I don't get to the movies as much as I should. Netflix and iTunes makes it way to easy to sit at home and wait for the movies to come to me. As a result, there were a number of flicks this year that I missed that I'm sure I will love.
That said, I did see a ton of flicks this year that I thought were awesome. The caveat being that I tend to like really stupid movies. Stupid, awesome movies.
Anyways, here's 10 flicks that I liked this year. Plus another one... just because.
Argo
Ben Affleck is one good ass movie making motherfucker.
I liked Gone Baby Gone and The Town, but he really outdid
himself on this shit. Argo was tense, darkly funny and thoroughly enjoyable all
the way through. It also includes my favorite line of the whole year (the thing
about exfil operations being like abortions).
Yeah, it took a bit of a shit on historical
accuracy. I don’t care though.
The Dark Knight Rises
What else honestly needs to be said about this flick?
I just feel bad for whatever poor bastard they dig up to
make the next batch of Batman movies.
Also: I still think Bruce Wayne died.
Ted
I generally don’t get the mountains of praise and money that
get thrown at Seth MacFarland. I guess Family Guy has it moments, but that’s as
far as I’m willing to go on that one. For some reason though, I thought Ted
worked astonishingly well.
I think this flick did a good job of using its ridiculous
premise to tell a pretty simple story about a dude whose adult life is crippled
by his stubborn refusal to grow up and move on.
Shit was legitimately funny, too.
The Avengers
I honestly have no idea if this was better or worse than
Dark Knight Rises. It’s kind of a pointless argument. In the end, I had more
fun with Avengers.
The biggest thing, to me, about this movie was that Joss
Whedon finally figured out how to use the Hulk. If anyone was gonna crack that
one, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it was him.
21 Jump Street
Not the movie I was expecting at all. This shit was awesome
because it was completely aware of how dumb the entire premise was… and how
dumb it was to be making a 21 Jump Street movie in 2012… and acted accordingly.
Plus, Ice Cube plays Ice Cube better than anyone. But skinny
Jonah Hill kinda weirds me out.
“Stop bothering Korean Jesus! He’s busy. With Korean shit!”
Total Recall
My expectations for this movie were so low that as long as
everything was more or less in focus, I was gonna be satisfied.
While the resulting movie was in no way the
stuff of legends and, frankly, I don’t think anyone will remember it in 6
months, as far as eye candy goes, this thing was tough to top. I really dug the
look of the world, I liked the robots and Kate Beckinsale is almost impossibly
good looking.
Looper
This flick reminded me of Inception in the sense that it
took a fairly left field concept and presented it in a way that it never got
overly confusing. It could have been a pretty convoluted mess, and instead was
an enjoyable and easy to follow story about redemption.
I didn’t Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young Bruce Willis,
though. He just looked like Joe Rogans little brother to me.
The Amazing Spider Man
Full disclosure: I really didn’t like the Sam Raimi Spider
Man movies. Except for the third one, which I felt personally insulted by. To this day I’m
not convinced there’s ever a good reason to put Toby McGuire in a movie. Also:
Kirsten Dunst sucks.
So, maybe this is really a nod for “most improved
franchise.” All I can say for sure, that in a lot of ways, this was the take on
Spider Man that I wanted from the beginning. I actually bought Peter Parker as
an awkward high school student in this one. Besides which, Emma Stone improves
everything she shows up in by at least 50%. That's just mathematically true.
Cabin In The Woods
My favourite thing about Joss Whedon is this: No matter how
outlandish the story he wants to tell is, he’s really good about getting there
honestly. I can’t think of a single time I’ve been watching project with his
name on it where I felt like shit was coming out of left field. Even on Buffy,
he always earned every crazy thing he wanted to put in… Like “The Initiative,”
remember that shit?!
Anyways, that holds true here as well. Yeah, the whole thing
is insane, but at no point does it feel confusing or dishonest. The big twist
(if you want to call it that) is set up from the very beginning. And when the
climax comes the whole thing has a kind of internal logic that tons of lesser
movies in the genre lack.
Plus, when those elevators open up? I haven’t giggled with
glee like that in years.
Probably my favorite thing Joss Whedon put his name to all
year. Think about that.
The Grey
Liam Neeson is a wolf punching motherfucker. With any other
actor in that role, I don’t think it would have worked. I really don’t see that
anorexic from Twilight punching wolves.
I’ve always imagined that Liam Neeson was gonna be punching
wolves anyways and he figured this movie was a good way to get paid for doing
what he loves.
Token Documentary!
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
Stacy Peralta makes damn fine documentaries.
As much as I loved Dogtown & Z-Boys though, it was a little before time. This thing is much more my speed, I sincerely hope the next skateboard movie he makes covers the late 90's-mid 2000's. "Pro Skater," The X-Games it could be awesome.
Also: Rodney Mullen is fucking special effect. None of that shit should be physically possible.
