2012 was a fun year at the movie theater, with a variety of engaging films filling up the Top 10. So let's get to it, with some quick house-cleaning to do first...
A Blast from the Past: My Top 10 Movies of 2011 - 2010 - 2009
10 Potential Listbusters (some films I didn't see, but heard were good): End of Watch, The Hunter, Jesus Henry Christ, Robot and Frank, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Pirates Band of Misfits, Rust and Bone, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Sleepwalk with Me, Take This Waltz
16 Honorable Mentions: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Jack Reacher, Life of Pi, Looper, The Lorax, The Master, Pitch Perfect, Prometheus, Ruby Sparks, Safety Not Guaranteed, Savages, Seven Psychopaths, Silver Linings Playbook, Wreck-It Ralph
And now onto the feature presentation…
My Top 10 Movies of 2012:
10. The Cabin in the Woods
Five friends take a trip to a remote location where they get more than they bargained for, discovering a shocking truth behind the cabin in the woods.
Scary, funny, and action-packed, The Cabin in the Woods is as intelligent and engaging a genre film as you can find. As five cabin inhabitants face their darkest nightmares, two laboratory technicians are monitoring the cabin on computers, influencing events, and taking bets on the outcome. How it all connects is only the start of the twists and turns that the film takes, leading to a grand finale that keeps your eyes riveted on the screen and displays the true genius of co-writer/co-producer Joss Whedon (The Avengers) and director Drew Goddard (Cloverfield). The film is a clever tribute to (and possibly a critique of) the horror genre, taking the typical tropes you expect from such a film and turning them on their heads to surprise you, scare you, and even make you laugh.
9. The Dark Knight Rises
Batman, with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman, is forced from exile to save Gotham City, now on the edge of total annihilation, from the brutal terrorist Bane.
I'm going to be honest with y’all, I wasn't entirely thrilled with The Dark Knight Rises at first. If I dare to say, the whole direction of the film felt muddled at the start. But as I let it settle, I decided to forgive the film's convoluted first half exposition out of respect for how amazingly director Christopher Nolan (Inception) and company have revived and legitimized Batman - and to a certain extent all comic book films - with this incomparable and unmatched trilogy. Tom Hardy's Bane is threatening, Anne Hathaway's Catwoman is intriguing, and Christian Bale's Batman is given a fitting ending. Thematically, the film gives audiences much to observe and think about, while physically the action is as exciting has its ever been. It's just a shame Warner Brothers has no idea how to properly handle its DC Comics properties and that The Dark Knight Rise’s clever open-ended-conclusion will likely be wasted entirely or ruined by a botched Justice League attempt. But we’ll see how it goes.
8. 21 Jump Street
A pair of underachieving cops are sent undercover to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.
It's rare a remake is ever considered good (much less a finalist in a Top 10 list), but 21 Jump Street marks the 4th time it has happened on Ethan Unscripted, following The Karate Kid (#9) and True Grit (#6) in 2010 and Star Trek (#6) in 2009. What has made each of these films distinguish themselves from the cluster-mess which is most remakes is a fresh sense of originality and contemporaneity they manage to inject into familiar scenes. Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) surprised me with his energy and comedic timing, though most of the credit still goes to Jonah Hill (Moneyball), who not only acted in the movie, but also co-wrote the script and co-produced the film. Using a simple, 3-act structure, 21 Jump Street not only maintains its momentum, but increases its intensity throughout the film, engaging audiences from beginning to end, with all the makings of a classic comedy we'll revisit for years to come.
7. Zero Dark Thirty
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, and his death at the hands of Navy SEAL Team 6 in 2011.
Navy SEAL Team 6 kills Osama Bin Laden. I hope I didn't ruin the ending for you!! But even though we all know the ultimate conclusion of Zero Dark Thirty, how the clandestine operation actually unfolds is gripping to behold. Jessica Chastain (The Help) plays a stoic CIA operative, driven to find the world's most infamous terrorist. She only gets one really good scene to let her character's passion out of the cage, so I wouldn't give her the Academy Award for Best Actress, but Chastain drives this film which is so enthralling and for which director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) certainly deserved at least an Oscar nomination (she didn't get one). Overall, the film perfectly captures a unique moment in our nation's history; one worth watching and talking about.
