Top 10 Movies of 2012

2012 was a year of great expectations. I had predicted that after the tepid offerings of 2011, the blockbusters scheduled for this year had the potential to be fantastic. And thankfully that turned out to (mostly) be the case. There were few big titles that disappointed, which was a nice change of pace.

On the other hand, that means that this year's list is going to contain fewer than the normal amount of weird, smaller movies nobody had heard of, something that I usually take pride in. I swear it's not on purpose, but between the big movies actually being decent for a change, combined with the fact that my overall movie consumption is less than usual for this year since this blog keeps me from devouring everything on the shelf like I normally do, I'm guessing most people have at least heard of the majority of these films.

Sorry, I'll try to be snootier in the coming year. It's a promise. On with the Top 10 Best Movies of 2012! (plus an honorable mention)

Honorable Mention: Brave
Pixar's latest effort caught me off guard with a movie I actually really liked a lot. I found the characters and story far more likable than their average fare, and I had a very good time with it despite myself. I'm still not a huge fan of Pixar, but I always give credit where I feel credit is due. "Brave" is probably my new favorite Pixar film.

And once again, I must commend "Brave" for having a fairy tale story about a young girl which doesn't feature a love interest at any point. I can't describe how refreshing that is.

10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
I'm not going to lie to you. "The Hobbit" is going on this list purely out of fanboyism. I can't help myself. Was it a great movie on par with "The Lord of The Rings" films? No. Did that matter? Not to me. It's still "The Hobbit." And I am such a huge mark for it that there's no way I'm not loving every bit of it.

Look, I won't blow smoke up your collective asses and be dishonest. This movie had its issues. The biggest thing being the fact that it's an hour too long for no good reason. Had that been fixed it would have been WAY higher on the list. But despite my nerd-love for "The Hobbit," I can't bring myself to place it higher. There are just too many problems with the pacing. But it was still awesome despite all of those problems, and it still deserves a spot on my Top 10 of 2012.

Now, just wait until "The Desolation of Smaug" and we're talking guaranteed Top 3 spots! At least. I'm calling it right now. That movie...you just have no idea how awesome it's going to be.

9. The Flowers of War
This is the only movie on this list that I can't say I had a fun time at. "The Flowers of War" is a slog to get through. It's rough. It's brutal. Horrible, awful, unthinkable, "Schindler's List" level, tear-inducing things happen in this film. It's enough to make you cry. It's enough to make you not want to watch anymore. It's enough to make you want to retch. And my goodness was it amazing.

This isn't lite watching by any means. But if you can stomach it, and I recommend you do, you'll understand why it made my Best of The Year list. It deserves it. Any movie that is that powerful and moving is doing a lot of things right. Even if those things aren't things you'd ever, ever want to see. The scenes from "The Flowers of War" that have been burned into my mind are never going to leave. I can't say I would have willingly chosen to have them there, but I'm glad I saw such moving images that left such a strong impression.

8, Wreck-It Ralph
One of the bigger surprises for me this year came in the form of John C. Reilly as a video game character in "Wreck-It Ralph." I wasn't holding out high hopes for this one, but it ended up being both charming, well written, very entertaining and funny as hell. Much like "Bolt," another film from Walt Disney Animation Studios that I really like, "Wreck-It Ralph" also managed to be touching and heartbreaking at times without ever feeling like we were being overtly manipulated into it. On top of everything else, it's also a gorgeous flick.

Also, having been a gamer for many a year, this was a nostalgic kick to the spine that dropped references that only 30-somes like me would get. I mean, when's the last time you saw a "Metal Gear Solid" reference in a movie? I love when stuff is catered towards me!

7. The Grey
This tale of Liam Neeson in the woods trying to save himself and a small group of plane crash survivors from a vicious, extremely territorial pack of wolves in Alaska was part "Heart of Darkness," part "Alive" (only good) and part "Jaws." It's also a moving tale of courage and personal strength in the face of overwhelming odds and crippling despair.

