Dearest Readers,
I am so excited about the abundance of excellent films in all genres this past year that I am having trouble making up my Best Of list. Last year was, in my opinion, a not-so-great year for film. I named Bridesmaids the best/my favorite movie of 2011, and while Bridesmaids is certainly a true achievement in its genre, it seems a rather odd pick for best of the year. This year, I've seen so many films that are both masterful and wildly original that I can hardly do anything but gush about them all. And there are still great films of 2012 that I have yet to see and review--for example, I'm planning to see Zero Dark Thirty this weekend and I have no doubt that I'll love it.
But I didn't want to wait *too* long before making my list. So below I present to you multiple lists: "worst", "most overrated", "favorite" and "best". I'll keep the commentary short, and I'll link back to my reviews for each one so you can see what I had to say about each film in greater length if you so desire. Whether you agree with my picks, disagree, or have an alternative list--please post comments!
Thanks for following me through a top-notch year for cinema!
***
Worst of 2012
3. The Deep Blue Sea
Starring the excellent Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston, this melancholy take on obsessive love and depression in post-WWII England was a stunning bore. It made many critics' "Best" lists, but I found myself bored and annoyed by the film's grating and desperate characters. It *did*, however, have one of the best scenes of the year: when a group of people sing "Molly Malone" as they hide out in a tube station during a bomb scare. A moment of authentic feeling in a beautiful, yet empty film.
2. Dark Horse
Todd Solondz is known for his nasty little misanthropic pieces of work, but Dark Horse is more irritating than shocking. Give me Dylan Baker as the local neighbor pedophile in Solondz's superior Happiness over Abe as the obnoxious man-baby "protagonist" of Dark Horse any day!
1. Elles
Elles, a film about a journalist interviewing young prostitutes, manages to be boring (the biggest sin in my mind), pretentious, and offensive with a complete lack of edge or anything interesting to say. And don't miss the lovely scene where a client pees on his female escort!
Special "For Shame" Award
Being Elmo
Being Elmo was a lovely, touching documentary about the voice behind Elmo--Kevin Clash. The same Kevin Clash who has been accused of having sex with multiple underage men. I weep for humanity.
Biggest Disappointments
3. Prometheus
While I found Prometheus to be pretty entertaining, as well as having the best abortion scene ever committed to film, it's undeniable that Ridley Scott's "prequel" to his insanely popular Alien did not live up to the hype, was overstuffed and under-satisfying, and disappointed millions of fans.
2. Shame
It sucks to see Michael Fassbender, a very talented actor, in two movies on the disappointments list, but thems the breaks. Steve McQueen's portrait of a sex addict on the brink of self-destruction was good, but it didn't go deep enough (innuendo not intended) and I think viewers felt a bit cheated. We wanted a compelling story along with our full-frontal nudity. Maybe McQueen should take a page from Steven Soderbergh on how to make a good movie about naked dudes.
1. The Master
Ya know, I like an uncomfortable, creepy, self-important P.T. Anderson film as much as the next person who actually knows who P.T. Anderson is, but The Master just didn't do it for me. And the fact that critics slavered over it only made me dig in my heels that this film is good but very, very much not great.
My Favorites
So, when I took my first film class during freshman year of college, the professor asked us to distinguish between "it's good" and "I like it". Any student of film can tell you why Citizen Kane is undeniably a great film and work of art. But are most of those people going to put it on to relax with a beer on the weekend? Very few, I hope. The following is a list of my personal favorite films of the year, which may in some cases coincide with what I consider "the best" achievements of the year.
9. Ruby Sparks
A funny and subversive take on the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" written by (and starring) Zoe Kazan.
8. Damsels in Distress
Whit Stillman's film about self-important (and self-deluded) college women has a pleasantly weird flavor to it.
7. For a Good Time, Call...
Probably no one remembers this raunchy comedy, but dammit, I love this film's beautiful take on female friendship.
6. Django Unchained
Inglourious Basterds and Pulp Fiction are still the Tarantino loves of my life, but Django Unchained is a solid, intense, funny, and brutal film. With wonderful performances all around, but especially by Christoph Waltz as a German bounty hunter whose opinion of American slavery transforms from glib to outraged, and by Samuel L. Jackson as a villainous house slave who only looks out for number one, Django is both one of the best films of the year and one of my favorites.
5. The Cabin in the Woods
In terms of pure originality, Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods takes the cake. It's also insanely fun.
4. A Dangerous Method
An intellectual, brilliantly acted, and talky film that also has BDSM? What's not to love? Keira Knightley's awesome performance as a masochistic, hysterical, and deeply intelligent woman is outstanding. And Michael Fassbender (there he is again!) and Viggo Mortensen shine as the introspective Carl Jung and wry, cigar-chomping Sigmund Freud.
3. Magic Mike
Magic Mike was the best surprise of the year. Who knew a movie about male strippers could be both genuinely entertaining and also kinda actually thoughtful. It's hardly the deepest film ever, but there are as many insightful moments about masculinity and friendship as there are shots of man-butt.
