Thursday, December 27, 2012

My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2012


It’s that time of the year again! 2012 was a year full of good movies and a few not so good ones. Here’s my list of my favorite movies from this year. Some may agree with me while others may not. We’re all entitled to our own opinions. Anyway, here we go…

 

10. Breaking Dawn Part 2

·         The final film in the Twilight saga is easily the best of the five, not that that’s saying much. Yes, the visual effects are bad at times (especially the cgi baby Renesmee, which is so bad it’s creepy) and yes the dialog is still terrible. But the kick ass battle scene at the end more than makes up for it. Plus, Kristen Stewart actually shows some emotion as Vampire Bella. As I said in my review, Edward should have changed her into a vampire much sooner.

 9. The Hunger Games

·         Aside from the god awful shaky cam, this movie was very good. Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as Katniss. Plenty of action and drama. Hell, I even shed a few tears. Wasn’t crazy about Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, but hopefully I’ll get used to it. Can’t wait til Catching Fire comes out next year.

8. Skyfall

·         By far the best Bond movie in recent years. Daniel Craig was amazing as always. The action scenes were very well choreographed and looked incredible on an IMAX screen. Supporting cast was really good too, especially Javier Bardem as the villain (even if his performance was a little over the top at times).

7. Man on a Ledge

·         C’mon, you guys know I had to include some Sam Worthington movies on this list ;) I saw this one back in January. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Sam was very believable as an ex-cop trying to prove his innocence.

6. Wrath of the Titans

·         As much as I loved the first movie, I actually thought this one was better in some ways. The focused more on the characters and the 3D was really good this time around. I know it got panned by most critics, but I loved it. It’s Sam running around in a skirt killing monsters for an hour and a half. Plus Liam Neeson is Zeus for crying out loud! What more could you want?

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

·         Peter Jackson has done it again! He really brings Middle Earth to life in this. Beautiful cinematography. Martin Freeman was amazing as Bilbo. My favorite scene was the riddles in the dark one with Gollum. Major props to Andy Serkis and the visual effects team, Gollum looked incredible! The 48 fps took some getting used to, but it shouldn’t keep you from seeing this wonderful movie.

4. The Avengers

·         The amazing superhero movie we’ve waited years for and Joss Whedon delivered. It had something for everyone. I didn’t think it could work having so many characters in one movie, but they did it. My favorite scene was the Hulk/Loki one towards the end. It was epic and had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

3. Lawless

·         Based on the true story of three brothers who were moonshiners in the 30’s. Very well acted, especially by Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain, who had amazing chemistry. Hell even Shia LaBeouf was pretty good. This shows you how good the director was if he can make you tolerate Shia.

2. Silver Linings Playbook

·         Had a chance to see this back in October at the local film festival and it was by far my favorite movie I saw there. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro give Oscar worthy performances. The rest of the cast was great too. What I loved the most was that it had the perfect amount of comedy, drama and romance. There’s something for everyone in this movie. I think it’s going to do well this awards season.

 

1. The Dark Knight Rises
  • Christopher Nolan is a genius! He created an epic movie to conclude his Dark Knight trilogy. I’ve always been a huge Batman fan and this movie is one of my favorites. Yes, you do see more of Bruce Wayne than you do Batman, but it didn’t bother me at all. Christian Bale gave a great performance as always. And Tom Hardy… wow! He was the perfect choice to play Bane.  Truly terrifying and also unrecognizable. Honestly if I hadn’t known ahead of time I never would have guessed it was him. I loved all the scenes between him and Christian. You really felt like Batman might not make it. I could go on for hours about how perfect this movie is. Everything from the action to the musical score was well done. It’s sad that this is all over L In a way I feel sorry for whoever directs the eventual reboot. There’s no way they’ll come close to the amazing movies Christopher Nolan created.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (IMAX 3D)


Peter Jackson has done it again! I’ve been waiting for this movie for years and he sure didn’t disappoint. The Hobbit will always have a special spot in my heart since it was one of the first books I remember reading on my own.

The movie takes place 60 years before the events of LOTR. Gandalf (played by the always amazing Sir Ian McKellen) recruits Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to aid a group of dwarves, led by Thorin (Richard Armitage, who gives an incredible performance) to reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug. The dwarves are skeptical, mainly Thorin, that Bilbo can help them. Even Bilbo questions himself. But eventually Bilbo says yes and off they go on their amazing adventure.

