Best of 2012!

Here are my favorites of the year, in what I *think* is actually ranking order.  So click on the links below, and read!  Learn!  Enjoy the fruits of my year-long labor!

These rankings are all really close - these are all movies that I really enjoyed, and all were rated an 8.5 or a 9 out of 10 on my scale.  It's completely possible that if asked to pick/rank my 10 favorites tomorrow, I'd come up with a completely different list.  I reserve the right to re-do this list in the event that I see additional movies from 2012. Which brings me to my next note.....

I only included movies that were released in 2012.  There were several movies from prior to 2012 that would've made the cut, but I wanted to stick to new films for this list.

1. The Grey
2. Sleepwalk With Me
3. The Sessions
4. Headhunters
5. Compliance
6. Looper
7. Silver Linings Playbook
8. The Cabin in the Woods
9. Argo
10. Missed Connections


Honorable Mentions:
- Pitch Perfect
- 21 Jump Street

Higher Ground

 

Well, friends and imaginary readers, we've come to the end of 2012 and thus ends my year-long project of movie reviews.  I bring you my final review for the year: Higher Ground, directed by and starring Vera Farmiga as Corinne Walker, a member of a fundamentalist Christian community who begins to question her own faith.  After becoming pregnant and marrying very young, Corinne and her husband embrace religion after a bus crash almost kills them and their infant daughter.  They enter the fold of a community that's not quite a cult, but is close.  Through the ensuing years, her faith begins to falter, and Corinne eventually must decide whether to stay a part of the community, or leave.  I thought Higher Ground was sort of a quiet little movie about one woman's struggle, but it was an interesting story with good actors.    7 out of 10.

It's been a fun year, albeit frustrating at times.  I'm not going to lie; I'm looking forward to a movie just being a movie, and not a writing assignment.  But I've enjoyed trying to think more critically about the films that I've watched.  Still to come - my best of 2012 list, to wrap up the year.  Happy 2013 :-)

Sound of My Voice

Brit Marling - who wrote and starred in Another Earth, which I really enjoyed earlier this year - strikes again with Sound of My Voice!  This film centers upon Peter and Lorna, a couple of wannabe documentary filmmakers, as they infiltrate a local "cult" led by a Maggie (played by Marling), a young women who claims to come from the future.  Their motives start out as investigatory and expository, but they morph into something else, eventually causing a rift between the couple, and having much larger potential consequences. 

Sound of My Voice was a well-done film, with an interesting story that keeps you guessing until the very end.  Is Maggie really from the future?  Or is she just a fraud?  The ending was a tad abrupt and left me wanting a bit more, even though it does provide some answers.  I really enjoyed Sound of My Voice and I hope Brit Marling keeps coming out with more films.  8.5 out of 10.

My Name Is Joe

 

Joe is a rough-around-the edges recovering alcoholic with a troubled past.  Almost a year clean, he manages a young men's soccer team and does what he can to scrape by in his depressed neighborhood in Glasgow.  He gets a new lease on life when he becomes romantically involved with Sarah, a kind-hearted social worker/nurse.  But Joe's helpful nature gets him into trouble with the local mob (not really a mob but I don't know what else to call it) and he finds that perhaps he has not been so successful in shedding the demons of his past.  My Name is Joe was a really good film, although it was very depressing.  I was really rooting for Joe, as he was such a genuinely kind person.  I could see his fall from grace coming, but that didn't make it any less sad when it happened.  I guess this is fairly typical from director Ken Loach.  This was a moving story with great acting.  8 out of 10.

This Is 40

I'd been seeing previews for This Is 40 for ages, it seems, and I was really looking forward to it.  I am a big fan of *most* of Judd Apatow's work and I thought the characters of Debbie and Pete were funny in their debut in Knocked Up.  And I tend to like Paul Rudd in just about everything he does.  I had already seen that This Is 40 was getting pretty lukewarm reviews, but I went in with an open mind and a forgiving outlook - sort of expecting that it wouldn't be a "great" film but still expecting to enjoy it.  I mean, heck, I gave American Reunion a 7/10 earlier this year mainly because I had a soft spot for the class of 1999.

Unfortunately, the lukewarm reviews were right: This Is 40 just wasn't very good.  I think the biggest issue is that it's severely lacking in the plot area.  The basic plot is that Debbie and Pete are both turning 40 in what seems like the longest week ever known to mankind.  But while the actual plot was lacking, there were WAY too many unnecessary subplots - e.g. Debbie thinks one of her employees is stealing from her store; Debbie and Pete both face issues with their dads; one of their daughters has raging hormones; Pete has high cholesterol but refuses to stop eating cupcakes (side note - maybe that would be more believable on a less fit-looking man).  Supposedly the family is struggling financially, but it's difficult to feel much pity when they're driving around in a Lexus and BMW, living in a mansion that costs probably $2 million, and going on impromptu romantic getaways to Laguna Beach in the middle of the week. Which reminds me - for a couple that claims not to be having much sex, they sure seem to have a lot of it to me.

