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

God Bless America

  God Bless America is a great concoction of truth and exaggeration. Frank (Joel Murray) is divorced, terminally ill and loses his job. After seeing endless rubbish on TV he finally has enough and goes on a killing spree with the unlikely accomplice of 16 year old Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr).
   Frank is finally pushed over the edge by all the reality shows and adverts on TV. Sadly many of these reality shows do exist in real life, such as 'My Super Sweet Sixteen' where you see horrid rich and spoilt teenagers plan a ridiculously huge party. Then there is the barrage of X Factor type shows, The Kardashians, Cribs...the list is endless. A spoilt teenager is Frank's first victim and it is Roxy who makes him realise that he should keep on killing people who "deserve to die" rather than killing himself.
   This is predominantly a comedy, but it also shows one of the issues in western society as a whole. Talentless people are worshipped and the wrong ideals are being set for the next generation. Why go to university to get a well paid job when you can just leak a sex tape and become rich overnight?
   Obviously I am not saying that I agree with murdering these people just because they're annoying and have no talent or self respect...maybe just a punch to the face would suffice. God Bless America is a well made humorous look at the ever growing problem of reality TV and fame.

For fans of annoying people getting killed, films that make a good point and comical killings.

Stars ****

Photo from www.guardian.co.uk

The Cove

   A group of activists and the well known Ric O' Barry attempt to infiltrate a cove in the town of Taiji, Japan to try and expose shocking acts of abuse on dolphins.
   I have been meaning to see this film ever since I saw a trailer for it back in 2009. However, somehow I've only just got round to seeing it! The Cove is one of the best documentaries that I have seen in a very long time.
   At the beginning I thought that the people slaughtering these dolphins in their thousands each year had a reason for it, even if it was wrong, but it turns out that they didn't. The fact that the chosen few that are taken away to be kept in captivity and perform as show dolphins are actually the lucky ones is heart wrenching. The rest are cornered into a secret, highly guarded cove and butchered. They are either falsely sold as 'whale meat' (as dolphin meat is high in mercury and is therefore poisonous), or just killed as they are 'pests'. Some of these fishermen actually believe that dolphins and whales are the cause of fisheries being in decline, which is ridiculous to say the least. The high profile activist Ric O' Berry believes that many of the problems of Taiji are made worse by the lack of effort from the government and possibly even a government cover up.
    I was thoroughly entrenched in this film. I felt the pain of the dolphins, and for the activists that tried so hard to uncover the full truth. I wouldn't say this is a film to be enjoyed, but it is a documentary that must be seen. Three years on and the killings continue, though they have marginally decreased since this film was released. The more people who know about this, the more chance there is for it to be stopped for good.

For fans of dolphins, hard hitting documentaries and a moral conscience.

Stars *****

These are just a few sites to visit if you want more information about supporting the activists:

www.savejapandolphins.org

www.taijiactiongroup.blogspot.com

www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-the-dolphin-slaughter/

www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/724/210/624

Catch .44

   I spotted Bruce Willis and Forest Whitaker on the front cover of this DVD and thought it might be worth a ganders. I wasn't disappointed either, well, apart from the end, but I'll come to that soon...Tes (Malin Akerman) and her two friends have a job to do for their crime boss Mel (Bruce Willis) and it sounded straight forward. All they had to do was intercept a drug deal that was going down on Mel's patch at a small and innocent diner. As the story unfolds it becomes more than just a simple drug interception.
   The flashback scenes being interspersed throughout the film help build up a picture of how all of the characters are in the situation they are in, adding edgy suspense which helps the plot build up to the final act. Whitaker is brilliant throughout, his almost schizophrenic personality as Ronny gives him the opportunity to show off his acting skills, with varying accents and an erratic personality.
   I think I could write a page or two on the ending, but to avoid making this a spoiler I'll try to explain my annoyance with as little detail as possible...Willis is only a supporting character, his scene with Whitaker was top notch, as the two great actors put on top performances. I foolishly let myself believe that I was going to get the ending I wanted, a different ending that would have made this film a 4 star in my eyes, but a star gets knocked off for what they decide to do.

For fans of great acting performances, gritty thrillers and annoying endings.

Stars ***

The Five Year Engagement

   I'm not one for the romantic comedy, but the Five Year Engagement is a decent film, even though it's from the producers of Bridesmaids and the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall! The idea is fun and the film is enjoyable, for the most part. Though maybe a two hour rom com is a bit too much to handle.
   Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom (Jason Segel) get engaged and everything is on schedule until Violet's career sparks into life with an opportunity she can't miss, but which means moving from sunny San Francisco to cold and dreary Michigan. Though the film is riddled with fictional hilarity that reminds you that you are actually watching a film, the actual storyline has a good feeling of realism to it. Violet gets closer to her boss Winton (Rhys Ifans) while Tom finds it difficult to fit in to Michigan life and come to terms with giving up a promising career as a chef back in San Francisco.
   Emily Blunt is funny, but doesn't sprout her acting wings too much, like she does in Looper. Jason Segel plays his usual part of the nice comical tall man. It may be predominantly a chick flick, but there are laughs in there for the guys too.

