I want to say in advanced that this list really kinda sucks, I've never been good at top ten lists, at somehow ranking my films. Hell I still haven't really decided on my favourite film of all time. I watch a lot of films and I rarely watch films more than once if I'm not reviewing them, so my favourite film is normally the one I most recently watched that I enjoyed, until the next one comes along. I still have a lot of films from 2012 that I haven't seen yet and most of the films here I probably need to rewatch, while at home to give a much better critique of it, so take this list with a grain of salt, I just thought I'd get one out because it's New Years Day now. Also yes, I do recognise that some of these films came out in 2011 in the US but I'm doing this off of UK release dates. Happy New Years and all that!
Not a good film by any stretch of the imagination but five years of Film Studies, of art cinema and boring indie films, I've really learnt to appreciate the fun side of cinema, the mindless and the explosions. And Recoil really is a lot of fun. And a lot of stupid.
Very similar to Recoil, Lockout is no cerebral game changer, it's just a whole lot of fun and from mainstream cinema, really that is all you can ask for.
8. Chronicle.
I spent most of the year claiming I'd put this at number one but when I compare it to all the other films, Chronicle really isn't the material. It's a great film, don't get me wrong but the films that are simply fun and not a whole lot else are here at the bottom of the list all together. There is nothing wrong with just being fun but all the other films on this list provide something extra.
7. The Cabin In The Woods.
This could have easily ended up my favourite film of the year but I just don't think Cabin In The Woods ultimately did...enough. It had a fascinating world and ended up treating it like a novelty instead. An immensely satisfying novelty that has held up through many rewatches but the world....the world is so fascinating and Cabin In The Woods leaves me with so little. But yeah, you need to watch this film.
6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.
I don't have a review of this but I still remember as I came out of the theatre that sense of extreme satisfaction I felt. The Twilight books aren't great, the films aren't much better but I stuck around for the entire series and it really felt like it all paid off in the end because it had such a fantastic conclusion, this is by far the best film in the series and if you're going to check out any of the Twilight films to see what the fuss is all about, just watch Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2, sit back and enjoy!
5. Dredd 3D.
The Dredd film every Dredd fan was asking for, I really hope this does well enough in home video sales to get the planned trilogy, you fucking cunt Americans. It's badass, it's cool, it's utterly gorgeous and one of the few films to make actual use of the 3D technology. Loved it.
4. The Amazing Spider-Man.
Probably the best Spider-Man film since the first one by Raimi and way better than the other two completely overrated superhero films of the year but I still couldn't help but feel it didn't really work as a whole. But don't get me wrong, Amazing is heaps of fun and does a lot of justice to my favourite superhero, probably more justice than Raimi ever did. If Webb can build on the flaws of this one and keep what made this one so good for the sequel, we really will end up with the perfect Spider-Man film.
I've only done a mini-review of this, so I didn't bother linking it. But know this, Paranorman is easily one of the best made for kids horror films ever made because it's one of the rare kids films that doesn't treat its target audience like retards. Plus, the film really can be read and appreciated on multiple levels, meaning there is lots for kids to enjoy but also lots for adults to enjoy if they are watching this with their kids, this is what family entertainment is made for. Brilliant.
2. The Grey.
It isn't Taken With Wolves, no, but it's an almost completely flawless masterpiece. I only put this lower than the next film because the ending was a bit disappointing, even if I understand why it was done the way it was
Why is Lawless my favourite film released in 2012? You mean aside from Chastain's boobies? I guess largely because it came from nowhere, for me. It got panned by the critics then basically fell off my radar and when I stumbled across it again on home video, I barely remembered what the thing was. What it turned out to be is one of the few films based on a true story that is actually any good, it has fantastic characters who are all portrayed by fantastic performances from the whole cast. It is fantastically put together and brilliantly written. Minus a few pacing issues, this really is probably the best you're gonna get from mainstream cinema. 2012, the year of the hardigan.
Think About It!
-Locke
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