Top 10 movies of 2012

Thread reminded me of how much I hate Hollywood... if a movie makes you fall asleep, 5 STARS, anything else = crap.

Batman and a rom com are on there...

I know what you mean but let's not go all tea party and start criticizing anything that feels smart

Hippos_sl said:

once upon a time in anatolia- turkish drama - a group of men go on a lengthy search for a dead body in the anatolian steppe, cue lots of discussion about life and philosophy.

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This is a great movie even if not flawless. There is a whole lot of mesmerizing night cinematography, each scene as its own flavor and is memorable, it's a bit on the slow side and the movie is long, but the diversity and the welcomed addition of some weird tongue in cheek humor makes for an enjoyable watch. It was N?10 in my 2011 Top 20.

Porkchop_sl said:

You're the first person I've ever seen that thought it was fantastic. Most people i've talked to were bored overall but thought that the Tom Hardy character was entertaining.

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rest of my family saw this, I haven't. My brother loved it, my parents hated it

The first half of Lawless was great and pretty much only thanks to Tom Hardy's character (Forrest?). Unfortunately, it completely fell flat in the second half when it was about his brother.

End of Watch was good. It reminded me of Southland (the TV series, which is awesome btw). But man, did they completely forgot to give more background/screen time to the bad guys.

is lawless the movie about moonshiners in the south? Shia labouef kinda ruined that movie, maybe I'm being unfair but he just seems to have one shtick and thats to be nervous and excited, always. He seems kinda the same character every time I've seen him on screen. Works for Walken or DeNiro or Nicolas Cage, but those guys earned it.

It was hard to appreciate lawless too when the show takes place in the same timeframe as Boardwalk Empire, which is far far better. Yeah, unfair to compare a TV show to a movie but there ya go.

good harder-to-find list hippos, I've got most of those movies but haven't seen em yet. Also heard Tai Chi 0 is an interesting wuxia movie that came out in 2012.

There are still some 2012 movies I want to see (without mentioning the films that will be 2013 for me), but my Top 10 should pretty much look like this:

1)Himizu- arty japanese drama that goes from black humor to just black about a teenager fighting against all odds to be a stand up guy. Intense.

2)Farewell my Queen- french revolution from the point of view of a servant at Versailles

3)The Cabin in the Woods- intensely satisfying meta-horror film.

4)Oslo, August 31st- the day of a man leaving a mental institution and meeting some friends and family, wondering if life is worth it. Magnificent direction by the Trier from Norway and superb acting by Anders Danielsen Lie.

5)Scabbard Samurai- a ronin can be graced from his death sentence if he manages to make laugh the ill son of a lord. The most odd and hillarious reflection on comedy and performing arts turns into a poignant tale of steely determination.

6)Flying Sword 3D- Tsui Hark delivers a high budget remake of Dragon Gate Inn, full of inventiveness, humor, triple identities and fights choreography optimized for 3D.

7)From Up on Poppy Hill- lush production for this Studio Ghibli anime about teenage impetuosity, teamwork and the lasting ravages of war in small communities.

8)Moonrise Kingdom- teenage love as seen through the oh so strange lens of Wes Anderson

9)Wanishing Waves- a sort of arty remake of The Cell, but without the serial killer and with Tarsem's exuberance turned into super efficient minimalist design

10)People Mountain People Sea- the driest, most haunting, most strikingly beautiful revenge movie ever made. A stone cutter is looking for a killer and his quest takes him in the gutter of China's society; through slums and ultimately illegal coal mines. This would be much higher if the plot was a little more intelligible (nothing looks more like a silent coal covered chinese miner in a dark mine than another silent coal covered chinese miner in that same dark mine).


Four of these 10 films were seen at various movie festivals and as a result might be tough to track down and see. This also explains why the list is not packed with usual suspects.


Some honorable mentions: Anna Karenina, Looper, The Avengers, Ruby Sparks, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Sleeping Beauty, I Wish, Ace Attorney, Coriolanus, etc.

Interesting lists, gonna make an effort to see some of the films here.

Hell I didn't even know there was a Dredd movie come out in 2012. Shows a) how much of a bubble I've been living in b) No TV ads for it so it didn't appear on my radar.

Dredd gets much credit for being a focused, humorless and violent mix of sf and action with a couple plot ideas that allow for neat 3D effects (a drug that make people feel time slows down, a mind reader). So many action movies are unfocused, filled with unnecessary humor or romance and made PG friendly that it makes Dredd stand out. A kind of non-ironic throwback to '80s B movies. It's something, but it's really not much.

Finally got around to watching Dredd, hooooly shit. Really wish I had caught it in the theater.