Top Ten (and then some) of 2012

I am going to give the same warning for this top ten list that I did last year: these are my top ten (and then some) “favorite” films of the year.  I am in position to claim one film is technically “better” than any other film.  Sure, I might be more likely than most to comment on filming techniques, score, acting, etc., but at the end of the day, or year, I still simply pick which movies I enjoyed the most.  Was Anna Karenina more impressive from a filmmaking standpoint than Lincoln?  Yes, absolutely.  But while I enjoyed Anna Karenina, it didn’t contain subject matter that I found particularly interesting nor did it have any performances that match up with Lincoln.  The point is that these top ten lists that flood the internet and magazines around this time of the year are all subjective.  It’s all personal taste.  That said, I have kind of a boring list, as my top three films are on nearly all of the top ten lists.  I’m not one to lie just to be different, though, so I stuck with the ten films I enjoyed the most this year.  I found 2012 to be a great year for movies, which is why I also added a few comments for five more films, and have a lengthy honorable mention list.  So here it is.  Feel free to completely disagree with me.  All I ask is that you keep an open mind, especially about the movies on the list that you haven’t seen.  It’s always okay to hate a movie, but only if you’ve seen it.

Also, I did miss out on a handful of films that some people have been praising, such as Holy Motors, End of Watch, Rust and Bone, Alps, and Compliance.  

1. Lincoln
 


I honestly did not expect this to end up as my number one film of the year.  I knew Day-Lewis would give a great performance, but I was skeptical of Spielberg.  I was afraid this was going to be a safe, plain patriotic film.  I wasn’t entirely wrong, but I was floored by how effective, and entertaining, the film was.  Many have complained of the film being boring, and I understand that, with all of the politics and long conversations, but I love that stuff.  While some were falling asleep, I was paying close attention.  The entire film works for me.  But it was Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance that sealed the deal for me. 

 

2. Django Unchained



An extremely close second because of the entertainment value in Quentin Tarantino’s edgy film.  Some are offended by the very premise of the film, but what can I say?  It’s kind of hard to offend me.  I enjoy movies and that is what this is: a very enjoyable movie.

 

3. Zero Dark Thirty



An important but riveting film.  It’s catching a lot of flak concerning torture and all that, but if you can get past that, this lengthy film expertly recreates the nuts and bolts of the manhunt that brought Osama bin Laden to justice.  More importantly, though, the film leaves the viewer with some questions about the war on terror and how it’s being waged.

 

4. The Master

 

Paul Thomas Anderson is a filmmaker I will always find interesting, and that is the basis for this pick.  Some will watch this and absolutely hate it, and I understand that.  It’s a strange film.  I started to doubt my enjoyment of the film weeks after my initial viewing, but watching it again recently, I realized once again that I love this movie.  It’s endlessly fascinating to me.

 

5. Prometheus

 

This is one of my controversial picks and the one that will have some people completely dismiss me.  I don’t know why everyone on the internet chose this film to nitpick incessantly.  I suppose it didn’t live up to their expectations, whatever those were.  I enjoyed the film very much, though.  It’s a science-fiction film with a brain.  Yes, with a brain.  Most people criticize the film because of the “stupid” things the characters do, but that says nothing about the themes of the film.  I don’t know, maybe I’m just easily pleased, but I thought director Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi was entertaining and thought-provoking.  Also, this is a sci-fi film that relied surprisingly heavily on practical effects.  In today’s movie world, that is something that should be appreciated.

 

6. The Dark Knight Rises

 

Another film people are now ripping to shreds because of plot holes online.  (Because the first two films of the trilogy were documentaries, right?)  I thought this was a pleasing and fitting conclusion to my favorite superhero series of all time.  I know the battle was between this and The Avengers, but I liked both.  I just enjoyed this one more.  And as with Prometheus, the amount of practical stunt work and visual effects deserves much more credit than it has received thus far.

 

7. Cloud Atlas

 

This film could have easily been a complete mess (and some would argue that it is), but somehow the filmmakers took a complex book and compiled an amazing film experience out of it.  It gets bonus points from for the sheer ambition of it, but more than that, the film grabbed me and made me care about what was happening. 

 

8. Wanderlust

 

This pick might leave people simply asking, “What is Wanderlust?”  Unfortunately, this hilarious comedy failed to find much success at the box office or on home video.  I think this movie is worthy of cult status and hopefully time will rectify that.  Maybe not, though.  It is a truly absurd film, and is certainly not for everyone.  But in a year filled with great comedies, I found this one to rise above the rest.  It features that rare self-aware comedy that never has to sink to the level of actors winking at the camera.  If you like comedies off the beaten path, check this out.

 

9. Looper

 

I’m a sucker for sci-fi and even though the paradoxes of time travel films tend to bother me, this film does it right.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is terrific and his Bruce Willis impression is worth watching alone.  Thankfully, writer-director Rian Johnson makes this stylish, interesting film much more than a lengthy Willis impression.

 

10. Lawless

 

This is a film that I feel has been unfairly forgotten by year-end lists and awards.  This story of bootlegging in Virginia is an interesting period piece that features a great cast.  Definitely one of the most crowd-pleasing films on my list (I have yet to talk to someone who did not like it).  I really just think this film needs to find a larger audience because it is a very fun film.

 

Five close picks

 

The Cabin in the Woods – Any horror movie fan should check this horror-comedy out.  Don’t expect an actual horror movie, though.

 

Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson being Wes Anderson.  At this point you either like it or you don’t.

 

The Avengers – A truly entertaining, fun time.  I just like Batman more.

 

Argo – Terrifically tense film that is getting plenty of love for Affleck’s directing and rightfully so.

