Well... I've had a busy year. It's been forever since I've been able to actually sit online and whip up any kind of a blog. I'm currently working about 50-60 hours a week while at the same time balancing a blissful married life, and a baby girl on the way. So I've been swamped! And once my wife gives birth, I'll be booked solid for the next two decades. What a transitional time!.. Now, to conduct my yearly tradition. Of course, I'm usually more prompt with these end of year Top 10 lists. I can't promise I'll be prompt with my 2013 post in the next few months-- especially since I've hardly seen any movies from 2013 so far. In any case, I do enjoy posting them when I get a chance.
The 2012 crop of movies wasn't the best. Although, I might be saying that because I'm getting old and cynical. However, if I'm being honest, I feel that 2012 was not a banner year for film. I say that because it was hard to find ten movies to put on this list. So few of them stood out above the rest. I didn't see too many BAD movies, but still, most of them were average, or below.
However, I did manage to find ten movies that impressed me to the point of greatness. And even though we're two thirds of the way through 2013, it's better late than never to talk about...
NICK MURPHY'S TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2012
10) Looper
The first half of Looper is pretty much a perfect movie. It has a fresh, innovative take on the concept of time travel. And thanks to an awesome makeup job, Joseph Gordon-Levitt channels a young Bruce Willis flawlessly. Now I'll admit, the movie loses a fair amount of momentum during the whole farmhouse subplot involving the telekinetic little kid, and that's the only reason it's not higher on the list. Other than that, this flick just exudes coolness. As long as you turn your brain off to some of those time travel paradoxes, you're guaranteed to have a good time.
9) The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson has an excellent track record. To prove my point, I'll confess that The Master is his weakest film, and it still cracked my top ten! This film is all mood, and cinematic artistry. While PT Anderson is a great storyteller, The Master seems to have made the choice to NOT have a story-- at least not in the traditional sense of the word. But my god, is it beautiful! And the performances are truly something to behold. Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman play off each other like the seasoned pros that they are. And while this film isn't the kick in the ass to Scientology people wanted it to be, it's still a highly interesting, and polarizing movie experience. I loved it, I hated it, I was completely fascinated by it.
8) The Avengers
Initially, I thought The Avengers was doomed to fail. Mainly because it was built up SO much. I mean, there were FIVE Marvel movies released prior to The Avengers, four of which only exist to build anticipation to The Avengers. Honestly, watch Thor again, and tell me that it isn't just a two hour Avengers teaser . So the hype has been getting bigger for almost five years, and miraculously, The Avengers lived up to its hype. In fact, it's probably the best example of the modern Hollywood popcorn move. It's very much a MOVIE movie, meaning that The Avengers isn't a life changing experience, but it definitely ups the ante when it comes to summer action blockbusters. It's inventive, visually masterful, and at times very funny.
7) Killer Joe
Here's a refreshing film. A film about family. A touching film involving murder, blackmail, prostitution, and chicken leg fellatio. What a gloriously fucked up movie this was! And it completely changed my opinion of Matthew McConaughey as an actor. As a cool and collected killer/cop/pederast, he displays a degree of menace and intensity that you would never find in a lame rom-com like Fool's Gold. It is a throughly enjoyable performance. After Killer Joe, you'll never look at KFC, or a can of pumpkin pie filling the same way again.
6) Cloud Atlas
Tired of the same bullshit hitting the cineplex week in and week out? Want to find something different? Look no further than Cloud Atlas. For almost three hours, the viewer is presented with a challenging multi-character, multi-storyline saga that spans over thousands of years. It offers A-list actors like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Hugh Grant the chance to take on a bunch of different roles, and are completely unrecognizable at times. The Wachowski siblings are back in top form here after the cinematic atrocity that was Speed Racer, thanks in no small part to their collaboration with director Tom Twyker. These three filmmakers joined together to give David Mitchell's nearly unfilmmable novel to life. And while it's sometimes a mess trying to juggle multiple plotlines and characters, the fact remains that Cloud Atlas is a one of a kind experience that carries with it a wave of power that few films can obtain.
