I can't imagine that a lot of you that have been following these posts are feeling particularly anxious to read this installment as I have not been overly enthused about 2012 as a strong year for film.
If I were ranking films on a 5-star scale, 2010 had 3 films that would receive a lofty 5-star rating. 2011 only had 2 films, but truthfully only A Separation from that year was the true sweeping masterpiece.
2012 offers zero.
I do think highly of the following films, but it is clear that the passion level isn't as strong as it could be. I will say that all of these films would receive a 4.5 rating at least. There are some years of film where I end up putting 4-star films in my top 10 which is not as common as you might expect for me. I suppose there are certain years where I might grade on a curve, but 2012 is a year where I feel very confident in my top 10 though perhaps realize that some of these films wouldn't even crack the list in other years.
One film I did consider for the list was The Sessions, starring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt but that was the only one as I was personally not a fan of the big awards contenders that year like Lincoln. The Silver Linings Playbook, The Life of Pi, and while I would argue that the film was entertaining and a solid watch, Argo was not close to being Best Picture material.
However, we do have a couple of the Best Picture nominees on this list, and we will be starting with one of them.
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#10 - SKYFALL
Directed by Sam Mendes
Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, & John Logan
I have had this list drafted for over a month at this point but kept abandoning it due to just feeling the urge to write reviews for new films or tackling the 70s instead as that decade clearly excited me more to write about (to put it mildly).
Although, in that interim, I randomly revisited Skyfall over the long holiday weekend I just had and was surprised by how much it held up and how it may be my favorite Bond film of all time.
This was where the Bond series was able to find a way to blend modern sensibilities with the classic feel of earlier films without being too cloying and not having the campy vibe. Although, I do love the very droll and dry undercurrent of humor, and also having Javier Bardem as villain Silva, who plays him with enough slyness that make him a very enjoyable antagonist to watch.
I also think the film works well on an emotional level, considering how it would be the final film to feature Dame Judi Dench, and it also really shocks you in the beginning with the set piece of Eve Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) being put in the difficult position of having to try to shoot down a mercenary named Patrice who is battling with Bond but then accidentally shoots Bond who falls off the train he was on top of, which was going across a high bridge over a river. It is such an epic moment, and while Bond films are typically known for their epic moments, this is right up there at the top.
An absolute romp of a film that makes me realize that sometimes a good entertaining action/thriller isn't truly something to scoff at. Oh, and Adele's Bond song is one of the best!
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#9 - ZERO DARK THIRTY
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Written by Mark Boal
"I haven't been following the controversy surrounding Zero Dark Thirty, but when it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent 3 years married to James Cameron" - Amy Poehler
As her follow to the Oscar-winning war film The Hurt Locker from 2009, Kathryn Bigelow teamed up with the same writer, Mark Boal, to tackle a film that was VERY prescient for the time: the decade long hunt and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden after the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The controversy that Amy Poehler referred to, in what might be the most savagely hilarious joke I have heard told at an awards show, revolved around the extension use of torture in the film as a means of taking a pro-torture stance, namely the use of waterboarding. Journalist Michael Wolff considered the film to be a "nasty piece of pulp and propaganda" and that Bigelow was nothing more than a "fetishist and sadist" for embracing the idea of torture as "right".
I will argue that the usage of torture shown in the film is rather gratuitous in the grand scheme, and that the film does fall into being a bit Hollywoodized in that the efforts of his killing mainly fell upon one person battling against the CIA. It also got flack for playing down the involvement of the Obama administration who, not for nothing, had been president for 2 years when the killing took place.
It is a bit of a complex film when it comes to its legacy, but it also a truly gripping and suspenseful thriller that once again proved that Bigelow is a master at crafting these stories.
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#8 - SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
Written & Directed by Martin McDonagh
Beloved British/Irish playwright Martin McDonagh has made quite a name for himself. After quite a few highly acclaimed successes with plays such as The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Pillowman, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, McDonagh admitted that he actually wanted to pursue writing films more to plays, even stated that he "holds a respect for the whole history of films and a slight disrespect for theatre". I will say that out of all his feature films, if I would name Seven Psychopaths as my least favorite, then he must be doing something right.
I have only seen this film twice, once around the time it came out and then again, a couple of years ago where it played even better on rewatch.
Utilizing one of his go-to staple actors, Colin Farrell plays writer Marty Faranan. He's an alcoholic and suffering from a severe bout of writer's block. He has the title for his next script: Seven Psychopaths but doesn't seem to know who exactly his characters will be.
