Year in review - Best movie of 2012

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
So, what was your favorite movie of 2012? I know there's still a few weeks left with some big movies attached to them (Les Mis, Django Unchained, This is 40), but, for the most part, it's pretty much done. Also, go ahead and say the worst movie of the year that you've seen.

I don't really have a top ten, so I'll just go ahead and list what comes to mind:

1. Cloud Atlas - I really enjoyed the film a lot. I had been anticipating it from the moment I heard there was going to be an adaptation. The book as ok, but the movie really made it feel more alive (my opinion, of course). Was it THE best film of the year? No. But it was certainly my favorite.

2. Argo - I had no idea what this movie was about before I walked in. Totally random choice on my part. I don't regret it. I hadn't seen a movie that put my in that much suspense in a long time. All of the cast was great, as well as the directing from Affleck. Awesome, awesome movie.

3. Dredd - I wasn't expecting much out of this, but I loved it. The fact that he didn't take his helmet off meant the world to me. Plus, the slow-mo death scenes were just fucking perfect, as was the music. Karl Urban always has my heart.

4. Cabin in the Woods - I'll be the first to say it: I'm not a big fan of Joss Whedon. There wasn't much of a thrill for me to see this because he was attached to it, but I went anyways. Truth be told, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to be in the realm of Cabin Fever, but I was totally wrong. I had no idea what the outcome would be, so it was awesome to see the changeup at the end. Also, I'm a sucker for Richard Jenkins.

5. The Avengers - Not much to say other than that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give Whedon a lot of shit, but he gets a pass for this one.

6. Looper - I got to see this for free because we had premiere passes. I enjoyed the shit out of it. The ending was sort of predictable, but I didn't want it to happen. JGL did a great job, too.

7. Dark Knight Rises - It was good, but not great. I thought the plot was too overly complicated, and a lot of the actions from characters didn't make any sense. Still, though, I loved Tom Hardy as Bane. To this day I, from time to time, talk in his voice.

8. Men in Black 3 - The true spiritual successor to the first MIB movie. I actually felt for the characters at the end. Josh Brolin also does the best TLJ I've ever seen.

I know Django Unchained isn't out yet, but I know it's going to be amazing. For me, Tarantino movies just sort of have their own category. Except for Death Proof. That movie was fucking horrible.

Now, for the worst movie:

Prometheus. This movie disappointed the absolute shit out of me on more levels than I can count. I went in with high hopes that Scott would be returning to his roots, but instead I was handed a collection of retarded characters and a shit-stained plot. Never have I been so disappointed in a movie than this one. If they make a sequel to it, I hope Lindelof stays as far away from it as possible. Hell, maybe even Scott, too.

Ok, your turn!
 
From my point of view, 2012 was a pretty weak and disappointing year in term of cinema.

That being said, without any particular order, those ones come to my mind,

- Leviathan - Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

- Boy Eating the Bird's Food - Ektoras Lygizos

- Skyfall

- Looper

- In Another Country -Hong Sang Soo

- Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson

- The Master - Paul Thomas Anderson

- The Dark Knight Rises

- Holy Motors - Leo Carax

- Avengers
 

MrWeatherby

What's up, ketchup?
1.Skyfall
2.Argo
3.Cabin in the Woods
4.Looper
5.Dredd

But knowing me, Django Unchained will take the top spot. I doubt I'll see it before the year is over, so, whatever: Skyfall.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
This Is 40! :ubik:


Kidding, it's Skyfall. I've been re-watching Bond movies, good and bad, ever since.

Worst: Prometheus. Not really the worst movie I saw, but it's the most deserving of a big symbolic "fuck you." Just returning the favor.


P.S. Johnstantine, no mention of Skyfall, wtf? Also, Lindelof is thankfully supposed to be out on Prometheus 2, but what's the point? He already came in and ruined what sounded like a solid Alien prequel concept by turning it into another one of his amorphous bullshit-fests. And he's so fucking proud of himself too for melting the Alien mythology into a plate of unrecognizably burned microwave cheese-goo; his specialty. Just the worst sort of hack, makes Kool-Aid and thinks it's wine.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Griffith said:
P.S. Johnstantine, no mention of Skyfall, wtf? Also, Lindelof is thankfully supposed to be out on Prometheus 2, but what's the point? He already came in and ruined what sounded like a solid Alien prequel concept by turning it into another one of his amorphous bullshit-fests. And he's so fucking proud of himself too for melting the Alien mythology into a plate of unrecognizably burned microwave cheese-goo; his specialty. Just the worst sort of hack, makes Kool-Aid and thinks it's wine.

I forgot to mention that I hold Bond movies in their own category, much like I do Tarantino movies. Skyfall was a great movie. It definitely made up for Quantum of Shitlace. If I had to put it somewhere, it would probably be in the 2 or 3 spot. I didn't even know they were making it until I saw the trailer, but the foul taste of QoS was still in my mouth, so I wasn't looking forward to it too much. I might have been excited, but beyond that I had totally forgot about it until it was released in theaters. The hype surrounding how "fucking awesome" it was made me not want to see it because I had been let down by QoS. Actually, I just watched Skyfall this past weekend.