Another issue is the acting.  I don't think Leslie Mann is a good enough actress to pull off a leading role like this.  She strikes me as a bit "one note" - I think she's much better in smaller, memorable supporting roles (I remember feeling the same way about Andy Samberg when I watched him in Celeste and Jesse Forever a few months back).  I thought the Apatow girls were pretty limited in their acting abilities as well.  I mean, I get it, they're Judd Apatow's real life family, but they're just not that great of actresses.

I have seen a lot of mediocre movies that start off as enjoyable and then just lose steam as the movie progresses.  This Is 40 isn't one of them.  From pretty much the very beginning, it established itself as a mediocre movie.  And while there were some genuinely funny moments sprinkled throughout, it just wasn't very funny on the whole.  Maybe I've outgrown hemorrhoid and colonoscopy humor.  I'm actually surprised that This Is 40 is hovering around 50% on the "tomatometer" - I'd expect even lower.  I almost feel guilty writing such a bad review because I really do appreciate Judd Apatow's work and will almost certainly continue to watch it in the future.  But the bottom line is that this is a not very good film about not very likeable people.  Better luck next time, Judd.  4 out of 10.

Silver Linings Playbook

You know what?  Today is December 21, and all year I have been torturing myself to come up with suitable synopses in my movie reviews.  In the review I just wrote, I used the "official" synopsis instead - I don't know why it took me so long to think of that.  I could have saved myself a lot of grief this year!  On that note:

Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet - and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

I really liked it.  I thought Bradley Cooper was great and I found it refreshing to see him in a likeable role.  It was funny in a quirky way, and I think the comedy held through to the very end.  The characters of Pat and Tiffany were both flawed but I really liked them together and was rooting for them to get together.  And also (!!!) Silver Linings Playbook is kind of a dance movie in disguise, which automatically gets it points in my book, as anyone who knows me can vouch that "dance" is my favorite genre of movie.  Overall, really enjoyable.  8.5 out of 10.

John Dies at the End

 

We caught a special showing John Dies at the End, the new movie from the director of Bubba Ho-Tep (which I watched a few months back); it will be officially released early next year.  It's a horror comedy, I guess?  The plot is hard to describe - so I'm just going to paste the same synopsis that I keep seeing online:

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't.

John Dies is every bit as strange as it sounds, and quite honestly I'm *still* not even sure of a lot of the otherworldly details.  At first, it was striking me as sort of Ghostbusters meets Dude Where's My Car, but then it just kept getting more bizarre and my comparisons didn't really hold past the first 15 minutes.

I can see John Dies being a cult classic for fans of the genre, but it didn't really do it for me.  There were definitely some funny moments and some scary moments but overall I thought it was silly and rather confusing.  5.5 out of 10.

Hitchcock

Hitchcock tells the story of the conception and filming of Psycho in 1959, with a focus on the somewhat discontent relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma.  Honestly, I don't have that much to say about it because I didn't really like it that much.  Neither the acting nor the directing were bad, but I was just left with an overwhelming feeling of "so what?" after the movie was over.  Maybe Hitchcock film buffs will like it more than I did, or who knows, maybe they'll like it less since they may have a more critical eye for the factual details.  Either way, from me, Hitchcock gets a big fat 5 out of 10.

It's A Wonderful Life

 

Somehow, I've made it to the ripe old age of 31 without seeing It's A Wonderful Life.  Well, actually, it's not all that shocking if you think about it - I'm not really a Christmas person, and I tend to avoid "old" movies (much to my husband's chagrin/hatred).

But I went, and it was good.  A charming story of an extraordinarily kind man who spent his life doing good for others, often at the expense of his own wants and needs - until he reaches the end of his rope one snowy Christmas Eve, and those friends and neighbors he'd been helping all along get to support HIM for once.  Very enjoyable, and there were lots of happy tears from me at the end.  8 out of 10.

Goon

 

A hockey comedy starring Stifler?  Yeah, didn't think this would be my cup of tea.  But my husband suggested Goon to me when I was leaving on a trip and looking for airplane entertainment.  He predicted I'd give it an 8, and that I might even cry.  