 

Skyfall – An extremely satisfying Bond film that might even please old-school fans…might.

 

Honorable Mention

Flight, The Grey, 21 Jump Street, Ted, Anna Karenina, Room 237, and Silver Linings Playbook

"The Cabin in the Woods"

Directed by Drew Goddard, written by Joss Whedon and Goddard, starring Kristen Conolly, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Bradley Whitford, and Richard Jenkins - Rated R

Why wasn't the Evil Kurgan on the whiteboard?  Too hardcore?

All of the talk of The Cabin in the Woods has been about critics and fans spoiling the film.  First off, the movie has been out for a few days now, so it’s pointless for me to repeat the spoiler warning crap, though I will say that the best way to see this film is with as little knowledge about it as possible.  So you should stop reading if you truly want to enjoy it (though it’s always been my opinion that reviews are best read after a viewing anyway).  The spoiler issue is misleading, though, because it sets up the movie as some twist ending ordeal, and that is not the case at all.  The film lets you in on the concept immediately, so there is no twist in the traditional sense.  If there’s anything that people should be saying to drum up interest in this film, it’s this: “Do you love horror films?  Are you tired of how predictable they are?  Watch this then.” 

The Cabin in the Woods is certainly something new for horror and it’s pretty fantastic.  It takes a cliché setup (college kids go to a secluded cabin only to be terrorized and/or killed) and does something special with it.  I’ve seen this scenario dozens of times it seems and it’s become so predictable that the storyline has turned into background music.  Now, to keep things fresh you get films like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil that play with the scenario.  What makes Cabin special is the fact that the film doesn’t just poke fun at the genre and turn into goofy nonsense.  This is still a horror movie for horror fans and the more well-versed you are in the genre, the more fun you will have. 

The only foreseeable problem with this type of film is the viewer not being in on the joke.  The advertising for the film has been condemned by many as selling the film as a traditional slasher flick.  I can’t comment on it because I made a point to avoid previews for the film.  I just knew from various websites that it was not your standard horror film, especially since geek god Joss Whedon was involved.  I can understand that a preview could be misleading, but if you do a little research, just a little, you can find out what type of film it’s going to be.  Okay, okay, I understand not everyone takes movie watching as serious as me.  I know there are people out there that don’t even know what they’re watching until they get to the cinema and look at the titles (you people are insane, by the way).  This is where the movie truly lets you know what it is, though.  It’s called The Cabin in the Woods!  The title itself is a joke about the overused location of the film.  No proper horror film would focus on the cliché aspects of it.  Did anyone get up in arms when the Scary Movie franchise debuted and the movies weren’t meant to be scary?  This is the same thing, only much geekier, smarter, and, arguably, funnier.

The intelligence of the film is debatable, though.  Some might argue that just because a film is aware of the clichés of its own genre does not make it smart.  I agree, but Cabin doesn’t just point them out, it embraces them and reinvigorates them.  The film features a typical slasher flick line up: the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the whore (Anna Hutchison), the nerd (Jesse Williams), the stoner (Fran Kranz), and the virgin (Kristen Connolly).  What’s great about this lineup is the fact that each of the characters has a stereotypical aspect (such as Hemsworth rocking a letterman’s jacket even though he’s a college student), yet they are still amusing on multiple levels.  It’s fun to watch these archetypes on a meta level realizing the joke is the fact that they are filling a typical role in a horror film.  There’s the added bonus that even though these characters are unoriginal, they are still much better written and funnier than any of their counterparts in a traditional horror film. 

Fran Kranz is the highlight as the stoner who also seems to be the only one paying attention to his surroundings.  He gives a strange delivery of his lines that makes him stand out over the typical stoner.  It helps that his dialogue is much wittier than most stoner dialogue.  Hemsworth was born to play the jock, no surprises there (he is Thor, after all).  And Kristen Connolly handles herself well as the heroine.  The two best performances, though, do not belong to any of the typical characters of a horror film, but rather to Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins. 

(Reminder, you should really just watch the movie.  If this review wasn’t SPOILERY enough already, it’s going to get much worse now.)

Whitford and Jenkins are absolutely hilarious as the two men overseeing the ritual to make sure everything goes to plan.  The matter-of-fact way they handle their grisly business is hilarious in the darkest sense.  A large part of their performances are simply the faces they make while they watch the events and though it would seem that cutting back to these two characters staring at a screen would get old after a couple times, it remains funny throughout. 

If it sounds like I’m just absolutely loving on this film it’s because I thought it completely accomplished what it set out to do.  The Cabin in the Woods is not only a send up of the horror genre, but also a fitting entry into it.  Not everyone will love this film, though, and some will probably hate it just for being what it is when they expected it to be a “normal” movie.  Cabin tries something different and is a standout film because of it.  I don’t want to oversell it, though.  Some people are throwing some major hyperbole at this film proclaiming it to be a “game changer” that will change horror films.  I don’t know about all that, but I do know I enjoyed the hell out of this movie and if you dig slasher flicks and have a sense of humor, you will, too.

Random Thoughts (even more SPOILERS)

I loved the whiteboard list of possible baddies.  I especially dug the reference to the Deadites from the Evil Dead series. 

Am I crazy or was that Joss Whedon at the after party?  I haven't come across any confirmation of this.  And it looks like he's wearing a leather bracelet like Thor would wear.  Maybe I am just crazy...

The Merman subplot was hilarious.  I really dug how Jenkins complaint about the mess came to fruition, as well.

Speaking of Jenkins, my god, isn't he awesome?  I could watch him curse at happy Japanese children for hours.

The Sigourney Weaver cameo was a bit lame.  Way too much like her cameo in Paul.