The Top 10 Films of 2012: Oscar Time Revision

Where did Lincoln end up on the revised top 10

As the Oscars approach once again it’s time for the annual tradition of revisiting the top 10 films of the year to create a more complete list. In all, 2012 was a phenomenal year for film and the best year for films in recent memory, although not until about October. Yes 2012 continued the recent tradition of being a back loaded year and all the films on my top ten (except one) are from the second half of the year. Even so there are some fantastic films on this list and I’ve had the most trouble making this list this year than any other year. As usual the precaution does apply that I am an amateur film critic and thus don’t see everything that this year would have to offer. That being said I believe that this is my most complete list to date by far and I couldn’t see any of the films that I haven’t seen bumping these off the list. So let’s get down to business shall we, these are the top 10 films of 2012.

Honorable Mentions:

The Dark Knight Rises, Moonrise Kingdom, Life of Pi, The Avengers, Les Miserable

10. Skyfall

 It is so great to see a Bond film land on the top ten. One of the best action pictures to be released this year Skyfall had everything that any Bond fan, or an espionage film fan in general, could want. Great direction and cinematography, an intelligent plot that examined the Boss and Agent relationship between M and Bond, and some great callbacks for the 50^th anniversary of the Bond franchise. Overall Skyfall is just a great action film one that deserves every cent of the massive amount of money it earned around the world.

9. Argo

Ben Affleck’s third film Argo provided one amazing thriller experience. Argo provides the perfect mix of high tense set pieces and perfectly timed comedy that made for one amazingly balanced film. The best thing about Argo though is that it keeps getting better upon repeat viewings allowing it to squeeze past Skyfall which was initially higher than Argo on this list.

8. Beasts of the Southern Wild

2012’s little film that could was Beasts of the Southern Wild. Beasts of the Southern Wild was small but left a large impact on almost everyone who watched it with its triumphant performances and heartbreaking storyline. It may be the smallest film to end up on this list but ultimately it may have been the film that left the biggest impact on the viewer in 2012. What a fantastic achievement on all fronts!

7. Cloud Atlas

The most polarizing film of the year Cloud Atlas was a film that you either loved or despised the existence of. The ambition that is present throughout Cloud Atlas’s over 2hour and 45 minute is worthy of admiration on its own. What makes the film truly special though is that in the end the film is not only ambitious but a really entertaining film. There are so many great moments throughout from a Matrix like dystopia to a crazy escape from an old folk’s home. Cloud Atlas is a film that is hardly seen in the days of formulaic blockbusters and that itself is a fantastic achievement.

6. The Master

Two of the best performances of the year and the best character study of the year came from Paul Thomas Anderson’s ambitious and powerful film The Master. There are so many great moments that happen throughout this film such as the dynamite first interrogation and the father, son relationship that is consistent throughout the entire film. Not to mention that Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman tore up the screen whenever they were on it. It’s a shame that The Master is getting such little love from the Oscars.

5. Lincoln

It’s a great year for films when the amazing Stephen Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis film Lincoln only makes the fifth spot on this list. The power of Lincoln comes through making the legendary president a human being and not a looming legend. That mixed with great Spielbergian style and drama made for a big emotional drama that cannot be missed. This plus Daniel Day-Lewis giving yet another earth shattering performance made Lincoln an amazing Stephen Spielberg film.

4. Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino doesn’t make many films, but when he does make a film it’s an event. His take on the spaghetti western Django Unchained continues this trend with a bang with all of great Tarantino on display here. What makes Django Unchained a top notch Tarantino film is the message regarding slavery and racism in America. Tarantino takes his big over the top spin on the concept and takes it to the max. Tarantino is one of those directors that you either love or detest, for me as long as he keeps making films like this I will continue to love his filmmaking.

3. Amour

Another great veteran director Austrian born Michael Haneke delivers perhaps his most powerful and jarring film to date, but not in the way that is expected. Amour is about the survival of love at an old age and the pain of losing the one you’ve loved for your entire life. Haneke employs the powers of his Octavian lead actors, and the squirm inducing power of incredibly long shots of simple emotional challenges. The best aspect of Amour is the power it can produce from the smallest moments and the fact that the film never attempts to manipulate the audience. It’s just about the simplicity of love and pain, and in this case that is definitely for the best.

2. Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty is Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece, plain and simple. Bigelow and writer Mark Boal have created a perfect example of how to make the near perfect military thriller. The magic of Zero Dark Thirty is in its balance of brilliant espionage thriller and a powerful character study. Jessica Chastain delivers the female performance of the year as the broken and overcommitted CIA agent who took down Osama Bin Laden.  Sure the film isn’t entirely accurate but demanding complete and total accuracy in a film like this is absurd. Zero Dark Thirty is just an amazing film regardless of accuracy and a prime example of how to make a brilliant thriller.

