This doesn't have always to be a music blog. And where else was I going to compile my year's best flicks?
But first, as is traditional...
My Top Five Worst Movies of 2012
(The usual waiver applies: I'm sure there were worse movies released this year. Fortunately I didn't see them. Lee seems to have seen plenty of them though.)
5. Taken 2
Utterly preposterous, watered down PG sequel. Neeson is still ace though. Even when he's guessing the bad guy's secret HQ using a map, a matchstick and a moudly stick of celery.
4. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Guy Ritchie and Sherlock Holmes still don't mix. Not even RDJ could save this.
3. Alex Cross
Look, there was nothing else on that week, OK? And I figured Kiss The Girls & Along Came A Spider were decent enough flicks... but they both had Morgan Freeman. The best this had going for it was Jack from Lost gurning and flexing the veins in his neck to prove how MAD he was.
2. The Raid
Don't believe the hype. An Indonesian Die Hard this ain't.
1. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Surely it couldn't be worse than the first one? What's that?
After seeing this one, the Academy awarded Nic Cage an Oscar for the first one... posthumously ('cos his career is officially dead).
OK... enough with the rubbish. Let's get on to the good stuff!
My Top Ten Movies of 2012
10. Seeking A Friend For The End of the World
Beating Bond, Batman and Bourne (all fine movies, but each missing that essential "must watch again" quality that guarantees a place on this list), this small, underplayed romcom took one of my favourite genres and swerved the obvious cliches. Steve Carrell is so good here, he even makes me stop hating Keira Knightley.
9. Argo
Smart, funny, nail-gnawingly exciting. The resurrection of Ben Affleck is complete.
8. The Muppets
Just made me feel all warm and fuzzy, inside and out.
7. The Avengers
Looking back, I didn't love it quite as much as everybody else... yet it was still a far better movie than it might have been under anyone other than Joss Whedon. In many ways, Chronicle was a more interesting superhero movie... but it was still great to see the Avengers united on screen at last. And that Mark Ruffalo Hulk movie must happen soon!
6. Carnage
What do you get if you lock Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz in an apartment for a couple of hours? The breakdown of polite society. More exciting than Iron Man, Thor and Cap hitting smacking each other in the head for two hours.
5. The Amazing Spider-Man
Better than Spider-Man 3, not as good as Spider-Man 2 (what is?) In the end then, it's about as good as the film it retells... though for entirely different reasons. But it's Spidey... he'll always be my hero.
4. The Imposter
Utterly insane documentary. Had it been a fictional screenplay, I would have cried "no way!", but truth is more jaw-droppingly unbelievable than fiction.
3. Ted
Much funnier than it ought to have been, though this wins a place in the Top 3 by virtue of Flash! alone.
2. Looper
I love a good time travel movie... especially one with the balls to throw away any chance of a happy ending or potential sequel.
1. Cabin In The Woods
The last word in post-modern horror films. Lock the crypt, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon just laid the genre to rest.
Those were my favourite flicks of 2012... which one would get you back in the multiplex?
The complete Avenger DVD boxed set found its way into my stocking this year... have only seen Avengers Assemble so looking forward on catching up on the back stories.
ReplyDeleteSteve - enjoy those... but don't spend too long on Iron Man 2!
DeleteI actually forgot about The Muppets but i doubt it would have made my list despite how much I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but I think I liked Amazing Spider-man more than the Raimi ones including Spider-man 2, I liked the cast and some of the ideas more.
I disagree with Holmes as I honestly enjoy them but apparently I don't get caught up in the proper treatment of Holmes the character (so I've been told).
Sadly I've yet to see Argo as I have a feeling it would have made my list also Ghost Rider would have made the other list if I'd seen it ;)
I liked much of the tone of ASM and the cast were excellent. The second film will be the true test for me though.
DeleteI haven't been to the cinema at all this year, mainly because I have had a very bad back all year (I think the last film I saw at the cinema was Rise of the Planet of the Apes), but I also seem to have lost interest in cinema a bit in recent years. Still, it's good to know what films I have missed out on over the year and need to catch up with on DVD. I did see Carnage on DVD, and didn't like it much at all - I may not have been in the mood for it at the time - and the Raid was pretty tedious but I enjoyed the Avengers much more than I thought I would and Cabin in the Woods was excellent. I got the Spider-Man DVD for Christmas, and I've borrowed the Dark Knight Rises, so I will get to see them tonight!
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a long night!
DeleteYeah, I think I was a being a bit ambitious thinking I'd get both films watched in one night - didn't realise the Dark Knight Rises was nearly three hours long, so I'm watching that tonight instead - but we watched Spider-Man and I really liked it. Much better than I was expecting it to be.
ReplyDeleteI was so disappointed to miss Argo...been and gone here. Looper was good..but not that good? And there's a critical piece to be wrtten about the chase over the roofs in Istanbul in Taken 2 which is replicated in Skyfall...who did it better?
ReplyDeleteI'd instinctively answer "Bond"... although I do think that was one of the best bits of Taken 2. Before it got too ridiculous for words.
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