Is it even possible to survive something like this? Probably not. Is the fight worth it? Maybe. Is that the point? No. Will it mean everything if you look despair in the eye, spit at its feet and sneer "Do your worst, you son of a bitch" even while standing on the edge of the cliff? Absolutely.

6. Skyfall
After the crushing disappointment that was "Quantum of Solace," the odds were not in Bond's favor with "Skyfall." Leave it to Sam Mendes to bring Bond back to the forefront of ass-kicking with what was the most ass-kickingist Bond movie since Pierce Brosnan's debut in "GoldenEye."

"Skyfall" was a grand-slam-in-the-bottom-of-the-9th success in every way that I can think of. Even the last half hour, which I thought did the film a disservice by going more Jason Bourne than James Bond was still awesome, despite my complaints. We also got the first memorable villain since "GoldenEye" with Javier Bardem, playing the only Bond villain that I can recall seeming like he was threatening to sexually molest 007. It was a fun time.

This is just what the Bond franchise needed. Now they need to do exactly that again. Forever.

5. Looper
Like there's any way the best time travel movie I've seen since "12 Monkeys" isn't going on this list. "Looper" is just as twisty-turney in the genre it occupies at any given moment as the plot that it weaves, and twists and turns it has a-plenty. What's amazing is that as often as it changes, so drastically so that if you were to watch the beginning and the end there's a good chance you'd think they were different films aside from the cast, it never once doesn't make total sense or feel out of place.

If there was a guy looking to take up the mantel of "The Next Christopher Nolan," director Rian Johnson is it. I can't wait to see what he does next. If "Looper" is any indication, whatever it is, it's going to blow our minds.

4. The Dark Knight Rises
The final chapter in Christopher Nolan's superb Batman trilogy was a movie that was met with some, let's be gentle and say "mixed" reactions. In actuality it was closer to "half the audience loved it and the other half wanted to burn down Hollywood over it." It's always normal to have backlash to any highly anticipated movie, but people seemed really viciously torn over this one. I don't understand why because I thought "The Dark Knight Rises" was a towering, powerful end to one of my favorite film series. I loved it, despite some problems with pacing, which is why it isn't higher on the list.

This film was a big bite out of a huge sandwich, maybe a little too big to be sure, and there's a lot to chew. There's a lot of character stuff going on, and it's less about Batman than it is Gotham as a whole. But that didn't seem out of place to me. Gotham has always been what Batman was fighting for the whole time. And thematically it's appropriate since a large aspect of the story is dealing with how the people of Gotham are going to function without Batman. You think Bruce Wayne wanted to have to protect Gotham forever? No, he wanted them to not have to need him. This isn't Batman being pushed out of the picture, this is his story coming full circle. This was the point this whole time, if you care to pay attention to the two films that came before.

And I don't care what you say. Bane was amazing. And I understood him perfectly fine. Ya'll need your hearing checked. Or maybe go to a theater with decent sound.








How did it come to this? Here we stand, at the turn of the tide. We now come to the TOP 3 OF 2012. In a year of much anticipation, there were some ups and there were some downs - but which 3 films were solid enough to make the upper echelon? One had me doing one of the biggest nerd-outs I've ever done over it, another I just assumed was going to be incredible (and I was right), while another was actually a complete surprise. Which ones? Let's do it! Here's what I consider the absolute best of what 2012 had to offer!

3. Prometheus
Few movies this year, well besides TDKR, was as divisive as "Prometheus" was. Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi was met with high expectations and intense backlash as it turned out to be, to the OUTRAGE of fans of the "Alien" franchise, something that was unthinkable! It was...brace yourselves, children...

A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE.

Gasp! Do you mean to tell me that Ridley Scott had the temerity to make a film with huge, bold ideas that may not have any easy answers, which takes its time in actually setting up an atmosphere to portray and develop the futuristic world it takes place in, and has a grand sense of discovery and exploration, and leaves you with more questions than answers, in other words "great science fiction" instead of simply remaking "Aliens" and calling it a day?! What a travesty!

