Top 10 films of 2012

After the awful year for films that was 2011, 2012 is something of a comeback. The films were better, the box office bigger and the independent efforts were dazzling. Oh, and Pixar made a film that wasn’t total shit. So on the whole it’s been a success, so much so that an end of year top 10 list is actually possible to write. While I've seen some real gems from the past 12 months, there are many films have a late release in the UK, obviously making me unable to view them. So that rules out a myriad of films including:

Lincoln
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Wreck It Ralph
Zero Dark Thirty

Through other commitments or limited theatrical release I've also missed films such as:

Moonrise Kingdom
The Hunt
Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Imposter
Argo
Headhunters

Honourable mentions

 Sightseers

From up and coming British director Ben Wheatley comes this quirky caravan comedy, as dark as it is funny. Following a new couple on their break to Yorkshire, events cause Chris (Steve Oram) to unleash his serial killer fury, much to the amusement of new squeeze Tina (Alice Lowe). While not incredibly hilarious, it rarely wastes a joke thanks to some strong writing and quality performances. Destined to go down as one of the overlooked gems of the year.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Coming in with one of the greatest assembles of elderly actors in recent memory; TBEMH is as poignant as it is witty. Judi Dench takes the lead role as a group of retirees relocate to India to spend their twilight years. While the brilliance of the cast isn’t completely utilised, it still remains a film that is universally enjoyable, regardless of the age of the viewer.

Now that is out of the way, here are my personal top 10 films of 2012:

10. The Hunger Games

Here is a film that deserves its place if only for being the film that launched the incredibly talented Jennifer Lawrence into the big time spotlight of Hollywood. While the story of a post apocalyptic nation that has a yearly tournament that pits 24 children against each other in a deathmatch is a thrilling one, it’s Lawrence who glues the entire feature into a satisfying, cohesive whole. Despite is big budget it is technically sloppy, but this is a flaw that doesn’t prevent The Hunger Games from being a fine piece of entertainment.

9. Seeking a Friend For the End of the World

This was quite possibly the best surprise that I've had all year. The thought that I would become enamoured with a cute comedy such as this is still something I can’t fully comprehend. It might be because of Carell’s downbeat yet engaging performance, or scenes that brim with hidden emotion. Regardless of the answer, this is 2012’s Crazy, Stupid, Love, a film that escapes the shackles of the trite genre it’s bound to.

8. 21 Jump Street

If Seeking a Friend For the End of the World was the year’s best surprise, then 21 Jump Street was a very close second. A film successor to a TV show that nobody watched, this reeked of a Hollywood cash grab, hell, even the trailer painted such a picture. Yet the results were incredible. It was funny, clever and wildly entertaining, complete with Jonah Hill actually making me laugh and Channing Tatum shedding his dire RomCom facade, revealing a solid funny man hiding underneath.

7. Your Sisters Sister

While Lynn Shelton’s latest can become little to overbearing with its emotional scenes, Your Sisters Sister is an insanely good blend of comedy, drama and romance. After Jay (Mark Duplass) is sent to stay in a secluded cabin to find himself by his BFF Iris (Emily Blunt), he has a drunken encounter with Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie Dewitt). Things escalate from there and, while set mostly in one cabin, the film blends gorgeous photography and strong performances to make a RomCom done right.

6. Life of Pi

Who’d have thought a film about a boy stranded on a raft with a tiger would be an entertaining and engaging film? Ang Lee that's who. With some stunning cinematography and special effects, we are drawn into this story of survival in ways practical effects would simply struggle to achieve on their own. Anyone who dislikes 3D needs to watch Pi with the additional dimension; it enchants the experience even more.

5. Looper

In a way, Looper reminds me of 21 Jump Street in the fact that they both had shitty trailers. 21 Jump reeked of Laziness while Looper seemed oh so generic despite its intriguing premise. Once again I was wrong and writer/director Rian Johnson has delivered a clever, gripping Sci Fi thriller involving time travel and hitmen who are tasked with eliminating themselves from the future. It’s a film like Looper that promises more great work from the largely underrated Johnson.

4. Skyfall

Bond 23 was a film I was hankering for ever since the disappointment that was 2008’s Quantum of Solace. Thankfully with the talent of American Beauty director Sam Mendes, Skyfall was the return to form that this established franchise needed. Combining a good story, plot and setpieces into a seamless whole, Mendes has delivered a film that has the realism of Casino Royale and the charm of earlier iterations in the series. Essential viewing to those with even the smallest interest in the Bond films.

3. The Master

The Master, to me at least, had the potential to be one of the greatest films ever made. Written and directed by the phenomenal P.T Anderson, score from Jonny Greenwood, shot on glorious 70mm stock, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix? Yet somehow, Andersons first since 2007’s There Will Be Blood was less than the sum of its perfect parts. The first 90 minutes burned with dazzling, unforgettable intensity, yet the final 40 are so very mundane. A second viewing helps, yet even without the film possesses a ‘ghost effect’, it will stay in your mind for months to come. The prickly radiance from Phoenix’ performance is likely to be ingrained into your mind till the day you die.