1. Looper

The best original Sci-Fi film since Minority Report Looper has everything one could want from a Sci-Fi film and more. Looper contained the best use of the premise of time travel ever in a film and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Looper is another example of the power of character development on the fly and how truly plot and characters not action made this film the great film that it is. Ultimately Looper is the best film of the year is because it is the film that satisfied me on every level, the plot was twisty and unpredictable, the characters fully developed, and the Sci-Fi elements unique and powerful. Looper is pure Sci-Fi at its finest and the best film of 2012.

Catching up on 2012: Zero Dark Thirty Review

American Soldiers Carrying out an important mission in Zero Dark Thirty 

©Columbia Pictures

Zero Dark Thirty

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Terrorism and combating terrorism is one of the most important aspects of most western intelligent agencies. After the events of 9/11 the United States have been especially vigilant its anti-terrorism efforts, going to many extremes to hunt and capture certain targets. Perhaps the greatest of all these missions is the manhunt of Osama Bin Laden, a mission that took a lot of time, money, and manpower. This is where Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty comes in as it takes a behind the curtain look on to the events that transpired during the time. The result is a compelling thriller and a gripping character study. It may also be Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece.

Zero Dark Thirty opens with the events of 9/11, which are depicted only through sound, and ends with the killing of Bin Laden. Between the bookends the film follows CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) and her hunt for Bin Laden and his associates. She begins her journey witnessing her first torture operation lead by senior officer Dan (Jason Clark). Maya was dropped into Pakistan at a young age and after Dan becomes tired of the operation she takes over. The film follows Maya’s quest for Bin Laden while the clock is ticking and attacks are becoming more and more frequent.

Zero Dark Thirty is an amazing espionage thriller that pulls no punches in its depiction of what when into the hunt for Bin Laden. Torture and excessive force are used to show just how far the CIA was willing to go to find its target. The true genius of the film is tight rope it walks with the hunt as it never glorifies the idea of torture for a certain cause and allows for the ethical and moral questions to be brought up, but at the same time made the characters sympathetic enough to root for. This isn’t no rah rah go America movie as it clearly states that some of the things that are done to find Bin Laden are most certainly wrong.

The other aspect of Zero Dark Thirty is the compelling on the fly character study that is presented. Jessica Chastain delivers the female performance of the year as the powerful and overcommitted Maya. Chastain plays the character with a shell of toughness while never loosing the heart or emotional aspects of the character. The character study is weaved carefully within the espionage in a way that is effective and powerful. Unlike in the Hurt Locker, in which many of the character moments were a little bit out of place, the character moments in Zero Dark Thirty always work and ultimately provide a powerful emotional heart to the espionage spine.

Supporting performances come and go in this film and there are some fleeting moments of good acting as the film moves on. Jason Clark does good work as a superior officer and is perhaps the supporting actor with the most screen time. The rest of the supporting cast is filled with character actors and TV actors that pop in and out of the film as the story sees fit. All do solid work with what they are given, but ultimately this is the Jessica Chastain show and the film is much better for it.

Zero Dark Thirty also has the advantage of looking great as well. The film is well shot with a variety of shot styles used throughout the film. The action scenes including depictions of an attack on the CIA and the capture of Bin Laden are absolutely fantastic and prove yet again that Kathryn Bigelow is a top notch action director. The score is nothing impressive but does create enough atmosphere and provide enough energy to be affective throughout the film.

Zero Dark Thirty may be Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece, plain and simple. Form the energetic espionage thriller skeleton to the heart of a powerful character study Zero Dark Thirty has practically everything that can be asked from this sort of military thriller. The film also manages to take a smart look on the ethics of a man hunt of this scale without political interference.  Add in the best female performance of 2012 with Jessica Chastain’s spellbinding performance as the over obsessed CIA agent Maya and Zero Dark Thirty easily finds itself amongst the very best of an already amazing year for film.

Catching up on 2012: Amour Review

Love, pain and death in one solitary expression in Amour

Amour

A+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Love in old age is hard. Not because of the amount of time spent with a singular person or the challenges of love in general, but because of one thing, death. Death and slow loss of a partner are the ideas presented in Amour, Micheal Haneke’s powerful portrayal of an old couple hanging on to life. These ideas make Amour the most emotionally challenging film of 2012 as well the most unforgettable. There are few films that can provide images that can keep a viewer thinking about it for weeks afterwards and Amour is definitely one of those films.

After an opening scene at a concert, Amour takes place entirely within the confines of the apartment of the elderly couple of retired music teachers Georges and Anne (played by the two wonderful actors Jean-Louis Trinignnant and Emmanuelle Riva who are both in their eighties). Life is moving on as happily as ever until Anne falls victim to a small stroke that, after a failed operation, leaves her paralyzed on throughout her right side. This causes George to take care of Anne through thick and thin to avoid putting her in a hospice and after many sad deliberations about her place in this life their lives seem to move on. Then a second more devastating stroke arrives and the true challenge for the couple begins.

