Best Films of 2012

[Smmenen]

Reviving a trend I started, here is last year's thread.  You can go back and find this for almost half a decade now.  

Here is the complete list of releases from 2012.

Here are the movies I saw this year:

Red Tails
The Grey
The Three Stooges
The Raven
The Avengers
The Dictator
Moonrise Kingdom
Prometheus
The Amazing Spider-Man
Ted
The Dark Knight Rises
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (on a plane)
Cloud Atlas
Argo
Seven Psychopaths
Looper
Flight
Skyfall
Lincoln
The Hobbit
Django Unchained

This year reversed the trend of me seeing fewer and fewer movies.   I may have missed some on the list, but I saw at least these 20 films, and all but a few of them in the theatre.  
There are still a few films I'd like to see, like Les Miserables, Taken 2, and the Clint Eastwood film.  

My top 5 films from 2012:

5) Argo.   Very powerful film.  Loved everything about it.

4) The Dark Knight Rises.   I thought this was just about as good as the Dark Knight, which was brilliant.  

3) Flight.  Unbelievable film.  Denzel was awesome in this.   The crash scene was so freaking sick.

2) Lincoln.   Tommy Lee Jones for best supporting actor.  He was awesome as Thaddeus Stevens.  This film had a sick cast, and was both relevant and powerful.  

1) Cloud Atlas.  My favorite film of the year.  I thought it was brilliant, thought provoking, and incredibly fun.  


Worst film I saw this year: Seven Psychopaths, followed closely by The Raven.  

Biggest disappointment of the year: Prometheus.

Funniest movie of the year: Tie:  The Dictator / Ted

[quicksilvervii]

I personally loved Django Unchained, and it gets my vote as best movie of the year (even above the Dark Knight Rises).

[Cody.TopDeckInsurrection]

I thought Argo stunk ill be honest. You could tell what was gonna happen in every s
Scene and there was no challenge for the group during their escape (which would have made it more interesting)

Anyway, I have to say there were no 'films' released this year

On that note I might as well release my ranking system to TMD (used mainly  to rank 'tv shows' 'movies' but can describe almost anything)
From bad to fantastic:
infomercial
Tv show
Movie
Film
Drug (only given to breaking bad because its that fukin good and deserves its own category)

Example: the big lebowski was a film. Arrested development, a film.
 Team top deck insurrection's posts on this site are Oscar award winning film, however their vintage play ranges from tv show- movie depending on the day

[Thecheese]

MINGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!

[brokenbacon]

I thought Argo stunk ill be honest. You could tell what was gonna happen in every s
Scene and there was no challenge for the group during their escape (which would have made it more interesting)

Anyway, I have to say there were no 'films' released this year

On that note I might as well release my ranking system to TMD (used mainly  to rank 'tv shows' 'movies' but can describe almost anything)
From bad to fantastic:
infomercial
Tv show
Movie
Film
Drug (only given to breaking bad because its that fukin good and deserves its own category)

Example: the big lebowski was a film. Arrested development, a film.
 Team top deck insurrection's posts on this site are Oscar award winning film, however their vintage play ranges from tv show- movie depending on the day

QFT (except the part about only Breaking Bad getting "drug" status). However (and I know this may not belong in Community Discussion, but it MUST be said), Team TDI's Vintage play will be at film status when ALL MEMBERS TOP 8 THIS COMING SUNDAY BITCHESSSSSS

[Bill Copes]

For the two people that care: the only 3 horror movies worth watching from 2012 are . . .

The Innkeepers

The Loved Ones

V/H/S

[Thecheese]

For the two people that care: the only 3 horror movies worth watching from 2012 are . . .

The Innkeepers

The Loved Ones

V/H/S

I wan to check out VHS. I heard good things

[Klep]

I saw a personal best 30 of last year's releases:

Haywire
Chronicle
John Carter
The Hunger Games
Lockout
The Raid: Redemption
The Avengers
Men in Black 3
Moonrise Kingdom
Snow White and the Huntsman
Prometheus
Brave
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Dark Knight Rises
Total Recall
The Bourne Legacy
The Expendables 2
Looper
Taken 2
Argo
Seven Psychopaths
Cloud Atlas
Wreck-It Ralph
Skyfall
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Killing Them Softly
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Django Unchained
Les Miserables

Of the movies I saw, my top 5 would probably be:
5. The Avengers
4. Skyfall
3. Cloud Atlas
2. Lincoln
1. Django Unchained

Django gets the nod over Lincoln because where the latter focuses entirely on the politics of slavery and the 13th Amendment, Django takes you down into the muck and forces you to confront slavery's myriad horrors.  Combine that with excellent performances all-around (including a stunningly malevolent turn from Samuel L. Jackson) and Tarantino's brilliant writing and you have a film that, to me, is just a bit better.