I seriously don't understand the rage that "Prometheus" inspired. I hate to sound like a snob (okay that's a lie) but honestly, if you're one of the people who hated "Prometheus," I seriously don't know what you were expecting. Was it "Alien?" If that's the case, you got it as the plot is essentially the same in its barest elements. Was it "Aliens?" Then just watch "Aliens." Don't tell me that's what you really wanted, either, because then you'd call it derivative. Did you just want "a sci-fi movie?" THAT'S WHAT YOU GOT. I hate to break this phrase out, but I have to assume the people complaining just didn't "get it." This movie is fantastic, and a wonderful, brainy addition to the "Alien" franchise. I can't wait to see where it goes next.

(And by the way, as to the complaint that the scientists "act stupid," all I have to say is "I'm the first person on an unexplored planet uncovering what may be the secret to not only how human life began, but I'm the first son of a bitch to encounter AN ALIEN GOD DAMN LIFEFORM. Quick! Let me hide in my room and not go anywhere, do anything, or perform any acts of exploration and discovery, or in other words why I came here." And remember, it's not like they know they're in a horror film.) I think this may deserve it's own entry on exploring the misdirected hate.

2. Django Unchained
Come on. It's freaking Quentin Tarantino. The man is the sugar to my Kool Aide. The vodka to my martini. The cheese to my Royale. You think he's not making an appearance on here? I'm not sure where I'd rank "Django Unchained" next to the rest of his films, since they all shine in their own way but still feel very similar, but it's up there among his best, I think. It's probably his most streamlined, least self-indulgent outing, which may relieve most and disappoint a select few others. At least, it certainly flies by faster than the others despite being the longest movie he's made at nearly 3 hours.

Tarantino always populates his movies with the most incredible cast you can imagine, and here is no different. Seeing Christoph Waltz give another Oscar nomination assured performance was no surprise, but what was a surprise was seeing Leonardo DiCaprio actually stealing the show from Waltz to give what I thought was easily the performance of his career. While everyone in "Django Unchained" was a superstar, both of these guys made it worth seeing by themselves. Easily.

And that's without the rest of the movie being a solid-gold home run. Which it was.






And the best movie I saw in 2012 was...

1. ParaNorman
Much like "The Muppets" last year and "Coraline" in 2009, my top film of the year ended up being the one that made me feel the best. "ParaNorman" is a loving tribute to horror and bloody exploitation grindhouse films, while maintaining a PG rating and a charming sense of humor. Shockingly, this works in a fantastic fashion.

Putting an ear-to-ear smile on my face for an hour and a half is not an easy task. I am a notorious sourpuss when it comes to most movies. "ParaNorman," though, this was all smiles from beginning to end. Well, smiles except when I was squirming in my seat going "EEEEEWWW!!! NO!!! HAHA!! OH NO!" at a corpse licking someone, picking my jaw off the ground both during a shockingly dark reveal at the end of the second act and a satisfyingly intense climax, and pointing at the screen and laughing my fool head off over the fact that there was a "Manos: The Hands of Fate" reference, and other various things of that nature that made this film an absolute delight.

I loved every second of "ParaNorman." It would make a fantastic double-feature with "Coraline," which is an idea so awesome that I may have to do that sometime soon. I still think "Coraline" is the better film, but "ParaNorman" wins out on the humor. But any movie I'm able to even put in the same sentence comparatively as "Coraline" is one that is going to hold a special place for me forever, because that's not something that happens often. Mostly it's relegated to every time Laika does another stop-motion film.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go watch something where the zombie eats someone's brains...

ParaNorman (2012)

I pride myself on being pretty good at calling how good a movie is going to be based on the trailers. It doesn't always work out, of course. I'm not always right, but generally I can make a fairly accurate generalization on whether or not I'll like it. When you see as many movies as I do, you do tend to get pretty good at it.