His best friend is a struggling actor named Billy, played by another McDonagh fave, Sam Rockwell. Billy has a means to survive: he kidnaps dogs and then collects rewards by insuring a safe return.
Hmmm...that's almost Fargo-esque of him.
His partner-in-crime is Hans, who by our good fortune is played by the legendary Christopher Walken, and his presence as a rather bizarre religious man is the kind of energy that works perfectly in a McDonagh universe.
However, when that duo ends up kidnapping the beloved Shih Tzu of gangster Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson), all hell breaks loose as Marty gets thrown into the crazy criminal underworld of LA... but perhaps it'll serve as good inspiration????
Seven Psychopaths is so over-the-top but in the best possible ways. Farrell does great work as more of a straight man compared to people like Rockwell, Walken, and Harrelson around him...oh and even Tom Waits is there to add to the proceedings in a fun way.
Like I said, it isn't his best film but he's yet to make a bad film...or even just a very good film. McDonagh is low key one of the best filmmakers working today.
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#7 - BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Directed by Behn Zeitlin
Written by Lucy Alibar with Behn Zeitlin
I can still remember the huge surprise on Oscar nominations morning when both Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed for Directing nominations, and in their place, we got two nominations I love. I won't say what one of them was for as it is for a film I haven't discussed yet, but one of them was Behn Zeitlin.
That is one thing I do love about the Directing branch as they do have a tendency to throw curveballs towards a candidate who may be a bit out of the box compared to what the mainstream routinely nominates.
A tiny film made for under $2 million; Beasts of the Southern Wild was an adaption of Lucy Alibar's one-act play Juicy & Delicious. Set in a small island community in the Louisiana Bayou called "the Bathtub", we meet 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) and her father Wink (Dwight Henry), who is very ill and filled with rage and resentment. As her father's health continues to worsen, nature also seems to go haywire: temperatures rise, sea levels rise, and the ice caps melt which unleash a slew of aurochs, an extinct bovine species.
In terms of bold creativity and vision, there was something truly refreshing when Beasts of the Southern Wild came out. It is also remarkable the kind of chemistry gets out Dwight Henry and then 6-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who would go on to become the youngest actress ever nominated for an Oscar. She'd eventually lose to Jennifer Lawrence for The Silver Linings Playbook which...all due respect to JLaw but...no.
I am not saying Wallis would've gotten my vote (that would've gone to the previously mentioned Jessica Chastain and a nominee I haven't mentioned yet), but if she pulled this off, I certainly would've been thrilled with the inspired selection.
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#6 - MOONRISE KINGDOM
Written & Directed by Wes Anderson
Co-written by Roman Coppola
We are now in a period of film history where there seems to be some stronger critiques building up against Wes Anderson and how he always makes films that look and sound and feel the same.
While I would argue he hasn't made a film I have truly loved in a while, although I have been positive on most of them, I still consider him a filmmaker I get excited to check out when he releases a new work.
Moonrise Kingdom is, for me, one of his best.
Following two young protagonists played by kids making their film debut, an orphan named Sam (Jared Gilman) is attending a summer camp at Camp Ivanhoe led by Scout Master Randy Ward (Edward Norton). The camp is located on an island called New Penzance, off the coast of New England. Young Suzy (Kara Hayward) lives on the island with her parents Walt & Laura (Bill Murray & Frances McDormand). Sam and Suzy meet each other and are both very intelligent and mature for their ages and they do go from being friends to being romantic throughout that summer. By September, they want to run away together and execute a plan to do so.
There is a charm to Moonrise Kingdom that feels so vibrant and alive in a way that feels even more noticeable than in a lot of Anderson's other works. He affectively blends droll, deadpan, and slapstick humor with ease that when I first watched the film upon its release, I knew it was his best live-action work since The Royal Tenenbaums (I did very much love Fantastic Mr. Fox so that doesn't count).
I could see where some might consider this to be a bit more contrived due to the schmaltzy angle it has, but I found it to be surprisingly affective. He has been able to sprinkle this element into other films of his after the fact, but as a whole film, Moonrise Kingdom is him at his most delightfully whimsical.
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#5 - THE ACT OF KILLING
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer w/Christine Cynn
*An unnamed Indonesian also assisted with the film*
While this is often considered a 2013 release, it was first released in 2012 overseas so I will adhere to that timeline and give this stellar documentary a shoutout here.
Our subject matter revolves around the mass killings in Indonesia back in 1965-1966, in which those that were deemed communists and against the New Order regime were killed, and then then the killers would become gangsters ruling the country.
