Best Movies of 2012

This year saw a lot of good films, though unfortunately few could really separate themselves to rise to Great. The overall quality of this year was good, but even some of the films on this list could be picked apart heavily. Some fell short of aspirations and some exceeded expectations with fine writing, directing and performances. NOTE: I didn't see Silver Linings Playbook yet. Will update when I do.

Here is a list of my Best Movies of 2012:

Not Quite as good as LOTR,
but still had the charm.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth was a good first installment to a new series based off a 300 page book that could have just been one film. However, Jackson hits his stride right off the bat, even if it's not the same quality as his Oscar Nominated predecessors. Martin Freeman captures Bilbo Baggins as well as Ian Holm did and Richard Armitage made Thorin Oakenshield more human than previous representations. Ian McKellan's Gandolf is once again as spot on as he left it. The movie does lose some steam, but is rejuvenated when Andy Serkis' returns as Gollum and provides great energy for the film again. Still not sure how turning it into a trilogy, but the first installment was a good start. Let's see how next year's The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug turns out.  

Too many plot holes,
but excellent nonetheless.

The Dark Knight Rises - I know what you're thinking, why so low? Well simple, there's a lot of plot holes in this awkwardly paced film, but it was still very good. The Dark Knight series ended with a crescendo that in retrospect DC may regret, but left audiences satisfied in spite the many questions it left. Getting good performances by an all star cast (mostly from Inception), Christopher Nolan told the chapter of Knightfall while trying to tie the villain's plan with today's headlines. As I try to tear this film apart, I'm still going to put it on the year's best list, though fanboys will likely comment that it should have been at #1.

Scott delves back into Alien 
with Prometheus.

Prometheus - Ridley Scott's sorta-prequel to Alien was a thought provoking film on some aspects and frustrating on others. Like the Dark Knight Rises, you can spend all day picking it apart, but unlike the Dark Knight Rises, it's opening the series with a chance to answer them later. Michael Fassbender's performance as an android that takes a liking to Peter O'Toole so much so that he imitates him while collecting information for his creator Peter Weyland, whom commissioned the exploration to seek the key to immortality. Noomi Roopace, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba deliver fine performances, but Scott keeps the audiences on their toes with a couple of scenes that will make you squirm.

Zero Dark Thirty - Jessica Chastain stars in this gritty telling of the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden. Done in the style of Kathrine Bigelow's Oscar Winner The Hurt Locker, but unlike the Hurt Locker, only Chastain's CIA Agent Maya shined while being surrounded by an all star cast in supporting roles. It's a movie that produces a great atmosphere and informs, but fall just short of truly being great.

MacFarlane's charm moved
from little to big screen.

Ted - Seth MacFarlane's first entry into live action scored at the box offices in a big way. Mark Wahlberg and Milas Kunis' relationship is constantly strained by a talking stuffed teddy bear named...Ted, of course. Eventually, Ted gets a job and a girlfriend, but still hasn't grown up. In a movie that walks, crosses and forgets about the line, MacFarlane translates his Family Guy sense of humor to the big screen and likely causes many audience members to seek medical attention from laughing too much. From the heart-warming opening to the Thunder-Buddies song, from the interactions with his boss to the flirting with Tammy Lynn, Ted fired on all cylinders and was the best comedy of the year.

Zemekis returns to direct
an Oscar Worthy film.

Flight - In the grittiest film by famed director Robert Zemeckis, Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic drug addicted pilot that made a miraculous landing that saved the lives of most people on his plane. However, he did it all drunk and high on drugs. As he's getting investigated, he befriends a woman battling her own demons. As she works to recover, he falls deeper into his addiction. Though it appears he'll get out of his criminal trial with no complications, but he faces his problems head on as he reaches his lowest point. It's Washington's finest performance in years and an Oscar worthy one at that with great competition later on this list.

Wreck-It Ralph is a feel
good tearjerker.

Wreck-It Ralph - It's a Video Game answer to Toy Story. John C. Reilly voices the villain in an arcade game, who doesn't particularly like being a villain. Just for once he'd like to be like Fix-It Felix Jr (the hero of his game). After one of his meetings with the bad guy support group, Ralph decides to go game-jumping. After getting a medal in Hero's Duty, he lands in the racing game Sugar Rush where he helps a glitchy young girl named Vanellope enter and win a race that makes her part of the program. All the voice acting was top notch, by Reilly, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Alan Tudyk, and a heartwarming story Wreck-It Ralph will likely win the Oscar for Best Animated Film and perhaps find it's way to the Best Picture Nominations. 