The power in Amour comes from the sheer honesty of the material. Haneke provides little to no melodrama to manipulate the emotions of the audience, instead the director uses a simple and honest portrayal that is simply devastating. Haneke relishes in long, still shots of silence or minimal dialogue that really drive the message home. Shots often aren’t cut for minutes and minutes on end allowing for the message of each scene to really sink into the viewer. It’s a truly powerful experience that can leave the viewer feeling a mix of complicated emotions from scenes that are so beautify simple and almost nonchalant.

The reason that these scenes work as well as they is also because of the fantastic performances given by the lead actors in Amour. Trinignnant and Riva, two actors who have been legacies of French cinema for many, many years provide two of the best performances of 2012 as they play taxing roles that require quiet subtle emotion. Trinignnant is painfully brilliant as a man who is desperately trying to keep his emotions internal while tragedy is unfolding around him. Riva is asked to do so much in this film and it’s truly stunningly painful to watch. To watch a woman who seems so nice and normal slowly die to a stroke that seemed to have come too early.

Most of the pain generated through the film comes from the way the film is shot and edited. As previously mentioned Haneke doesn’t cut shots for long stretched of time (to give an example most shots are at the longest twenty seconds Haneke can stretch shots without cutting for three-four minutes at a time) keeping the camera very still and allowing everything not only to play out but to sink in. Along with the long shots comes the lack of much of a soundtrack. Silence is this film’s best friend as it adds power to the already tragic and at times squirm inducing, long shots of simple emotions and reactions.

Amour is one of the most powerful films to come out in 2012, and perhaps in a long time. While writing the images of this film still run through my mind. The ideas and emotions may be simple, the plot unmanipulative and straightforward, but the filmmaking is so masterfully powerful that Amour can clearly place itself in the highest of high class of 2012.

Django Unchained Review

Jamie Foxx as Django in Django Unchained

Django Unchained

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Quentin Tarantino has a way of taking genres and flipping them upside down. He’s worked his magic with the heist film, the gangster film, the martial arts film, and even the war film. His latest Django Unchained takes aim at the western by creating a dirty, pulpy and completely over the top homage to the genre. Django Unchained also happens to be one of the most important films of 2012 as while it’s, at times, cartoonish and over the top Tarantino has something important to say about slavery and racism in America, both past and present.

Django Unchained opens in 1858 with dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Wlatz ) freeing a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) so that he can complete the killings of the Brittle Brothers. The two embark on a business arrangement in which a profitable bounty hunting winter is to be had and Django is to get his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) back from whoever she was sold to. Their trip to find Broomhilda leads them to hoax rich plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his lead servant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) into letting them into “Candieland” in order to get Broomhilda back into Django’s arms.

Django Unchained is a classic example of Quentin Tarantino making a Quentin Tarantino film as there is really no other genre that this film fits in. All the Quentin Tarantino quirks are here the snappy dialogue that is usually punctuated by bloody brutal violence, the strange, time jumping, always unpredictable plotline, and finding laughs in the most unexpected places (to avoid spoilers from this film the all time greatest example of Tarantino’s interesting sense of humor was Pulp Fiction’s “Oh man I think I just shot Marvin in the face” moment.). The film is one minute funnier than most comedies and the next it’s dark and bloody, and the next minute it’s both at the same time. Django is a unique, special film that continues Tarantino’s run of making strange and dazzling films

Writing and dialogue are perhaps the strongest quirk of the Tarantinnian film and Django Unchained is no exception. While the random conversations and dramatic monologues are lighter than in prior efforts, the film still uses dialogue to capture the mood and atmosphere of the old west. The language used is appropriately vulgar with heavy use of the “n” word to convey the racist ways of the old west. It may not be for everyone (despite the film using the controversial “n” word it’s used for the sake of satire and not because of any sort of racism. Quentin Tarantino has never been subtle and introvert with his filmmaking and this film is definitely support to that) but it provides an important social commentary of the use of language and the state of race and culture in America while never boring the audience in the slightest. Plus it doesn’t hurt when the dialogue is so good that anything that comes out of the mouths of these characters is a joy to listen to.

Another one of the great things that Tarantino does is that he always seems to get amazing performances out of his actors. Jamie Foxx has proven in the past that he can be an adequate dramatic actor and he does some good work here as the protagonist. The real standouts though are Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson. Waltz was brilliant in Inglorious Basterds and he is every bit a brilliant here. Waltz has a way with the dialogue he is given and from his opening monologue he shows how well he can deliver it. DiCaprio and Jackson are suculant villains that are fun to hate. Each has some great moments that are delivered with absolute perfection. There are also some fun cameos here or there, including Tarantino himself with a ridiculous Australian accent, that add some fun to the film.