5) Life of Pi
Here's a confession; I had pretty much given up on this movie after the first hour. But in the end, I decided to stick with it due to its multiple Oscar nominations, and to at least say I saw it. Then I reach the film's final half hour, and my ambivalent opinion completely turned around. The resolution was such an emotional roller coaster, that I had tears streaming down my face as the credits rolled. For a concept that's essentially Cast Away meets Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi is a visually stunning, tearjerking tale of hope, loss, and survival that could quite possibly make you "believe in God."
4) The Dark Knight Rises
How do you follow a rip roaring masterpiece like The Dark Knight? That film set the bar so high, that it cannot be surpassed. So I can respect Christopher Nolan for not even attempting to match the greatness of The Dark Knight, and instead opted for an entirely different approach to the final chapter of his Batman trilogy. While the realism that made The Dark Knight so powerful was compromised in favor of spectacle this time around, The Dark Knight Rises is still a wonderfully complex epic. And of course Bane is a fine villain, but had Heath Leger lived, who knows what kind of final installment we would've gotten. However, what we DID get was a memorable and action packed send off for The Dark Knight. Maybe not the one we deserved, but it was certainly the one we needed.
3) Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Now I know quite a few people, but there is only one person I know that shares my appreciation for the comedic stylings of Tim Hiedecker and Eric Wareheim. And when I heard about Billion Dollar Movie, I was consumed with an anticipation very few others had. And the finished product is every bit as ridiculous as I could have imagined. Perhaps I could have gone without that whole "shrim" bath sequence. But the fact that Tim and Eric are willing to go that far with their humor shows a fearlessness that few comedy minds can muster. And it is flourishes like that that makes Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie my favorite comedy of 2012.
2) Shame
Okay, this is technically a cheat. Shame is a 2011 release. However, I wasn't able to see it until late January 2012, and I didn't update my 2011 list to include it. Though, if I had, Shame would still be in the number 2 spot. This uncompromising examination of one man's sex addiction is a simple story with complex characters. Michael Fassbender proves to be one of the finest actors working today with a performance of such depth and intensity that you don't have to be told what he's thinking, you can read it in his face. Shame is the first film I've encountered that treats sex addiction the same way Requiem For A Dream treated heroin abuse. Some moments are hard to take in, but the effects stay with you forever.
And the best film of 2012 is...
1) Django Unchained
Whenever Quentin Tarantino releases a picture, it always shoots to the top of my lists. Maybe I'm biased in my loyalty, but Tarantino knows how to put on a show. And he never disappoints! Django Unchained is a prime example of a filmmaking master at the top of his game. Tarantino takes slavery, one of the darkest chapters in American history, and paints a gloriously violent revenge fantasy that transcends the average movie going experience into something magical. Now I'm going to make an announcement that I may regret in the future. However, right now, I believe it's true, and I've felt this way for quite a few months. I believe that Django Unchained is the last TRULY GREAT movie I will ever see in my lifetime. I'm sure I'll see plenty of flicks in the future that will achieve some levels of greatness. Though I highly doubt there will ever be another film that fills me with the childlike giddiness that Django Unchained offers. Every element at play here: the memorable characters, the fantastic dialogue, the batshit crazy final act all add up to a full blooded American classic unlike anything released since... well, Inglourious Basterds. And I think a lot of that has to do with Christoph Waltz. Tarantino's discovery of this multi-lingual thespian reinvigorated QT's career, and has resulted in two Oscars for the gifted actor. And the way he carries the film for its first two hours, guiding Jamie Foxx's Django through his transformation from victimized slave to vengeful bounty hunter, is simply Tarantino cinema at its finest. Sometimes when I'm bored, or need a mood boost, I take a few minutes to watch the film's best moments. Like Leonardo DiCaprio's "Old Ben" monologue, or the Candie Land shootout. Scenes like that remind me of why I love movies in the first place. So there you have it; Django Unchained: my favorite film of 2012-- and more than likely, the movie of the decade as well.
That's it for today, gang! Check back in October 2014 for my Top Ten Movies of 2013!
No comments:
Post a Comment