Best of 2012 - Part One - What No Popcorn? by SHINYGOODGUY

CINEMA

Best of 2012 - Part One - What No Popcorn?

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POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Friday, August 17, 2012 10:03
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/K3kRfb
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:50 AM

I recently came across a list of the upcoming movies Summer Blockbusters about to be unleashed upon us and thought, maybe I should look back and see what's been good so far, mainly because that summer list (and beyond) was so impressive we need to have a 2-parter on this "Best of" series we contribute to.

Here it goes:

For me it took until March to get the ball rolling with, you guessed it -

John Carter - you know my thoughts on this. Good movie with some minor flaws.

21 Jump Street - Hi-larious movie with solid comic perfs by Jonah Hill and S. Tatum.

The Hunger Games - Well done with some minor flaws, I expected more, love Jennifer Lawrence.

Cabin in The Woods - Joss's homage and simultaneous send-up of the horror genre.

The Avengers - Great fun! The Best Marvel movie since X-Men 2

Short list you say, yes, you are correct. So far, slim pickings - these are the movies I have seen, but there were others I wanted to see as well:

Special mention

Underworld Awakening - Kate Beckinsale, that's pretty much it. I did see it but it didn't make my Best of list.

Chronicle - Heard good things

Salmon Fishing in Yemen - 2 words "Emily Blunt"

Bully - Heard great things

The Pirates, Band of Misfits - Heard good things

Dark Shadows - Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together again

MIB 3 - just for old times sake.

Ok guys, you know the drill, give us your Best. Add, comment, give opinions and just plain have fun.

(I will be putting together a "Best of" as Part 2 for the coming months which will have TDKR etc. Give me a couple of days)

SGG

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 12:23 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Several of the films I saw this year were actually produced in 2011, but in the case of the first one it had a very limited theatrical release. I will list them here and will rate them on a scale of 10.

Another Earth - 7 - the best way to appreciate this film is to think of the other Earth as only in the mind of the tormented lead character (Brit Marling, who also co-wrote and produced). Otherwise you'll get bogged down in the physics that don't ring true.

Hugo - 9 1/2 - although I can't really think of a negative right now, nothing is perfect and thus I won't give it a 10.

Chronicle - 5 - too much of a "been there, seen that" for me.

John Carter - 7, almost an 8 - imaginative production of a story that unfortunately will seem derivative to those not familiar with the books.

The Hunger Games - 6 - hampered by the PG13 restriction. Good adaptation of the book, but they pulled too many punches.

Cabin in the Woods - 6, maybe a 7 - I wanted to like this one more than I did, but figuring out the gimmick too early and expecting to be wrong (but I wasn't) kinda disappointed me. It would have helped if I was a horror film fan.

The Avengers - 8 - very enjoyable film and I am pleased Joss is getting due recognition, but I'm also not a comic book fan so I don't have anything invested in the characters.

I'm looking forward to Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises, and there are probably a couple of others but I can't think of them right now.

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Sunday, May 27, 2012 3:47 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Thanks EC. As always, I respect your straight-forward insights. I guess, from the response, that this is a party of two.

I agree with you about Hugo, it is near perfect. A great script, wonderful storytelling by Scorcese and solid acting. I expected as much from Sir Ben, but Chloe Moretz continues to impress. I knew little of the story, but I left with a wealth of film history. It was both entertaining and educational. How many films can make that claim.

The end of 2011 also gave us The Artist, again near perfect, but in a totally different vein. It was surprisingly good, should it have won over Hugo for Best Picture? Well, that's a matter of taste. To me either choice was correct, again both for different reasons. Both stories were well told.

Another Earth - I too liked it very much, it had a unique pace that is quite opposite of what Hollywood offers today. I liked the storytelling in this one, the pace, the performance by lead actress Brit Marling (good for her to take matters in her own hands and produce a vehicle to show case her talents). I agree with your take on the logistics, but I believe you must do this in film viewing, suspend belief and surrender to the story, to fully enjoy the journey. I was intriqued from the trailers and continued until the final frame. 7 is a good mark.

John Carter - Disney made a number of critical errors in producing this sci-fi gem (yes, I said it). Namely, in set-up, like a story set-up is key. What I mean is John Carter is not a widely known commodity, like a Star Wars (they tried to use SW as a type of descriptive guide post to entice moviegoers, there was nothing Star Wars about it other than it was set in a far off planet). They would have been better served to have produced a film introducing ERB and his novels of the era, perhaps even mentioning his contemporaries (Jules Verne, etc). Sort of how Marvel correctly built up to the Avengers by introducing the individual members in movies such as Thor and Iron Man.

To have a $200M-plus movie appeal to the masses, as the aforementioned Avengers, aside from the prequel set-up, you need known stars (especially if you go 'cold' open with no introduction of that universe, it was a similar problem with Serenity, although somewhat different in scope). To be honest, I liked Taylor Kitsch in the title role, he did a credible job. Lynn Collins was not only easy on the eyes, she matched Kitsch in on-screen presence. It was a very taut and capable job done by Pixar alum, Andrew Stanton. There were some minor picadillos I had, mostly some confusion at the beginning regarding the characters involved in the conflict on Barsoom, but I emphasize the word minor. I loved the story and I hope that Stanton gets another crack at it. I would go as far as giving it an 8. The audience in the theatre applauded at the end of the movie, you don't see that very often.

Chronicle - haven't seen it, but it's on my list.

The Hunger Games - I liked it overall, having never read the books I found it somewhat interesting. I agree they could have gone further, but they want to appeal to a wide audience, so much was left out and they played it safe creatively speaking. As usual Hollywood underestimates their audience. Jennifer Lawrence is a gem. 6 is good for this one, maybe 7.