The film is shot with many different styles in mind and each adds a distinctive flair to the film. The beginning of the film calls upon Western stylings and then it peppers in other genre stylings every so often. The result is a beautiful, yet completely pulpy film that looks distinctive from almost anything else out there. The soundtrack is classic Tarantino as it features traditional movie cues (in this case some really cool western style music) with completely out of era music (such as James Brown mixed with 2 Pac) that feels strangely natural with the over the top vibe of the overall film.

In all Django Unchained is the most consistent fun to be had at a theater this year. Tarantino has created a fantastically unique film that combines that takes a traditional western and adds so much style and commentary. It’s a fantastic achievement and yet another fine film that ends up in the very large A+ class of 2012.

2012 in Review: The Top 5 Film/TV News Stories of 2012

2012 is done and done but it’s time to look back just one more time at the year this time with the biggest news making items this year. Everything is fair game here from both the movie and TV world, as long as it was shocking, fun, or just a huge story it’s going to be on this list. Before starting it’s fair to say that this year was pretty good on the news end of things, despite most of these being pretty sad and or disappointing. Regardless it’s time to count down the biggest/most interesting news stories of the year.

5. Luck is Cancelled After 3 Horses Die

The news trip begins on a sad note with the end of one of the best shows of 2012, after only one nine episode season. The sad thing is that everything (other than the ratings of course) was going right for Luck beforehand: the show had just been renewed and it was finding its course. Sadly the series was cut massively short as after 3 horses tragically died on set during the production of season 2. While at first it might be seen as a way for HBO to get rid of a low rated show, but one must remember that ultimately the show relied on horses and that three dying on set leaves a massive black mark on the show and HBO in general. Still it’s a tragic turn of events for the few who watched and for creator David Milch whose three HBO shows have all ended earlier than expected (the amazing Deadwood ended after three for its expensiveness and John From Cincinnati ended because no one could comprehend it).

4. Dan Harmon Unexpectedly Fired from Community

Usually a Community renewal is something to be celebrated (considering the show has very low ratings for a network sit-com) but this year’s renewal came at a massive price, series creator and showrunner Dan Harmon was booted from the show for reasons that are still unknown. While showrunners on sit-coms come and go Dan Harmon leaving was a big deal because of the fact that he was the soul of the show, and was the main reasons that the show was (and still may be) something special. New showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio promise that they won’t screw it up, but expectations are high and every person in the passionate Community fanbase will be clenching their teeth.

3. Glen Mazzara Leaves the Walking Dead (And AMC’s situation in general)

Just when the Walking Dead began picking up steam in the quality department after Glen Mazzara fully took over the show; SURPRISE! He’s leaving due to creative differences. So the most watched show in cable television history has now gone through two show runners in only three seasons. Which begs the question, what’s going on at AMC? Seriously with the problems renewing Mad Men, the problems renewing Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad ending next year and nothing replacing it, Hell on Wheels going through showrunners like small bugs, and the cancelled and the not very good the Killing potentially getting pulled out of cancellation without a showrunner and lead actress confirmed (ignoring the fact for a second that THEY SHOULD NOT BE RENEWING THE KILLING). Now their biggest hit, which has gotten to the point in which it’s consistently really good and even great at many points is now having the man responsible for that rise changed (this is assuming (I think it’s fair considering the role he seems to be playing) that Mazzara was a fully invested showrunner) is concerning. Six years after the debut of Mad Men the almighty AMC’s cracks are beginning to show and 2013 will be an interesting year to see where the network is headed in the future.

2. Disney Buys George Lucas!!!!! (Or at least Lucasfilm and everything that is associated with it)

In the biggest corporal story of the year Disney continued its devouring spree as the corporation bought all of George Lucas’s IP’s and studios for a whopping four billion dollars. Wow! Not only that but there is going to be a new, non Lucas written and directed Star Wars film in line for 2014! Wow! Finally we will be able to answer the question of whether or not the prequels were entirely George Lucas’s fault…

1 Shootings at Aurora Theater During Dark Knight Rises Midnight Screening Shock the World

It’s going to be hard to say anything that hasn’t already been said, but here I go… First off my heart still goes out to all of the victims of this horrible, horrible tragedy that should never have happened. Second of all, this is an unfortunate black stain to a film that shouldn’t have to bear the weight of this tragedy upon its shoulders. Third of all moving to the film’s success in general, it’s interesting to wonder what the perception of the film (and thus the numbers at the box office) would wind up being without the stain. It’s a terrible event that should have never have happened to a film that was great regardless of the events that transpired. RIP to those who fell in this horrible tragedy and a speedy recovery to those wounded.