Cloud Atlas was also a phenomenal movie, and the only thing that really holds it back from being higher on this list is the occasionally jarring makeup jobs.  I have huge respect for the Wachowskis and what they accomplished with this movie, but unfortunately the makeup occasionally pulls you out of the film and I have to dock it a bit for that.

Skyfall was probably my biggest surprise this year.  I expected a perfectly serviceable Bond movie, but instead got something so much more.  Skyfall not only contained – as I saw someone put it – “a vulgar display of cinematography,” it also played with Bond tropes in clever and provocative ways, forcing you to ask yourself who was really the villain. It's the best Bond movie in a long time, and just generally a damn good film.

The worst movie I saw this year would probably be Total Recall.  Not only is it an unnecessary remake of a Paul Verhoeven classic, but it also completely wastes its premise within the first half hour by showing the viewer exactly what is and is not real.

Tom Hooper is going to get acclaim for his work with Les Miserables, but shouldn't because there's nothing special about giving close-ups to amazing actors when they are acting.

My biggest regret of the year is not seeing The Master.  I've heard nothing but great things about it and I really really wanted to see it, but unfortunately the only week it was anywhere near me I was sick.  I'm aching for it to come out on home video so I can finally watch it.

[TheWhiteDragon]

I got to see a few movies this year - and most were a disappointment.

Avengers was decent, but not as good as either Iron Man
Spiderman remake was not as good as the Toby one - which is disappointing.
MIB 3 just sucked
Dark Knight Rises was as good as Batman Begins, but no where close to as good as The Dark Knight - at least not from an acting perspective.
Brave - meh
The Hobbit - neat, but less good than any of the LoTR films, and I even saw it in 3D

I saw several other flicks, but nothing that knocked my socks off this year.  I have yet to see Lincoln, Jango, or Cloud Atlas though - which seem to be topping everyone's list - so there's still hope.

On a related note, I did catch an older classic - Debbie Does Dallas - and, man, does she ever!

[Bill Copes]

For the two people that care: the only 3 horror movies worth watching from 2012 are . . .

The Innkeepers

The Loved Ones

V/H/S

I wan to check out VHS. I heard good things

It's a nice little compilation.  Nothing new or outlandish, but done well enough.  I'm looking forward to the sequel.   http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/get-a-load-of-the-gore-soaked-first-image-from-vhs-sequel-s-vhs

[JACO]

Movies from 2012 that I saw, in order of preference:
1) Skyfall - Another Daniel Craig Bond masterpiece. I would have liked more development of Silva, but otherwise this movie kicked ass.
2) The Dark Knight Rises - excellent, with a good script and good acting. Barely edged out by Skyfall.
3) Argo - decent and entertaining. Not overly impressed with the script but the acting and casting was solid.

Note: The movies above were good. The movies below were mediocre or poop.  
4) The Bourne Legacy - rehash of the other (good) Bourne movies, adding very little of interest.
5) Prometheus - exceeded my extremely low expectations, but was full of holes. Awesome visually; not awesome in any other respect.
6) The Avengers - went in with very low expectations, and my expecations were met. Robert Downey and Mark Ruffalo were very good and their dialogue with Captain America was good, and I thought most of the rest of the movie was pretty average.

Other 2012 movies from that list I will probably see in the next couple of months when I get them on Netflix: Act of Valor, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, The Dictator, Django Unchained, Atlas Shrugged: Part II.

[serracollector]

I'm surprised not more of you loved the Hunger Games.  I thought it was very good.

Legends of the Guardians was good as well.

[Smmenen]

Just watched the Golden Globes tonight, and wasn't really surprised.  I saw most of the top films.  I still have yet to see Les Mis, which is ironic because I've seen the musical 6 times (including on broadway in 2002).  But the only film I haven't seen yet, otherwise, from 2012 that I still want to see is probably the Silver Linings Playbook.  I also wish Cloud Atlas got more attention. 

[Klep]

There were a number of surprises at the Globes.  Nobody expected Tarantino to get Best Screenplay for example, and Don Cheadle's win caused a resounding response of "....what?"  Still, Ben Affleck's success last night can only serve to make him a lock for Best Directing at the Osca..... oh wait..

[Cody.TopDeckInsurrection]

Films were awarded at the golden globes, really?!
No, only tv shows and some movies

[brokenbacon]

Films were awarded at the golden globes, really?!
No, only tv shows and some movies

I second. Mostly tv shows.