2. The Dark Knight Rises

Much like The Master, the wait for Christopher Nolan's final entry into his sublime Batman trilogy was painful. Again, much like The Master, it didn’t hit my incredibly high expectations, but it was a fine film nonetheless. While the plot was holey and Bane (Tom Hardy) had a performance gimping grill attached to his face, the film still got so much right. The action shook me to my core, the setpieces were bold and ambitious – both amplified by shooting almost an hour in the razor sharp IMAX footage- and the final 20 minutes are exhilarating for anybody in possession of a pulse. It’s not better than The Dark Knight, but it is the best action film since.

1. Amour

Like 2011’s The Tree of Life, the best film of the year is also the winner of the prestigious Palme D’Or award at the Cannes film festival. Director Michael Haneke sets most of this emotional drama in the apartment of Georges and Anne, an elderly couple who struggle to cope when Anne suffers an attack. Georges tends to her needs in what can only be described as pure affection from beginning to end. It’s visually perfect with its camerawork and is lead by 2 flawless performances, both of which Haneke combines into an emotionally resonant masterpiece. Its slow pace might be off-putting to some, but those that can stomach it won’t ever forget how truly wonderful this film is.

My most anticipated films for the remainder of 2012

As we enter the final few months of 2012, the quality of new films should be significantly higher than that of the rest of the year. It’s almost a cycle of sorts, a few sleeper hits from January to April (although I wouldn’t call The Hunger Games ‘sleeper’ by any means), an endless spew of explosions, aliens and superheroes throughout the summer. The autumn and winter months are when things really pick up. The Academy Awards are just around the corner, and studios release their films accordingly, the closer the film’s release to Oscar season, the more likely it is to be nominated. The films below are those that have the most appeal to me, the potential warmth in the impending harshness of the winter.

5. Skyfall

As much as I enjoy the works of Skyfall director Sam Mendes (has he ever made a bad film?) I was a little worried when he was appointed the man behind James Bonds latest. He may be able to command the dramatic side of 007’s latest mission, but his filmography is relatively light on action, an integral part of and Bond film. Still, with villains played by the likes of Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig returning as Bond and Roger Deakins as director of photography, I feel that Skyfall is in safe hands, and easily be the finest action film of the year. 

4. Argo

Based on the reactions it garnered from Toronto International Film Festival, many have slated the Ben Affleck directed Argo to take the best Picture category at the Academy awards in February. Based on a true story, Argo is about a plan to save 6 Americans hiding in the Canadian embassy during the Iranian revolution in 1979. The rescue is executed by sending a mock film crew into Iran to scout locations for a Star Wars rip off. The crew is actually an ex-filtration team who intend to rescue the hiding Americans. If you told anyone 10 years ago that Ben Affleck would star in a film that is an Oscar contender and critical darling, they would have laughed in your face. And the thing is, they’d have every right to. But as a director, Affleck has improved dramatically, could he have a shot at winning best director? Only time will tell. 

3. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Debuting at Sundance and taking Cannes by storm, Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the most acclaimed films of the year so far. Following the young girl Hushpuppy as she leaves her bayou community to find her mother as her father becomes ill in health. The 2 actors in the starring roles Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry are a bunch of unknowns, but according to many will be looking at Oscar nominations for their incredible performances. It’s certainly shaping up to be one of the most magical films of the year ahead of its October 19^th UK release date.

2. To the Wonder

This one is slightly cheating. While it’s finished filming and has been released to the usual chorus of boos and cheers as various film festivals (Venice and Toronto), the chances of it being released anytime soon seems fleeting. Director Terrence Malick’s has never been one to rush the release or production of his films, the 20 year gap between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line supports this. While Magnolia pictures have stated To the Wonder will have a 2013 release, a year is a long space of time, and it could come at any point. The Tree of Life was a visionary masterpiece and the finest, most polarizing, film o f 2011; could To the Wonder replicate this feat for 2013?

1. The master

After the Dark Knight Rises had come and gone, there was only ever one other film I would crave with such feverous anticipation. While Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest effort will be considerably different in its definition of epic when compared to Nolan's explosive Batman finale, I'm no less intrigued about it. Much like Beasts of the Southern Wild, viewers in the USA have already seen it; its release was moved forwards to September stateside in order to improve its Oscar chances. In the UK, it was moved from the initial October release date to the middle of November, so understandably the extended weight has been arduous. 2012 has been the year I discovered PTA, starting with his finest (There Will Be Blood) being let down ever so slightly after watching Magnolia and having my faith fully restored with the excellent Boogie Nights. As far as performances go, the buzz around Joaquin phoenix’s turn in The Master has been at fever pitch, could he give something that could usurp Daniel Day Lewis’ performance in There Will Be Blood as the greatest of the 21^st century? In a little over a month I’ll be able to find out.