Seann William Scott plays Doug "The Thug" Glatt - a mild-mannered dude of slightly less-than-average intelligence, with ham-size fists that can crack skulls.  He works as a bouncer in Boston, until one night he attends a hockey game and lands on TV after punching out a player during the game (but for good reason!  The player used a homophobic slur!).  The footage impresses a local hockey coach, who invites Doug to come join the team, never minding the fact that Doug doesn't know how to skate.  He does well and ends up being recruited as an "enforcer" on the Halifax Highlanders - where fame and fights await him.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Goon, given my lack of interest in and knowledge of hockey.  It held my interest the whole way through.  I kind of loved the character of Doug and I thought Scott played him perfectly.  The character was extremely sensitive - despite his hockey successes he was still yearning for approval from his very traditional parents.  My heart broke for him when he presented his mother with the "game puck" (is that what it's called?) and she left it on the table :( :( :( I also found him utterly charming in his courting of a young woman, played by Alison Pill.

I will say, however, that Goon is pretty gory.  I found myself trying to shield my screen from other people on the plane, lest they see me watching a movie with copious amounts of blood falling in slow-motion onto the ice.  But hey, I guess that's what happens in hockey.

Anyway, the hubs was right - I'm giving Goon an 8 out of 10.  I didn't actually cry but I'll admit that I came pretty darn close!

Your Sister's Sister

 

Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass star as Iris and Jack, respectively, in Your Sister's Sister, which was directed by Lynn Shelton, who brought us Humpday, which I watched a few months back and very much enjoyed.  The film opens at a memorial party one year after Jack's brother's / Iris's ex-boyfriend's death.  Jack is having some issues coping, and Iris suggests that he head to her family's cabin to take some time for himself and heal.  Jack takes her advice but when he arrives at the cabin he finds Iris's sister, Hannah - a lesbian who has just broken up with her girlfriend of seven years and who has also come to the cabin to get her head together.  Jack and Hannah drink a bit too much and end up in bed together - and then Iris shows up in the morning to surprise Jack, having realized that she is in love with him.

I feel like this description sounds convoluted, but it's really not.  I quite liked Your Sister's Sister.  The dialogue was all improvised and the leading actors had an easy interplay that was enjoyable to watch.  It all felt very natural.  It was funny and touching and the characters were relatable.  It was nothing earth shattering, but Your Sister's Sister is a solid, toned down romantic comedy that's well worth a watch.  7.5 out of 10.

Life of Pi

Pi is a teenage boy traveling from India to Canada with his family and his family's zoo animals, when the ship sinks, and Pi finds himself lost at sea in a lifeboat with only a Bengal tiger for company.  Pi and the tiger reach a shaky detente during the year or more they spend at sea together.  Strangely, I don't have that much to say about Life of Pi, although I didn't dislike it.  I thought it was shot beautifully, and the CGI effects were very well done.  I just sort of expected *more* - like, I thought there would be more to the story than there actually was.   I can recognize Life of Pi as a quality film, but it just didn't blow me away.  7 out of 10.

The Sessions

As we headed off to the movies last night, I remembered that last year on the night before Thanksgiving, we saw The Muppets.  This year, we saw The Sessions.  Very different movies - but both were excellent! 

The Sessions is the mostly true story of Mark O'Brien, a severely disabled polio survivor who sets out who sets out to lose his virginity as an adult.  Mark can only move his head, and he spends the bulk of his days and nights in an iron lung contraption.  With the off-the-record blessing of his Catholic priest and the aid of his caretaker, Mark hires a Cheryl, sexual surrogate (played by Helen Hunt).  What follows is raw, tender, and funny.  Mark is successful at losing his virginity, but both he and Cheryl get more than they bargained for in the process, as a bond is formed between them.  Mark and Cheryl's relationship mostly stays within their professional bounds, and it gives Mark the tools he needs to confidently live and love in the world.

I thought The Sessions was great - it was raw, tender, and funny.  Mark's character is humorously self-deprecating, and I loved the scenes between him and his priest and caretakers.  Cheryl's character had a lot of depth.  The bond between the two of them seemed genuine and real.  As the credits rolled, tears were streaming down my face - so much so that I started laughing at myself for crying and then did a really attractive crying/laughing hybrid that involved a lot of snorting.  Good times.  9 out of 10.

Cloud Atlas

 

Meh.  I'm kind of not even sure what to say about Cloud Atlas.  It's sort of a sprawling story spanning from 1849 through 2312 (I think?) about the interconnectedness of human lives.  I'll just say that it didn't really do it for me, at all.  I thought it tried to be too deep, and largely I just found it boring.  And?  At 2:43, I couldn't wait for it to be over - there were several times I thought it was ending, but then it just kept going.  Not that I think it was necessarily a "bad" movie but just very much not for me.  I gotta go with my gut here - 4 out of 10.

Hello I Must Be Going

Hello I Must Be Going (heretofore referred to as "Hello") stars Melanie Lynskey as Amy, a 30-something woman who's going through a divorce, and has moved back in with her parents.  She's having a rough time of it, until she begins an unconventional summer romance with Jeremy, the 19-year old stepson of her father's potential client - a client who, if successfully wooed, will allow Amy's father to retire and travel the world with Melanie's somewhat shallow mother.

