The Best and Worst of 2012

Top 10 films

1. Seven Psychopaths
       I was surprised this was my best film of the year. I thought it was going to be good, but never expected to be blown away by the great story, top acting performances, writing and humour.

2. Skyfall
       One of the best Bonds of all time and easily Daniel Craig's best Bond film. I enjoyed this so much I had to see it twice. It was also a great goodbye to the legendary Judi Dench as M.

3. Moonrise Kingdom
       An all star cast in this unusually brilliant film. There was great acting from the children and the film was hilarious from the off. A film that had the imagination, originality and great writing to be up there with the best of the year.

4. The Dark Knight Rises
       A great end to a fantastic Batman trilogy. Probably not as good as The Dark Knight, but still a brilliant film, with great music and an ending to die for.

5. Looper
       Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt perform at their very best in an action packed futuristic thriller filled with twist, turns and some of the best action scenes of 2012.

6. The Descendant
       A well written and solid film with nothing really wrong with it. Funny, emotional and enjoyable.

7. The Artist
       A favourite for the critics and it raked in the Oscars. An original and well made film for the 21st century.

8. Lawless
       A great film based on a true story, filled with action, gore and well placed comedy.

9. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
       A wonderfully written film with a lot of humour and great acting from some of British acting's ageing elite.

10. Killing Them Softly
       Superb acting from Brad Pitt and Richard Jenkins in a cool and dark thriller.


Best Performances

Judi Dench - Skyfall/The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Brad Pitt - Killing Them Softly
Bruce Willis - Looper/Moonrise Kingdom



Worst films

1. War Horse
      A ridiculous farce, where a young man loves a horse more than his friends and family.

2. Dark Shadows
      Bitterly disappointing and curiously boring. Even Johnny Depp struggled through this one.

3. Here Comes The Boom
     Generic with not one original idea to be found in this unimaginative attempt at a story.

4. Expendables 2
     Unsurprisingly one of the poorest films of 2012, with laughably poor acting and an obvious storyline.

5. Life Of Pi
     Magnificent special effects, but corny, critically overrated and lacking characters to connect to.

Worst Performances


Sylvester Stallone - Expendables 2
Rebecca Hall - Lay The Favourite
Maggie Grace - Taken 2

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  After revisiting the Lord of the Rings trilogy to prepare myself for The Hobbit, I was worried that this new Tolkien trilogy could be as painfully corny as I found the great Lord of the Rings trilogy after re-watching it. Thankfully Peter Jackson manages to subdue the corniness and create a fascinating and exciting story. I don't feel that The Hobbit should be made into three films though, as the book is relatively short. However, if the next two are as good as the first then I'll have no complaints.
   Bilbo Baggins has a comfortable life in the Shire until Gandalf convinces him to join the dwarfs in a quest to regain their homeland. Martin Freeman does an excellent job as Bilbo Baggins and as a younger Ian Holm. It is also fun to see some of the old characters again, even Elijah Wood as Frodo returns! Somehow no one appears to have aged even though it's been a decade since Lord of the Rings.
   I was also concerned with the length of the film, but once again it manages to impress by keeping the storyline interesting and diverse, breaking up the dwarf quest with story developing scenes and flashbacks of what had happened to the dwarfs. There is an enjoyable mix of characters from Lord of the Rings, such as Gollum and new ones like goblins, stone giants and the Pale Orc.
   I'm very much looking forward to the next two installments to see if they live up to the first. It's a pity that they're being spread out over three years though, maybe every six months would have been better.

For fans of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien and an adventure.

Stars ****

Picture from www.telegraph.co.uk