I loved Judy Dench, but I'm glad she's gone. RF is awesome. Plus, he needs something to do now that Harry Potter is done and over (I hope).
 
Lincoln: I've been waiting for this movie since 2005 and it didn't disappoint in the least. Daniel Day-Lewis further cements his place, in my book, as today's best actor. Tommy Lee Jones gives a great performance as Thaddeus Stevens as well.

Skyfall: No better way to wash Quantum of Solace out of my mouth than this one. Sean Connery will always be Bond, but Daniel Craig has set the bar for the second best.

The Dark Knight Rises: Wasn't as good as TDK, but it holds up very well. Biggest "I Told You So" for Tom Hardy as Bane. Just wish they hadn't turned him into a wimp at the end.

The Avengers: Fun movie, that's about all I can say. Too bad it took three movies for them to get The Hulk right.

Ruby Sparks: Didn't even know this movie existed before my writing teacher brought it in. Not spectacular, but a nice movie.

The Amazing Spider Man: I had no intention of ever watching this, but it was better than I expected.

Argo, Dredd and Looper I haven't seen. But I plan to when I get a chance. I'm also interested to see how Zero Dark Thirty and Les Misérables are done.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
With all the big movies that came out this year there were so many disappointments. I went to the theater a lot this year too. Starting with Underworld: Awakening and ending with either Django or Les Mis, depending on which one I see last.

I would say my 3 favorite movies of the year would be

1) The Hobbit

2) Dredd

3) Cabin in the Woods

All three were fucking awesome and the only movies I'd watch again. Moonrise Kingdom is close runner up.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Seriously, Skyfall? :ganishka: I mean, it was entertaining, and Roger Deakins is the best cinematographer alive, but the movie was solely based on the worst cliche ever, the "computer wizard". It is a lazy screenwriter's tool used to incorporate what is essentially magic into a modern day movie. How did Silva blow up MI6? MAGIC!!! Oops I mean COMPUTERS!!! How did he take over an island? COMPUTERS!!! How did he break out of MI6, blow up a subway tunnel, escape London in a city wide manhunt and steal a helicopter? COMPUTERS!!!
Bond hardly does any spying, he's basically just a hitman, and the finale is quite stupid and anti-climatic. It suffers from the same problems as Prometheus, and has the same strengths: fun with beautiful cinematography. None of them are nowhere near greatness.

Shit year for movies (another one).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
NightCrawler said:
Shit year for movies (another one).

sunshine.png
 
NightCrawler said:
Seriously, Skyfall? :ganishka:
Agreed.

Ryouma said:
From my point of view, 2012 was a pretty weak and disappointing year in term of cinema.

That being said, without any particular order, those ones come to my mind,

- Leviathan - Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

- Boy Eating the Bird's Food - Ektoras Lygizos

- Looper

- In Another Country -Hong Sang Soo

- Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson

- The Master - Paul Thomas Anderson

- Holy Motors - Leo Carax

Cool list this. Which reminds me, as excited as I am that Mallick's back in the game with a new release set this year, it's gotten mixed reviews which isn't a good thing.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Aazealh said:
What, you didn't like The Hobbit? But it's got everything you like! Trolls, dwarves, adventure! :slan:

:guts: Ahaha, nice one Aaz. I don't think i'll be seeing that movie anytime soon (even though its my favorite Tolkien book).

Prometheus, The Avengers, Skyfall and even The Dark Knight Rises were entertaining, but hardly best of the year material. I can argue that at least Prometheus tried to soar higher from the average blockbuster but eventually was crippled by poor screenwriting.
Looper had a promising start and interesting ideas, but dear jebus, all the farm scenes sucked the life out of it.
The Master, unfortunately, was mostly style over substance, PTA went far up his ass on this one.
Moonrise Kingdom was Wes Anderson parodying Wes Anderson.
Argo had a couple of intense moments but i mostly didn't care for any of the events/characters in the movie.
I haven't seen Django or Cloud Atlas.
If i have to pick a movie, i guess i'll go for Cabin in the Woods. It was surprisingly good.
 
I would say Prometheus for me. I went in not really knowing it was connected to the Alien franchise in any way so I didn't have any expectations in that regard. While it's not my favorite film, I'd say its the best I watched last year.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
tama chan said:
I would say Prometheus for me. I went in not really knowing it was connected to the Alien franchise in any way so I didn't have any expectations in that regard. While it's not my favorite film, I'd say its the best I watched last year.