I thought Hello was funny, sad, and touching all at the same time.  Lynskey was perfect as self-deprecating Amy and I enjoyed watching her chemistry with Jeremy (played by Christopher Abbott - it drove me crazy trying to figure out what I recognized him from, and I felt a lot more at ease when it hit me that he plays Marnie's boyfriend in Girls).  Throughout the movie, it feels like you're watching her come back to life.  No big complaints from me - I'll give it an 8 out of 10.

Skyfall (AKA I suck at movies)

We went to see Skyfall on Friday night.  It was a long week and I hadn't slept very well, and I drank a couple of pints before the movie started.  All this is to say, I fell asleep during the movie, probably for a good 30% chunk of it.  So, I'll refrain from rating this one, but just wanted to include it on here in the spirit of including every movie I "watched" this year.  The husband really liked it, though!

Flight

 

In Flight, Denzel Washington plays Captain Whip Whittaker, a highly skilled pilot whose personal life is in shambles, mostly due to his penchant for booze and coke.  On a routine flight from Orlando to Atlanta, the plane malfunctions and Whip must execute a death-defying crash landing in an open field.  Nearly everyone on board survives.  At first Whip is hailed as a hero, but then more and more suspicious information is uncovered concerning his activities in the night and morning leading up to the crash landing.

I have mixed feelings about Flight - I was completely with it until about 15 minutes before the end.  I thought Denzel Washington did a great job playing Whip.  I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions, watching his attempts to put down the bottle and get his life back under control.

But about 15 minutes before the end, Flight just totally lost me.  For a story about a complex character, I felt it ended by being tied up a bit too neatly for my liking.  The ending felt cliched to me.  I also felt like the movie struggled a bit with not knowing what it wanted to be.  It was primarily a drama but there were some comical scenes that mostly felt out of place.

Overall, not bad a bad watch, if you can ignore the cliched ending.  6 out of 10.

V/H/S

 

Holy creepiness!  V/H/S opens with a gang of miscreants, who have been given the assignment to retrieve a videotape from an abandoned house.  Upon arriving at the house, they find a dead man sitting in a chair, and stacks and stacks of tapes.  The guys begin watching the tapes.  We watch along with them and see five separate vignettes.  Each short has a different director, and while they're all very different, I did notice a theme - they all involve something going horribly wrong!  A night out on the town to pick up girls, a second honeymoon trip, a walk in the woods, a long-distance relationship, a Halloween party.  Some were better than others - I'd say three of the shorts were decent, one was pretty bad, and one left me confused.  The overarching storyline of the band of thieves breaking into the abandoned house was kind of dumb, too.  But, all in all, V/H/S was a fun scary movie to cap off the month.  6 out of 10.

Damsels in Distress

 

I really like all of director Whit Stillman's earlier films - Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco.  So I was excited for Damsels in Distress.  Damsels is the story of a foursome of college girls set upon bettering their campus by promoting hygiene and preventing suicide (by encouraging dance, no less).  What to do, then, when the group's leader, Violet, falls into a bit of a funk herself?   Start a new dance craze, of course!

Damsels just didn't really do it for me.  I felt like all of the characters were completely improbable and caricature-like.  Watching Damsels, I sort of felt like it was all based on some inside joke that I wasn't party to.  I just didn't get what it was trying to "be."  I guess I have a hard time enjoying a movie when there's no one I can relate to.

So, sorry Whit.  I still love your earlier movies!  5 out of 10.

Slacker Reviews - Halloween Edition

Rear Window

A local theater features a different Hitchcock movie each week during the month of October, so this past week we went to a screening of Rear Window, which stars James Stewart as a photographer convalescing with a broken leg, who is left without much to do except for spying on his neighbors across the way from his back window.  One night, he believes he sees proof that one of his neighbor has murdered his wife, and enlists the help of his lovely girlfriend (Grace Kelly), nurse, and police detective friend.  I really enjoyed it - it was interesting, suspenseful, and funny all at the same time.  The way it was shot was very cool as well.  8 out of 10.


Halloween

It's true - I had never seen the original Halloween (though I have seen one of the sequels).  Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Laurie, a high school student who spends her Halloween being stalked by a masked bogeyman - Michael Myers, who has just returned to his old stomping grounds after escaping from the mental hospital he's been in for 15 years, after brutally murdering his sister.  Laurie's slutty friends don't fare too well against Mike Myers, but bookish, virginal Laurie just might stand a chance.  I found Halloween funny and a tad cheesy (but mostly in a good way).  It didn't strike me as overly scary at the time, but I did have some crazy nightmares afterward.  7 out of 10.