That is, as long as the marketing campaign for a movie isn't deceptive.

You see, Hollywood has a really nasty habit of lying to you. It's true, and I think it's a big problem that is the causation of why so many unique films bomb: They don't know how to market weird stuff.

The problem is that in a trailer, a feature length film has got to be condensed into a fine, chewable paste for the consumption of the lowest common denominator. There can't be any kind of idea that takes more than 5 seconds to convey, be understood, and absorbed by the viewers. That's why trailers are loud, obnoxious, and filled with poo jokes. They also love giving away scares or surprises or even the entire ending of the damn film, all in an effort to say "Look! Look how much stuff happens in this movie! It's got action! It's scary! Look, here's every scare in the entire film!"

The reason they do this, of course, is so that you know the scare is coming, which naturally makes it more effective.

::sigh::

You ever get the feeling it's this guy making all the movie trailers?

Back on point though, this same formula that has been in place ever since they started making previews for movies is a big problem as to why certain films can come off as completely different than what you end up getting. Remember that debacle with "Drive," where that lady actually had the brass to sue the filmmakers because the trailer was too deceptive, and instead of getting a "Fast and The Furious" clone like she wanted, she got an artsy exploitation flick? Well, as stupid as that is, she's got a point. The trailer was insanely deceptive. But at the same time, I have no idea how you'd make a traditional trailer for "Drive" and really convey what you'd be getting.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I could have made a better one, but that's beside the point.

This brings us to "ParaNorman." I was indescribably excited when I first saw the trailer for this film, and saw that it included some of the talent from "Coraline," a movie I considered the best film I saw in 2009. And the trailer for "ParaNorman" started off really well with a creepy atmosphere and gorgeous stop-motion animation, and I was loving it. And then the trailer kept going, and getting worse and worse as it went, because it just looked so...generic. After the awesomeness that was "Coraline," this looked like a huge downgrade. And I was just bummed out by it.

But I finally forced myself to see it, and man, am I glad that I did. In another case where I happily discovered that it was simply a matter of a movie being too good for its trailer, "ParaNorman" ended up surprisingly being one of the best films I've seen this year. Not only was it a gorgeous example of an all but forgotten style of animation, a charming homage to the horror genre, and genuinely funny, but it was reminiscent of kid's movies from back in the day that were objectively good. And while that last one would have made it far worth seeing, it's the other things that just put it over the top to make it something really special.

Have I mentioned it's pretty?

The plot of "ParaNorman" is that Norman is a young boy who can see and talk to ghosts. He sees them all time, and isn't disturbed by it in the least, which is probably why he loves horror films. Of course, due to this he is ostracized at school and is a total outcast. Soon, however, he finds out about a 200 year old curse that he must become the keeper of, to prevent a witch from raising the dead. All of this culminates in a single night of zombies, mobs, and a whole lot of chaos.

I must admit that from the very opening credits, "ParaNorman" had its hooks in me completely. The opening titles are presented in 4:3 ratio, grainy, crappy audio goodness as a parody of grindhouse movies and gory exploitation films begins. As bad acting, cheesy makeup and boom mics in the shot occur in a very funny scene, we pull out to see our main character Norman watching them in his living room with his Grandma. She asks him, "What's happening now, dear?" Norman casually says, "The zombie is eating her brains." She then just as casually replies "Oh. Well that's not very nice."

Then as he goes into the kitchen, and his parents ask him what he's doing. He says he's watching a movie with Grandma. His parents then remind him his Grandma is dead, and that he's got to stop doing that.

Oh. OH! Oh, wow...

What a fantastic and unashamedly dark way to open a film. They don't make kids movies like that anymore. When was the last time a movie marketed towards kids confronted death in such a laid back manner? It was really refreshing to see a movie that was not afraid to go where it is generally taboo to go. Of course, I've never specifically heard if "a corpse licking someone" is considered a social faux-pas, because that happens too, but I'll just assume that it is.

