Favorites of 2012: Movies

You only got 5 albums yesterday. Well you get 10 movies today. I listen to a lot of music, but I also re-listen to a lot of music. With movies, I typically don't re-watch them until they're out of the theater.

So here you go. Here are my top 10 favorite movies of the year. I promise there are no spoilers.

Looper
Looper taught us two things:
1) Joseph Gordon Levitt will grow up and marry Demi Moore and have a kid named Ashton Kutcher.
2) JGL and Rian Johnson need to keep making movies together. Their first together, Brick, is a great spin on the detective noir story. And it had implications of great things to follow. Looper seals the deal. Keep them coming, please.

There's one major flaw with the movie's logic, but hey...it's time travel so what do you expect? It doesn't detract from how great the film is.


The Muppets
I had a huge smile on my face throughout and I still do. Segel should be required to write a movie every year, switching off between a raunchy Apatow influenced movie and a children's movie.




The Dark Knight Rises
Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy comes to an end. Or does it? Yes. It does. He said it does. A lot of people had issues with the film. I had issues with the film (Plausibility issue: Hines Ward returns a kickoff for a TD?). But let's remember that Nolan is taking comic book material and creating a legitimate character driven drama thriller. So chill out. The movie is great.

The Avengers
In Whedon We Trust. All Star cast with All Star writing brought together by All Star directing. The movie pleased all audiences from nerds to girlfriends.

Don't try to compare this with TDKR. Just don't. Apples to oranges as far as the storytelling, tone, and characters. It would be like comparing Before Sunrise and Maid in Manhattan because they're both romantic movies. AND BOTH TERRIFIC MOVIES.


The Cabin in the Woods
Biggest laugh of the year is awarded to the title screen of this genre bending/changing/shattering awesome scary gory hilarious movie. You should avoid reading anything about this movie before seeing it so I'll leave you with my thoughts on it: just watch it. Whedon produced, so "In Whedon We Trust #2".

Moonrise Kingdom
On paper, Wes Anderson's latest makes me uncomfortable. A love story between twelve year olds? In reality, the story is treated so intellectually and with such care that it might be the best love story to come out in years. And you can just tell that Wes loves this movie as much as the rest of us.

Furthermore, isn't Bill Murray in the "I Will Watch Any Movie He Touches" category by now?


21 Jump Street
Didn't expect much from it. Over delivered in spades. Funniest movie of the year. The scene with Riggles confronting Hill and Tatum after they've taken the drug might be the funniest scene I've seen in the past few years.



Skyfall

When I heard Sam Mendes was directing the new Bond film, I didn't know what to think. Road to Perdition isn't really an all out action movie, but it's still a tense thriller so I had some hope. But boy, was I surprised.

If the only good scene in the movie was this one, Mendes' treatment would have been a success.

While I appreciate Bond movies, I'm not a fanatic. But I am a fanatic about this one. And Javier Bardem solidified his spot as the "Coolest Man on Earth". The movie also jettisoned M to my favorite Bond girl jkjkjkjkjk but Bérénice Marlohe ain't too bad.

The Raid: Redemption
Knives. Guns. Hand to Hand. Unnecessary descriptors. My typical Friday night. Add The Raid: Redemption into the mix and you've got one of my Friday nights this summer.

Skip the audio dub and use the subtitles. Yes, it may be distracting, but I promise you that the dub is more distracting. And who needs dialogue in a movie like this? Hands down the best action movie in the past ten years.


Safety Not Guaranteed
If I could marry a movie this year, it would be Safety Not Guaranteed.

Low budget movie about time travel, but really about the characters + Aubrey Plaza + Mark Duplass + Jake Johnson. All over it.

Other movies I saw and really liked and you should see and also really like:
Jeff Who Lives At Home: Duplass brothers keep killing it.
The Hunger Games: Better than the book?
The Grey: Liam being Liam.
Chronicle: Yes, found footage is overused. But I had a ton of fun watching it.
Prometheus: It was a let down, but I still liked it. Fassbender as a robot. Yes.

You may think that there are a lot of movies missing here that came out in 2012. You're right.

BUT THEATERS IN NEW YORK ARE EXPENSIVE AND I AM NOT MADE OF MONEY DESPITE MY PHYSICAL OUTWARD APPEARANCE, STEADY DIET OF MOMOFUKU PORK BUNS, AND AFFINITY FOR GOLD CHAINS.

So here is a list of movies that I still need to see, but will more than likely love:
Argo, The Sessions, Lincoln, Wreck-It Ralph, Sleepwalk With Me, Seven Psychopaths, Your Sister's Keeper, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Master

Watchin',
CJ

Other 2012 Favorites:
Albums