That must have been the only movie you watched, then.
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
Cementing my place as the resident eight year old:

1) ParaNorman

I like so many things about this movie.. It makes a few easy kids' movie character and storytelling choices, but for the most part it's the freshest and most engaging kids' horror comedy movie I've ever seen. And it's just got artiness crammed into every corner of every moment. The reveal shot when Norman is walking to school near the beginning of the movie is the best thing I've seen all year. Laika studios kicks stop motion's ass.

2) Wreck-it-Ralph

This movie is entertaining as hell, and the animation is fucken flawless. Also it made me cry.

3) The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

Released in North America as "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" because America hates science. Based on the excellent book "The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists" by Gideon Defoe. Another rich and fun stop motion movie, and more of a straight-up cartoon comedy of course. It's pretty much what it says on the box, and I enjoyed it immensely.

4) Brave

Typically gorgeous Disney/Pixar animation. The characters are great and chock full of good chemistry. The storytelling did hit a few sour notes for me though, just in state-the-plot unrealistic dialog choices and depressingly literal connect-the-dots methods for moving the story forward. If it didn't feel so much like a committee decided to cut their losses and go with something that just got the job done, storywise, it would be up there at #1. It is, generally, a stunning movie.

Also ran:
Enjoyed The Hobbit, The Avengers, and Men in Black 3. MIB3 was an easy one to like cause MIB2 was such a pile of crap. Josh Brolin holy-shit-wow nailed the performance of the young version of Tommy Lee Jones' character. Oh, forgot Hotel Transylvania. Another extremely well executed computer animated cartoon. Ultimately, though, I don't think all that work added anything much; Genndy's style just works so well in flat cartoon form in the first place, and it's definitely a flat cartoon plot. Still, as a computer animator, I did really enjoy every moment Ceelo's Mummy character was on the screen - he was a difficult design flawlessly done. Once again it comes down to cash money; I imagine the movie would not have enjoyed such a wide release etc if it looked like traditional TV animation. People who don't enjoy style often think Genndy's stuff looks cheap. Heck a lot of people thought the movie as it was looked cheap. Philistines.

Still planning to see:
Django Unchained looks pretty awesome. Have Cabin in the Woods sitting here waiting for a spooky evening. Would like to check out Argo at some point, and I'd like to see Hope Springs eventually because I am very entertained by Tommy Lee Jones being grumpy. Also, The Campaign looked pretty funny, wouldn't mind seeing that. Oh, and I want to check out Dredd too.

What the Fuck:
Red Tails was the most insulting movie imaginable. Battleship. What. With the pegs and everything. OMFG. Adam Sandler almost manages to one-up the dirtbag awfulness of Jack and Jill with That's My Boy. The Oogieloves. What the FUCK? Ugliest trainwreck I've ever even heard of. My best guess is it was some kind of scam and a handful of people walked away from that pile of shit laughing all the way to the bank, but maybe it was really just a legit legendary flop. It grossed just over 1 million, with a 20 mil budget and 40 mil in advertising on top of that. Apparently it was funded by marketer Kenn Viselman (on further reading it seems he didn't even come up with the concept; it looks like Oogieloves is a bought-out 'reimagining' of the kids' TV show "My Bedbugs") and 'a small group of private investors'. Somebody sure got raped.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Lithrael said:
Also, The Campaign looked pretty funny, wouldn't mind seeing that.
I saw it in theaters when it first came out, I liked it better the first time more then the second. Also I don't know exactly how funny it will be considering it is well past election season at this point.

Battleship. What. With the pegs and everything. OMFG. Adam Sandler almost manages to one-up the dirtbag awfulness of Jack and Jill with That's My Boy. The Oogieloves.
Why did you intentionally see so many bad movies?
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Why did you intentionally see so many bad movies?

I have a part-time job at a movie theater. I didn't sit down and watch any of them. They were bad enough to hurt me just via my walking past them.
 
Johnstantine said:
That must have been the only movie you watched, then.

Nah, I did see about a half a dozen. Not that many, but I liked Promethius the best. The Dark Knight Rises would have been my second pick but I liked the first two films a lot more.
 
Good to see MIB:3 on your list, pretty under-rated imo since the franchise was still recovering from the disaster that was movie 2.

Here's my list of enjoyable flicks in no order -

Cosmopolis
John Dies At The End
Amour
Looper
Rust & Bone
The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki
Cabin In The Woods
The Master
Just Pretended To Hear
Cloud Atlas
Holy Motors
Moonrise Kingdom
Lincoln
Wreck-It-Ralph
Silver Linings Playbook

Fun stuff (whether it's over-rated/ under-rated) -
MIB:3
The Amazing Spiderman
Sinister
Brave
The Avengers
Dredd
Rurouni Kenshin
The Dark Knight
Skyfall
Lockout
The Expendables 2

I've ignored a lot of Asian cinema this year #sigh#. I still have to check out A Late Quartet, Levaithan, Antiviral, Beasts of the Southern Wild, One Piece movie Z, Evangelion 3.0, Les Miserables and a few more.
 
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