The corruption only snowballs from there: rigged elections, destroying to develop more property, and widespread sexual assault, including raping teenage girls and women within the Gerwani Rights Movement.
Considering how deeply disturbing the topic at hand is, there were quite a few critics who blasted the film for being exploitative and in horrendous taste. Nick Fraser went as far to refer to it as "a snuff film" and began a campaign to plea to Academy voters not to give it the Documentary Oscar.
That sentiment was so strong with some due to how the film utilized one such executioner, Anwar Congo, and his cronies boast about and even reenact via sense memory how they would torture/rape/kill these people. It was the belief that perhaps less focus should've been on the victims rather than the heinous actions of these people...but Oppenheimer's intention was to show how not only was it horrific, but that it was even more horrific that the people were basically saved by impunity.
I have only seen The Act of Killing once, and I likely never will again. It did the job it needed to do, and that is what an uncomfortable but strongly made documentary should do.
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#4 - FRANCES HA
Written & Directed by Noah Baumbach
Co-written by Greta Gerwig
After some of his more recent efforts like White Noise (which I did like more than most) and Jay Kelly, I can't help but wish that Noah Baumbach would go back to making films in the same vein as Frances Ha. In this case, it doesn't hurt that this was his first collaboration with Greta Gerwig who would go on to become his life partner as well.
Frances Ha is one of those films that will likely alienate some or maybe leave you feeling conflicted as to how much you like it. That isn't to say that it is necessarily it is a difficult watch; it is just under 90 minutes long (much like his best film: 2005's The Squid & The Whale), and the results are quite possibly the warmest and most endearing.
Gerwig is the titular Frances, a 27-year-old dancer whose life is upended when her best friend/roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner) has the opportunity to move to her dream neighborhood of Tribeca with another friend. Frances can't afford their Brooklyn apartment by herself so begins bouncing around from apartment to apartment, including one with her friends Lev and Benji (Adam Driver and Michael Zegen) in Chinatown.
While I was never "blessed with the dance", I certainly do take the idea of watching an artist flit and float from place to place. Sometimes it feels like a cruel joke, but I did opt to leap towards a job field that would provide me with a bit more financial stability, but it also meant sacrificing a lot of my happiness and, not to be melodramatic, my soul.
I am not saying that I want to have a life where I have to keep bouncing around from place to place, but I do miss that feeling of "an artist's life" and I wish I could have a fair amount of that whimsy back. Maybe 2026 will be a year in which I can make more of the steps to work towards that.
As for the rest of Frances Ha, I do love that Baumbach shot the film in the style of The French New Wave, utilizing only the barest of tech as if he were making a student film of the highest order. It truly adds to the film's magic and for all intents and purposes, I think it is better than a lot of people give it credit for.
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#3 - THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
Written & Directed by Stephen Chobsky
I am willing to admit that a lot of the time I hear that a film has been adapted from a Young Adult novel, I don't tend to respond to the idea with much enthusiasm.
My mind immediately goes to something like A Walk to Remember or I think of the Twilight series. I didn't have much familiarity with The Perks of Being a Wallflower other than the fact that I can recall the novel sitting on display shelves at my local Waldenbooks and at Barnes & Noble in the early 00s.
Once the film was released, I noticed its reviews were quite strong plus it managed to get a Top 10 mention for that year's National Board of Review. I am not saying that is always the end all be all of recognition as they can throw in some random curveballs, but in the case of Perks, it was enough for me to check it out. Plus, any film set in Pittsburgh always gets me a little excited since it was the biggest city I grew up around.
Logan Lerman plays Charlie, a teenager who suffers from clinical depression who is getting discharged from a psychiatric hospital. He is very shy and is nervous about making friends as he begins his freshman year of high school.
He meets two seniors, Patrick (Ezra Miller) and his stepsister Sam (Emma Watson) who eventually help him open up more, including letting them know that his best friend killed himself the previous year.
I do love this ensemble. We get wonderful work from our trio of young actors, plus I always love seeing the great Joan Cusack, who played Charlie's psychiatrist Dr. Burton.
I am not here to proclaim that I had any kind of severe trauma that would be comparable to that of Charlie, if anything, my trauma was born from religion which I have gone into quite a bit. I was never diagnosed with depression, nor have I had a stay at a psychiatric hospital.
However, I still felt deeply for Charlie.
It was never easy for me to belong, and I always felt shy and unseen by most. While I did eventually find my sanctuary of sorts, I still find myself having a tinge of dread when thinking about my youth. From 6th grade up until around my sophomore year, I found myself loving getting sick as an excuse not to go to school. I would pray for heavy snowstorms to that school would be closed that day. If I had gym class, if I could get away with doing very little, I would gladly do so.
