I'd prefer to dispense with the negativity and bemusement off the top, so let's begin this recap by discussing the worst and most underrated films of the year in my eyes. Silent House and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D shared not only a word in their titles, but the distinction of being representative of the absolute worst the horror genre has to offer. The Amazing Spider-man existed merely to resuscitate Sony's copyright on the character and to impart irresponsible moral lessons to our children. Snow White And The Huntsman was about as dull and hollow as a movie could possibly be and the cynical, assembly line blockbuster production template belched forth Battleship, which smelled exactly as we all imagined it would.
But no film rankled me more this year (or indeed in recent memory) than Rian Johnson's Looper. I saw this with my good friend Danno from The Wayne Gale Variety Hour Podcast, and despite our sincerest efforts to see it through, we relented about 80 minutes in and walked out. I'll admit the pre-release orgy of ecstatic prostration before this film from the online film collective predisposed me to cast a more critical eye toward it. But nothing can change the fact that I legitimately found Looper to be a shallow, derivative film with an ugly aesthetic populated by the least interesting and most unlikable characters imaginable. This film fooled the bulk of the critical community into thinking it had some really profound stuff to say about fate and responsibility, when all it did was graft cloying, predictable tropes onto the narrative structure of Timecop. It's flat, boring and has a goddamn telekinetic kid in it, what more do I need to say?
The vitriol that critics should have expended on Looper was instead directed toward Wrath of the Titans and Resident Evil: Retribution, both of which I found to be boisterous, silly romps. I'll never understand why people are so hell-bent on tearing down dumb, fun monster movies aimed at 9 year old's and those who retain a sense of being 9 years old at heart. Wrath and RE5 were incredible audio-visual experiences in IMAX 3D and scratched an itch I perpetually harbor for loud, eye candy entertainment. Chernobyl Diaries was no horror masterpiece (we'll get to that shortly), but I felt it was a creepy, under-the-radar diversion that benefited from a wonderfully atmospheric location and low expectations. Even though Dark Shadows suffers from slapdash storytelling and a diffuse approach to narrative, I found it to be irresistibly entertaining. Depp turns in customarily compelling work and the production design is beyond reproach.
On to the top 10, presented in ascending order. These films were chosen and ordered based upon a criteria of how transcendent the theatrical experience, technical merits, the level they engaged my head and heart and how re-watchable they've proven to be or I expect them to be in the coming years. It's a convoluted arithmetic whose solution is likely subject to change, but what qualitative assessment of multiple pieces of art isn't? Click the title of the film to redirect to my initial review.
10. UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING There were few films I had more fun with theatrically in 2012 than this lean, mean, 80 minute monster mash. It got to the point quicker and got the job done with more style and panache than any other pure genre effort this year and the merits of its technical presentation are sterling. Sporting a vapid, beautiful cast anchored by Stephen Rea and Charles Dance slumming in supporting roles, Underworld Awakening made for a joyous time at the movies. It also did the unthinkable by inspiring me to revisit and reappraise the original entries in the series, of which my opinion has changed for the favorable, no doubt thanks to goodwill engendered by this installment.
9. JACK REACHER
This film came out of left field late in the year and wowed me with its old school approach. The textbook example of how to do an action thriller, Jack Reacher breathed much needed life into the procedural and gave Tom Cruise his mojo back after a year of embarrassing personal setbacks. Like Underworld, it's not exactly a timeless treatise on the complexity of human nature, but damn if it didn't utterly transport me into its world for the 2 hour runtime. Engaging, solid film making infinitely elevated by Cruise's dedicated star power.
8. CABIN IN THE WOODS
At this late stage in the game, there isn't an awful lot left to say about Cabin in the Woods, surely the most discussed and debated horror film in years. While quite funny and aggressively clever at every turn, it's more important to note how bleak it truly is in regards to not only the horror genre, but the human race itself. As someone who has made ferreting out and championing the inherent cultural subtext of horror films his life's work, CITW serves as the period at the end of a century long sentence. A delightfully entertaining romp that reverently celebrates the genre as it nails the coffin lid shut on it.
7. LIFE OF PI
It's a rare thing to see jaw dropping 3-D visual effects augmenting a tear-jerking spiritual journey, but Ang Lee specializes in consistently delivering the unexpected. I saw this film on Thanksgiving day with my family and can think of no more beautiful a scenario to take in its touching message about the fragile majesty of life on this planet. Life of Pi is the kind of film that can convince you of the existence of a soul and that all life has meaning.
6. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
It was supremely unfortunate to watch my most anticipated movie of the year become a maligned and downright reviled critical whipping boy seemingly overnight. The harrowing midnight screening shooting in Aurora forever tainted the film before its opening day and film fans spent the rest of the year mercilessly picking apart every perceived plot inconsistency. Nolan's Bat trilogy is a symbolic rendering of the decade long nightmare America had been mired in post 9/11. It makes sense to me that dream logic would be employed and that things would always seem slightly askew, especially when you look at how the first two entries played out. It's an ambitious film with great performances, especially from Bale who consistently proves he's the finest actor of his generation and from Tom Hardy who made Banea villain for the ages. It's a troubled film for troubling times and more successful in what it sets out to do than most will admit.
5. THE MASTER
The Master is less an expose of Scientology than a hilarious dissection of how base the male impulses and ego are, regardless of how purportedly evolved the male. It's about drifting through life, both in a geographical and internal sense. Navigating a stormy existence where no port is truly safe and no harbor is everlasting. It's the story of two men who are drawn to each others strengths and weaknesses precisely because they're the opposite ones they already possess, and how little they ultimately are able to learn from one another, no matter the struggle to do so. The Master is about a hell of a lot of things and still manages to be extremely funny, wildly entertaining and gorgeously shot. Hoffman and Phoenix each turn in career defining work, with the latter delivering the best performance of this young decade.
4. KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Andrew Dominik burst back onto the scene after a 5 year absence (much like Paul Thomas Anderson) to bring us this enraged polemic about the lies we as a Country tell ourselves to help us sleep at night. It's not subtle, but it means what it says and it has a damn good point to make about the trumped up ruse our political and judicial systems really are. It has colorful characters galore and a seamy setting suffocated by gangland squalor that accurately represents the fiscal realities lurking beneath our credit card fantasy. This film just worked for me on every conceivable level and it's a shame it didn't find its audience. 50 years from now, when people want to know where we were at as a Country toward the end of the Bush Administration, they need but to watch The Dark Knight and Killing Them Softly.
3. THE HOBBIT
I was expecting to consider this film a chore, begrudgingly sat through out of a fading obligation to Peter Jackson. Instead I was utterly transported to Middle Earth with my faith in Jackson restored and reinvigorated. I honestly would rate this film my favorite of the series for reasons I detailed in my review. Suffice to say, it is a grand adventure with an involving story underneath it. It features incredible special effects, excellent performances and that transcendent Howard Shore score. It's simply marvelous film making from a true master of the medium.
2. PROMETHEUS
I think most were disappointed by Prometheus because they were expecting something different. Perhaps they weren't prepared to engage with a film that so playfully blended the profound with the preposterous. In any case, I found this dazzling mixture of spiritual exploration and cheesy sci-fi to be one of the more impressive cinematic experiences I've ever had. Be it in IMAX3D or bluray at home, the tangible world created by the monumental sets and faultless CGI absolutely mesmerized me.
There's so many fascinating philosophical elements at play that I can entirely forgive the concessions it makes to be entertaining. Hell, I applaud them! No film this year came nearly as close to building so fully realized a world for their characters to inhabit and that went a log way toward suspending my disbelief. The isolation, fear and wonder were palpable, as was the emotional center, brilliantly held by Noomi Rapace. Prometheus made me question again where humanity came from and wish for us as a species to renew our dedication to exploring the stars. It did all that while functioning expertly as a thrilling outer space monster movie. Truly the best of all worlds.
1. CLOUD ATLAS
Cloud Atlas devastated me on an emotional and artistic level. It made me want to search out the beauty in humanity as opposed to the ugliness. It made me want to try to understand different points of view and be more welcoming of opposing beliefs. It wears its heart on its sleeve and is absolutely earnest when extolling its altruistic message of peace, love and understanding. It also is a revolutionary step forward in how the medium of film can tell a story. The manner in which the multiple, interconnected stories are presented is so radical, yet so effortlessly involving. I was on board from the first few minutes and sort of wish all movies could function in this capacity. I'd never be bored again, that's for sure.
Cloud Atlas is a staggeringly important film to cinema for the audacious leap forward it represents and to mankind for the quality of what it has to say. Of all films released this year that were overlooked or misunderstood, Cloud Atlas will appreciate in acolytes the most. It's a beautiful, perfect film that had the misfortune of being ahead of its time. Future generations will look back on it as the best we had to offer. Not just as a piece of art, but as an exuberant effort to embrace love over hatred and freedom for all over enslavement of the underrepresented.
0 comments:
Post a Comment