Cabin in the Woods - 7 maybe 8. I liked it a lot, as you can tell. I'm not a horror fan, but I was having the time of my life watching how Joss played his little game with us. I gave into it, knowing how Joss likes to manipulate and play with our sensibilities and our knowledge of the genre. I tend to think that we, as the audience, and particularly Joss fans, are somewhat spoiled when it comes to storytelling in this genre. Yes, there was some predictability going on here, but was that part and parcel the gimmick? And, if it was, so what, wasn't it fun? I'm asking because I ended up loving the ride even though I knew a little of what was coming. That's just me. BTW, I thought it ingenius of them to release it before the Avengers, smart move.

Which brings us to:

The Avengers - Solid 8, creeping ever so slightly into the 9 range. Thoroughly enjoyable, fun, true-to-form. I grew up on Marvel (Thor, Spiderman, Daredevil, Fantastic 4, X-Men, Iron Man), so I am a ready-made fan of the movies. Although somewhat disappointed with some of the treatment of some of the characters, but overall pleased with Hollywood's efforts.

Upcoming Releases:

In the Marvel Universe.

I'm not excited about the new Spiderman. The first installment was enough, by SM3 I was done. Daredevil proved to be thoroughly disapointing. The first 2 X-Men was spot on, but 3 was flat and anti-climatic. X-Men First Class was excellent - Fassbinder was riveting as Magneto. But I always lamented the exclusion of the Scarlet Witch and her brother Pietro (Quicksilver) and Thunderbolt.

I will discuss future releases under another title because there are some really interesting titles about to be released. Under the Title: The Best is Yet to Come, 2012.

See ya.

SGG

Cinema Paradiso

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Monday, May 28, 2012 11:56 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

The only movies I've seen at the theater this year were The Gray and John Carter. JC was allright, made rather good by the Edgar Rice Burrows charactor and how the story ended. The Gray was reasonable, though I thought Liam's charactor was a little too melodramatic.

As for Hugo I loved the cinematography and music, that's what made it good for me. The story itself was really not that exciting for me, I expected something more epic. But real life is rarely epic for eleven year olds, so this was probably okay. But again it was the filming and music that made it fun, and the fact that the kids in it did a great job.

I assume you're my pal until you let me know otherwise.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

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Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:05 PM

MAL4PREZ

Dark Knight Rises - I just wrote a post in your other thread and don't have the heart to repeat it. Basically, it didn't work for me. See that other thread... I'll rate it 6/10. That's being optimistic. The other movies I've seen this summer were so good, they may have made this look worse than it was, so I've upped it a point.

Cabin in The Woods - Loved it, with reservations. I'm not a fan of slasher films, so I watched some parts through the barely parted fingers in front of my face and often wanted to run away with an Eek and not watch anymore! Oh, but it was so clever, and so twisted in the sense of Joss twists another genre, stroking it lovingly before knotting it up then sending it flying ass over teakettle. Brilliant! I would even watch it again. Maybe. I really don't like rusty blades and such, but I might overcome my fears so I can catch those good parts that happen later. That bit with all the elevators arriving.... LOL! Riot! 8.5

The Avengers - Loved it loved it! Already did my loving on another thread. The movie was nothing deep, but also nothing cheap. No throwaways. How in the hell does Joss manage that? It's pure entertaining goodness through and through. Best snappy dialogue ever. Excellent action. Excellent inclusion of so many characters, all of them made interesting. Joss made me like characters I've never had any interest in. None of these have ever been "my" superheros. They were the comics I skipped past. I guess I hadn't seen them like Joss does. 9.5 just because I don't give 10s.

The Bourne Legacy - not on your list, but I loved it to death. I loved it so much that I have to list some bad things right off, so I won't be mistaken for a brainless fandork with no ability to criticize. The plot was slow at times early on and questionable at others, but only in minor ways. The science - not surprisingly for Hollywood - was stretched, but at least they made a decent effort of including a few of the right kinds of words and some semblance of logical logic. The female lead got to be too weepy and squishy and could she just stop flashing the adoring puppy eyes at our hero? We all know that he's the super-stud fantasy hero man-crush of the movie and all XY in the audience want the pretty smart girl to make goo-goo eyes at Aaron/their-fantasy-selves. But once or twice is enough already!

Moving on. The tech stuff was well done as it should be in a Bourne movie: our heroes were tensely tracked by old men and computer dorks locked up in spy rooms with all the latest gear and spy networks. All of the tracking happened quickly, but clearly and in a believable way. Excellent pace and inter-cutting of the separate sub-plots while this was happening.

But all that's beside the point, I say. This movie was about Jeremy Renner. I love Matt Damon and had my doubts about the change, but surprisingly I found Renner to be closer in spirit to the books' Jason Bourne. In Ludlum's world spies are chameleons/thinkers/actors/con-men/jacks-of-all-trades more than serious-faced tough guys who are good with guns. Damon never really encompassed all that. Renner showed more range in being a chameleon, and he subtly nailed all the suppressed emotion of a Ludlum spy stuck in a realistically gray world where both sides do bad things. His demeanor switched minute to minute, both when he had to it as a spy and also when the true person behind his spy was breaking through.

All in all, The plot was maybe not the most twisty, but the action and the character development were brilliant. I'm a big fan of this movie. The only really bad thing was the ending. Abrupt! There better as hell better be a part 2! I give 9.6/10, because I don't give 10s but I think this movie has more staying power than the Avengers.

OK, long write-up for Bourne, but I saw no threads for it and - you may have noticed - I really did like it LOL! It's #1 for the summer for me.

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