I even remember my county getting called for a 2-hour delay and begging my mom to just let me stay home when they opted not to close for a full day. She knew that I was struggling but she also knew I stayed home A LOT and that I couldn't keep doing it. I do have a memory of crying in my room, because I wanted nothing more than to just stay there.
There is truth to looking at your past and realizing that you eventually did grow and find yourself, but that sometimes you can't help but feel like that kid again. Although that isn't how I should let my life define me, in the end..."we are infinite".
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#2 - THE MASTER
Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
If you came to me even just a few years ago and asked me not just what my favorite film of 2012 was but also my favorite PTA film, I would've said The Master. This is an opinion that was also shared by PTA himself.
I have talked a little about The Master previously and how I do feel the film suffers a little from a bit of a meandering tone that perhaps makes it wane just a smidge on me in recent years...although I still think it was a fantastic film and it is well worth your time.
Set in post-war society following WWII, we meet a nymphomaniac alcoholic Navy vet named Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) who is having a very difficult time adjusting to a normal life. When he happens to stow away on a yacht, he encounters a man by the name of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic and enigmatic leader of a movement known as "The Cause". As one of Dodd's types tends to do in these situations, he sees Freddie as a lost soul and proceeds to convert him into being one of his followers.
The film takes inspiration from various sources, most notably that of L. Ron Hubbard and the creation of Scientology but also elements of the lives of actor Jason Robards and novelist John Steinbeck. This isn't even going into the fact that PTA also got inspiration from seemingly his favorite novelist Thomas Pynchon with his book V. and the documentary Let There Be Light about WWII vets suffering from PTSD.
Yes, PTA writes and directs with great aplomb per usual, and the film looks incredible. It had been the first narrative film to be released on 70mm film in over a decade, and on top of that, this film contains some of the best acting you could ever witness from a film of recent years.
Amy Adams is wonderful and deserves a shout-out. I actually think she should've won the Oscar that year of those who were nominated (this was the year Anne Hathaway won for Les Mis, who I will admit was the best thing about that wretched adaptation). With Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I consider them one of the best film duos ever. What these two accomplish is, no pun intended, masterful.
Brooding character studies are fascinating when done well, and The Master is exceedingly successful.
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#1 - AMOUR
Written & Directed by Michael Haneke
It might be weird to say that Amour is something of a passionate film from Michael Haneke, a filmmaker I have discussed multiple times on this blog. Haneke is someone who isn't exactly looking to brighten your mood...and while Amour is no exception, it strangely feels a lot more potent due to how it manages to somehow be poignant while shattering your entire being into a million pieces.
Starring two French legends, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva...along with another French legend playing their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert), Trintignant and Riva are Georges and Anne Laurent. Both are retired piano teachers in their 80s and still live fairly active lives, until one morning when Anne suffers from a stroke while eating breakfast.
Anne undergoes surgery on her blocked carotid artery, but it is not fully successful as it leaves her paralyzed on her right side and she must be confined to a wheelchair. Anne wishes a desire to end her life, but Georges won't even begin to entertain the idea.
Although, in the first scene of the film, you will already know how their story will pan out.
Amour is a film that I immediately recognized as painful and devastating. I would've only been 24 when it came out and now all these years later, it resonates so deeply with me.
I am actually not so sure if I could revisit this film, which is crazy to say considering I have revisited some of Haneke's most diabolical of efforts like Funny Games or Cache. I think Amour was, arguably, his most successful film in that takes his dark depressing energy that could even have a slight skip in its step at times (if you've seen Funny Games, you will know what I am talking about) and gives it a heart.
It's a tragic romance and an ultimate example in "are you willing to give the love of your life the end that they want?". Watching these two legends act opposite each other was a truly rewarding experience. It feels even more sad in hindsight now that we've lost both Riva and Trintignant, but I am so glad that Haneke was able to capture this glorious swan song for both of them.
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
I do write these posts and often tell myself that maybe writing about these films will surprise me and that I will think more highly of the whole output of that year.
Sadly, that was not the case for 2012. Hell, I ended up losing interest in writing about it and moved on to finishing up a whole other decade instead! I am glad I completed this year though, because these are certainly good films worth seeing for one reason or another.
I've already written about 2013, which you can read about here.
That means I am moving onto 2014 next, and I will say right now that we will be seeing a shift in the right direction with that year!
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