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...

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

I'm going to come out and say something that is contrary to popular opinion. Shocking, I know. But here it is: I don't think that Pixar is the best animation studio. Put down your pitchforks and torches, let me explain.

I think Pixar is good. It would be foolish of me to say that they weren't. But here's the part of the game where I refuse to play ball - not everything they touch is the best thing I've ever seen. That, more than anything else, is one of the biggest problems I have with them. Every time they come out with a movie it gets nominated for every possible Oscar it can be nominated for, it pulls down nothing less than a 107% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and every person tells me it's the best film of the year, and that I should put my eyeballs into cyrogenic stasis after seeing it so that the majesty radiating from the screen can be forever stuck in my corneas.

Why this bothers me is that other animation studios don't really get the credit they deserve, because they are overshadowed by The Mighty Flawless Pixar. In fact, much like the lowly chicken nugget will forever be referred to as a "Chicken McNugget" due to a clown serving the world a pile of deep-fried, vaguely edible protein paste in mind-bending popularity, most people who see an animated film nowadays just assume that Pixar did it. And yes, maybe some confusion arises because they do kind of all have obnoxiously similar animation styles, but still, there is more than one animation studio out there.

And where this comes back around to my main point, being that I don't consider Pixar the best, is that of all my favorite animated films I've seen of the past who-knows-how-long, none of them have been Pixar. Not a single one.

Pixar also never had a scene like this.

"How To Train Your Dragon" was an incredible film. As was "Kung-Fu Panda." As was "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of The Were-Rabbit." "Megamind" also deserves mentioning. Those were all DreamWorks Animation. Then there was 2011's "Winnie the Pooh," and what is probably my favorite animated movie of the last decade, "Bolt." Those were Walt Disney Animation Studios films.

It's also worth mentioning Laika Entertainment, who is keeping the IV running into the arm of a sadly dying form of animation - stop motion. They're responsible for one of my favorite movies ever, "Coraline," not to mention this year's phenomenal "ParaNorman." All of these movies I've mentioned are superb.

And the only Pixar film I'd lump anywhere near them is "Finding Nemo." Maybe the "The Incredibles" as well, but I'd still rather watch any of the others I've mentioned before those. I don't know exactly the reason why, but I always feel manipulated watching a Pixar film, like they're setting up a tug-of-war game with my heartstrings to make up for the simply average story. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon.

So where does that bring us with "Wreck-It Ralph?" Well, simply put, this is one more instance where an animation studio, in this case Walt Disney Animation Studios and director Rich Moore, who is a "Simpsons" and "Futurama" LEGEND, has released a movie that is better than what I've seen from Pixar. While in it's first 20 minutes or so, it's kind of shaky and falls into "Toy Story"-ripoff territory, not too far into the film "Wreck-It Ralph" takes on a life of it's own to become something that, while perhaps not the most original idea ever, is executed with such charm, style, and humor that it's impossible to not have a smile on your face.

CHARM...CAPACITY...MAXED...ERROR.

I say that it gets close to "Toy Story"-ripoff territory because, well quite frankly it does. The familiar setup of inanimate objects actually being alive (in this case video game characters) isn't a new thing. The theme of old being put out by the new is also an aspect, as video games are probably far more susceptible to that than anything like an action figure is. It's similar, but "Wreck-It Ralph" seemed like more of a personal journey to me, due to it being more focused on being content with your lot in life, and finding something to give yourself both respect and purpose.

The titular character, Ralph, is the bad guy in a "Donkey Kong"-style arcade game. He's been doing it for 30 years, and he's tired of it. Being the bad guy, nobody else really likes him, even though he's not actually a bad GUY, he's just a BAD guy. True, he's not exactly the most social person, and like his name implies, he is kind of a walking implement of destruction. But that's not really his fault, it's just the way he is. He is a bad guy after all.

After a crashed party turns awkward and a challenge is flippantly dished out, Ralph decides to go out and earn himself a medal in another video game to prove that he's worth something. After all, bad guys don't get medals, but if he can go out and do just that, maybe everyone will recognize him for being more than just a villain. And then he'll be able to get some cake, which is actually something of a theme in "Wreck-It Ralph."

NOT THAT CAKE!