In fact, as the movie goes on, there are more and more shockingly dark things the movie ended up doing which ended up being quite moving and had some great impact. In particular was the scene where the facts of the witch's death hundreds of years ago come to light, and we discover the origin of the curse. There is a reveal in that scene which is genuinely shocking and horribly tragic. I had to pick my jaw out of my lap at that point. Bravo to the film for having guts, because it paid off big time, and really helped hammer home the message of the film, which is "If you hurt those who have hurt you, you end up being just as bad as they are."

Without that great tragedy, that message would have fallen flat, because the pure rage the witch needed to have would have felt disingenuous. And as a result, when the witch is faced with forgiving those who wronged her, the power of that comes through just that much stronger. It's actually quite sad, but also very beautiful.

Also, it's a really intense, creepy, absolutely gorgeous looking scene.

Norman is voiced by one of my favorite young actors, Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is an absolute monster on the screen, and has floored me with his performances twice before, once in "The Road," which he could have gotten an Oscar nomination for, and again in "Let Me In." He reminds me of Max Records a bit, actually, because they are both scary good. And while it was a shame to not see his very expressive face, he along with everyone else in "ParaNorman" did a fantastic job voicing their characters.

Also in the cast were Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Casey Affleck, who added some of the best comedic moments, but I was more excited about Bernard Hill (King Theoden from "Lord of The Rings"), John Goodman, Anna Kendrick and finally Jodelle Ferland, another amazing young actress who was a revelation in Terry Gilliam's superb "Tideland." This is some hardcore talent going on here. And also there was Leslie Mann if you care about that kind of thing.

Comparisons to "Coraline" are inevitable, and although I liked "Coraline" more than "ParaNorman," the amount of pure enjoyment was essentially equal for different reasons. "Coraline" I loved for the story and atmosphere, while "ParaNorman" I loved for the humor and homage to horror films, and they would actually be an amazing double feature with each other, because they both are films that are not afraid to get a bit dark, and threat kids like adults. It's just so wonderful to get a slice of uniqueness in a movie theater when we are all so used to the same recycled crap.

SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE!!!

I said earlier that "ParaNorman" was a dark film, and yes, it's true. It's rated PG, but it's a hard PG. There are some things in "ParaNorman" that I've heard some people get upset over, and yeah there's some admittedly creepy and surprisingly intense moments to be found, but if I may be so bold, that's exactly why I loved this film. It is a movie made just as much for adults as children, and in the end, that is what will give it staying power. It's the rare film that a parent can enjoy just as much as a kid which should be the definition of a "family film." If it's brain-dead crap like "The Smurfs" or "Mr. Popper's Penguins," and only the kid is enjoying it while the adults just want someone to drill a hole in their head to just make it stop, then it's not a family movie, is it?

But honestly, if your kid can't handle it, maybe you should have done your homework and realized it was a movie about witches and zombies before taking them to see the movie. Read a review of it. Or maybe read the ratings reasons which are made very accessible from numerous sources, including the poster, at the ticket counter, and online. The search would take 4 seconds. In the age of the internet, going into a movie blind like that is so easy to avoid that there's really not much of an excuse.

Meanwhile, this adult is going to sit back and enjoy the hell out of a movie that includes homages to Z-grade Claudio Fragasso schlock, has a "Scooby-Doo" style vibe, actually makes me laugh out loud through the whole thing, and also has a reference to "Manos: The Hands of Fate." That sounds like my kind of movie. And I'm going to enjoy it a lot.

THE BOTTOM LINE - "ParaNorman" is fantastic.  The last movie that I had this kind of reaction to was "The Muppets" last year. Both that film and "ParaNorman" were able to hold me in a constant state of awe, wonder, and perpetual smiles. The story was fun and mysterious, the tone was dark and went to surprisingly dark places, the characters were alive and loveable, the look was gorgeous, and the references just felt like they were tailor-made for me. This is making my Top Ten of 2012, I can almost guarantee. Highly Recommended. Seriously, you need to see it.