First of all, let’s talk about the whole 48 fps issue. There aren’t too many theaters playing it this way, but I happened to be at one of the ones that had it. What did I think? Well I must admit it did look a little strange at first. But after a while I got use to it. I certainly don’t think it’s as bad as some are making it out to be.

The cinematography was gorgeous as I knew it would be. You can tell Peter Jackson loves this world and does everything he can to bring it to life. I highly recommend watching this on an IMAX screen if you can. That along with the 3D (which was pretty good overall) makes you really feel like you’re in Middle Earth. I was completely geeing out the whole time I was watching this.

The visual effects were good. My only issue was the use of cgi in certain instances, mainly the Orcs. I preferred some of the practical effects they used in the LOTR movies. Don’t get me wrong, the cgi looked just fine. It’s more of a personal preference. Some may feel differently.

The acting was incredible! I think Martin Freeman was the perfect choice to play Bilbo. He’s just how I imagined Bilbo in the books. I was surprised how much I liked Thorin. I found his backstory really interesting. I know his character has changed a bit in this movie compared to the book, but I didn’t mind at all. Of course, the character I most looked forward to seeing was Gollum. It really is a crime that Andy Serkis doesn’t have an Oscar yet. The whole scene with him and Bilbo was my favorite part of the movie as well as the book.  

Speaking of the book, it’s only 300+ pages long. When they first said they were splitting it up into two movies, I wasn’t crazy about it but I thought maybe they just want to take the time to really develop the characters. Then they announced The Hobbit would be a trilogy. My first thought was, really? There’s no way they can stretch it out that far. But I guess they’re including additional material that Tolkien wrote as well as sort of bridging the gap between this and LOTR. I know in this movie, which is nearly three hours long but didn’t feel that long to me, there was this whole subplot that wasn’t in the book at all. But I found it really interesting and look forward to seeing where they go with it. I’m still not crazy about the idea of this being a trilogy, but Peter Jackson is an incredible director so if he thinks he can do it, then so be it.

Howard Shore is back composing the musical score, which was really beautiful. A must have on your iPod. I especially enjoyed the Song of the Lonely Mountain. I got goose bumps went the dwarves sang it. It was better than I ever imagined.

So was The Hobbit better then LOTR? Well, there are still two movies to go so I can’t say for sure. But I will say it’s just as good. And honestly, I’m really loving Bilbo a lot more than Frodo at the moment.

I think if you enjoyed the LOTR trilogy, then you’ll love this as well. And even if you didn’t, give The Hobbit a chance. It’s a lot of fun. Certainly one of my favorite movies this year.

My Rating: 9/10

Monday, December 10, 2012

My 2013 Oscar Predictions

Since I won't have any new reviews for you until I see The Hobbit this weekend (yay!!!) I thought I'd post my list of Oscar predictions. Because there's so many categories, I only did the main ones. Of course, these are just who I think will get nominated, based on the movies I've seen this year and who I think the Academy will go for. These are just my opinions. I have no say in who gets nominated. Beleive me if I did, Sam Worthington and Tom Hardy would get nominated for just about everything lol. Anyway, here it goes. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Feel free to leave me a comment about who you think will get nominated. Once the actual nominations are out (in early January I beleive) and it gets closer to the actual ceremony, I'll post my list of who I think is going to win.


Best Picture:

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Argo

Life Of Pi

The Master

The Sessions

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Lincoln

Best Actor:

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Denzel Washington, Flight

Joaquin Pheonix, The Master

Best Actress:

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Helen Mirren, Hitchcock

Best Director:

Ben Affleck, Argo

David O Russel, Silver Linings Playbook

Tom Hooper, Les Miserables

Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Stephen Spielberg, Lincoln

 

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook

William H. Macy, The Sessions

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty

Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

 

Best Supporting Actress:

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Judi Dench, Skyfall

Sally Field, Lincoln

Amy Adams, The Master

 

Best Animated Feature:

Brave

Wreck It Ralph

ParaNorman

Frankenweenie

Rise of the Guardians

 

Best Original Score:

Howard Shore, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Alexandre Desplat, Argo

Reinhold Hell, Johnny Kilmek, & Tom Tyker, Cloud Atlas

Thomas Newman, Skyfall

John Williams, Lincoln