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Welcome back to The Randomizer, I will talk about
the films I've watched in 2012 and rate them accordingly. 2012 was a big year
for the film industry: Phrase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was complete,
James Bond had his 50 year anniversary (to which I dressed
accordingly each and every day in October asking around for vodka martinis),
Star Wars Episode I was released for the first time in 3D (and maybe went
further downhill because of that) and Christopher Nolan finished his epic and
most awesome Batman Trilogy (and consequently that tragic day in Colorado).
We cannot deny this has been a huge year in all. But for me
personally, I have seen the highest number of films I have seen in a life-time.
I have my brother to thank for that, passing me that LOVEFILM card to me and
having some free months of films to watch (mwahahaha :D). I have watched films
I have wanted to see for a while and have either thoroughly enjoyed or just
thought god-rearingly awful or just don't flash an emotion at all (speaking of
which, where does Green Lantern fit in best.......).
But I digress. I have decided to create a list of the top
ten films I've seen in 2012. Not just the films released this year, but other
films across the decades and such. There'll probably be some shocks and
surprises in store for each and every one of you, and maybe I might be in the
mood to hear your criticisms, but you'll have to find me under a rock first to
bitch in my face. So let's get on with it and show my Top Ten Films I've seen
in 2012:
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Number 10:
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Swedish Version)
One of the first films I saw in 2012 was this little beauty
and the first to start this list.
I was really intrigued and thrilled with the plot of who was
the murderer. It really went in all sorts of directions that I didn't really
expect, like the involvement of bible quotes. But still I was guessing away
like a madman as to who had done the dirty deeds, pointing my finger in
different directions and was surprised that the journey to find one of the
victims finally ended in Australia of all places! But I was relatively satisfied
by the reveal and twists.
As for characters, Noomi Rapace just OWNED the role as
Lisbeth Salander. She was absolutely devastating in that role in appearance and
how she played the character. Admittedly I haven't seen David Fincher's
adaptation and Rooney Mara's performance so maybe I'm speaking too soon, but I
thought Rapace was fantastic. You really shouldn't mess with this woman cause
she will pretty much destroy you at the press of a button (no pun intended but
apologises all the same). I was interested in her character and how she
developed into the person she did when watching the film, and she is quite
funny after having intercourse with Mikael.
A case of 'Hi, Shag, Bye'. Also
the Dragon Tattoo on her back was so much more interesting then the Visual
tattoo the Swedish posters show, but that's more of a personal preference.
There were many visual imagery I just loved like those
multitudes of paintings that Mikael Blomkvist is shown by the man asking him to
investigate the murder. Little things like that can resonate some good emotions
with an audience.
I can't really think of anything bad to say about this film.
Everything seems to fit perfectly. But as I will show, there are other films I
enjoyed more then GWTDT.
Number 9:
BRAVE
Ooh, I enjoyed this film. I really did.
Brave is one of those films that does have an original plot:
The relationship between the Mother and Daughter. The character of Merida is
quite highly strung because she wants independence and wants to live her own
life, and her mother Eleanor wants her to marry to one of the families allies
to keep alliances going. Obviously, conflict ensues.
Merida tries to change her fate by going to see a witch who
gives her some cake. The cake is used to turn her mother....into a bear. Of
course Merida regrets this and tries to change her back. But there is one
problem. Eleanor doesn't just change into a bear, she BECOMES a bear and will
eventually forget who she is. Well done Merida, you silly moo! Merida has to
deal with her father, King Fergus and his allies from killing Eleanor, but she
does succeed and eventually manages to fix 'the bond torn with pride'.
For me, Brave felt better then Toy Story 3 and also more mature
then- Oh wait, you read that right? Better than Toy Story 3? .............Yes.
Yes it is. Hear me out in little detail. I liked Toy Story 3, but there were a
few moments that didn't seem right to me like Lot's of Huggins Bear not getting
a good comeuppance at the end. And also the plot was accidently spoiled for me
by a countdown. With Brave, I found it very funny with all the little jokes,
like when Merida comes back and Eleanor thinks she still needs to choose a
suitor, Merida carries on to give her mother the cake. And I found the plot
maybe that bit more mature then other Pixar films.
Character-wise: Merida is a cool character, yet is prideful
and kinda stupid in that respect. Her motivation is understandable, but
obviously does the wrong thing. She is skilled with her bow and arrow and can
use them to good extents, but she couldn't stand up to Mor'du, the villain of
the piece (though she can fight using a sword against her dad to protect her
mother?). Other than that, she isn't a bad girl. Eleanor is quite competent,
and obviously doesn't take much shit. But she does get a bit overblown in destroying
her daughter's bow and arrow and immediately regrets. Though being voiced by
Emma Thompson with a Scottish accent might leave a lot to be desired.