2. Moonrise Kingdom
As far as I'm concerned, Wes Anderson can do no wrong. His films are something you don't see a lot in today's crass world: gentle. And not in a Lifetime Movie sort of way. This film is Anderson's ode to childhood love and self-assertion. A friend of mine argued that the older actors--including Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Bruce Willis--outshined the young actors who played Suzy and Sam. I disagree; I saw it as the other way around.
1. Killer Joe
Alright, maybe this is a controversial pick. Killer Joe is most certainly an exploitative and "art-trash" film. But I don't think I had a better time at the movies this year (except for maybe watching Magic Mike). From Matthew McConaughey's performance as a sociopathic killer with impeccable manners, to Juno Temple as the young (but how young?!), possibly mentally disabled (but how mentally disabled?!) turn as Dottie, to the elements of slapstick humor (the scene with Ansel's suit sleeve. That's all I'll say), Killer Joe was a tense, dark, violent, and hilarious experience.
Best of 2012
The following are what I believe to be the best cinematic achievements of the year.
11. Magic Mike
Once again, a wonderful surprise and, as a friend called it, "The Citizen Kane of male stripper movies."
10. Silver Linings Playbook
This was another happy surprise. A film that defies categorization, Silver Linings Playbook is about a bipolar man (Bradley Cooper) getting back on his feet after a stint in a mental hospital. To help him along the way is a tart young widow (Jennifer Lawrence). Robert DeNiro also has a great turn as Cooper's dad, an OCD-afflicted Philadephia Eagles super-fan. A joyous and funny film.
9. Argo
Tons of people LOVED Argo, Ben Affleck's film about the "true" story of how one man orchestrated the rescue of five Americans trapped in Iran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. I merely thought it was good. But the final act is definitely a tension-filled, nail-biter. Ben Affleck has proven himself to be an increasingly talented director.
8. Looper
Much like Argo, I found Looper to be darn good, but not great. Looper's strength lies in both its originality as a work of speculative fiction, and also how it upends the expectations we have for speculative fiction. So although the audience is treated to slick scenes of a not-too-distant future, most of the film actually takes place on a farm. Looper is ultimately more about how your personal choices affect others and your own future than time travel.
7. A Separation
A Separation technically came out in 2011, but it didn't reach my town until February or March of 2012. The film is about a family in modern Iran that is torn apart, both internally and externally. Yet the film has a surprising lack of melodrama and is free from that annoying feeling of Oscar/Award-fishing. In fact, A Separation has more than a few funny and wry moments. Definitely a scrappy little underdog of a movie.
6. Killer Joe
Killer Joe's killer script by playwright Tracy Letts and killer performances by Matthew McConaughey, Juno Temple, Thomas Hayden Church, and Gina Gershon make it one of the best films of the year. The film unnerves and entertains in equal measure--a feat that is difficult to accomplish.
5. The Cabin in the Woods
Again, the originality of this meta-commentary on horror movies pushed it toward the top of my favorite and best lists (and other critics' lists as well). From the get-go, the audience knows that something unusual is afoot, but what exactly the hell is going on isn't revealed until a bat-shit crazy final act.
4. Django Unchained
Laughably, this film about a slave's revenge was called "racist" by some commentators. In my mind, The Help, which was incredibly popular last year, is more racist in its simplistic and patronizing view of black maids and the white people who helped them. Django is no more "historically accurate" than The Help, but it paints a far more vicious picture of the lowliness...the depths...that some of our ancestors went to in order to justify slavery and sadistically control slaves. With Django Unchained, Tarantino poked a sore spot for many Americans, and then put a bandage over that spot by letting us root for a black slave hero who turns the tables on the evil men and women who live off the sweat of enslaved people. This isn't to say that Americans should feel free from the burden of the history of slavery, but this film helps continue a conversation that we all need to keep having.
3. Lincoln
Speaking of slaves and the white dudes who helped them! Steven Spielberg's take on the passing of the 13th amendment is both intimate and epic in scope. With an intelligent and, at times, quite witty script by Tony Kushner, and a completely immersive performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln is an all-around excellent and smart film. This movie is destined to win Oscars, yet it doesn't have that feeling I mentioned above of Oscar-grabbiness. Rather than focus on pandering to audiences expecting to see a white-washed, PG-13 version of Abraham Lincoln's life, Spielberg focused on one month of Lincoln's life in which he accomplished a great thing (if occasionally through shady means). Lincoln was not a perfect man, but he was most certainly an exceptional man. And he got an exceptional movie.
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild
In addition to having the best performance in a movie by anyone this year (6 year old Quvenzhane Wallis' jaw-dropping performance as Hushpuppy), Beasts of the Southern Wild was an achievement of unique vision, genre-mixing, storytelling, and overall sensory experience. It didn't make it on to my "favorites" list simply because it's not the easiest movie to watch and it's not something I anticipate watching over and over. But it is undoubtedly one of greatest films this year.
1. Moonrise Kingdom
There were so many great films in 2012, but my heart belongs to Moonrise Kingdom. From Edward Norton's earnest portrayal of Scoutmaster Ward, to a soundtrack with French pop music and Hank Williams Sr., to Suzy Bishop and Sam Shakusky's love for each other that is untainted by the constraints and disappointments of adulthood, Moonrise is both delightful and emotionally complex.
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