6. The Raid
A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
The Raid is not the last film on this year's Top 10 list that will make you read subtitles, but if you think you don't like foreign language films, let me put your mind to rest; there's only about 10 total minutes of dialogue in this sensational Indonesian film. The entire rest of the movie is gunfights and martial arts fighting. If I may quote my own review: "Watching The Raid is like having cocaine shot into your heart before being zapped by a defibrillator and pushed out of an airplane at 40,000 feet, chugging a Red Bull as you free fall." Seriously, The Raid is exhausting just to watch, but once you're finished you will have seen one of the most intense and exciting action films in quite some time.
Note: For an ideal action flick night, do a double feature with The Raid and last year's Ironclad.
5. Les Miserables
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter.
Director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) has accomplished with Les Miserables a sense of realism and truth on as grand a scale as any musical ever made. Filmed live, as opposed to actors lip-syncing previously recorded tracks, Les Mis has an amazing sense of authenticity. The movie is additionally bolstered by an astoundingly talented cast, the standout of which being Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), who broke the hearts of audiences everywhere with her show-stopping rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream." Hathaway completely blows the other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress out of the water. But back to the film, Les Mis is entertaining, emotional, and unlike any musical you've ever seen.
Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. And when MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
"The best actor to be Bond since Sean Connery." Many of us had that thought after Casino Royale, but not many said it out loud. We continued to hold our tongues after the mediocre Quantum of Solace. But with the release of the exhilarating Skyfall, I have no problem now saying that Daniel Craig is as good as the original 007. Call me crazy, but Skyfall is a perfect balance of paying homage to its history and moving the franchise forward in inventive and exciting ways. Add a great villain in Javier Bardem (Biutiful), and a plethora of memorable moments for Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as the beloved M, and Skyfall is as good an action-based espionage film as there is.
The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
I thought my enthusiasm for The Impossible might wane with time, but so far I still love this film which follows a family desperately trying to reunite with one another after being savagely separated by the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. The movie is gripping in its realism, emotional in its story, and inspiring as it shows us the power of hope in the midst of despair. Ewan McGregor (Big Fish), Naomi Watts (21 Grams), and the three young actors who play their sons each find scenes to break and/or warm your heart. Watts delivers an especially powerful performance and, if it were up to me, she’d receive an Academy Award for Best Actress.
2. The Intouchables
After a paragliding accident turns an aristocrat in a quadriplegic, he hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Nominated for 9 Cesar Awards (France's version of the Academy Awards), The Intouchables, which quietly had its American release in 2012, accomplishes the near miracle of taking a very serious subject matter - a true story for that matter - and dealing with it in a way that inspires and makes you laugh time and again. Francois Cluzet (Tell No One) is amazing as the paralyzed aristocrat, but even more phenomenal is Omar Sy (Micmacs), who plays the unlikely caretaker with charisma and an infectious smile. Sy won the Cesar for Best Actor over Jean Dujardin (The Artist), who won the Oscar last year for Best Actor. Sy deserved his surprise win, and this film deserves to be seen and loved by any and everyone. And just think, it accomplishes such feel-good feats all through subtitles!
1. Marvel's The Avengers
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
What can I say? The Avengers is simply the epitome of having fun at the movies. The film is the culmination of so many years of effort from Marvel Studios and revolutionary in its cross-over between singular films. The fights are a blast to watch - superheroes battle supervillains... and aliens... and each other. The movie is also surprisingly funny, generating laughs from starts to finish. If I may again quote my own review, director "Joss Whedon (Serenity) finds a near perfect balance between heroes, super-soldiers, and gods, between explosions and laughs, between character and action, between emotion and adrenaline. It may have a problem here or there, but The Avengers is one of those generation-defining, watershed films you simply don’t want to miss."
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