For fans of rom coms, weddings and films for couples to watch together

Stars ***

Cockneys vs Zombies

  There has been many a zombie film over the past decade and there appears to be no end to the spin off ideas spawning from the generic zombie apocalypse movie. As the title states, the film is literally cockneys in the east end of London dealing with a virus outbreak, which of course turns people into flesh eating corpses.
  Ray Macguire, played by Alan Ford is in an old people's home which has been put up for sale and he ponders heading up north, even though he has never left London. His grandsons Terry and Andy don't want him to leave, so they come up with a plan to save the care home by robbing a bank, with the help of a few others. Unfortunately for them, a zombie outbreak makes an easy escape impossible.
   Alan Ford is the classic cockney, gangster, geezer and all round hard man, which is always enjoyable to watch. Richard Briers was also very good, his very funny first scene sees him trying to out hobble the slow moving zombies on his zimmer frame. There's a lot of comedy throughout, especially with the seemingly quite harmless slow moving zombies, which give the characters enough time to crack a joke before shooting them.
   Cockney vs Zombies is an enjoyable zombie flick, with enough humour, gore and zombie action to keep you entertained throughout. I wouldn't say it was the best zombie film there's been, but it's an enjoyable addition to the ever growing zombie franchise.

For fans of zombies, gore and cockney rhyming slang.

Stars ***

The Hunter

   Ex-mercenary Martin (Willem Dafoe) is sent on a mission to search for the supposed last Tasmanian Tiger, which were officially classed as extinct, by a biotech company who believe it carries a unique and valuable chemical. Obviously it ends up being more than he bargains for as he tries to deal with the racist locals and find this elusive last tiger before his bosses grow impatient and send a replacement.
   Dafoe is very good through out, his hardened character weakening to his soft side as the film ticks on. This was helped very much by the family he stays with, especially a non speaking little boy who brings out the sensitive side of Dafoe's character. Sam Neill's supporting role adds a nice touch to the story and I had to wonder which side Neill was on as from the off he seemed suspicious of Dafoe.
   There is no doubt that at some point Dafoe was going to come across the apparently extinct Tasmanian tiger, but it wasn't clear whether his ethics would get in the way of the job he was hired for.
   This is a gripping hard edged thriller, with Dafoe excelling in his role. Dafoe has the screen presence to keep you intrigued from start to finish and you share in the dilemma with him, wondering yourself what the best course of action to take would be.

For fans of well performed hard edged thrillers and Aussie accents.

Stars ****

Casa de mi Padre

  Casa de mi Padre was a weird one for many reasons. First of all, there were the unusual circumstances leading up to its release, in that, it wasn't...in the spring of this year there were trailers at the cinema, TV spots and posters. However, for some unknown reason it disappeared, meaning that I had to wait until its DVD release to see it.
  I was hesitant about the film, as there had been a couple of films in recent years that could be classed as the same type of genre to Casa de mi Padre, such as Machete and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The genre being spoofs, I guess. However, Machete and Vampire Hunter failed drastically, as they took themselves far too seriously. How can a film that combined Abraham Lincoln and vampires not be a comical piss take? But there were barely any laughs in it. Machete struggled in the exact same manner.
  Casa de mi Padre managed to avoid this easily. It combined what Tarantino did in Death Proof, with its poorly shot scenes and erratic editing with the humour of the spoof trailer of Machete, which was shown at the beginning of Planet Terror. The badly made sets and obviously fake animals are a constant reminder that this is a film not to be taken seriously.
  Will Ferrell can add this one to the list of his better films, as the silly humour was kept at the correct level, unlike The Campaign which seemingly struggled to decide how crude they could push each joke. Ferrell is supported by a host of talented Mexican actors such as Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.
  The film being subtitled gave it a nice touch. The script was funny, the music was surprisingly catchy and it did what it was supposed to do and not take itself seriously!

For fans of Will Ferrell, spoofs and a good Mexican stand off.

Stars ***

The Cold Light of Day

I knew that it was Henry Cavill who was the main character, but I always look forward to a film starring Bruce Willis. However, his part was much smaller than I thought it was, which was quite a surprise.
Released earlier this year, it was a film I missed at the cinema. The plot is basic, Cavill's character has his family taken hostage and he has to try and save them in time...I was going to write more about the plot, but I realised I wrapped it up in one sentence!
The scenery is good, being set in Spain, so a lot of great European architecture. I have to give credit to an american film that isn't set in New York, actually I don't even think it was even mentioned! A rare occurrence for Hollywood.
Though the story is a basic one and I had no worries that the main character's were going to die, I did actually enjoy it to some extent. Cavill's acting was nothing to write home about, but he was solid. Sigourney Weaver was enjoyable throughout. She's a highly trained and experienced government agent, so quite rightly she would get rather pissed at a civilian like Cavill who she couldn't dispose of. But The Cold Light of Day does what so many action films do, which is making a normal untrained person with no fighting skills take down highly trained bad guys.
The Cold Light of Day is a decent action film. It has all the basic viewer needs to enjoy a generic action flick and there's even a random cameo from Colm Meaney. But this is not necessarily one to go rushing out to watch.

For fans of action films, Bruce Willis and sticking up for the little guy.

Stars **

Splice

Released in 2009 Splice is a sci-fi/horror film, starring Adrian Brody. This wasn't one of Brody's best. The idea was interesting, Brody's character Clive and his partner Elsa are genetic engineers and want to achieve fame in creating new life. They attempt this by splicing together DNA of different animals to create some sort of hybrid that can be used for medical use. What they do achieve is a human hybrid that's life span is compressed into a matter of weeks or months...I failed to pay enough attention to hear how long...

Elsa treats their creation like a child whilst in the lab, unlike Clive who realises their creation, Dren, is becoming a worrying issue. This leads to Clive and Elsa taking precautions by taking Dren to their home and letting her live in the barn. I failed to take Dren seriously, as I felt Delphine Chaneac played the role too much like a curious chimp, with almost cartoon like expressions. Though the spike on the end of her tail created some cool, if not gruesome moments.

I felt that Brody was half hearted throughout. Almost like he was running his acting skills at only 50%, so his abilities weren't wasted on a mediocre film. I don't mind that I missed this at the cinema and can see why it only lasted about a week before disappearing from the big screen.

For fans of something a little bit sci-fi and a little bit weird.

Stars **