Entertainment website AV Club has compiled their picks for the best movies of 2012 (so far). While I agree with most of their choices, others leave me baffled (Haywire? Really?), so I've been inspired to look back at my reviews since January and see which movies impressed me at the time and still stick with me now.
Overall, 2012 has been one of the best years for good films in a long time (in my opinion). While I had trouble coming up with my "Best Of" lists in 2011 and 2010 due to the dearth of films that I felt went above and beyond, I have a feeling that there will be an overabundance of great films by the end of 2012.
So far, here are the movies I enjoyed the most/think are the best:
5. Magic Mike
Think and say what you will about this man-candy filled movie, but Magic Mike has garnered good-to-excellent reviews and I can say that it was one of the most surprising (and fun!) movie experiences I've had this year. The genius casting of Matthew McConaughey as the icky/sexy Dallas and Channing Tatum as Magic Mike himself elevates the movie from merely two hours of dude-butts to an actual story about camaraderie between testosterone-filled men and the calling to be more and do more in life than people think you're capable of.
4.5 out of 5 stars
4. A Separation
Technically, A Separation came out at the end of 2011, but it didn't reach my local arthouse theatre until 2012. The family drama is tense, but never melodramatic. It's highly relatable, and like in real life, finds humor in even the saddest and most confusing situations. The acting is wonderful and natural and the script is infused with realistic dialogue and plot twists.
5 out of 5 stars
3. A Dangerous Method
The story of the relationship between the fathers of modern psychiatry, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, is an interesting story in and of itself. Mix in Sabina Spielrein, a patient, lover, and protege of Jung's, and you've got a downright fascinating (and sexy. and smart) film. Directed by David Cronenberg, a master of psychological and body horror, A Dangerous Method explores mental illness, masochism, hysteria, friendship, and psychology. I couldn't look away from the screen.
5 out of 5 stars
2. The Cabin in the Woods
This incredibly twisty, funny, and smart horror-comedy was a huge surprise for many viewers. It starts like hundreds of other schlock-horror films: five college students vacation at an isolated and creepy cabin in the woods. But then the twists begin and don't stop until the final minutes of the movie. Trust me, you won't be able to guess what's really going on.
5 out of 5 stars
1. Moonrise Kingdom
Beautiful, whimsical, emotional, funny, humane. All words to describe the films of Wes Anderson. Moonrise Kingdom is his latest, and one of his best. It's about two "troubled" kids who run away together and the far more troubled adults who try to find them. It's also about how kids can fall in love like adults and adults can act like children while trying to control their own and others' lives.
5 out of 5 stars
Honorable mentions: Damsels in Distress, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Shame, Pariah, 21 Jump Street --all 4 out of 5 stars
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