Lastly I enjoyed the soundtrack, which appeals to my taste
of music since I like Celtic music (Adrian Von Ziegler. Check him out he does
many different things ;)).
One thing that does worry me though is the future of the
series should it continue. I had read that Kevin McKidd (who voiced one of King
Fergus's allies) would like to Merida be married. I turn my nose up at that
because it would ruin the character, and probably wouldn't be very good anyway.
If a sequel was to be made, it msut make sense, because otherwise Brave will
just end up paddling on the waters. I hope this isn't the case. But for now,
Brave is an awesome film and should be given a watch.
Number 8:
13 ASSASSINS
Put your hands up if you've heard of Miike Takashi!
...........................no one? No one at all? Well fair enough. Miike
Takashi is quite the hard working film-maker(making a fuck load of movies per
year!), yet some of his films borderline over the extreme. For example The Happiness of the Katakuris goes to
lengths in extreme surrealism as it follows a family trying to run a hotel
(think of a Japanese version of Fawlty Towers) while Ichi the Killer is about starting a Yakuza war and is soooo ridiculously
gory it might give the SAW series a
run for its money.
So what about 13
Assassins? Well there are a few interesting things to say.
Firstly, the plot is pretty simple. The villain of the
piece, Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu, is your usual evil killing and raping power
hungry prince (like David Thewlis in Dragonheart if said film was an 18), and
is the heir to his brother, The Shogun. So a government official who thinks
it'll be a bad idea if he comes into power, calls on an old samurai friend
called Shinzaemon (who m is properly at his highest Digimon evolution stage) to
knock him off his god-like pearch. Shinzaemon in turn gathers 12 more samurai
to his cause.
Secondly, 13 Assassins
has a 30 minute action sequence. When I first heard about this, I was bemused
by the possibility of building up about an hour and a half towards this one
entire section of the film. Finally seeing the film, both the building up and
the sequence itself work to a tee. I didn't feel as if the film drifted so much
into other territory while building up towards the end and you do get some
scenes of Naritsugu's cruelty where you just want him to die and die hard.
The action sequence itself is brilliantly done! It's set in
a remote village, where the samurai pretty much design an obstacle course of
death. They made walkways on roofs, little side doors to escape through and
blocking out all exits so that the little lordling shit doesn't escape. The 13
samurai pretty much kick ass, killing the lord's entourage before eventually
being reduced to just 2 men at the end of the film. And finally, Naritsugu gets
his comeuppance by dying a slow painful
drawn out death courtesy of Shinzaemon, who in turn, is killed (but it's ok, he
gets sent to the Primary village to be reborn of awesomeness :)).
Thirdly, I liked one character called Koyota who was quite
mad and really funny in my eyes.
13 Assassins is one of Miike Takashi's better films that you
can properly watch and feel it is a good balance without pushing the gore
factor up. Give it a go when you have the time. I hope you enjoy it as much as
I had.
Number 7:
THE ARTIST
Silent films haven't been seen in mainstream cinema for a long while. At least over 80 years had passed since sound was introduced and silence simply fell into obscurity. But then in 2011, The Artist took the cinema and awards ceremonies by storm, collecting great numbers of awards for its portrayal of a man who simply refused to move on.
The main character George Valentine is the biggest star in Hollywood, the leading man in many great films!......that is until sound comes along. He refuses to believe that sound will be taken seriously (well I don't know, 3D seemed to be taken seriously nowadays and look where that's ended up. Shit.) and eventually his career plummets after 'the talkies' take over as a leading feature in film. He ends up nearly destroying his entire stock of films in a fit of depression and is helped back on his feet by Peppy Miller (who is about to become the new Hollywood starlet). At the end, George comes to be in a sound picture with Peppy's insistence and finally, sound takes over at the end of the film.
The Artist is a very good film with the plot being exceptional and its clever use of sound. There was one sequence that takes the cake. George is having a nightmare of sound literally and slowly coming out of everything, from putting his glass on his desk to his dog barking to a feather touching the ground with an explosion. Nothing felt misplaced and it all builds up to a great ending.
In essence, the film's main theme is possibly 'Acceptance'. George keeps refusing to acknowledge the use of sound in film and in extension, his life. Until eventually by sticking with the past for too long, George suffers greatly with his life. In the end, he comes to embrace sound, and even speaking one line! And with that, the sounds of preparing another take come in and thus the film's story is complete.