The Avengers succeeded where all other
comic book movies failed this year.

The Avengers - There weren't as many comic book movies this year, but The Avengers assembled the best one by far. While The Dark Knight Rises tried too hard to be brilliant, Joss Whedon's simple approach to the Marvel franchise worked best. With a thin plot, but strong focus on the characters and their interactions, Marvel produced an exciting well paced film that was the fruit of the last four years. Beginning with 2008's Iron Man and concluding with 2012's Captain America, Marvel blended together three franchises and created a fourth that was the second most lucrative film of the year. Sure, it was more fun than quality, but what a ride. Watch The Avengers again and then...go get shawarma.

Django Unchained - I am not a Quintin Tarantino Fan, but Django was an excellent reprisal of the Spaghetti Western genre. There's plenty to stomach with racism of the day, mixed with a little bit of Tarantino dialogue that flows like water. All the performances were spot on with Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor, but Leonardo DiCaprio's wicked plantation owner and Samuel L. Jackson's servant all made Jamie Foxx's title character better, but overshadowed him. Tarantino's direction was perfect and one could have seen him directing an old Clint Eastwood Western.

Silver Linings Playbook - An unorthodox romantic comedy played extraordinarily well by Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. In a story about a man who is a psychotically unbalanced and thrown into an emotional rollercoaster when he catches his wife cheating on him. He meets a woman who's husband dies and she went on an emotional journey as well. Cooper is dead on, but is overshadowed by Lawrence as she took home the Oscar.
  

Find a bad aspect of
this recent Speilbergian
masterpiece.

Lincoln - In one of the era's American history that's rarely mentioned, Daniel Day-Lewis portrays America's most loved President so well that you constantly forget he's English. Steven Speilberg directs his best film in years, one devoid of action except the first couple minutes, but there's plenty of action as Lincoln fights to pass the 13th Amendment and end slavery for good. Day-Lewis was exceptional as Lincoln as his all star cast didn't have a flaw. Sally Field's portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln was a perfect counter to Day-Lewis' well rounded Lincoln. David Strathairn and Tommy Lee Jones give unbelievably strong supporting performances that are all on top of the great work the smaller supporting actors from Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Jackie Earle Haley to James Spader to Jared Harris. Speilberg's direction shows that he's still at the top of his game even when a film isn't some CGI fantasy with flashy action. All said, you'll watch this movie and leave thinking about Lincoln and his life.  

Argo made you laugh
and sweat.

Argo - After the American Embassy was captured in 1979, six people were able to escape to the Canadian Embassy. In a declassified CIA project, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) posed as a Canadian Film Crew on a location scouting mission in an effort to get the almost hostages out of Iran. In the third film directed by Affleck, he creates a light-hearted, heart-pounding, nerve-testing movie that makes you wonder if they got out as you sweat with the escaping Americans. The first half of the film will make you laugh, but the second half of the film will make you grip your arm rests. Top notch acting by the cast that featured John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and Alan Arkin, Argo will grip you in and make you say, "Argo fuck yourself," laughing as you walk out of the theater.

Movie of the Year:

Looper - Who are you now vs. Who will you become. What are you willing to sacrifice vs. What have you earned? Those are some of the dilemmas that face a hitman named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in Looper. A Looper is a hitman that is given a time and coordinates where he has to shoot a mark from the future. Of course, sooner-or-later the mob will send the older version of yourself back in time to "close the loop". One day, Joe goes to a hit and there's a momentary delay with a change, his target didn't have a hood. As the two men look at each other, Joe sees that it's his older self. Before he can react, the Old Joe (Bruce Willis) escapes. Though they are the same person, it's clear that each version of the same character, it's also clear that they are very different. One focuses on the now and one on the future. At the same time, Joe meets a young mother who lives in fear of her telekinetic son. As the three are set on a collision course, Joe starts to find something to believe in as his older self tries to regain his future. The performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt is flawless as he creates a character while perfectly mimics the mannerisms of Willis. Willis' performance is his strongest since Unbreakable (even over Lucky Number Slevin and 16 Blocks) while Emily Blunt is cast against type and shows her range. Jeff Daniels and Joel Segan nearly steal the film, but make no mistake, this film is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's film. Writer/director Rian Johnson blends together both stories while embracing the paradoxes of time travel. He uses a Christopher Nolan style that suits the film's tone perfectly. Looper is truly a complete film. It has the action and squeamish moments you'd expect in a film like this while getting direction and acting at the top of their games. Unlike Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus, the more you analyze this film, the better it gets. Go ahead and pop it in and see what you become.