Top Ten Movies of 2012

This is my ninth annual Top Ten list. Since my daughter Jade came long in 2011, movie time has been a little more limited. I still make a point of hitting the theatres with Cam or with friends for the big blockbusters, or watching a movie (quietly) at home with Cam. Jade's not quite ready for pizza-and-movie nights yet. ;)

There are a number of big movies that were released around Christmas just in time for Oscar season that I haven't seen yet. So this year, I am presenting my usual Top Ten List alongside my Top Ten Wish List. I figure that a few of my Wish List items will easily make it into my main list once I've caught up on all of them.

As before, this list only accounts for movies that were officially released in 2012. I saw 34 new releases in all this year. There are exactly 99 movies on my complete wish list. (I doubt I will see all of those in my lifetime!) Here we go...

Top Ten List

[10] Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Link)

Spielberg's Lincoln is on my Wist List but is an acceptable replacement, right? Sure, it's not a high brow movie but the mash-up concept worked surprisingly well. Not only that but I actually did learn some actual history along the way. Entertaining and educational? It's true - but really, it just squeaks onto my list 'cause I loved the silliness and ax swinging.

[9] End Of Watch (Link)

I have described this to friends as the best episode of COPS ever. Two best friends and partners and the world they face, complete with car-cam and shoulder-cam point-of-view. The core friendship defines the movie but it has some stomache-punch moments that give it plenty of weight. This one sticks in my mind pretty clearly even though I watched it months ago.

[8] Prometheus (Link)

Yes, this is clearly a prequel to the ALIEN series, regardless of advance subterfuge on that matter. The absolute best thing about the movie is the character and performance done by Michael Fassbender (of X-Man: First Class fame). It's about near-future astronauts exploring a new planet and the alien hijinks that ensue. It's a little preposterous and it leaves many questions unanswered but since there's a setup for a sequel that's fine by me.

[7] Trouble With The Curve (Link)

This may be a slight movie in some ways but it hit my sweet spot with ease. It's about high school baseball scouting mixed with Moneyball commentary, laid on top of a strong father-daughter story. And since that father-daughter combo is played by a crochety Clint Eastwood and a tough-but-damaged Amy Adams, it all comes together perfectly. I'll even buy the much-too-charismatic Justin Timberlake as the daughter's love interest since his one-liners did make me laugh a few times. And yes, I did refer to this movie as "slight" because of the mustache-twirling villain and the ending but it still resonated with me.

[6] The Expendables 2 (Link)

I loved the first flick and this one outdoes it in every way. The first time I saw it, the one-liners and call-outs to previous movies by the various big-name co-stars was downright annoying. After I re-watched it, though, the blend of standard action movie jokes and straight-up fight scenes worked much better for me. I've been more of a fan of Van Damme since he did JCVD and he was an excellent villain to root against. And while I won't spoil it, the main guest star was awesome.

[5] Skyfall (Link)

It's the first Bond movie to cross the billion dollar mark worldwide and it hits every note perfectly. Some friends said that they're not fans of the specific call-outs to past Bond movies since this is technically supposed to be a reboot of the franchise but that's one of the reasons that I loved this movie. The way I see it, this is an "alternate history" version of Bond and we can imagine Daniel Craig completing similar missions and using similar gadgets to former movies. The villain was perfectly cast (even if the hair was distracting) and the central plot was very personal in several different ways. I actually rated this as my top Bond movie ever, which is heresy in most circles but I like to be hyperbolical like that.

[4] The Dark Knight Rises (Link)

This is the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's much praised trilogy. While the second movie is head and shoulders above anything else, this was a fitting end (even if was a tad bloated). In particular, the way that it retraces themes from the first two movies was superb. I felt like Michael Caine's character was underused but his character arc across the three movies was satisfying. Likewise, I enjoyed the characters and work done by Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway (as Catwoman) and Joseph Gorden-Levitt. I disliked the stupid voice that they used for Bane though the actual character was a fantastic interpretation of the original comic character. I actually saw the early preview that was attached to the IMAX version of Mission Impossible and that was thrilling but that voice was ridiculous even then. And like everyone else, I tried to predict some of the plot twists (especially since I know the complete comic backstory) and I was still fooled - which was  both a good thing and a bad thing, since the final reveals were a little silly in the end. If this movie does indeed setup the future JLA movie, I will absolutely be on board with that.

[3] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Link)

Man, the fanboy backlash against this movie has been unreal. The original LOTR trilogy faced tough critics from longtime fans of the original book, but this Hobbit series faces that same group plus more recent fans of the LOTR movies. And if it wasn't hard enough to live up to the standard of the original Hobbit book and the previous movies, they also decided to split this new story into three movies rather late in the process. I absolutely disagree with any and all fanboys (and fangirls) that criticize this first movie because of those types of comparisons. As a fan myself, I'm just glad that I get to enjoy three new movies in this world. I'm actually a little sad to see relatively lower box office returns for this movie, which I attribute to this type of kneejerk critical reaction that sprouted before anyone even saw the movie.

I watched this new movie in 3D with 48fps (which was another focus of complaints) and I loved both the movie itself and the new film format. The effect of watching large scenes or camera pans was so smooth and it really improved the 3D experience. I expected the movie to meander but the only part that really dragged was the beginning. Everything else was one fun scene after another. The CGI was piled on too heavily at times but core story and the handful of central characters were lots of fun. I can't wait for the next one!

[2] Looper (Link)

As I've said many time during these yearly summaries, I love me some sci-fi and Looper was about as ideal a time-travel story as I've seen. The way that the time travel headaches came together was awesome - both in terms of straight logic and in terms of the emotional pay-off. My only minor quibble would be how different the two lead actors looked. Even so, this movie has so many scenes that are indelibly seared into my memory that it was easy to put this movie so high on my list.

[1] The Avengers (Link)

Sooooooooo good! This was the ultimate movie universe (pun intended for comic geeks) and a massive gamble for Marvel Studios. In my estimation, the majority of the credit for the success of this move belongs to Joss Whedon and everything he did was writer and director. I'm a long-time comic geek the largest portion of my 3000+ comics is from Marvel and this movie was my fondest wish come true. The various crowds that I saw it with absolutely roared during all the right moments ("puny god") and this was an incredible crowd-pleaser in terms of emotional content, humour and action. Loved it!

I have a few special categories to finish off this (admittedly lengthy) blog post...

Biggest waste of time: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Link)

I honestly like Nicholas Cage as an actor and I was hopeful that this would improve on the first one but this sucked terribly. And the joke about the flame thrower was insidiously stupid.

Best Chick Flick: The Vow (Link)
Actually, this was my only chick flick up until these holidays. It does a really nice job of going left when I expect it to go right. It had it's share of cliches but it also avoided many obvious routes during the film and I appreciated that. I also liked the fact that it's inspired by a true story.

Most Disappointing: The Amazing Spider-Man (Link)

I liked it fine during my initial viewing but I recently re-watched it with my wife and it did not hold up well at all. Everything in this universe somehow relates to Peter Parker. The Lizard is a terribly conceived character with infantile motivational twists and I did not buy how much access Gwen Stacey had at the labs. I liked the charm of the two leads but my wife disliked that part as well. Ugh. This just keeps going down in my estimation. I doubt that Jamie Foxx will be able to save the next movie when he comes in as the villain Electro.

References:

Top GrossingMovies of 2012

My Previous Top Ten Lists:
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011