Bottom line, The Artist was one of THE best films I ever saw. If you haven't seen it, go watch it or the Silence will fall. Because unlike the Doctor, you'd probably be screwed.
Number 6: SKYFALL
This was the last film I saw this year, and by God what a
film.
I'll get my personal niggles out of the way. It's been 50
years since James Bond has graced the silver screen, and still no reappearances
by the old James Bonds. I would think it would have been nice to see the old
Bonds (Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Bronson and I suppose
George Lazenby if he's/I'm in the mood) appear on screen in a cameo scene or
other, just to honour the 50 year anniversary. But I suppose such things exist
in the realms of fantasy (would fan fiction count? At the least very good fan
fiction?). Another problem I had with the film was oddly enough the main
villain. And it's not just because Javier Badem decided to highlight his hair!
Honest! I just felt he lacked something in the villain department of James Bond
villainy, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Granted he was clever at
trying to bring down M (and succeeding at that), but his reasoning slightly
drifted and was dismissed by M in a couple lines. A surge of disappointed just
went through me. I wouldn't say he was a disappointing villain, but to me he's
certainly not the best. Finally, the title sequence was jsut crap. Apart from a
few bits I found interesting, it was jsut a let-down.
Now for the good bits.
The action sequences are to die for. I especially liked the
fight in Hong Kong where Bond has a hand to hand fight with Silva's henchman.
The way it was lit up was beautiful as they were pretty much siloletted against
the bright lights, and the way it was choreographed as well was very good. Of
course the final battle sequence did take the cake and rightfully so in a Bond
film. An all out siege of Bond's old home (which includes a personal funny
gardener. People should get one of those, they'd be handy in a tight spot)
involving blowing the Aston Martin DB5 (O.O oh shit, Javier Badem meant
business!!), creative devices and traps for his men, and the final
coup-de-grace at the end. For me, Judi Dench has been M for so long, I will
remember her as the Queen of MI6. I should do this as a subject in future :P.
Also the film features quite good (and even more hot ;))
Bond Girls. Naomie Harris as Eve played the flirty character to a tee and could
be a good foil. Shame Berenice Marlohe didn't last so long, I took a genuine
interest in her character. These two were great as Bond Girls and I would like
to see this trend continued for future Bond girls. Furthermore, I liked Ben
Whislaw as Q. Nerdy, yet confident. He could make the role of Q his own and
it's good to see he might not become as cantankerous as Desmond Llewellyn (much
as I identify him with the role of Q).
Skyfall was one of the best Bond Films I have seen in a long
time and though some things hold it back, the good bits really overpower the
bad bits and the timing of each scene felt very well paced. In my mind, the
film is purely fantastic and will be very much remembered for years to come!
Number 5:
INCEPTION
No one can deny that Christopher Nolan's film baby is a mindfuck. It is one of those films that asks you to give your full attention, otherwise you won't understand what is going, which is not very helpful if your easily distrac-Oh, look a spider! I have no idea why girls are so afraid of creatures such as yourselves. Oh sorry! I'm meant to be doing a review! When I watched this film, I was surprised that I managed to keep up with the plot as best I did. Everything seemed to weave very well and I thought it made a lot of sense.
Though in all honesty, I was quite lost with the romance between Leonardo DeCaprio and Marion Cotillard for a little while. There was a moment when I thought....what? what is going on here? It took a while before I figured out that Marion Cotillard had pretty much lost it. My other problem is the ending. If you've seen it, did you feel it was deliberately ambigious? Or were you quite annoyed by it? is he dreaming,is he not? FUCK!!!!! CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WE WANT ANSWERS!!!.......... (Ahem) I felt it was more the former. You decide for yourself. For me, I thought it was real at first. It felt very real and Leonardo got to see his kids again. But then that bloody spinning top just kept going! For some reason I'm thinking that it WAS real and the spinning top did stop eventually. Just that the black screen got in the way at the end annoying. Maybe that's just me wanting to get it out of the way :P.
Another aspect that looked so important to the film was the visual effects. Nolan seems to despise CGI a lot, instead favouring practical and realistic effects. In the case of Inception, the practical effects did work a lot. My guess is if CGI was used, it just wouldn't be as believable. The problem with CGI is we as the viewer can SEE if something's computer generated. Rewatching a few clips from the film did give me the feeling that the dream and how things were being made looked so real and believable. They should make a PC effects programmes, purely from Christopher Nolan's mind!
