Films of 2012

Thought it would be good to log which movies I actually make it to at the cinema this year... and thinking about it I might do a separate DVD one as well :-)

November

Skyfall - I had to wait a week after it opened before I could get to the latest Bond outing and I very carefully avoided all reviews/spoilers before going. It was absolutely brilliant - great characters this time - Javier Bardem as the baddie was outstanding. Lots of humour as well - it felt like an 'old school' Bond movie, and now I can't wait for the next one! The best of the three Daniel Craig Bond movies in my book. 

October

Looper - I'd been very keen to see this as I thought the shorts had looked good, and I do like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And it didn't disappoint :-). Not quite 'Inception' but it was a great film to just sit back and go with. Lots of time travelling stuff, a bit of Bruce Willis, and an ending I didn't see coming. Would definitely recommend it. 

Searching for Sugarman - I went to see this with a friend, using my Orange '2-for-1' deal. It has been out for quite a while so it was good to be able to catch it. I loved this film - similar to The Imposter, I won't say much about the story, as where it goes is quite unexpected. It is a documentary about the search for a musician who was huge in South Africa, but no where else, and it really is fantastic. Another recommend.


September

Brave - I went to see this with Lucy when she was visiting me - we were tired after a long day doing fun stuff, so went and collapsed for a couple of hours. This is the latest Pixar movie and I enjoyed it. You know exactly what you're going to get, but this was a lovely film. Great stuff about the relationship between a daughter and a mother. Recommend it :-).

The Imposter - A documentary which is a story that is so crazy it seems almost unbelievable. That is all I will say as to reveal anything would spoil it. But it is fantastic and I thoroughly recommend it!


August

The Bourne Legacy - I had originally been a bit sniffy about seeing this as I thought they were going to have a new actor playing Jason Bourne, but once I realised they were carrying on the story, and I'd seen the shorts I decided it was probably worth a look :-). I enjoyed it - some of the reviews have been a bit 'Well its not as good as the Bourne films', but it was still an enjoyable action/spy film. And I do quite like Jeremy Renner...  

July

The Dark Knight Rises - The final part of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and I thought it was superb. Finished it off brilliantly - really really well done. Not my favourite of the trilogy - I think that would be Batman Begins, but I did love this :-).

June

Snow White and the Huntsman - I really enjoyed this. Which I think is sort of sacriligous to say... But I saw it on a Sunday afternoon, and was just in the mood for a flight of fancy. Again - Charlize Theron was great, and I enjoyed Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman. Didn't realise he'd played Thor until I got home though! Not a great actor, but he does what he has to do well enough... Twiglet girl was ok - probably not the best casting, but I enjoyed the story. And it was nice to watch a film that had two strong female characters at its heart. Loved the dwarfs - although given they were played by the cream of British actors, digitally turned into dwarves, that is probably wrong to say as well!


Prometheus - This doesn't really need much introduction I don't think! No where near as good as I thought it should be. The previews were so amazing I had very high hopes. I did enjoy it (and thought Michael Fassbender as David was amazing), but I didn't love it. As much as I love Noomi Rapace, she just didn't work that well for me. Thought Charlize Theron was good as well though. I did have to come home and read reviews and some of the geek forums to help me put my finger on what I didn't love about it though.


May

Avengers Assemble - I loved this film! I'm a big fan of Joss Whedon (have been since Buffy) and I thought he did this very well. Loved all the pop culture quips all the way through it, and thought the chemistry between The Hulk and Ironman was brilliant. I saw Thor on DVD a while ago, so enjoyed seeing those two characters again - silly, but still very good. Have added Ironman 2 to my Lovefilm list now - I've seen the first one, but not the second, and after seeing this I think I want to watch it now :-).


April

Marley - I found this film fascinating - and one I think most of my family would really enjoy. It is long - about 2.5 hours, but it tells a very comprehensive story of Bob Marley's life, with comments from all sorts of people throughout it, including interviews with him before he died. Really very well done - and interesting to see the timeline of his life, and thinking how old I was at that point, and was I listening to his music. There was one brief clip of him being welcomed by a Maori powhiri in NZ in the 1970s - did wonder if any of my siblings went to see him! And very sad when you find out how his cancer was not treated properly the first time - perhaps if it had been he, wouldn't have died so young.

The Hunger Games - I can see that these books would be very good, as the film was great. Bits of it didn't quite work for me - or weren't explained that well. Which I can't explain without including plot spoilers! I would like to read the books - I think that if I'd read the books beforehand it would probably be a bit like Harry Potter - the bits that are left out are annoying, but probably aren't crucial to the story. So there were questions I had that weren't really answered - but still very very good! Didn't like the shaky camera filming much tho...

March

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - I enjoyed this film. It was exactly what you would expect - a nice gentle English comedy drama with a cracking cast - Judi Dench and Bill Nighy just for starters. Did exactly what I expected it to, and did it well. Nice easy watch :-).

The Muppets - Well what can I say? I LOVED this film! I was literally crying with laughter at different points. Very, very good. Enough said :-).


February

Young Adult - This one I probably wouldn't have gone to as the posters looked like it was yet another RomCom type of film, but Dr K quite liked it and Julia was keen to see it. Not really what I was expecting - not exactly a black comedy, but not a standard comedy either. I was laughing, but at the same time not wanting to laugh - and there were definite bits that were a bit too close to the bone! It is written by the woman who wrote Juno, so definitely has more of an edge to it. Enjoyed it though. 

The Woman in Black - Another one with Lucy and Gareth! I have always been meaning to go and see the stage play of this, so was quite keen to see the film. And the shorts looked good. It was ok - I definitely jumped a few times (more than Lucy did!) and I loved the fact it was like an old school ghost film, rather than a slasher type modern horror movie. Not great, but much better than The Grey!

The Grey - Went to see this with Lucy and Gareth - it had had relatively positive reviews from Dr K (and in fact is still getting good comments from the listeners) but I thought it was pretty bog standard. I think I'm missing the key point somehow - it just seemed like a film about a bunch of men in the snow, getting picked off by wolves. Apparently it is much more about the existential male crises (or some such nonsense). Didn't really work for me whatever....

Moneyball - Another Oscar nomination, but I had wanted to see this when it came out. I was suprised it was still around to be honest. I have a recurring film trip once a month with a friend from work - we go on a Wednesday to take advantage of Orange Wednesday (2 for 1) and this was our latest outing. Really interesting film - a sport movie thats not really about sport as Dr K says. Not sure it is an Oscar winner, but its a good watch. Brad Pitt plays an 'everyman' very well - at times you almost forget how good looking he is!

January

The Iron Lady - I wasn't sure about going to see this, but I was curious... Meryl Streep probably has a strong chance of winning the Oscar but I'm not so sure... There was too much of her being 'old' in it for me, and not enough of the politics. Interestingly that is also what Dr K thought as well, but I didn't listen to his review until I'd seen it! Honest... I've seen a few of the Oscar Best Film nominations but still more to go!

The Artist - The silent movie being tipped for the Oscars. I have to say I loved it - thought it was so well done - you almost didn't notice there was no dialogue! Highly highly recommend it.