[Smmenen]

Films were awarded at the golden globes, really?!
No, only tv shows and some movies

I think movies is a colloquial term like "talkies," referring to pictures that "move" or "motion pictures," whereas films refer to not just the actual film the images are captured on, but the entire narrative.  So I think it is more appropriate to call them "films" than "movies." 

There were a number of surprises at the Globes.  Nobody expected Tarantino to get Best Screenplay for example, and Don Cheadle's win caused a resounding response of "....what?"  Still, Ben Affleck's success last night can only serve to make him a lock for Best Directing at the Osca..... oh wait..

Yeah, I was surprised that Afflect got snubbed.  I thought he was going to be an academy favorite, along with Spielberg.  Still, I think Speilberg will win best director pretty handily at the Oscars. 

I also will probably netflix The Master at some point. 

I'm so glad I avoided most of the terrible big budget films from last year.

[Klep]

 

Yeah, I was surprised that Afflect got snubbed.  I thought he was going to be an academy favorite, along with Spielberg.  Still, I think Speilberg will win best director pretty handily at the Oscars. 

Yeah, the Academy not nominating Bigelow for Best Directing is a pretty clear signal of what direction they're going in.  There could be a dark horse, but Spielberg is the obvious favorite. Affleck had a big advantage at the Globes though, which is that his movie had the words "Golden Globes" in the script.

[Cody.TopDeckInsurrection]

On that note I might as well release my ranking system to TMD (used mainly  to rank 'tv shows' 'movies' but can describe almost anything)
From bad to fantastic:
infomercial
Tv show
Movie
Film
Drug (only given to breaking bad because its that fukin good and deserves its own category)

Example: the big lebowski was a film. Arrested development, a film.
 Team top deck insurrection's posts on this site are Oscar award winning film, however their vintage play ranges from tv show- movie depending on the day

cmon stevey boy. there were no films released!!!
the only shocking note that came from these fake ass awards was the fact that breaking bad didn't win best drama (which it deserved) and that Bryan the man cranston didn't win best actor in drama (which he deserved)

[Smmenen]

I thought Boardwalk Empire was the best drama, but hey...

[Cody.TopDeckInsurrection]

I thought Boardwalk Empire was the best drama, but hey...

Ill be honest and say the drama category could have gone to any  of the nominations although I would have loved to see BB win it

[The Atog Lord]

My personal favorite movie this year was the Avengers. And I really liked Brave as well.

Whereas, Snow White and the Huntsman is easily the worst movie I've ever endured in my 31 years on this earth. The characters were poorly motivated and behaved irrationally. The acting would have been more compelling had they used mannequins. I've seen low-budget Kung Fu movies with more depth. Watching that film was as exciting  as playing against some sort of Workshop/Stasis hybrid piloted by a three-toed sloth on quaaludes.

[KrauserKrauser]

My personal favorite movie this year was the Avengers. And I really liked Brave as well.

Whereas, Snow White and the Huntsman is easily the worst movie I've ever endured in my 31 years on this earth. The characters were poorly motivated and behaved irrationally. The acting would have been more compelling had they used mannequins. I've seen low-budget Kung Fu movies with more depth. Watching that film was as exciting  as playing against some sort of Workshop/Stasis hybrid piloted by a three-toed sloth on quaaludes.

Kristen Stewart as the fairest in the land.  Just avoid any movie she stars in and you'll be better off for it.

[Smmenen]

as playing against some sort of Workshop/Stasis hybrid piloted by a three-toed sloth on quaaludes.

I'm actually intrigued by this Workshop/Stasis hybrid.  That sounds fun to me.  

I'm glad I didn't see Snow White and the Huntsman.  I highly recommend people go to an aggregate critic website, like rottentomatoes.com, before watching films.   It's saved me a boatload of money by avoiding bad films.  

That movie got a 48% on the site: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snow_white_and_the_huntsman/   That's not good.

[thorme]

I'm actually intrigued by this Workshop/Stasis hybrid.  That sounds fun to me.  

Ah, the old:

4x Workshop
4x Sands of Time
4x Eon Hub
4x Orb of Dreams
4x Black Vise
...

[Killane]

Just watched the Golden Globes tonight, and wasn't really surprised.  I saw most of the top films.  I still have yet to see Les Mis, which is ironic because I've seen the musical 6 times (including on broadway in 2002).  But the only film I haven't seen yet, otherwise, from 2012 that I still want to see is probably the Silver Linings Playbook.  I also wish Cloud Atlas got more attention. 

I also saw it on Broadway in 2002, and played Javert in a regional production here in Hamilton later that summer. The movie is phenomenal - you won't be disappointed (except for Russel Crowe - he's awful).