Lastly, the characters are pretty good overall. Leonardo DiCaprio was astute as Dom Cobb given his tragic background and complexity. I think I enjoyed Tom Hardy's character quite a bit more because of his suave attitude and relaxed nature. He just oozed badass, and hopefully others enjoyed him as much as I did.
The film is worth so many more watches (and not jsut because the plot!). It is really enjoyable, provided you don't have any spiders around the pla-Ooh, there's one again! Come here you little bugger!
Number 4:
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
The Best Batman series has come to an end. Finito. Finished.
Complete. .......And yet it left some fans quite underwhelmed from the
experience. I'm half and half on this. I liked the film, but there were some
bits that threw me off.
One thing I will get out of the way is Bane and 'the voice'.
Actually, I found the dubbing not overly annoying and understood what he was
saying most of the time, with the odd moment here and there when I didn't catch
what he said. When I first heard for the first time, I thought he sounded like
Sean Connery. Imagine that, Sean Connery dressing up as a League of Shadows
member with a mask to help soothe his pain. Odd isn't it?
He was a good villain: Clever, physically strong, and able
to lead by example. Though I do wonder sometimes if his role as main villain
became completely side-lined straight after Miranda Tate revealed herself as
Talia Al Ghul. And of course his death was a bit off-putting being shot by guns
on a motorcycle, but I think as well how else would he have been defeated?
Catwoman probably couldn't match him strength for strength, and Batman had been
stabbed. It's not as if someone could just jump on him. So it's probably the
best death for him, but maybe he deserved better.
Admittedly, I liked the twist and turns of the film with
Miranda Tate and John Blake. It made for more excitement, and Miranda's
revelation wasn't out of left-field either because you get these little hints
and such. But of course some villains always die by some form of bodily destruction
when they crash off a highway or get knocked off a platform or something.
Wonder if I could poke someone on the wrist in this universe, it instantly
breaks?
It was a good ending. Not the best, but good. And that is a
troubling thing. For a film series that's considered to be one of the best, it
probably needs more than just a satisfactory ending. The emotions were just
right with Batman and his side, but the villains? No, not really. We never got
a brilliant ending.
One thing I will finish off is with The Dark Knight Rises,
would it have been better if Heath Ledger was alive and still playing the
Joker? The sequel to The Dark Knight would have been a whole different story
instead of the film we have today. Don't get wrong, I enjoyed the final instalment.
But still I wonder what could have happened.
But I'm not complaining at all. The Dark Knight is a very
good film, but maybe could have been tweaked just a little bit more during the
writing stage.
Number 3:
THE AVENGERS!
Before you all hunt me down for my blood, I liked this film a lot, especially when the 3D was concerned.
I really enjoyed the jokes that came, which I really wasn't expecting (He's killed over 80 people in two days. He's adopted. :D). They were cleverly written in and suited the character's personalities well. The action was really good too, with the final fight complementing everyone of the team with no dominating hero at all. And the 3D was so much more impressive than all the other films I had seen (Star Wars Episode I D: ).
And I liked all the niche references to the other films in the MARVEL Universe, like Jane Foster being put into protection from Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) and Captain America's flashbacks too were quite well done. It's the little bits in a film that can sometimes be the most rememerable.
But there was something about the film I can't fully shake off. Maybe because I didn't LOVE the film as much as I loved my number one film. Maybe because it gives you what you expect from a superhero film: the hero always defeats the villain. But to be fair, it is challenging to see the heroes nearly overwhelmed by the invasion force.I'm going to stick with I liked the movie a lot, but I simply didn't LOVE it as much.
And there is the point that the Blu-Ray releases did cause minor controversy with a few things. One was when Agent Son of Coul stabbing scene being slightly edited due to UK censorship (The blade is digitised out when it's supposed to poke out of his chest). I understand it doesn't make a lot of sense, but some of the fan reaction did get a bit overblown. It's not as if they cut a lot of stuff out at all, like some Japanese animated series I would care to mention. Another thing was the amount of special features featured. UK releases got essentially bugger all, while the American release got a commentary by Joss Whedon and others. At least the American release is region-free, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. But some groups of fans can get very picky about getting a DVD where they expect to have these features and it does go quite far.
But other than that, The Avengers is a great film to watch and is one of the best comic book films for years to come!
Number 2:
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
Seen this movie twice. Both times I wanted to go back to Middle Earth!
The first Hobbit film is a powerhouse with some great acting, great designs, great story, great cinematography; it is a great film through and through.