Everything up to that point was pretty standard fare, and I wasn't too invested in it, but when Ralph enters the other arcade games was when the movie really started taking off for me. Upon first going into the rail-shooter "Hero's Duty," the scope that "Wreck-It Ralph" was capable of really started to become clear, as the look and feel of everything changed to reflect the newer, more graphically intense modern video games. Going from something like "Donkey Kong" to a dark, intense action game a la "Star Craft" was a surprisingly pleasant jolt.

We're also introduced to possibly the best character in the movie, the intense, brooding Calhoun. She's the commander of the troops in "Hero's Duty," and is kind of a cross between Kerrigan from "Star Craft" and a Renegade fem-Sheppard from "Mass Effect." She's a dead serious, ass kicking powerhouse programed with the most tragic (and hilarious) backstory to make her suitably dour and intense.

She's voiced by Jane Lynch, which helps because Jane Lynch makes an awesome badass. They even make her character look a lot like Jane as well, which makes sense because she's the most realistic looking one of the cast, but the animation on her face is worth mentioning because it's very well done and expressive. And I'm serious when I say that I'd totally play "Hero's Duty." That game looked sweet!

Oh my god I loved Calhoun. So much.

Most of the movie takes place in a racing game called "Sugar Rush," which is like "Mario Kart" meets "Candyland." There we meet who is probably going to be the most divisive member of the cast, Vanellope, played by the comedian everyone but me seems to love to hate, Sarah Silverman. So many people are going to hate her simply because of who the voice is, and also because Vanellope is pretty much exactly Sarah Silverman, only in the form of a little girl and unable to swear because the movie is PG. I'll leave it at this - if you like Sarah Silverman, you'll like Vanellope. A lot. If you don't like Sarah Silverman, it's not a given you won't like Vanellope, but good luck with that.

Personally, I thought she was adorable and hilarious.

So much of "Wreck-It Ralph" is sold based on the chemistry between Ralph and Vanellope that if it didn't work, the movie would have collapsed on itself. Fortunately John C. Reilly, voicing Ralph, and Sarah Silverman play off each other fantastically and make for one of the better character pairings I've seen in a long time. These two characters are so different in nearly every conceivable way, but at the same time are very alike, which makes for some very touching scenes and revelations, which are heart-breakingly well acted at times. This was a particularly nice surprise for me since I'm not a fan of John C. Reilly. But I have to give credit - both of them knocked it completely out of the park here.

Rounding out the cast is Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix, Ralph's good guy "nemesis," and Alan Tudyk as King Candy, who functions as the villain of the film. Felix is a predictably dull goody two shoes, but King Candy is a fun character who has most of the best lines in the movie, including several "so bad they're awesome" puns which had me rolling in the aisles. Also helping is that Tudyk gives him the same crazy voice that the Mad Hatter from the old "Alice In Wonderland" had, which was a lot of fun. There's also a great "should have seen that coming but didn't" twist with King Candy.

  I'd also play "Sugar Rush." It had an AWESOME soundtrack. J-Pop madness for the win.

"Wreck-It Ralph" also goes places I wasn't completely expecting it to go. There are moments when I thought I had the next plot point sighted, only to have them deliver something I wasn't expecting. That's not to say it completely went places I wasn't expecting it to go, but a little bit of unpredictability does wonders for a genre that is pretty paint-by-numbers. And that only made the ending that much more satisfying as Ralph finally finds what it is in his life that he really cares about - and makes it so that he's finally happy with himself. It's really quite moving.

Two additional things that struck me about "Wreck-It Ralph," in closing, was that this had to have been an expensive movie. Not for the animation itself, but for the licensing rights. There are so many video game characters from across platforms here that it's amazing they're all in it together. Just watching the characters roll in is pretty impressive by itself, and they're not facsimiles - it's the real deal. There's no Speedy The Porcupine. It's actually Sonic The Hedgehog dishing out advice on staying safe while traveling to other games. That blew my mind.

The second thing was that this was actually a neat little "Obscure Arrested Development Character" reunion! Jack McBrayer was the waiter at the Country Club who has never been spoken to nicely by Lucille, Alan Tudyk was Ann's (her?) father Pastor Veal, and Jane Lynch was Cindi Lightballoon, the one who didn't know what a blooper real was! I gotta say, that's pretty cool.

God, I want the "Arrested Development" movie so bad.

THE BOTTOM LINE - "Wreck-It Ralph" is a fantastic film. That's all there is to it. While I wasn't expecting much out of it, it totally surpassed my expectations and knocked a grand slam out of the park. Is it Top 10 of 2012 material? That has yet to be seen, but it's a contender, make no mistake.