all the geeks and nerd Joss Whedon did a fantastic job in bringing a giant yet intimate story to the screen and also making people want a Mark Ruffalo starring Incredible Hulk film.
1) Cloud Atlas
Being the misanthropic loner that I am what probably attracted me most to this film is the idea about the interconnectivity of everyone and everything. Six seemingly unrelated stories from six different time periods shown in bits and pieces, this may not be for everyone however I found it fascinating. Actors were playing multiple parts (sometimes different sexes or races) and in most instances the performances were brilliant. Special mention should go to Ben Whitshaw as Robert Frobisher, Jim Broadbent as Timothy Cavendish and the most excellent Doona Bae as Sonmi 451. The films central messages of how ideas, deeds and words echo through time makes one sit back and think. With a most excellent score by co-director Tom Tykwer I left this film feeling wonderful and slightly hopeful for some reason. Hopefully you will do the same.
And as an added bonus my worst film of the year for 2012
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
If I’m honest I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Ghost Rider film. It’s not a comic character I have read much of. Also the film wasn’t very good. So when I heard that a sequel was being made I didn’t have high hopes. This film did something surprising though it failed to reach anywhere near my extremely low expectations. This film basically drags out the Ghost Rider character and pisses fire all over it, (if you have seen this film you will get the reference). As I have mentioned before I love comic books and this film makes me want less comic book films to be made that’s how bad it is. Hopefully every single person (with the exception of Idris Elba) who had anything to do with this film will stay away from comic books and comic book films from now on.
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