Where do I start with this film? Maybe I'll dig into characters and acting first. Martin Freeman is good as Bilbo Baggins, with some comedic moments, and probably more balls then Frodo does in LOTR when it comes to fighting the villains. Ian McKellan is awesome as ever as Gandalf the Grey (No 'the white' which disappointed my brother a lot). Richard Armitage is good as Thorin Oakenshield, and I felt I gained a new understanding for him from the opening sequence (bloody elves). And I did enjoy the Company of Dwarfs to an extent and did feel that they were so much better than the Fellowship of the Ring. But seeing it the second time, you don't really feel so much a connection with ALL the dwarfs apart from those who were properly featured. You see some of the characters like Bofur (James Nesbitt), the brothers Fili and Kili (Dean O'Graham and Aidan Turner), and Balin (Gimli....oh sorry Ken Stott), but sadly some of the others I had no interest in.
However, one of my favourite characters from the film was in fact Radagast (Sylvester McCoy). McCoy was excellent casting to play the character. His facial expression after smoking some 'toby' just cracked me up. Also I liked how he was made more useful to the story and made into a competent fighter and rider, as well as making the initial discovery of the Necromancer. He has a bit of cockiness about him, but he's rightly so cocky with his rabbit hoard. I would love his character to be in the next two films. (I read somewhere that Radagast was like Jar Jar Binks. Whoever said this statement, I intend to hunt down and kill with no mercy. And though Jar Jar Binks doesn't bother me, I loved Radagast. And fuck everyone else who disagrees. :D).
I can't think of anything wrong with the plot at all and enjoyed the recent additions from the original book. We got into a lot more detail of Gandalf's plot with his meeting with Elrond, Galadriel and Saruman (he's not turned bad yet so don't panic. Unless your Corporal Jones. Then ignore my advice) and it didn't feel misplaced at all. It's nice to see a through and through good character and not get so bored of them at all.
Also again, the pacing was well timed. I've read that the film felt too long in some people's eyes, but honestly I could not see that. The length didn't feel like it's supposed film time and felt just around 2 hours. I don't really see what people complain about when it comes to films like this.
If only I could talk about this film for a good while! Unfortunately, needs must and I musn't bore you all to death with my chitchat on one film.
So upwards and onwards to the final film on the list!
And Number 1:
THE HUNGER GAMES
O.O Shock horror! But here is my number one choice. The only
quibble I had about the film was those very bad CGI wolves at the end. They
just looked awful.
But overall I enjoyed the film a great deal when it first
came out. It was excellently well-paced for well over a two hour film and the
narrative flowed perfectly for me. All the twists and turns were very well
done, and I did feel tense at the main dramatic points as to whether the main
character, Katniss Everdeen would really survive this Battle Royale style arena
and at the point that her and Peeta were willing to kill themselves in order to
deprive the Capitol of a victor for the games.
I also liked some of the smaller moments, like when Katniss
is going through the scenery selection in her room and one piece shows a
woodland area similar to where she lives. That was nice.
However, I know that there have been some controversial
points to this film and I will point out a few. One was the choice of handheld
camera over certain scenes, which apparently made people nauseous and also
unnecessarily needed. To which I say....nope! Sorry, but I had no problems with
the handheld camera whatsoever. I never found it an inconvience while sitting
in the cinema room and watching this film as the shots went by. Fair enough if
others don't like it.
Another issue was the racism surrounding the characters of
Rue, Cinna and a few others. Here's a selection of a few tweets I found from
The Guardian website:
"Why does rue have to
be black, not gonna lie kind ruined the movie"
"I was pumped about
the Hunger Games. Until I learned a black girl was playing Rue"
"Omg thought he was
white crying omg wtf this movie will suck"
Yet according to the books, Suzanne Collins describes the
characters as having "dark brown skin". My answer to these tweets: 1)
You lot are a ignorant bunch who probably look up KKK masturbation websites, 2)
If you had read the books, how did you confuse "dark skin colour"
with white pigmentation? There is quite a difference you know: One is light,
one is dark. Simple! You don't need to use a lampshade on a White Caucasion and
Black African to figure it out (unless you're really, really, really stupid).
The last thing that is ALWAYS a bone of contention is what
plot details are left out during the adaptation process. It's the same with
Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc. Some fans who love the books will always
be disappointed with what has been cut out. I'll admit that I've never read the
books and maybe I'll enjoy them more then the film and its upcoming sequels
more. But the film was never a problem with me at all and I had one of the best
experiences of my life watching this.
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And that's my top ten films for 2012. I hope you were
interested and pleasantly surprised by my choices.
Join me in a fortnight's time where I will show my possibly disintegrating love for wrestling and whether my time as a fan has come full circle. See you then ! :)
